Archive for the ‘History, The Way It Was…’ Category

The house had a large living room. It opened into the dining room on the left and my mother’s bedroom on the right. The dining room had a bay window with a window seat. Underneath it was a drawer. In the drawer were sewing materials that we kept for making clothes, quilts or whatever home made things my mother and us girls could think up. Above the drawer on the bay window seat my mother would put some house plants. Those plants were just lovely. But the pad that they sat on was my place to hide things.

One of the things I would hide there were my paper dolls. I haven’t thought about paper dolls for quite some time. About fifteen years ago my youngest sister reminded me how I loved to cut out the paper dolls. And I did. I loved the clean lines and I loved my paper dolls. She bought me some paper dolls at that time for old times sake. I still have the set, I just can’t part with them.

I got to thinking about some of the paper dolls I have had. One was the Betsy McCall series It was cute enough, I did cut them out to play with but I really liked the fancy paper dolls like movies stars or the bridal paper dolls.

And sometimes I would just cut the models out of a Montgomery Ward or the Sears catalog. These little cut outs made good neighbors to the “real” paper dolls. Then I would tear out the pages and fold them into different pieces for furniture like a couch or a table and chair so my little people would have a home.

As a child I never thought twice about when and how they were first made. It never entered my mind that these two-dimensional toys had a history. But I was curious when I learned that the celebrity paper dolls were quite impressive, A doll portraying the renowned ballerina Marie Taglioni, published in the 1830s. In 1840, a boxed set was done of another ballerina, Fanny Elssler, as well as of Queen Victoria.

Of course, my idea at the time was that a celebrity was someone like Elizabeth Taylor. Queen Victoria never entered into my childhood consciousness. Or the Barbie series were sought after. The Barbie products were just rolling out when I was a child. Barbie was launched in March 1959 so by the 1960s she was the hottest girl toy around.

Paper dolls were more than a personal toy for me, they are an era gone by. But I still love the memories of playing with them. You can still get paper dolls however, back then you could find them anywhere. You didn’t have to special order them on Ebay. Nowadays they are a collector’s item.

 

 

 

War, Uh. What is it good for

Absolutely nothing~

Edwin Starr, “War”

I am an historian. Both for a hobby and as my educational focus. Anyone who has a passion knows that you can get so lost in it that, suddenly you surface to get a breath. Today I need to look up, take a breather, and take time to digest my latest paradigm shift.

I have been following politics more closely for the past few years. I think about that every time I pass a gas station hoping that this time I do not have to fill up as the gas keeps rising in price. I subconsciously am aware of conflict in the world.

I thought about how war has affected me personally. My country, the United States, signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Okay so here is a perspective.

Up to and through this signing the United States was in the conflict known as the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Taking up the first seven years of this country’s birth of 236 years ago.

From 1776 to 2012 is only 236 years. Wow, what a perspective. I recently got into studying Western Civilization from the time man actually inhabited Europe. Like, Neanderthal humans. So how long is 236 years and how are we affected politically today? And how have I been affected by war?

Only 29 years after the Revolutionary War here comes the War of 1812 (1812-1815). Here we go again another conflict with the British Empire. That worked in the Americans favor so there was a period of peace for 31 years. Ha! Lasted two more years than the last conflict. Here comes the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), a conflict in the wake of Texas annexation. Okay still, that sounds like a long time ago but clearly not a drop in the bucket compared to European settlement.

But it isn’t until the next war that it starts to gets personal because this is where I start to place my family history with war. I trace my family back to crossing the Atlantic. A mere 236 years ago. But when my great-great-grandfather enters the picture it doesn’t feel like ancient times. More like it is touchable. He was born 1842, died 1928. Born four years before the Mexican-American War and he will be old enough to become a soldier in the next war.

The Civil War (1861-1865) was the time period that I start feeling my family’s involvement in the military. He was in this conflict, survived the Andersonville Internment Camp, and you see lived to the ripe old age of 86. And after that war he saw the Spanish-American War (1898), between Spain and the United States over the ongoing Cuban War of Independence. He would have also heard the Declaration of War sounded in 1914 as the world went to war internationally in World War I (1914-1918). He died before the United States was impacted by the Great Depression and while two more generations were living through this time he would have known of the birth of my father in 1919. Just one year after the Great War was over. My dad (and mom) and many of my now living relatives still remember the Great Depression. So when we are now in conflict over the economy, war, and chaos they know about that stuff.

My dad was old enough to be called under the draft to served in World War II (1939-1945), he was at the famous Battle of the Bulge. I don’t think he served in the Korean War (1950-1953) but this is the period my husband and I were born into. We entered a relative period of prosperity and peace in our country. A world we were born into and thought was pretty normal. I wouldn’t be interested until the 1960s about war, that would be with social changes and the Vietnam War (1955-1975) conflict. Even though this conflict went on for 20 years I just getting old enough to feel its affect when my husband was called up to serve in that mess. We struggled again as a nation, but as we entered into the 1980s “at home” things started settling down again.

We would be able to raise our children in relative peace for 15 years until the Middle East broke loose. That has been happening up to the present with Desert Storm (1990 – 1991), Enduring Freedom ( 2001 – present), and Iraqi Freedom (2003 – 2011).

This overview of the United States and the conflicts it has been involved with helps me to appreciate the cry for peace again. So yeah, as a young nation the country has a record of very little peaceful times. Of the 236 years as a country there have been 165 years of war. Only about 71 years or, one generation has seen no war. And that was not all at one time.

I think about this when we have political debates over reduction of military costs. Or influencing another country. It helps me get perspective regarding the reality of war. Not just in the United States, a place I call home, but throughout the entire world. I was getting emotional about all the war in the Media but in my recent reading of Holland, the History of the Netherlands (by Thomas Coffey Grattan) I get that war has always been a part of civilization no matter where we live.

But when my emotions get in the way then I can not think clearly to make good political decisions. I am not giving in or giving out. I am just trying to understand. Understand it all in perspective of the personal affect it has on me, my family and my loved ones. I want to get behind something because I have conviction not because I am taken away by emotional chaos. Been there, done that and yes, I did get the tee shirt.

Seriously, War, what is it good for?

 

 

 

No matter what I do I can’t keep my shoes from untying. I have tried a million ways to figure it out. Now I find I am destined to double tying them. Well, that was before I learned a thing or two about tying shoes.

First problem I run into is that $#@*! aglet. If I cut off the shoe string to fit the shoe how do I keep it from fraying? That is the aglet’s job right? That little aglet has been around a few centuries. The little tiny piece at the end of the shoe lace we normally recognize as a plastic covering makes it easy to lace shoes. But aglets did not start out as those plastic thingie ma-jobbers.

Aglets started being used in the 1790s. A small thing we use every day suddenly it becomes important. But this guy, Harvey Kennedy, is the one that legend says came up with the idea of making the metal ones.

And it wasn’t long after that they were mass produced. Mostly they looked the ones we see in the picture but someone got the hot idea to decorate them.

I found some on eBay that were kind of like the old ones in the 1700s shown here. Today most of our use to the plastic aglet that is cheaper and easier to produce.

And I found out you can make your own aglet in a pinch. Just wrap scotch tape around the end of your shoe lace and cover with clear glue and viola! Instant aglet.

But after I got sidetracked about aglets I realized that didn’t answer the question of tying the shoe and keeping it tied. Until I found out there is a proper way to tie a shoe. I have been tying my shoes incorrectly my whole life. Every time I tie them if I do not double tie them they come undone. Now I do not need to spend money buying new laces, cutting them down or throwing them out. I have a plan now. Plan one is to tie them right. Plan two is if the aglet falls off I know a quick repair job of scotch tape and clear glue!

Here is a quick video of how to tie your shoes:

 

Just simple little tips….how on earth did we ever make it without the internet!

 

 

 

“He who stands for nothing will fall for anything”

~Alexander Hamilton~

 

Marla started out the day thinking, “I can take on new goals, maybe this close to the new year a good resolution or two would be good”. Not a bad a idea. Maybe now with things getting a bit better she could actually breath a sigh of relief. Maybe.

But her hopes were dashed when she stepped out to walk the dog and grab the paper. Another big corporation is planning to attach fees just for paying your bill. Verizon slaps customers with new fees just as we face a new year. Wasn’t it just sixty days ago that the bank slapped on fees? And what about the credit companies? Aren’t they getting greedy too? Marla’s head was spinning, she was tired. Every day for that past three years a burdened dark cloud has set over her as the Recession deepened. She thought that with the new year she could make a fresh start but now it is obvious that her days will be filled with financial worries as the new year begins.

She thought about it over breakfast. Just a simple cup of coffee with a bowl of Raisin Bran seemed to help to clear her head. She started thinking of her project she was working on about Japanese Internment camps during WWII. What struck her about this project was the Japanese-American community found that under the most dire of circumstances as a citizen they relied on gamon. What was mistaken for weakness was perseverance, a quiet determination so that they could get through that horrible experience. And she knew enough to know that yes, they did endure and were released. Gradually rebuilding their lives focusing on what they could do instead of the overwhelming negative experience. It would take decades before the government would offer an apology and a financial recompense. So these citizens just kept on with perseverance.

After she laid the paper down and thought about it Marla too, decided it was time for a inner strength. She needed to have conviction. Things she could believe in, things she could do to make a difference in her own life as well as have a positive affect around her. If it had not been for the economy faltering she may not have found herself affected so negatively by all the anger around her. The only way really to start anew is with conviction and now Marla thought, “with reliance on gamon surely I can turn my own disillusionment into endurance”.

She rushed to grab her laptop to start writing down her ideas. “What is important to me”, she thought. As the thoughts began rushing through her fingers they started to take form. One thing she knew is that she couldn’t control the economy but, she could control her conviction in things she believed in. She wrote things down that were important to her. The list began with, child abuse awareness, animal abuse awareness, hunger and the homeless. These are things she could at least support and find ways to create awareness. What she had learned about the Japanese-Americans during the internment period was they did not start anger groups nor did they incite mob action. Okay she wrote, “broad generalization” because someone was not just going to persevere. But on the whole they really tried.

So after finishing writing down her ideas and finishing her cup of coffee to clear her head Marla decided that yes, the new year will be better. My new resolution this year she said aloud is, “to practice gamon and have conviction”. And so with that settled off she went to start the day.

 

Fall seven times, stand up eight.

~Japanese Proverb~

 

On our morning walk Lizzie had her nose to the ground. Usually she follows our trail unfailingly but she took a left instead of a right. This is what we found.

 

ROSS, ISAAC —Buried at Ft. Toulouse. Served under Marion and received pay. Mrs. Bell Allen Ross in letter to S.C. Salley, Columbia, S. C., states:

Mr. I. Ross died in 1826 at his home one mile north of the old fort site and was buried among some 66 soldiers who had served under Captain Marchand at the Post, and under Andrew Jackson in the campaign of 1813-14. The Military burials at Fort Toulouse were removed in pursuance of an order of the U. S. War Dept. in January 1897 for the reinterment at Mobile. Mr. Ross alone is today in the old French Cemetery there. A marble Marker and a 13. A. R. Bronze marker designates the site. It is 300 yards south of the Colonial Dames Marker in a woody section East of the Coosa River surrounded by property of Hardy Simmons John Crommelin. ROSS, ISAAC—Born 1764, Camden County, S.C., died January 27, 1821, Fort Jackson, near Montgomery, and buried there. Grave marked by Peter Forney Chapter, D.A.R. Pensioner.—General D.A.R. Report, 1930

 

I have lived in seven states in America. Below are seven things I like about these places.

What I like about Washington:

It felt like “the territory”. I think that is because it was our 42^nd state as of November 11, 1889.

Washington has its own home grown beer brand “Olympia” brewed in Tumwater.

Being a birdwatcher and member of the Audubon Society in the third grade it was not a stretch to love the beautiful Willow Goldfinch.

Love the mountains, I just couldn’t get enough of the Cascade Mountain Range and the Olympic Rain Forest.

Washington’s diverse landscape of the mountains on the west and the dryer area on the east made for some great hiking.

You step out on the streets of Seattle and smell the famous brew of coffee of America’s coffee capital.

The state’s nickname is the Evergreen State and rightly so. Stepping off the plane at SeaTac I could smell the evergreens in the airport.

What I like about Utah:

The mountains and the deserts. The Canyonlands are absolutely gorgeous and the states hugs up to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. What a sight.

And if you are an outdoorsman as I am you will be quick to recognize Utah has 5 National Parks, 6 forests and, and 42 State Parks. You could spend you entire life outside.

The Great Salt Lake is home to the famous state bird, the California Seagull. Also has an island with a bison sanctuary nearby.

Not only is it the only state with three words for its title but all three words are four letters long!

The Dinosaur quarries are open to the public so we can learn interesting facts about the largest footprints and their history in Utah.

Utah is famous for Promontory Point where the Golden Spike was pounded in to show the nations first’s transcontinental railroad.

It may feed the desires of history buffs to learn who walked in Utah, such as the Spanish Franciscan Friars Escalante and Dominguez in 1776. Or the history of Jim Bridger when he discovered Salt Lake City in 1824.

What I like about Nevada (and no it is not about gambling):

While it is true that Reno and Las Vegas are hubs that known are worldwide I did not live in the part of that State. I have been to both, enjoyed shows, food and gambling.

I loved up by Elko where first recorded white men were fur trappers who trapped beaver starting in 1828.

Nevada is loaded with fossils. In fact, the ichthyosar is Nevada’s official state fossil.

Nevada gets its name from the Spanish word meaning “snow-clad”.

Most of the state in fact, is desert. You can see while mustang still roam in the secluded northern part of the state.

Remember the movie The Misfits with Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable? Yep, filmed in Nevada.

And Hoover Dam, who can not visit the beautiful legacy of the Great Depression era without being awe inspired.

What I like about California:

California has great things to do and places to visit. Starting with the famed Redwood forest.

It has history predating the birth of our nation.

Death Valley, oh this place is hot. White hot, recognized as the hottest, driest place in the United States.

Movie stars galore, the first motion picture theater was opened in Los Angeles in 1902.

Love the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, it is also know that the San Francisco Bay is considered to be the world’s largest landlocked harbor.

The wine country. If you have been to California you know this is one place not to miss in the Napa Valley.

And I miss the garlic festival south of San Jose. During the harvest the air was filled with the smell of garlic, still one of my favorite foods.

What I like about Texas:

The Hill Country around Austin is one of the most picturesque places in the spring when the bluebonnets are in full bloom.

Home to some of the most amazing history in our country, who can forget the Alamo or Gonzalez.

I never knew that the Texas flag has meaning for each color; blue stands for loyalty, the white for strength and the red for bravery.

Texas hugs up to the other side of the Gulf of Mexico from Florida, spent many days swimming off of Matagorda Bay.

From El Paso to Brownsville Texas it takes a good two day drive. On the coastline by Brownsville is Port Isabel where the summer resort of South Padre Island invites vacationers. Love it.

Austin has the famous Congress Bridge bats. It is one of the most amazing sites of Free-tail bats that migrate here to raise their young up until early fall.

Because New Braunfels has a sizable German community they start in November with their festival, Wurstfest. You can find bratwurst, beer and song. Makes anyone homesick for Europe.

What I like about Florida:

The Gulf of Mexico. Once you have been there you will not get enough of it.

The Everglades. Few places have I visited that have made such an impact on me. This was the greatest thing I saw in Florida.

Close by the Everglades is historical information about the Seminole Native Americans. Sure Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513 but it was in 1821 that General Andrew Jackson swept through with a vengeance to take over the area in the name of the United States.

Not to mention that Saint Augustine is the oldest European settlement in North America.

But it is Orlando that attracts most visitors than any other amusement park.

Cape Canaveral is America’s launch pad during space flights.

I lived in Niceville. It is home to the famous Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival.

What I like about Alabama:

The climate is temperate, has a great growing season. You can still see cotton fields along the roadways.

Has a nice long list of famous people who have called Alabama home. Three that I have been to their historical sites are Helen Keller, Rosa Parks and Harper Lee, famed author of to To Kill A Mockingbird.

History, history, history! From the early Native Americans to the Civil War on to the Civil Rights movement.

Cheaha Mountain is the highest point in Alabama. The Civilian Conservation Corps instituted during The Great Depression built the park that this mountain is associated with.

Huntsville is home of the famed NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center. It houses the Space Camp that attracts both kids and adults.

The lovely Camellia is the state flower. Camellias first sold in 1807 in American nurseries. They are now considered heirlooms plants in Alabama.

The Gulf of Mexico hugs this state as well, Dauphin Island is one place that we enjoy. It has an Audubon Bird Sanctuary and feeds my historical soul with Fort Gaines, best know for the Battle of Mobile Bay. It also has the Dauphin Island Sea Lab where primary marine education and research.