OPW — What do you think?

Since posting last Wednesday about my having run out of free image space I still have not had to make a move on the solution because I deleted many draft Old Postcard Wednesday drafts, thereby giving me space enough to at least post some other posts since then. I know that my space is low (perhaps even too low to upload a postcard image).......but I have a question for you.

In comments at OPW last week, Citizen of Earth suggested that I create a new blog for Old Postcard Wednesday alone, thereby giving me a new gig of storage. It would not alter my running out of image space here at Writerquake, however (unless I transferred four-plus years of OPW posts to the new blog, which I cannot imagine doing!).

Still, I am considering creating a third blog. It would free up Writerquake for basically writing-related posts only. The downside is that I may not post weekly in the third blog if writing here has my attention. I keep going back-and-forth on the issue and would really appreciate some input. Thank you!


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A really low tech OPW and Thanksgiving greeting

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Well, whoops, indeed. When I attempted to upload the image for this week's Old Postcard Wednesday, I was blocked by Blogger from doing so and received the prompt above. I am simply too frustrated and tired right now to try to figure out all the particulars of purchasing additional photo storage space via a storage upgrade. Certainly, there are those reading this who have used 100% of their 1 GB quota for photos at Blogger. If so, I would love to know which of the two upgrade options you selected.

In any case, my card for you this week was to be an 1880s image of Holman's Steam Ferry crossing the Willamette River at Salem, Oregon. In the foreground there is a horse-drawn flatbed wagon. I selected this one to accompany the Thanksgiving song "Over the River and Through the Woods," along with the information I read about the composer of the poem...... another Lydia for me to add to my "Lydias" tab on my main page after I can download her picture! You can read the bio of Lydia Maria Child here.

I always loved this song when I was a little girl, probably because we never went to a grandmother's house for Thanksgiving or any holiday. This is the background on the poem, via Wikipedia:

"Over the River and Through the Wood" is a Thanksgiving song by Lydia Maria Child. Written originally as a poem, it appeared in her Flowers for Children, Volume 2, in 1844. The original title of the poem is, "A Boy's Thanksgiving Day". It celebrates her childhood memories of visiting her Grandfather's House. Lydia Maria Child was a novelist, journalist, teacher, and wrote extensively about the need to eliminate slavery.

It is sometimes presented with lines about Christmas, rather than Thanksgiving. For instance, the line "Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!" becomes "Hurrah for Christmas Day!". As a Christmas song, it has been recorded as "A Merry Christmas at Grandmother's". Although the modern Thanksgiving holiday is not normally associated with snow, New England in the early 19th century was enduring the Little Ice Age, a colder era with earlier winters.

The original piece had six verses:

    Over the river, and through the wood,
    To Grandfather's house we go;
    the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
    through the white and drifted snow.

    Over the river, and through the wood,
    to Grandfather's house away!
    We would not stop for doll or top,
    for 'tis Thanksgiving Day.

    Over the river, and through the wood—
    oh, how the wind does blow!
    It stings the toes and bites the nose
    as over the ground we go.

    Over the river, and through the wood—
    and straight through the barnyard gate,
    We seem to go extremely slow,
    it is so hard to wait!

    Over the river, and through the wood—
    When Grandmother sees us come,
    She will say, "O, dear, the children are here,
    bring a pie for everyone."

    Over the river, and through the wood—
    now Grandmother's cap I spy!
    Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
    Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!


The following verses appear in a "long version":

    Over the river, and through the wood,
    with a clear blue winter sky,
    The dogs do bark, and children hark,
    as we go jingling by.

    Over the river, and through the wood,
    to have a first-rate play.
    Hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ding!",
    Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!

    Over the river, and through the wood,
    no matter for winds that blow;
    Or if we get the sleigh upset
    into a bank of snow

    Over the river, and through the wood,
    to see little John and Ann;
    We will kiss them all, and play snow-ball
    and stay as long as we can.

    Over the river, and through the wood,
    trot fast, my dapple-gray!
    Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound!
    For 'tis Thanksgiving Day.

    Over the river, and through the wood,
    Old Jowler hears our bells.
    He shakes his paw, with a loud bow-wow,
    and thus the news he tells.

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in the U.S.

I hope to get this photo storage issue settled in order to post again by Friday, but may wind up taking a longer weekend if it's a hassle.  :(    

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Old Postcard Wednesday—Civic Center, Kansas City, Missouri

First, I have been unable to determine the name of the building in the center, the one that appears to have a spire. If anyone can identify it, please leave a comment. Many buildings in what was known as the Civic Center at the time of this old postcard were representative of the Pendergast era.

At the start of the 20th century, political machines attempted to gain clout in the city, with the one led by Tom Pendergast emerging as the dominant machine by 1925. Several important buildings and structures were built during this time, including the Kansas City City Hall and the Jackson County Courthouse—both added new skyscrapers to the city's growing skyline. The machine fell in 1939 when Pendergast, riddled with health problems, pleaded guilty to tax evasion. [Wikipedia]

The building on the left in this old postcard is the City Hall that was built following the demolition of the 2nd City Hall that was located in a different spot (see photo of the gorgeous old building here). Some particulars of this City Hall, via Wikipedia:

The City Hall of Kansas City, Missouri, is the official seat of government for the city of Kansas City, Missouri. It is a 29-story skyscraper located in downtown Kansas City, and has an observation deck on the top of it. It is the fourth tallest city hall in the world, and the seventh tallest building in Kansas City.

The City Hall was built in 1937, under the influence of Tom Pendergast (who owned a concrete company that built the city hall), the "political boss" of Kansas City at the time. It was built to "counter" the effects of the great depression on Kansas City, and was part of a series of other government buildings, which include the Jackson County Courthouse. Both buildings were designed by Wight and Wight.

The mayor's office is on the 29th floor and the City Council chamber is on the 26th floor. The City Hall is considered a "Beaux-Arts" style building, but has Art Deco elements on the interior. The interior of the city hall is full of Italian gray, red, white, and green marble which lines the halls and the floors of the building. It was dedicated on October 25th, 1937 and required 20,000 cubic feet (570 m3) of concrete, 7,800 tons of stone, 6,800 tons of steel and, as one newspaper put it, "a lake of paint" to build. One Kansas City Place, the tallest building in Kansas City and the state of Missouri was built based as a tribute to the architectural style of City Hall.

Jackson County Courthouse, the building on the right in this postcard, is located at 415 E. 12th Street in Downtown Kansas City. History follows:

It was built in 1934, designed by Wight and Wight in an Art Deco style. Harry S. Truman who was presiding judge of the Jackson County Court at the time had wanted it designed similar to the Caddo Parish, Louisiana courthouse in Shreveport, Louisiana. Edward F. Neild who designed the Shreveport courthouse was hired as consulting architect-engineer. Neild would later die while designing the Truman Library.

It replaced the previous Kansas City courthouse annex at 5th and Oak, which was a fire hazard and needed to be replaced. It was approved in a 1931 $4 million bond issue (which also included construction of the neighboring Kansas City City Hall. It was dedicated in December 1934. Truman had an office in the new courthouse building during most of his first term as U.S. Senator from 1935 to 1939.

In 1922, Harry S. Truman won election as county judge for eastern Jackson County as a candidate of the Tom Pendergast faction of the Democratic Party. He failed to be re-elected in 1924, but, then won election as presiding judge in 1926. Truman served in this position in effect as county commissioner for eight years. He divided his time between the two Jackson County courthouses: the courthouse in Independence in Independence and this one in Kansas City.

The courthouse contains an elaborate painted ceiling on the 2nd floor featuring portraits of county employees. The mural was completed by artist Chris Doyle in 2008. [Wikipedia]

I found this marvelous photo (below) at Kansas City with the Russian Accent, filed under "Old Photos: Even More of 1938 Kansas City." The photo was identified at the source in comments by one brojangles. I cannot confirm the validity of his comments, but they make a great story!

© Time Inc. William Vandivert

The old guy looking across downtown is, I think, Henry McElroy. He was the first City Manager of KCMO after the city charter was changed. He got the job as a crony of Tom Pendergast. My guess is that the picture was taken from atop City Hall, which, along with the Jackson County Courthouse and Municipal Auditorium (visible in the center of the photo, just to the right of the P&L Building) was built during his administration. He was later indicted for fraud and embezzlement, but got sick and died before the case went to trial.

Did you notice in the lower left of the postcard that the photo was "Courtesy of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce"? This is a stretch, having nothing at all to do with KCMO, but that notation reminded me of an interview that ran locally following election day. As you may be aware, Oregon (where I live) voted against legalizing marijuana, but our neighboring state of Washington and the State of Colorado both voted for legalizing it in small quantities. I read that the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce was against the initiative (see article at insidecounsel.com) — but not so in the case of the Skamania County Chamber of Commerce in Washington, that sees a potential for tourism. The times are changing....





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Old Postcard Wednesday—Moonlight - Royal Gorge, Colorado

The image of a train making its way in the moonlight at Royal Gorge, Colorado, seemed like a spooky site for Halloween. Come to find out, they actually do have a Halloween train ride there, although in the daytime, and a few days prior to Halloween. It has already happened this year, but you might want to keep it in mind for next year so here's the information from Royal Gorge Route Railroad:

Trick or Treat Train

All aboard the Royal Gorge Route’s Halloween "Trick or Treat" Train where costumed guests and staff take a spooky two-hour excursion complete with special treats and a pumpkin patch ending where children are free to pick their favorite. You may even catch a glimpse of the ghost of the Santa Fe Depot, believed to be an old railroader from the 1870’s war of the Royal Gorge. Call 1.888.724.5748 to book your Coach or Vista Dome tickets today. Or book below in either Coach or Vista Dome on the 12:30 PM departure on October 27th and 28th. Please bring the kids dressed in costume with a treat bag and enjoy the train ride & pumpkin patch.

Sounds like a fun time on the train. A bit more family-friendly than the one described in the poem below. It might send you running so I will wish you a Happy Halloween now before you begin reading!

THE HELL BOUND TRAIN

A Texas cowboy lay down on a barroom floor,
 Having drunk so much he could drink no more;
 So he fell asleep with a troubled brain
 To dream that he rode on a hell-bound train.

The engine with murderous blood was damp
 And was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;
 An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones,
 While the furnace rang with a thousand groans.

The boiler was filled with lager beer
 And the devil himself was the engineer;
 The passengers were a most motley crew-
 Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew,

Rich men in broad cloth, beggars in rags,
 Handsome young ladies, and withered old hags,
 Yellow and black men, red, brown, and white,
 All chained together-O God, what a sight!

While the train rushed on at an awful pace-
 The sulphurous fumes scorched their hands and face;
 Wider and wider the country grew,
 As faster and faster the engine flew.
 Louder and louder the thunder crashed
 And brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;
Hotter and hotter the air became
 Till the clothes were burned from each quivering frame.

 And out of the distance there arose a yell,
 "Ha, ha," said the devil, "we're nearing hell"
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain
 And begged the devil to stop the train.
 But he capered about and danced for glee,
 And laughed and joked at their misery.
 "My faithful friends, you have done the work
 And the devil never can a payday shirk.

 "You've bullied the weak, you've robbed the poor,
 The starving brother you've turned from the door;
 You've laid up gold where the canker rust,
 And have given free vent to your beastly lust.
 "You've justice scorned, and corruption sown,
 And trampled the laws of nature down.
 You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied,
And mocked at God in your hell-born pride.

 "You have paid full fare, so I'll carry you through,
 For it's only right you should have your due.
 Why, the laborer always expects his hire,
So I'll land you safe in the lake of fire,

"Where your flesh will waste in the flames that roar,
 And my imps torment you forevermore."
 Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry,
 His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high.

 Then he prayed as he never had prayed till that hour
 To be saved from his sin and the demon's power;
 And his prayers and his vows were not in vain,
For he never rode the hell-bound train.

-Anonymous

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Old Postcard Wednesday—The Empress Hotel, Victoria, B.C.

I would like this old postcard for the beautiful b&w photo that it is, even if the building was not internationally known and a designated National Historic Site of Canada. The waterway and ships are what draw my attention most; what a lovely scene. The original hotel entrance we see here is no longer used. The main entrance (and driveway) is now to the left of the main facade. Victoria is fortunate that far-sighted preservationists saved the hotel for such modern alterations, as it could have gone the other way in the 60s and the whole thing might have been leveled:

In 1965, there was much debate on whether to tear down what was becoming a faded, dowdy hotel, to make room for a more modern, functional high-rise hotel. One local newspaper warned that, 'Without this splendid relic of the Edwardian era, literally tens of thousands of tourists will never return. This is the Mecca, this is the heart and soul of the city.' A decision was announced on June 10, 1966: The Empress would not be demolished. Instead she would embark on a $4 million campaign of renovation and refurbishment, playfully dubbed 'Operation Teacup.'

In 1989, over $45 million was spent in additional restoration known as The Royal Restoration. All the guest rooms were renovated, and a health club, indoor swimming pool and guest reception were added. With an emphasis on craftsmanship, no attempt was made to give the hotel a new image. Instead, the goal was to restore The Empress to its original, pre-war elegance.

Up until this renovation, the engineering staff from the hotel confirmed that there was what has been described as a tunnel that ran from James Bay into the basement of the Empress. At high tide one was able to visit the basement and see the salt water flood the opening. It is not clear what the purpose was. Some have suggested that it was part of the hotel's waste management system and that at one time the sewage from the hotel was being flushed into James Bay.

In 1998, Ian Powell took over as the General Manager of the hotel. He was there through 2004 where he oversaw many of the changes to the hotel both esthetically and internally through staff and management. [Source for this and following citations: Wikipedia]

Here is some history of the "splendid relic of the Edwardian era":

The Edwardian, château-style hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury for Canadian Pacific Hotels as a terminus hotel for Canadian Pacific's steamship line, whose main terminal was just a block away.[3] The hotel was to serve businesspeople and visitors to Victoria, but later as Canadian Pacific ceased its passenger services to the city, the hotel was successfully remarketed as a resort to tourists. Victoria emerged as a tourist destination beginning in the mid-to-late 1920s.

The hotel was built between 1904 and 1908, opening for service in that year. Additional wings were added between 1909 and 1914, and in 1928. During this time, The Empress (as it was known then) played hostess to kings, queens, movie stars and many famous people. In 1919, Edward, Prince of Wales waltzed into the dawn in its Crystal Ballroom - an event considered by Victorians to be of such importance that almost 50 years later, the obituaries of elderly ladies would appear under headlines such as, 'Mrs. Thornley-Hall Dies. Prince of Wales Singled Her Out.' In the 1930s, Shirley Temple arrived accompanied by her parents amid rumours that she had fled from California because of kidnapping threats, a story borne from the presence of two huge bodyguards who took the room opposite hers and always left their door open.

On May 30, 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth attended a luncheon at the Empress, as guests of the Provincial Government.

For many years the hotel did not have a sign above the front entrance. The strong emotions the hotel evoked in Victorians and its guests and protectors is exemplified in the statement made by an irate gentleman, as workers raised the sign above the front entrance: 'Anyone who doesn't know this is The Empress shouldn't be staying here.'

The hotel's sign played an interesting role in the name change from (what is still called) The Empress to The Fairmont Empress:

In 1999, Canadian Pacific spun off Canadian Pacific Hotels, along with all its properties. The new company was renamed Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in an effort to reflect its growing global presence and ambitions. As such, all former CP Hotel properties were to be renamed and rebranded with the prefix 'Fairmont'. This led to a loud uproar and consternation by Victoria's newspapers and its citizens, a decision they viewed as sacrilege. Although the new name stuck, Fairmont made no changes to the hotel's original exterior signage, as a compromise to soothe local anxieties and respect its iconic heritage.

Fairmont later sold the hotel on October 31, 2000 to the Legacy Hotels REIT for CAD $120 million. However, Fairmont has a long-term management agreement with Legacy Hotels, and as of August 2005, held an 11.14% ownership in this REIT.

And with all that remodeling, and wheeling and dealing, The Empress has continued to offer its patrons its famous High Tea:

The hotel is well known for its classic Victorian afternoon tea service. During the summer months, the hotel serves tea (along with tea sandwiches, fresh scones, preserves and clotted cream known as Empress cream in its 'Tea Lobby' to more than 800 guests and tourists daily. Afternoon tea is approximately CAD $60 per person,and reservations are often required one or two weeks in advance.

This is a short video of the actual High Tea menu:




And this is a video that someone shot at The Empress during Christmas 2010 with the intention of showing High Tea, but well.... you'll see. (pssst, how many Christmas trees can you count?)




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Old Postcard Wednesday—Home library of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, NY

Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt

"All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River"                                                                                                     -FDR

This quote captures FDR's connection to Springwood, the estate that he loved & the place he considered home. The first US Presidential Library was started by FDR here. Visit the Home of FDR and Presidential Library & Museum to learn about the only President elected to four terms. [Source: Introduction to website: Home of Franklin D Roosevelt, National Historic Site, New York]

Tuesday night's second 2012 presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, which is 100 miles from Hyde Park, the site of Franklin D. Roosevelt's home where this library is situated. Hofstra University has a complete section devoted to the historical debate at its website here.

FDR's terms as U.S. President were 3/4/1933 - 4/12/1945. His second election campaign was in 1936, and I found the following quite interesting as a comparison to Obama's second election campaign:

The Campaign and Election of 1936

FDR entered the 1936 election with a strong, but not invincible, hand. The economy remained sluggish and eight million Americans still were without jobs. Critics from various points on the political spectrum—such as Father Coughlin and Dr. Francis Townsend—had spent much of the previous two years attacking the President. (They supported Representative William Lemke of the newly formed Union Party in the 1936 election.) Likewise, by 1936 FDR had lost most of the backing he once held in the business community because of his support for the Wagner Act and the Social Security Act.

Republicans, though, had few plausible candidates to challenge FDR in 1936. They settled on Alfred "Alf" Landon, a two-term governor of Kansas who was the only Republican governor to win reelection in 1934. Nominated on the first ballot at the Republican convention in Cleveland, Landon was a moderate conservative—and notoriously lackluster public speaker—who the party hoped could take votes from FDR in the rural Midwest. Unfortunately for Landon, his moderation was often drowned out during the campaign by the conservative clamor emanating from the Republican Party, as well as from his running mate, Chicago publisher Frank Knox.

Roosevelt seemed to relish the attacks of Republicans, maintaining that he and his New Deal protected the average American against the predations of the rich and powerful, Referring to "business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking," FDR crowed, "Never before have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred." Roosevelt's supporters believed their candidate understood and sympathized with them. As one worker put it in 1936, Roosevelt "is the first man in the White House to understand that my boss is a son of a (expletive.)" FDR won the election in a walk, amassing huge majorities in the popular vote and in the Electoral College.

What the 1936 election made most clear was that because of FDR and the New Deal, the Democratic Party was now the majority party in the nation. Roosevelt had put together what came to be called the "New Deal Coalition," an alliance of voters from different regions of the country and from racial, religious and ethnic groups. The coalition combined southern Protestants, northern Jews, Catholics and blacks from urban areas, labor union members, small farmers in the middle west and Plains states, and liberals and radicals. This diverse group, with some minor alterations, would power the Democrats for the next thirty years—and it was Roosevelt who put it together.
[Source: Miller Center, Univ. of VA]

The following video ties everything together rather nicely, I thought. Produced during the election of 2008 when President Obama ran against John McCain, the wonderful Stephen Colbert, with uncanny foresight, even turns a friend of Big Bird (amazingly, one of the "characters" in the 2012 presidential campaign) into a key character in the debate of who was the most important Roosevelt. Hah! Enjoy.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

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Old Postcard Wednesday—Eagle Hotel, Gettysburg

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From 1834 to 1960 this site was occupied by the Eagle Hotel building. It was Gettysburg's premier hostelry for most of the 19th century. The advent of automobile and cheaper motels were the source of its downfall midway in the 20th century.

It was always the soldiers favorite. When his cavalry division arrived in Gettysburg on June 30, 1863, General John Buford placed his headquarters at the Eagle Hotel until the battle opened the following morning. For years following the war it was the hotel of choice for Union veterans returning for reunions.

During the retreat of Union forces through the town to Cemetery Hill the intersection here in front of the Eagle was the scene of considerable confusion and brief fighting between pursued and pursuers. While they occupied the town the Confederates ransacked the hotel's liquor and food supply but did no harm to the building. — Inscription on the Eagle Hotel Marker

 Site of the Eagle Hotel

 The location of the hotel is now occupied by a convenience store

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The following is from York Blog. If you click on the site you will be treated to an interesting blog plus two more views of the hotel, one of them being an actual image of the original hotel:

Today in the town of Gettysburg, a 7-11 convenience store and its parking lot occupies the northeast corner of the intersection of Chambersburg Street (US Route 30) and Washington Street. Back in the 19th century, however, this was the location of one of Gettysburg’s leading attractions, the Eagle Hotel.

A historical marker in the current parking lot recounts a little of the venerable hotel’s long history...

. . . Before the Battle of Gettysburg, the Eagle Hotel was the personal headquarters of Maj. Granville Owen Haller of the 7th U.S. Infantry. Haller was a native of York, Pa., who had considerable experience as an Indian fighter in the Pacific Northwest. He had commanded the headquarters guard for Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan in the Maryland Campaign and at the Battle of Antietam. He had contracted a disease while in the field and had returned to York to recuperate. When the Rebels threatened Pennsylvania in June 1863, he took the Northern Central Railway from York to Harrisburg and volunteered his services to the commander of the Department of the Susquehanna, Maj. Gen. Darius N. Couch.

Couch instructed Major Haller to raise militia troops in Adams and York counties and then to defend the region against any Confederate raiding parties. Haller made his HQ in the Eagle Hotel, which had been newly renovated. From his room, he directed the movements of two volunteer cavalry companies which scouted many of the roads emanating from Gettysburg for any signs of oncoming Rebel forces.He and his officers likely stabled their horses in the Ziegler and Holtzworth Livery located behind the hotel.

On June 26th, the Confederates arrived in mass from the west on the Chambersburg-Gettysburg Pike. Haller beat a hasty retreat on his horse to Hanover, Pa., leaving the newly arrived 26th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia, an emergency regiment with scarcely three days of training, to fend for itself. His actions would spark a war of words with the colonel commanding the militia.

During the Battle of Gettysburg a few days later, the Eagle Hotel was behind Confederate lines for the last two days of serious fighting. For decades after the battle, returning veterans often would book rooms in the hotel. In July 1893, the guests included the commissioners of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, among them generals Daniel Sickles, Henry Slocum, and Joseph Carr, all of whom fought at Gettysburg. A year later, the original hotel burned down, but was soon rebuilt.

The second hotel, which operated under various names, was razed in 1960.

The building shown in this old postcard was not the original Eagle Hotel. As noted in the text above, the  original burned in December 1894 and was reconstructed. A site titled Living Places confirms that after the hotel was reconstructed, it "operated under other names including the Adams House" (Gettysburg is in Adams County, Pennsylvania). Another source, in describing Brig. Gen. John Buford's arrival in Gettysburg, notes: "At 11a.m., on the last day of June, Buford's exhausted troopers clattered into Gettysburg, and the general established headquarters in Tate's Blue Eagle Hotel, west of the square." I searched extensively to see if the Eagle Hotel and Tate's Blue Eagle Hotel were the same hotel, or different hotels, but could not find anything.

I found an interesting piece of history at The New York Public Library website, titled What's on the Menu? The library has collected vintage menus and includes recipes, and, yes, they have one for the Eagle Hotel. It is for dinner on the evening of Monday, June 5, 1905.

The thumbnail view of the menu is below. Click HERE to go to the site where you can actually read the menu and collect recipes if you choose:





Finally, I wonder how many of you have been thinking about this ever since reading the words
Eagle Hotel......


Hotel California
The Eagles


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Feeling spacey this Old Postcard Wednesday

We are having the exterior of our house painted this week, a long overdue project. On Tuesday the front and south side were completely scraped and the painters sprayed oil-based primer on all surfaces. Consequently, I have been monitoring airflow to the best of my ability all day and evening, but I am tipsy and exhausted from breathing the fumes that made it indoors. Please understand that I have altered Old Postcard Wednesday accordingly for this week by not posting an old postcard, and posting instead this thought-provoking poem.

I am also introducing the art of my great-nephew, Mak. If you are on Facebook you may be able to access his Facebook gallery page here. 


A Martian Sends A Postcard Home
                                            -by Craig Raine

Caxtons are mechanical birds with many wings
and some are treasured for their markings --

they cause the eyes to melt
or the body to shriek without pain.

I have never seen one fly, but
sometimes they perch on the hand.

Mist is when the sky is tired of flight
and rests its soft machine on ground:

then the world is dim and bookish
like engravings under tissue paper.

Rain is when the earth is television.
It has the property of making colours darker.

Model T is a room with the lock inside --
a key is turned to free the world

for movement, so quick there is a film
to watch for anything missed.

But time is tied to the wrist
or kept in a box, ticking with impatience.

In homes, a haunted apparatus sleeps,
that snores when you pick it up.

If the ghost cries, they carry it
to their lips and soothe it to sleep

with sounds. And yet they wake it up
deliberately, by tickling with a finger.

Only the young are allowed to suffer
openly. Adults go to a punishment room

with water but nothing to eat.
They lock the door and suffer the noises

alone. No one is exempt
and everyone's pain has a different smell.

At night when all the colours die,
they hide in pairs

and read about themselves --
in colour, with their eyelids shut.

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Old Postcard Wednesday—Freight train on the Meailles viaduct curve, Provence, France

(Railways of Provence -Freight train on the viaduct curve Méailles)

(This line of Railway narrow gauge connects 
NICE WORTHY. Based on the French Riviera, it 
rises up to 1000m. altitude of the valleys 
of the Var and Verdon.)


This old postcard attracted my attention because of the beauty of the singular autumnal tree on the hillside beyond the railway. It seems like the perfect image to celebrate the beginning of autumn this coming Saturday. I have never seen anything quite like that tree since most of our evergreen trees in the Pacific Northwest are conical like the trees on the hillside here, but of course they do not change color. The postcard tree's glorious, bright color does not look like the dull browns of a dead or dying tree. I find it so mysterious and perplexing that it makes me wonder if it wasn't the tree that caught the photographer's eye more than anything else in the scene. We'll never know.

In keeping with our French theme, the well-loved poem by Paul Verlaine:

Autumn Song by Paul Verlaine

With long sobs
the violin-throbs
of autumn wound
my heart with languorous
and montonous
sound.

Choking and pale
When I mind the tale
the hours keep,
my memory strays
down other days
and I weep;

and I let me go
where ill winds blow
now here, now there,
harried and sped,
even as a dead
leaf, anywhere.




Tiré du DVD "Léo Ferré chante les poètes" (1986 - Théâtre libertaire de Paris)
[From the DVD "Léo Ferré sings poets" (1986 - Paris Theatre libertarian)]

Chanson d'automne by Paul Verlaine

Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l'automne
Blessent mon cœur
D'une langueur
Monotone.

Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l'heure,

Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure ;

Et je m'en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m'emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.


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Old Postcard Wednesday—The Beatles (on the shore)

The only descriptions on the back of this postcard are "The Beatles" and "Echte Foto" so we must guess at the time and place of this marvelous scene. When I found it for sale by a German vendor I jumped to buy it because I've never seen a photo of John Lennon smiling quite that happily, and I thought the setting was just beautiful.

This week commemorates 50 years since The Beatles recorded their first record. I know this historical fact not because I saw it on a television report, news or entertainment-related. Not because I read about it in a magazine, print or online, rock-related or not. Not because I wrote the date on my calendar a long time ago and brought it forward year-after-year the way I do many other personal and historical anniversaries. And not because I heard about it on the radio.

I learned that September 11, 2012 was the 50th anniversary of that auspicious recording occasion (do you know what song it was they recorded that day?) in the life of those lads from a most marvelous post at one of my favorite blogs. "The Rant" by Tom Degan: Fifty Years of the Beatles is a passionate account of that day and beyond, and it is so informative, so engaging, such a perfect read, that I am simply going to ask you to click on the link to enjoy it yourself.


In 1980, 18 years after that first recording by The Beatles, John Lennon wrote and recorded Beautiful Boy about his son, Sean. I thought about it when I saw how beautiful "the boys" were in this old postcard. I've always loved this poignant song, and the video below appealed to me because of the pictures.....among which is one of John's beaming smile similar to the shot above. You can see this other happy and contented smile at 3:00 in the video.



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What's happening

On this site Sept. 5, 2012, Old Postcard Wednesday did not happen.

I am sorry. I just can't seem to get it all together this week. My husband has the week off and we are working in the yard in preparation for painters who will be doing the exterior paint job the final week of this month. We are pruning the overgrowth of bushes and trees around the periphery of the house, something I promised the painters when they toured to give the quote. Because the house needs this work so desperately I want to make it as easy for the crew as possible, to ensure the best outcome.

The Democratic Convention got my full attention late afternoon through evening of the first day, as it will until they gavel the event closed. (I watched a lot of the Republican Convention two weeks ago, also, because I think it's important to be aware of the big picture.) In spite of being totally wowed by Mayor Castro's keynote speech and Michele Obama's transcendent speech, I am feeling deeply the gravity of the importance underlying hopeful words and enthusiastic cheers. I am certain that my introspection now is serving to store up the energy I want to have for campaign volunteerism in about six weeks.

We don't live in a world where, in any one day, nothing big happens. Of course, something has always been happening since the beginning of time, but could anyone living in the 18th Century have imagined the break-neck speed of change in the 21st Century? We really should be more forgiving of one another, and of ourselves, for lacking the perfection that is expected of us and (because we are human) for missing the mark again and again.

As I am writing this post I am listening to an album on my Spotify playlist (I love Spotify and hope it is offered worldwide in the months ahead!).  I find myself returning to this album; my brain is attracted to it. Among tamer dream track titles, there are some mind-boggling track titles, i.e. Astral Travel, Out of Body Musical Experience, Etheric Travel, but all of the music has the same free-flowing, body-slowing, soothing effect on me. There's not a lot else happening while I am listening to Lucid Dreaming World-Collective Unconscious Mind (the link is to Amazon, where you can hear small samples to test whether or not it appeals to you).

And that, dear friends, is all I happen to have for you this Wednesday, except to wish you lucid dreaming and lucid thinking in the nights and days ahead. 

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image: found on Facebook

Old Postcard Wednesday—Making a summer video

There is no description on the back of this old postcard, only printer information that tells us the publisher was Grafiche Biondetti in Verona, and that it was printed in Italy.

I found a video camera for sale at Etsy that resembles the one the girl is holding. Because the description is wonderful and rather brings this postcard to life I am going to print it below because the item may sell, in which case the Etsy shop link would be useless:

1960s 8mm Video Camera - Mansfield Holiday I-EE

Excellent condition camera for video or stop-motion projects, or perfect for neat home decor.

Made in Japan by Argus Inc. between 1962-65.

Sturdy grey metal casing, chrome details and a mixture of charming fonts. Clean and in great shape, and appears fully functional after thorough cleaning/examination.

Completely mechanical operation (no need for batteries). A small lever can advance the film per frame for stop-motion work, or automatically. The attachable handle has a trigger that also engages the automatic film feed. Camera can be mounted to your tri-pod to make sick looking claymation monster movies!!

This wonderful device is nearly 50 years old and has been well cared for. Given the age and the delicate nature of a camera's workings, this should not be your next beater camera, but could definitely yield some fantastic art given proper love and care.

Or perhaps it will just add that perfect touch to your sharp 60s decor and make your space look like a million bucks.

Freshly cleaned and given a good once-over. Exterior is in lovely condition with minimal scratches. Lens has no damage. Film housing is clean and includes the take-up reel.

Camera dimensions are about 5 1/4 in (top to bottom) x 7 1/4 in (eye piece to lens)
Handle is 4 1/8 in long

***I examined this camera very carefully and have checked that the lens appears clean and undamaged, the advancing mechanics operate as expected and overall device is clean. I have not tested with actual film and so cannot guarantee that all aspects of the camera's original functionality are intact. This camera is offered as is, but I am confident that anything this cute is unlikely to disappoint!

These days, when kids get together to record good times they pull out their smart phones to capture video moments. Much less cumbersome, to be sure.....but also lacking in movie-making magic! And there are expectations for technological perfection, that wow-factor that the couple in the park above probably never would have considered. Technology Review has an article about a new product that indicates how much things have changed in the world of personal videography. You can read the entire article HERE, as I am sharing only a portion:

Using Your Smart Phone to Mix Video Clips with Others
Vyclone turns a phone into an automated editing suite, mashing up videos recorded simultaneously from different angles.

Taking a video of a concert or ball game with your smart phone and uploading it to YouTube is easy. Finding other videos taken by fellow spectators at the same time and stitching them into one seamless recording is a lot harder.

A new app called Vyclone promises to do that hard stuff for you. Created by Joe Sumner and David King Lassman, the app can be used for all kinds of things, from concert and wedding recordings to short films and citizen journalism projects. Sumner and King Lassman say they aren't trying to compete with professional video-editing tools—rather, they see Vyclone as something anyone can use on the fly. "We can all have our Scorsese moment, irrespective of experience and ability," King Lassman says.

As more people tote smart phones everywhere they go, Vyclone and a growing number of other mobile apps are trying to bring functionality to smart phones that until recently was restricted to computers.

Sumner, a singer-songwriter, thought of the idea in 2010 while touring as a member of the band Fiction Plane. He noticed that audience members spent much of  the show recording it with their cell phones and then posted their videos on YouTube. Sumner figured there must be a simple way to link all the phones at an event and create an automatically generated compilation of the different videos taken simultaneously. That way "people would be able to look at every single viewpoint and see everything," he says.

Sumner began working with King Lassman, a technology entrepreneur, on software that could rapidly analyze, process, mash up, and spit out video recorded by people at the same event. In May they rolled out the free iPhone app in their native England, which they're treating as a test market before bringing the app stateside this summer. . .

Happy Labor Day weekend wishes to those celebrating in the U.S. and Happy Labour Day to those celebrating in Canada this weekend. Go make some sweet
end-of-summer memories, and perhaps capture them via smart phone, or a poem or painting because time goes by so fast!

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Old Postcard Wednesday—Barcelona Lady~The Rose on the Lips

Tango
        ~ by Joanne de Longchamps

Our longest love will not outlive us
but go down crying in the cold
of those sealed countries walled within.

Heat dictates the tango years
and we outlive our gliding loves,
outstay our spring and summer selves
repenting of the coldest change
when forward looking turned its face
to looking back.
                       See
all our moons ascend and snap
like children's lost balloons of light.

Over meadows moulting down,
hot landscapes alter to a thin
God-fearing city spiked with spires,
robbed of roses and of swans.

Rivers carried prints of leaves,
sucked sweetness in a riot of sun
where ice has settled down to stay—
trees are gallows waving ghosts.

There is nothing to be done but this:
Take grief to bed, last chilly lover
who will be faithful kissing in the cold.

Can anyone translate the message written on the back of this old postcard in 1928 (or was it 1916...I am not sure)? And, while Barcelona is on your mind may I suggest that you visit Carlos Lorenzo at his marvelous Barcelona Photoblog.....

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Old Postcard Wednesday—Postcard with Forest Breeze, J.C. Schmidt, Erfurt, Germany

"Postcard with forest breeze

 J.C. Schmidt, Erfurt, total protected"

 "a range
Fragrant Postcards
as a bonus
for proper Lälung
the price - in Räthiels
J.C. Schmidt's
Tear-off Calendar 1901:
The seeds Belts
has Flowers Schmidt
in Erfurt.' "


I will not even attempt to translate the words written in that beautiful cursive script, but did run the printed words through Google translate and came close. Because this is such an old postcard it uses one of the many Fraktur fonts in Old German print. Of course, that set me on a crash course reading about the topic and, in the process, I collected some links and tidbits for you:

• From Fraktur German True Type Fonts and Others:

Prior to 1941 Hiter viewed Fraktur as a "german alphabet" and Fraktur was widely used in Third Reich" propaganda publications.
Yet 1941 Hitler outlawed it, for all the wrong reasons, probably in the course of a lunch at his Berghof.  Unwittingly, Hitler forever spared the Germans and many others the confusion of dealing with the wonderful yet confusing Fraktur alphabet.

• From Music Cataloging at Yale: the Fraktur Chart in all its glory

•  From Stein Collectors International:

What Does This Blasted Thing Say?

Stein collectors, be they novice or old-hand, understandably want to know what is written on their steins. Translation to English is difficult in its own right, but simply transcribing the words written in old German print (in one of many Fraktur fonts) can be daunting. If you don't think this is a problem, just look at the questions asked in SteinTalk, or in the listings of steins for sale on eBay. It's really no wonder that figuring out what those letters actually are is so difficult - use of these alphabets was being discontinued in German schools in the late 1930's, and completely ended in the 1940's. Consequently, your 50-year old German cousin or brother-in-law is quite possibly not familiar with this alphabet.

This article uses the FetteFraD font to illustrate the old German lettering. This type of font is most commonly found on hand-lettered regimental steins, but is also occasionally found in verses or banners on other types of steins. . . [article continues at link above]

• From Penn State's Computing with Accents, Symbols & Foreign Scripts:

Almost all applications support German accents. Guidelines for typing and using accents are given . . .[click link above for all the info]

• Dig even deeper at Omniglot—the online encyclopedia of writing systems & languages

I was not having any luck in finding information about J. C. Schmidt, whose name is copyrighted on the front of the postcard, so I gave up and searched the name at Google Germany. Perhaps there is much information but a quick look brought up a page with a book review at erfurt-web.de and I knew I was onto something because Erfurt is noted on the back of the postcard. The vintage book, Horticultural enterprises J.C. Schmidt, is pictured at the link, and the review is written in German that Google translated as such:

Horticultural enterprises J.C. Schmidt

Contribution of the series in the Thuringian town of flowers myth General Dr. Steffen Raßloff (14.04.2007)

"Flowers Schmidt"

Myth Flower City (4): The horticultural enterprise JC Schmidt

Founded in 1823, horticultural firm J.C. Schmidt became known as "flower Smith" in the story. With economic success and many innovations they contributed significantly to the worldwide recognition of the "Flower City" at Erfurt. The Palm House at the Anger evoking the splendor of the golden age of horticulture in Erfurt in 1900.

Company founder Johann Christoph Schmidt (1803-1868) had first worked in his father's footsteps as Wachsbossierer. From the raw beeswax, he designed inter alia popular waxworks. By way of the flowers growing on his bees made Schmidt and his descendants finally all in flower. Founded in 1823, "J.C. Smith "quickly got the nickname" Flower Smith. "

Johann Christoph Schmidt, one of the founding members of the Horticultural Society active (1838), which provided for professional exchanges, exhibitions and prepared in the establishment of "Horticulture Thuringian newspaper 'was involved. Hardly a major innovation in the industry happened without Schmidt's intervention, such as the initial Sent from dried flowers (1853), and fresh cut flowers (1854), in a sense the forerunner of today's Fleurop system. Specialties of flowers Schmidt was also the bouquet and wreathmaking and the production of wax flowers.

Heinrich Schmidt (1841-1890) led his father's company more successful. The outer expression of the economic success was in 1888 at the corner of Castle Road / Lawrence Church was built next to the green sales pavilion. With its sleek, glass architecture of the "Palm House" sat down "Schmidt flowers" in the heart of the city a lasting memorial.

Partner, Ernst Mueller took over after the death of Henry Schmidt, 1890, the company as sole owner. The smart and successful businessman helped "Schmidt flowers" to a new upswing. However, he died in 1900 at the age of 45 years. Later took his son Alfred and Alfred Müller Wentscher the company. The really influential character for decades was the widow of Ernst Mueller, senior director Marie Bauer. She was highly regarded and played in the social life of the city an important role. Her memory is perpetuated in the First World War after the Ringelberg built Marienhof. There they had set up a sheep and foals with Saatguthof breeding. The Krämpferfeld on the northwestern outskirts of the city had long been the "area" of "Flowers Schmidt." Large industrial plants were located at the Leipzig road opposite the old North Station houses.

However, among "Schmidt flowers" to those horticultural companies that did not survive the great damage through the First World War and crisis of the Weimar Republic. In 1926 the company was forced to declare bankruptcy and merged with the horticultural company Benary.

Learning about that long-ago merger of "Schmidt flowers" with the horticultural company Benary made me want to know a bit about the outcome. I'll close with this from the Company Profile page at the extensive and interesting Benary website: 

   * Benary is a traditional, Family owned Business in its 6th Generation

   * Benary is specialized in breeding innovative Seed raised Ornamental Bedding Plants

   * Benary stands for "Quality Made in Germany" since 1843

Benary was founded in 1843 in Erfurt (former Eastern Germany), which was the center of the European Ornamental Industry.

After World War II our family business was completely disowned by the socialist government and was relocated by Friedrich Ernst Benary to Hann. Münden, Lower Saxony, in 1946.
Friedrich started from scratch and traveled all over Europe with his bike to collect seed for his new business.

Now specializing in Ornamentals, Benary produces premium quality flower seed for efficient young plant production and extraordinary garden performance.
    
Today Benary is one of the leading Ornamental Breeding companies worldwide.
Our exports account for more than 85 % of our sales quota, catering to 120 countries worldwide.

Benary's professional quality products are offered to growers through our wide network of distributors and brokers around the world.

With our company divisions: Breeding, SeedTec, Production, Sales and Administration, Benary has a 160 employees worldwide.

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Old Postcard Wednesday—Mignon

Mignon

Mignon, the young gypsy girl, is the central character of an “opera comique” written by Ambroise Thomas, and based on a novel by Goethe. The romantic opera was first performed  in the mid 19th century. Mignon is usually depicted as a bare footed gypsy girl, playing a mandolin. These postcards were very popular at the start of the 20th century in many countries.
      [Source: Clifton Curios Postcards]



I fell in love with some Mignon postcards at a vintage postcard seller's online shop and bought two without knowing anything about their background. Was Mignon the name of the brilliant photographer, I wondered? It is fun for me to discover more about postcards once they are in my possession, and learning about the Mignon back story was no exception. My husband and I have attended numerous operas given by Portland Opera over the past 17 years — I adore opera — but if Mignon has been one of their performances it is one that we unfortunately missed.  However, once I went to youtube and began playing some videos from the opera I immediately recognized a few as pieces I have enjoyed listening to on my favorite radio station, allclassical.org (broadcast from Portland, Oregon and streaming worldwide for your enjoyment!)

Apart from the opera itself, as horses will be among the olympians competing in London in the next week I thought this was a good time to show this postcard!

Below is more about Mignon. I am extracting portions from a good article at Wikipedia. Click here to read the full piece and to see photos:

Mignon is an opéra comique (or opera in its second version) in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead, (Dubliners). Thomas's goddaughter Mignon Nevada was named after the main character.

Synopsis
    Time: End of the 18th century.
    Place: Germany and Italy. 

Act 1

In the courtyard of an inn in a small German town, the wandering minstrel Lothario sings and the Gypsies dance while the townspeople watch and drink. Jarno threatens Mignon with a stick when she refuses to dance, but Lothario and Wilhelm Meister come to her aid. She thanks them and divides her bouquet of wild flowers between them. Wilhelm and Laerte have a drink together. Philine and Laerte leave, after he gives her his flowers from Mignon. Mignon tells Wilhelm she was captured by Gypsies as a child. Wilhelm decides to purchase Mignon’s freedom. Lothario comes to say goodbye to Mignon. Lothario wants Mignon to travel with him, but she stays with Wilhelm. Frédéric lovingly follows Philine in, but she also wants Wilhelm. The acting troupe is about to set off for a baron's castle after receiving an invitation to perform there. Mignon is deeply in love with Wilhelm, but upset to see the flowers that she gave him in the hands of Philine.

Act 2

In Philine’s room in the baron's castle, Philine is elated, living in the luxury and charming the baron. Laerte is heard outside, praising Philine. Wilhelm and Mignon enter. She pretends to sleep while Wilhelm and Philine sing. When the couple leave, Mignon tries on Philine’s costumes and make-up. She is jealous and exits. Frédéric enters. When Wilhelm returns for Mignon he is confronted by Frédéric. Mignon rushes in to break up their impending fight. Wilhelm decides that he cannot stay with Mignon and says goodbye to her. He leaves arm-in-arm with a jubilant Philine. Later, in the courtyard of the castle, Mignon is consumed by a jealous rage, when she hears Lothario playing the harp. He comforts the girl. Philine's portrayal of Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream is applauded in the conservatory. Mignon, in jealously, shouts that she wishes the building would catch fire and runs out. Lothario hears her and moves toward the conservatory. After Mignon returns, Wilhelm receives her so warmly that Philine, now jealous, sends her to fetch the wild flowers in the conservatory. Wilhelm rushes to save Mignon from the fire that Lothario had set to please her, carrying her unconscious body out of the conservatory with the singed flowers still in her hand.

Act 3

Wilhelm has brought Mignon and Lothario to a castle in Italy which he considers buying. There an old man watches over Mignon and prays for her recovery. Antonio relates how the castle’s previous owner had gone mad after his wife had died of grief over the loss of their young daughter. Wilhelm decides to buy the castle for Mignon because it has so speeded her recovery. Mignon awakens and confesses to Wilhelm of her love for this strangely familiar place. He finally realizes that he loves her deeply and resists Philine’s attempts to win him back. Lothario re-enters and informs the couple that he is the owner of the castle and that returning here has restored his sanity. After reading a prayer found in a book in the house, Mignon realizes the she is his daughter Sperata. The three embrace happily.

This is the beautiful Ouverture to Mignon:

:::

This week's OPW post will close with the aria sung by the gypsy girl Mignon in the opera.
It is "Connais-tu le pays?" - translation: Do you know the country?


Description at youtube: The legendary french volcanic blond dramatic soprano 
Jane Rhodes, the marvellous Carmen, Marguerite, Renata, Tosca and Charlotte, 
performs "Connais-tu le pays?" from Ambroise Thomas' "Mignon". 
Please enjoy such a great rendition!!!


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Old Postcard Wednesday—Summer vacation: Long live the holidays!

Interesting, isn't it, that the first line, on the left, in French is translated on the right-hand side of the card, but the line in Dutch is not translated! It's OK, however, because unlike the 1970s when this card was printed, we now have Google to translate the line for us. It means: It's nicer here than in the classroom!

Well, of course it is. And July always seemed like the best of the summer vacation months, pocketed between June when there was an adjustment phase in being out of the classroom, and August when it began to dawn that there would actually be an end to all this fun.

I wonder if it is true where you live, but I actually saw a "back-to-school" ad on TV this week. As if it didn't go fast enough......

We all have our favorite memories of summer vacations away from school. I found an article by a pediatrician that I quite liked and thought this post was a good place to share it. The author is this kindly-looking man, Brent Prather, M.D, of Opelousas, Louisiana.

Prather Pediatric and Allergy Center

Dr. Brent has written over 350 articles about parenting and allergies. He has compiled books which he distributed to many of his patients and associates. Many of the articles can be accessed by clicking on the topics of interest.

Title: SUMMER BLESSINGS FOR OUR CHILDREN

Every summer our children are released from school for almost three months. This is an ideal time to bless them with extra time and attention at home. Unfortunately, many families forget to plan summer activities with their children and get "caught up" in their own work pressures and other time consuming duties. As a parent of three grown children and a pediatrician for sixteen years, I strongly recommend committing as much time as you can find in your life to your children throughout their summer. Time is the major necessary ingredient to build lasting, loving relationships and memories among family members. Summer is the best opportunity to find this extra time. Wise parents plan lots of relaxed, fun, family activities.

When I was a child growing up in Opelousas in the 50's, my dad was a busy, overworked pediatrician. He worked 12 to 14 hour days, often seven days a week. One thing he did find time for, however, was a nice long summer vacation with the whole family. These three to four week trips in our airstream trailer are my happiest memories of childhood. I can remember almost every state we went through and every park we camped in. Somehow the relaxed nature of a summer vacation becomes a magic time for a young child. I strongly recommend placing summer vacation together as a family as a high priority. Where you go and what you do is not important. The important thing is sharing the relaxed fun time together as a family and getting involved with your children. If a trip is not possible then a simple outing together in town or a local park will do. Be enthusiastic planning it and watch your kids get excited.

Vacation time is probably the best teaching time we have with our kids. There is more time to talk, listen, observe, sing, laugh, and just generally have fun playing together. Shared meals can become a great teaching time. Mental games can be anything you want them to be while you are driving in a car or seated in a restaurant. Making sandcastles on the beach, hiking in the woods or mountains, or fishing in a stream or lake can become your children's happiest memories and activities your family will return to over and over again.

I strongly recommend reading with your children. This can start at any age, even infancy. Kids love to be read to and to read along with their parents even during their teen years. The most inspiring book my son and I ever read together was a great book called The Power of One by Bruce Courteney. It is a story of a young White South African boy who grows up without a father and has to survive amidst the abuse of other white children, who are very prejudiced. He befriends himself with the Black South Africans and their struggle and sets his goal to become the welterweight champion of the world. The book is a fascinating journey of overcoming the odds, noble heroism, and goal setting. Dozens of other inspirational books have been shared with our three kids by my wife and I. They were as much a joy for us to read even if they happened to be a second or third reading as they were for our children. Read with your children everyday and especially every opportunity you get this summer.

Finally, besides recreation time and reading with your children the best advice I can give parents is to pray with your children. Summer is a wonderful time to grow spiritually as we slow down and listen to God talking to us. Share daily prayers and worship together weekly as a family.

Share a spiritual book or goal this summer and let your children ask the inevitable questions all children wonder about as they are growing up. They will surely grow wiser as they strive to learn the answers. Summer is a truly blessed time for children and for parents. Take advantage of it and make it an awesome, memorable summer for your whole family.

Dr. Prather's plan sounds nearly ideal, except I would alter those final two paragraphs. I would advise that a family might explore different kinds of beliefs for true spiritual growth, thereby giving kids the gift of choice when it comes to their own spiritual paths.

As we all know, not every kid has the kind of summer vacation spelled out by Dr. Prather or as pictured on this old postcard. The man in the video below tells us with exuberance about his happiest summer memories......summer gaming memories, to be exact.......in the summer of 1987, to be even more exact. I am absolutely not a gamer and if I had ever been a parent I would have reluctantly allowed some gaming, while attempting to steer kids far away from the all-consuming love affair this guy had with gaming as a boy. He even admits that his parents used his Nintendo as a babysitter during that summer (see portion from 3:55-4:36). But look at his face. These were truly happy times for him, and he doesn't appear to have turned out to be too bad a fella, geek though he obviously still is today!

Maybe the lesson is that what kids need for a great summer vacation is a combination of the family values spelled out by Dr. Prather combined with allowing a kid to embrace the activities (safe, legal ones, duh) where he/she enters that wonderful state of flow, to have time doing what turns on their creativity, to do whatever floats their boat!






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Old Postcard Wednesday on dVerse Poets Anniversary • Harolds Club Sign

I have written before about my mother working as a dealer at Harolds Club for 17 years, in a period prior to my birth through my middle school years (when she made an about-face life-change and went the whole, successful business route until her retirement). When I was six she married the stepfather who would help raise my sister and me until their divorce about 12 years later. He worked as a bartender at Harolds Club in their early married years, and, since all employees of Harolds Club dressed in full western garb it meant that I had two parents who dressed in cowboy boots, western shirts, those string ties, and western pants. Sometimes my mother wore a sort of split skirt, called a culotte, that had swinging western fringe along the bottom. And she always wore a big, white cowboy hat. For some reason the bartenders and restaurant personnel did not wear cowboy hats, undoubtedly something to do with health regulations, so stepdad's head was bare.

I mention the attire as a round-about introduction to the poem below, which I am posting in the spirit of fun as my post to honor the One-Year Anniversary of dVerse Poets Pub. Pubtender Brian Williams wrote that we may submit poems that are either new or old for OpenLinkNight. Quite obviously, I am submitting an extremely old poem written by my child self for the pub's anniversary week OpenLinkNight.

This old postcard appears to be from around 1949-53, which means that my mother worked there when this photo was taken. About a decade later, during those years when she and stepdad both worked at "The Club," they took a series of Red Cross First Aid classes one night a week after work. Perhaps the course was required by Harolds Club, I'm not sure. My mother was one to prefer our attendance at anything she thought educational, so got clearance from the Red Cross for my sister and me to attend. I have this memory of each of them down on their hands and knees, in full western attire (she did remove her cowboy hat, however), working out the particulars of reviving a life on the padded dummy lying on the floor next to them. It all made a big impression on me, and from those episodes came this:

Happy One-Year Anniversary to dVerse Poets Pub, a group I really do love and admire. I swear that I approach many of the challenging prompts with a childlike timidity, but become so excited by the richness of those prompts that by the time I begin working on my own piece I often tend to enter that marvelous flow that too many adults rarely experience after leaving childhood behind. So, thank you for bringing the wonder of learning and creating and sharing back into my life, dVerse Poets!

:::

Okay, on to a bit about the old postcard, specifically the famous mural that is such an iconic image from my childhood. The following information is from Online Nevada, written by Bruce Bledsoe:

In 1949, Harolds Club commissioned a mural honoring the pioneers of the Old West. The design was created by painter Theodore McFall, and the mural itself was constructed by artist Sargent Claude Johnson of San Francisco, California, then fired into porcelain by Mordecai Wyatt Johnson at the Paine-Mahoney foundry in Oakland, California. Late that year the work was installed on the exterior of the casino. Except for the Reno Arch, the Harolds Club mural was for many years the most prominent feature of Reno's Virginia Street, rivaled later only by Harrah's forty-one-foot-long wall of air that kept the elements out and eliminated the need for doors. Today the mural is all that remains of the once powerful casino.

The Harolds mural was huge—seventy feet long by thirty-five feet tall, composed of 220 forty-by-forty-eight-inch panels. It showed a wagon train encamped for the night around a campfire near a waterfall. On a nearby bluff, Indians wearing loincloths and feathered headdresses stalked the pioneers. Lighting inside the mural gave the appearance of crackling fire and flowing water. Above the mural, red neon letters proclaimed "Dedicated in all humility to those who blazed the trail"—a restatement of the Old West theme that the Smith family had created for their establishment.

For fifty years the mural looked down on Reno's main street, even after the Smiths sold out in 1970 and the club passed from owner to owner. After Harolds closed in 1995, the mural remained in place as a reminder of the days when Harolds was the largest and most famous casino in Nevada. In 1999, when Harrah's bought the property to implode it for a plaza, the mural was dismantled and placed in storage.

A group of citizens then conducted a successful fundraising effort to restore the mural, but when the community discussed where to display it, a serious debate arose over the depiction of the Indians. Many people found the warrior Indians offensive and didn't want the mural located in a prominent place, while others said it deserved a high profile because it reflected American history and was an important part of Reno's past. The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony was asked for its opinion but the group refused to take a position. Tribal chairman Arlan Melendez did say that while he was not personally offended, the mural looked more like an old movie set than real history. He noted that northern Nevada tribes did not attack wagon trains and did not wear colored loincloths, but, he added, at least the mural did show that Indians were living in Nevada when the settlers came.

The Reno City Council at first considered placing the mural downtown, either at a proposed Reno Events Center (since built) or as part of a Fourth Street historic preservation and revitalization effort. In the end it went to neither place, and sufficient reasons can be found besides political correctness: the events center had a modern style that required equally modern art, and the Fourth Street plan remained an uncompleted vision. Still, in the end, the council placed the mural at the Reno Livestock Events Center, a considerable distance from the central city where, one assumes, it could be seen but not seen too much.

Finally, for those who want deeper background on Harolds Club, I suggest an article at pbs.org from its series Who Made America? Among those noted as Innovators is Raymond Ingram Smith, the founder of Harolds Club. The piece about Raymond Smith begins with this heading:

An itinerant roulette operator found his heaven in Reno -- bringing fairness and fun to gambling, and gambling to the masses.

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