Sunday, June 22, 2008
A Tank of Gas
My hubby tells stories of him pooling his change with his buddies on Friday and Saturday nights to put a dollar's worth of gas in his friend Johnny's old car, so they could drive around and hang out together. They would go to Sky Castle's and one of them would order a coke while they sat and talked, and when the waitress would be about to shoo them out, another one of them would order something. It was all like a scene out of Happy Days! That was way back in the 50's, before we met and started dating.
I was reminded of his stories when I saw this in the newspaper the other day:
When I was in high school in the 60's, I could fill up my car with $2 worth of gas. Interestingly, I couldn't afford a tank full of gas back then, either.
So, is gas really all that high even now? I'm not so sure. Our first apartment was $52.50 a month. Our first home cost us $101 a month, and it was all we could do to qualify for the payment. My first teaching job paid a whopping $265 a month, after paying for college to get it. When you put the prices of everything else from way back then in perspective with what those things cost today, gasoline probably is right about where it should be. Not that I like paying $4.00 a gallon, mind you. But considering how much money everything else costs, I think our reaction to gas prices may be more emotional than intellectual.
Any thoughts???Labels: 1950's, first home, gasoline prices, High School Memories, home buying, inflation, mortgage, nostalgia, teaching
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Enjoy Our BLOG VILLAGE Family Memories Carnival
Join Us as we read these special FAMILY MEMORIES of some of our BLOG VILLAGE Friends!
CyberCelt presents
Take Me to the River posted at
Texas RV Travel blog CyberCelt shares how her family outing at the river came to include the community at large.
CyberCelt presents
There is a Season posted at
Losing PropositionOn Losing Proposition, Taro Phoenix shares how her family is moving into an itty bitty, teeny weeny, hobbit house for the summer.
Sara Ost presents
Just Fooling Around posted at
Sara Ost, who is a GUEST of Naomi at
Diary from England.
Dirty Butter presents
Playing Football at IHOP posted at
Yesterday's Memories.
Happy memories of one of our Dating Rituals that we still enjoy.
CyberCelt presents
Autism in USA : Thimerosal Generation posted at
Endangered Spaces.
CyberCelt shares a story on Endangered Spaces which is not for the faint at heart. It is not just about her family, but an entire generation.
CyberCelt presents
Advertising for Success Blog posted at
Advertising For SuccessEileen shares her experiences as a teenager in life-saving mode.
Granimore presents
Meet My Grandparents posted at
And So Begins My New Life
Beth presents
Remembering The Country posted at
Around The Funny Farm!
NAOMI presents
Diary From England: HAPPY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES posted at
Diary From England
Babs Mountjoy presents
No Fool like an old Fool posted at
A Walkabout's Weblog
GP presents
It's B-r-r- in the Barn posted at
Innside Montana-Your Home at the RangeLessons learned from our horses.
GP presents
It Takes Strength to take a Risk « Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn posted at
Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn
Dirty Butter presents
Plush Memories Lost Toys Search Service: FOUND - CUDDLEZONE BROWN CHIMP / MONKEY posted at
Plush Memories Lost Toys Search Service.
This is a beautiful story of a family's quest to find a lost lovie, a child's love for his Go Go Beans monkey, and the wonderful conclusion to the search.
Kilroy_60 presents
The Christmas Spirit posted at
Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers.
GP presents
Nurturing Nature posted at
Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.
The beginning of the spring season, with its renewal of life, is a good time to renew our spirit…
Thanks to all who entered our Family Memories Carnival, and to all of you who have taken the time to read our entries.
Submit your blog article to the next edition of
a BLOG VILLAGE CARNIVAL using our
Carnival Submission Form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our Blog Carnival
Index Page.
Labels: Family Blog Carnival, Family Friendly, Family Memories, nostalgia, Yesterday's Memories
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
I did it. I finally bit the bullet and put the ad for Daddy's car on eBay for this week. I had so hoped that someone local would buy it, but we don't live in an affluent area, and all that most people saw was an old car. Those who did appreciate what a unique automobile it is can't afford it. So, after having it on Craigslist for a week with no inquiries, it was time to try eBay. After all, we have a Feedback rating of 1187 there, and an excellent reputation.
I don't like the format that eBay uses for selling automobiles at all, and really do think my own website presentation of Daddy's car is a thousand times better. But, it's a matter of getting the right person to see it.
I put the ad together and then spent about a half hour talking myself into and out of and then into pushing the button to submit it. There's no doubt about it. It has been so much harder for me to give up that car than I would ever have anticipated. Much, much harder than the house, since one of our daughters bought it.
You might wonder why I chose to put a photo of the engine on this post. If you have ever taken the time to look at some of the listings on eBay for vintage cars, you would know that most of the time they look like rusty pieces of junk, unless someone has already restored it and is selling it for up in the 20 and 30 thousand dollar range, with some much higher than that.
The contrast between the way Daddy took care of this engine and the way most of the other engines look that are up for bid is dramatic.
So, I really do hope it sells this week. If it doesn't I'll have to go through that emotional struggle again deciding to re-list it or not.Labels: 1969 Chevrolet Caprice, childhood memories, Classic Automobile, Daddy's Cars, eBay, nostalgia, selling a car, vintage
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Finally Getting Serious about Selling Daddy's Car
Back some time ago I wrote about getting Daddy's car back in running condition and putting it out in the yard with a FOR SALE sign on it. We posted a FIRM price on it, so we would not be bothered by lots of local folks thinking it might be a $500 car. We have had plenty of people stop, a few who sounded like they would be back with the money almost immediately, a couple who seemed to really appreciate what a gem it is, and some who wanted to customize it and ruin it, as far as I was concerned.
None of the local people who had always said they wanted to buy it when Daddy died have shown any interest in doing so. Wishful thinking.
So, since we will be having a big Yard/Estate Sale next month some time, it seems like it is time to start really trying to sell the car. We still have not put it in the paper, because I just wasn't as ready to part with it as I thought I was. I finally took lots of pictures of it this week. I couldn't resist giving the trunk a parting caress as I came back in the house. It's almost like saying goodbye to Daddy all over again. I have been working the last couple of days on putting up a website about the car, so I am coming to terms with the fact that we really are going to sell it.
It was sad and fun at the same time for me to go back and re-read all of the posts I wrote about some of Daddy's cars, starting with his first automobile in 1914 up to this, his last one, and I put the link to this post in the sales page, so collectors and those who enjoy nostalgia could enjoy reading them, too.
9 Year Old Driver! Vintage Auto Memories Part I
First Driver's License - Vintage Auto Memories Part II
Life Before the Bottom Fell Out - Automobile Memories Part IV
Just Married - Automobile Memories Part V
Daddy's Idea of a Vacation
Burma Shave, Stuckeys & Hand Surfing Memories
The Year Daddy Hated to Drive to Chicago
1969 Chevrolet Caprice - His Last Automobile
Selling Daddy's Car
I am glad I decided to make the website, as I posted almost 60 photos, so I will always be able to revisit it any time I want to, for as long as I want to.
It may have a new owner sometime in the future, but it will always be "Daddy's Car."Labels: 1969 Chevrolet Caprice, childhood memories, Classic Automobile, Daddy, Daddy's Cars, Estate Sales, FOR SALE, nostalgia, selling a car, vintage
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
My First Presidential Election - The Man with a Hole in His Shoe
Photographer William M. Gallagher won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for this photograph of Stevenson on the campaign trail in 1952. The image of the "Man with a Hole in his Shoe" remained with Stevenson and served as a symbol of his efforts during the 1956 presidential campaign.
copied from the Princeton University Library
This 1952 election is the first one that I was old enough to get interested in, plus that's about when we got our first television. That year Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon won over Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman, from my own state - Alabama. We learned about the democratic process in school that year, and our teacher made it all fun, mock election and all. Of course, those were the days when the national conventions were really interesting, as there were sometimes many, many ballots of delegates before the Republican and Democratic candidates were chosen.
Obviously, there is no way that the Republican convention will be like that, but it is possible that the Democratic Convention could be very interesting this time, particularly since the Democrats have what they call Super Delegates. These power brokers are not committed to any candidate, which can make for an interesting convention.
Now add in the Ralph Nader Green Party candidacy, a situation that many Democrats believe cost Al Gore the election last time, and we could be in for some great convention watching.
And it's been a long time since I watched either convention, because they have been very boring to me for years. Just like some folks enjoy a stock car race more if there are lots of wrecks, I think I will enjoy the Democratic Convention more if there is some drama in the candidate selection process. Talk about Reality TV!!!Labels: candidates, childhood memories, delegates, Democratic Convention, elections, nostalgia, President, Presidential elections, teaching
Friday, January 25, 2008
Hmmm.... Looks Like I'm a Conservative Republican
I still remember when I registered to vote. Back then, you had to be 21 to vote, and at that time you had to pay a poll tax. In Alabama, you also had to pass a quick test to be sure you could read English proficiently. I don't know if that was the case outside the South or not. I do remember that getting rid of those requirements was one of the goals of the Civil Rights Movement. Being white, I never knew if it was true that "Colored" people were given much harder materials to try to read than "White" people, but that is what protesters claimed at the time. As I remembered, the poll tax was just a couple of dollars, so I never did understand what the big fuss was about that.
As far as I can remember, I have voted in every local, state, and national election since then. I consider it my duty as an American to exercise this right, and believe in the old adage that you can't complain about politics unless you vote.
Now that the caucuses are over, and the candidates are starting to advertise on TV in Alabama for the upcoming Primaries, I thought it might be interesting to take one of these online quizzes that are supposed to tell you which candidates match a person's views on a variety of issues. As all such quizzes go, there were some questions where I didn't like any of the answer choices, but all in all this one was very thought provoking. And the results were interesting and useful to me personally.
Does that mean I'm going to vote for the candidate who matched my views? Not necessarily, but I think it does give me an idea of which candidates I should pay the closest attention to.
So, here's the results of my quiz:
80% John McCain
75% Mitt Romney
74% Mike Huckabee
65% Fred Thompson
61% Tom Tancredo
59% Bill Richardson
58% Hillary Clinton
58% Rudy Giuliani
57% John Edwards
57% Barack Obama
51% Chris Dodd
48% Ron Paul
44% Joe Biden
40% Mike Gravel
32% Dennis Kucinich
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching QuizLabels: candidates, Civil Rights Movement, elections, nostalgia, poll tax, President, voting
Monday, January 14, 2008
Do You Know What This Is?????????????????
One of our readers has been trying to figure out what this unusual vintage item is.
I found your blog and noticed that it mentioned that if someone was looking for a 'particular vintage collectible' to contact you. I'm kind of working in reverse... I'm wondering if you would know what this item is...
Its total length is no more than 6 inches. I'm really at a loss, and would appreciate any help you can offer. Or if you can direct me to someone that could help, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance!
Sheila
The first thing that popped into my mind was that this is part of a desk set from the quill pen era. They used fine sand in a container to pour on the paper, so the ink would dry without smearing.
The other thing that came to mind is some kind of unusual open salt, back when people didn't use salt shakers at the dinner table.
I did suggest that Shelia email Kovel's Komments, on the chance they would choose her object to identify for their free newsletter. If you know another place that might be able to help, please let us know.
OK, I put out my guesses.... now it's YOUR TURN.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS????Labels: collectibles, collecting, Dirty Butter Estates, heirloom, identifying antiques, nostalgia, vintage
Monday, December 17, 2007
SANTA .... He's EVERYWHERE!!
We have always had a lot of fun finding unusual items at Estate Sales on our Friday Date Day, but this little Santa decoration caught my eye, and the more we looked at it, the more unusual it appeared. If you click on the picture, you will see that all of the dolls in Santa's stockings have sad faces! Doesn't that seem strange to you?
So, it's not surprising that it was a Santa collector who bought him from us on eBay. I struck up a conversation with Brian, and asked him if I could share some of the pictures of his collection that he sent to me. He plans to write a book about Santa collecting, and it looks like he has plenty to write about!
Labels: childhood memories, Christmas, Christmas decorations, collectibles, Date Day, Estate Sales, nostalgia, Santa, vintage
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Tommee Tippee Memories
Sometimes we find old things at Estate Sales that just flood my thoughts with childhood memories. One such item we found not long ago was a Tommee Tippee set of an old food dish and child's drinking cup. They were definitely used a lot, and this cup does not have the sippy lid, but the old decals with the teddy bear were enough to send me into a nostalgic reverie. I used the weighted round bottom double handle cups with our own children, but this set is quite possibly from when I was a small child, and could very well have been like a set that I would have used.
I tried hunting down some history on the Westland Plastics Co. that made these way back when, but had no luck. Most of the weighted vintage cups that I could find on the Internet were assumed by the sellers to be from the 50's, but my immediate nostalgic reaction to this set would place it in the early 40's.
So, does this set look familiar to you? Can you help me place an age on them? I'd love to hear your stories about how old things like this can evoke powerful memories.Labels: 1940's, childhood memories, Estate Sales, nostalgia, Tommee Tippee, vintage
Monday, September 10, 2007
I Just Discovered Freecycle!!
I have just recently discovered the FreeCycle network, and wanted to pass this information along to all of you. If you check the main site you can look for a FreeCycle group that is close to you. I ended up joining 4, I think. I opted to get individual emails, but you can have it sent as a digest, if you don't want your mailbox filled with all the posts.
And what, you ask, is FreeCycle?? It's a place to post items you want to GIVE away, not sell. And it's a place to ASK for stuff you need. So far, I've only been reading, rather than asking or taking, but I find the whole process fascinating. And I do intend to get involved, once I can get myself off my duff and do some serious house uncluttering. You are expected to offer more to Give than to Ask, as that's what keeps it going.
I did answer a request from a lady looking for a cpap machine, with several links to places that sell them at discount online. But she wrote back that someone had already given her one. Considering how much trouble I'm having getting used to my brand new cpap machine, I can imagine lots of people have one they are not using.
It is heartwarming to see that there are so many people with such a spirit of generosity, and also a desire to keep "things" out of our landfills. This is even better recycling than taking things to the Thrift Store!
Although the stuff is not free on Craigslist, we have just recently gotten one of these for our area, so now I try to check there if I need to buy something. The advantage in this is that there is no advertising cost, and the items will be local. This saves all the shipping/handling cost of buying online, and does provide another opportunity to reuse something that someone else is no longer needing.
I remember as a child that all of my hand me downs went to a distant cousin of mine, who lived out in the country. They still used an outhouse, which meant that they were dirt poor as far as I was concerned, and I always was glad to give her my old toys and books. We didn't have any other children in the family to pass our girl's things along to, so their hand me downs always ended up being given to the Thrift Store. I doubt if that was nearly the lesson in generosity for them, compared to actually seeing or knowing the person who would receive the outgrown lovies, as I had been able to do.
FreeCycle would definitely be an easy way to teach today's children the satisfaction of being generous, plus the importance of using our resources wisely. And buying second hand, either at the Thrift Store or from a place like Craigslist, might be a good way to combat the pervasive materialistic attitude of so many of today's youth. And, if we teach our children how to be good stewards of their possessions, we will be more likely to bring up a generation that values living green.
So why not check out the FreeCycle network in your neck of the woods. You might be surprised to find one nearby. Then get busy sending all that stuff you don't use any longer to someone who can make good use of it. It's a Win-Win-Win situation. Win for you - less junk at your house. Win for them - getting something they need for free. And Win for the environment - one less item ending up in a landfill.Labels: childhood memories, Craigslist, environment, Freecycle, Green Living, hand me downs, handling money, nostalgia, online sales, recycling
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Living a Green Life - At Least Trying To
I think I was somewhat of a hippy before there were such things as hippies. At least, that's the way I felt at the time. I was actually a teenager in the late 50's and early 60's. Joan Baez was my favorite singer, not Elvis. I listened to Classical and Folk Music and consciously tried to not conform. No drugs or free sex, though. Sorry, that's where I drew the line.
As a teacher, I always stressed the Three R's - Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle. And we tried hard to follow those principles as Early Marrieds. But over the years, it's just gotten too easy to not Think Green. I think the Microwave oven may have been my ecological downfall. Just think of all the waste, not only in packaging, but in transportation and processing.
The drought this summer has led me to look hard at all our wasteful practices that we have accumulated ever so slowly. Now, I'm saving our gray water to use on our brand new Lasagna Compost area. This is a double Green whammy, as I'm finding a useful way to recycle all the wood chips left over from having 3 trees cut down this Summer. I know our AC bill will be huge this month, as we had something like a dozen days over 100 in a row, but we caulked every niche when the house was built, and we keep the drapes closed. There's not much else we can do to lower that energy use, other than to raise the temp. That's not going to happen, as DH has to be the hottest natured person I've ever known.
But we do recycle all our newspapers, food scraps, plastics, and cardboard, thanks to the compost heap and a neighboring town, which has a large recycling center. I've been doing the research to make 2 rain barrels, so we won't be without water so much next year when the drought returns. We have plans to landscape the yard, and I'll be using as many drought resistant plants as possible, and planning on ways to limit the grass areas.
We buy most of our books, and many of our clothes at a nearby Thrift Store, not because we can't afford better, but because we enjoy the hunt, and the bargains. We buy a lot of toys there, too, which eventually are sold to parents looking to replace a lost or worn out lovey.
DH drives with the Cruise Control on as much as possible, set to 55. People whiz by us, but we get the last laugh at the gas pump. We do a lot of driving on our Date Day, but that's the only time we are extravagant with gasoline. Even then, I map our route to cut out as much mileage as possible, and to stay out of stop and go traffic on Highway 280 (the most congested road in Alabama) coming home.
Our whole eBay business is based on helping people re-use items we buy at Estate Sales, and it's very satisfying to know that we have helped someone find something they have been looking for.
Oh, and I still love Joan Baez songs, but now I enjoy Elvis, too. Thanks to DH, I've learned to enjoy Rock and Roll, Jazz, the Blues, Blue Grass, Southern Gospel, and no telling what else. But I still am a hippy at heart.Labels: 1950's, 1960's, Date Day, environment, Estate Sales, Green Living, Hippies, nostalgia, recycling
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Reader Needs HELP Finding Mother's Carnival Glass Bowl
Carnival Glass collecting involves a lot of reading, research, and spending time studying examples of the original pieces, in order to tell the reproductions from the originals. With that said, we received this email recently from someone who was looking at our Dirty Butter Estates items on eBay, but I'm just not knowledgeable enough to be able to answer our reader, who is also named Rosemary. If you could help her out, I'm sure she would really appreciate any information or suggestions for resources she might use to find a picture for her mother to see.In the late 1920's early 30's my mother won a carnival glass dish/bowl by tossing a coin in the dish. She had the dish for many years but it got broken. My sister and I have been looking for one for years. My mother said it was about 6-8 inches across and plain. She describes it something like a console bowl. She said it had lines underneath and rounded down at the top. I saw something on e-bay that might be it, but not sure. It is a salad bowl. Do you know of anything like this?
Rosemary
If you or a friend is knowledgeable in this area of collecting, I'd appreciate it if you would post a comment, or send this post to your friend.Labels: Carnival Glass, collecting, Dirty Butter Estates, eBay, hobbies, nostalgia, vintage
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Washing Day Memories
Here's another vintage item we found at an Estate Sale that I bet you haven't seen in a long time, if ever. This one sold very quickly on eBay, and the buyer was tickled to get it.
For those of us old enough to remember, this quaint clothespin bag may bring back memories of the wonderful smell of sun dried sheets. I remember putting the wet clothes on the clothesline being one of my chores at home. It was a struggle for me to lift the wet sheets up and get them pinned up, without dragging them on the grass. The sun did a great job of naturally bleaching out all the whites, but the colored clothes suffered in the sun.
Of course, back then, everything was cotton, and had to be ironed. That was the horrible part of the chore. We had a maid, so I didn't have to do that part, and I remember being very glad that Mama didn't make me do it.
I was very glad when we got our first clothes dryer, and I wouldn't want to go back to all that washing day routine, but I'll have to admit that I do miss the sun dried smell.Labels: childhood memories, clothesline, clothespin bag, Estate Sales, nostalgia, washing day
Monday, May 28, 2007
Do You Remember Premiums??
Every once in a while when we find something unusual at an Estate Sale, we buy it, even though we don't have a clue what it might be worth, just for the education it can give us when we do the research.
This glass oven ware pan was just such a find last week, that I couldn't resist. What intrigued me was the big logo in the bottom with the cursive name of Mary Dunbar in it. I had never heard of that name before, but when I did the research on her, I found some very interesting information. I even found a forum where her grand daughter was chatting about what her grandmother had accomplished!
It seems that Mary Dunbar was the name given to the Jewel Tea Co.'s spokesperson in the 1920's. The lady who went by that company name was the head of the company's test kitchen, and wrote a series of cookbooks and a monthly newsletter. She is credited with the invention of the 7 minute icing recipe. There was even a Mary Dunbar seal of approval, much like the Good Housekeeping seal of today.
It seems that the Jewel Tea Co. put coupons in with their various spices and tea products, and those coupons could be redeemed for various household goods. The most well known of these was the Hall China Co. Autumn Leaf pattern china and related items. This pattern in highly collectible today. Our loaf pan was probably one of those premium items.
We have this Mary Dunbar pan listed on eBay now, if you're interested.
Premium items used to be so common. Banks gave you clocks and toasters for joining, and Service Stations gave out knives with fill-ups. I'm sure you can think of a lot more such give-aways. The customer was KING in those days. Now you're lucky if you get a pen with the company name on it, or a refrigerator magnet!!
Hmmmmmm .... something's changed over the years, hasn't it?? Now, it seems as if the mentality of most businesses and clerks is that they are doing us a favor by deigning to do business with us. I liked it better the way it used to be, thank you very much!!Labels: 1920, Dirty Butter Estates, Estate Sales, Jewel Tea Co., Mary Dunbar, nostalgia, Premiums, recipe, vintage
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Playing Football at IHOP
We went to see Spider Man this last Thursday, as my Mother's Day present, as we're both big fans of the comic book genre. Mind you, I still enjoyed it, but we were both disappointed with it. The plot just doesn't seem to be there. Without plot, the special effects held little suspense, and I didn't even think the bad guys were very interesting. Thank goodness, we enjoy being with each other, and that's what made it a good day.
We went to IHOP for pancakes as a late lunch, after the movie, and pretty much had the place to ourselves. And we did what we always do. We played football with a folded up soda straw wrapper. We've been thumping that little triangle of paper back and forth on restaurant tables ever since we started dating in 1960, and we still laugh and enjoy ourselves. We don't play it in fancier restaurants, and fast food places don't leave any time for it, but with Shoney's, Denny's, IHOP, and other restaurants of that type, it's just as much a part of eating there as the food.
And oh, what memories it brings back each time we play it. It seems to touch a place where young love was blooming, and we're always closer to each other after one of our "battles." DH almost always "wins," but we aren't really keeping score. It's the ritual that counts. The waitress was one of the talkative, interested ones, and she was flabbergasted when we told her we'd been playing that game for 47 years. People just don't stay married long enough any more to have those kinds of records in their lives. I never cease to be thankful for my wonderful marriage and the time I've gotten to spend with the love of my life. I am truly blessed.Labels: Date Day, dating rituals, happily married, Love, nostalgia
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
1969 Chevrolet Caprice - His Last Automobile
As I've said before in other posts, my Daddy always dated everything in his life by what car he was driving at the time. The last car he had was his 1969 Caprice, which he always said he bought when our younger DD was born. LOL
He babied and pampered that car, wiping down the engine, checking the oil and water, and generally making sure it was in tip top shape before he drove it anywhere. It was always kept in a garage, and the only place there's any flaw at all on the finish is back where he put his hand on the trunk when he filled the gas tank. For some reason that part of the finish faded, so Daddy tried to even the paint out, but not successfully. He had put duct tape on the driver's door handle a long time ago, too, because of a tear. But other than that, the whole car looks like it hasn't been broken in yet, even though it has about 133,000 miles on it.
The old girl has been sitting patiently in the garage for a long time now. Daddy used to start it up every few days, even after I quit driving it, but then one of the brake cylinders leaked. After that, it's just been sitting.
We have several people who have expressed an interest in buying it from me, so I've called the local mechanic to go get it and get it back in good running condition. It's kind of sad to be thinking about getting rid of it, knowing how Daddy felt about his cars, but I don't have a desire to keep it, either.
The car is so old that Daddy didn't have a Title for it, so I called the county license office to see what I needed to do. The clerk said all I needed to do was make out a Bill of Sale for it. So that means I don't have to deal with the State DMV to get a Title for it, and I'm glad of that.
It should be interesting to see if any of those people who have ooohed and ahhhed over the car over the years, who said they would want to buy it, really will be interested. Of course, it will sell for a good bit, since it's so old and in such good shape. In fact, it will likely sell for considerably more than Daddy paid for it!Labels: 1969 Chevrolet Caprice, Daddy, Daddy's Cars, nostalgia, vintage
Monday, April 30, 2007
Turning into an Old Fogey?
We are both big fans of the Law and Order and CSI series, so we did something last night we've never done before. We cut off the CSI Las Vegas we watched last night (I'm not sure if it was taped or on last night, though.), because the gratuitous use of sexually explicit language just was too much to tolerate. I didn't mind the graphic description of the deceased's genitalia during the autopsy, since those could have been clues to help solve the murder. But then one of the characters made a crude remark about them, on top of quite a few previous crude comments concerning, and provocative poses of, the Las Vegas legal prostitutes, even while they were being interviewed by the police. That was the last straw, and we changed stations.
I realize that this is adult TV, and as an adult I can choose to turn it off if I find it offensive, but I'm ashamed of them for that episode.
I can remember in college, if two fellows were chatting nearby and said something "dirty" or they cursed, they would apologize to me if they realized I could hear their conversation. Did being mindful of other people's feelings just disappear in the last 40 years or so?
This is one of those times when I would love to see a return to the values of the "Good Old Days," where people showed more respect for the feelings of those around them, regardless of the kind of language they used around people who didn't mind their choice of words or topic of conversation.Labels: adult television, CSI, nostalgia, profanity
Monday, March 19, 2007
102 Years - Quite a Lifetime!!
I'm writing this while we sit at vigil, waiting for my Daddy to die. He's been sleeping peacefully now, without any food or liquid intake, for the last 9 days. He's not hurting, his family is all here, and it's just a waiting time before his body finally wears out and quits working.
I'm sad, or course, and have had my moments of tears, but I'm at peace with his death. He's lived a long and vigorous life. He was still cutting his own grass up until the age of 100, and would have kept on doing it after that if we hadn't insisted that he quit, for safety's sake.
I'm sitting here, in the bedroom with him, while everyone else is fast asleep. I've been thinking about all that has happened in the world in Daddy's lifetime, so I decided to check out the major events of his early years, using Brainy History as a reference.
Here's a list of some of the things that I found interesting that happened when Daddy was a child:
It seems fitting that the first thing that caught my eye in the list for 1905 was that an automobile reached 100 miles per hour in the year he was born. The Wright brothers patented the airplane when he was one year old, the first radio set was advertised, and Teddy Roosevelt becomes the first President to visit a foreign country. When he was two years old, San Francisco had an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague! That was the year that the automatic washer and dryer were introduced, and on Jan.1, 1908, the first ball dropped at Times Square for the New Year's celebration. The army added its first aircraft division then, too.
When he was three, the first Mother's Day was observed and the first passenger flight in an airplane took place. Henry Ford produced the first Model T, and the first Gideon Bible was put in a hotel room. That was the year that football uniforms first had numbers on them. When he was four, Honus Wagner stole his way around the bases in the first inning against the Cubs, the first Lincoln head pennies were issued, and Joan of Arc was declared a Saint.
As a five year old, China ended slavery, the first auto speedway race was run at the Los Angeles Motordome, the first Father's Day was observed, and President Taft threw out the first ball for the beginning of baseball season. Halley's comet could be seen by the naked eye that year, and the first running of the Indianapolis 500 races was held.
All the while, in Europe, the pogroms, assassinations, and political turmoil in Russia and other countries was building to the start of World War I. When he was seven years old, the Titanic made its fateful voyage across the Atlantic. Fenway Park and Tiger Stadium opened, and the first Keystone Cops movie was made.
In 1913, the first prize was added to a box of Cracker Jacks, the Federal Income Tax came into being, Woodrow Wilson became President, and the zipper was patented. As a nine year old, he would have heard about the first ship passing through the Panama Canal. Babe Ruth pitched in his first professional game that year, and World War I officially began.
In 1915, Albert Einstein published his Theory of Relativity, Germany used chlorine gas as a weapon for the first time, Thomas Edison invented the telephone, and the Raggedy Ann doll is patented. As an eleven year old, he might have heard about the first football game at the Rose Bowl, that women were first allowed to attend a boxing match, and the Boy Scouts of America was formed. But the main news of that year would be that the United States would enter into the World War.
In 1917, when he was 12 years old, the first jazz phonograph record for Victor Records was released. He was too young when the first military draft was called for that year. He probably wouldn't have paid any attention to the fact that 44 suffragettes were arrested in front of the White House.
Prohibition started when he was 13 years old. He might have read the first of Ripley's "Believe it or Not" columns in the newspaper that year, or maybe he saw the first Barney Google cartoon in the paper when he was 14. Certainly the big news of 1919 would have been the end of World War I.
1920 saw him as a fifteen year old boy, who would have probably found it strange that women were allowed to vote that year, when the 19th Amendment was ratified. Maybe he would have noticed that the National Negro Baseball League and the NFL were established that year, and the first woman won a medal for the US in the Olympics, but I rather doubt it. I imagine he was excited to hear that Babe Ruth hit his 54th home run in a season, and he probably knew that Man O War ran his last race that year. He was probably keeping up with baseball and would have been interested to know that the American League ruled that spitball pitchers could continue to use it.
The Black Sox scandal would certainly have been important to him when he was sixteen. I wonder if he heard the first World Series radio broadcast, when the Yanks beat the Giants. I bet he did! He told me some time ago that he built his own crystal radio set when he was a boy.
Times were changing fast at the beginning of the Roaring Twenties. As a seventeen year old, he would have been going to Trade School in Chicago, learning how to build and work on radios. A lot changed in the years he was growing up, and oh so much more has changed since he became an adult. I read through the list of each year and what happened in it, and it's almost beyond my comprehension that he saw the beginnings of so many things we take for granted today.
Just think what our children will look back on at the end of their lives, remembering when!Labels: 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, childhood memories, nostalgia
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Why Do I Have this Thing for Aprons???
Some of the treasures I always look for when we go to Estate Sales are any really pretty or unusual aprons. While everyone else is busy with the furniture or china, I'm rummaging through kitchen drawers or stacks of linens in the back bedroom. I buy them all - the everyday aprons, home made preferably, the cute handkerchief aprons, fancy party aprons that never saw a kitchen stove, and the big coverall kind that often have stains on them.
So, what's the attraction? I think it's because I always associate aprons with my Grandmother and Mama. Both loved to cook, plus my grandmother dressed up every day. So she always wore the big coverall kind. I have trouble seeing her in my mind without an apron LOL. Just about the only time she didn't have one on was when she went somewhere.
Mama always used the half apron type, but one was always on the ready, hanging from the towel rack. I'm hoping, when the time comes, that I'm going to find some of Mama's stuck back somewhere, but I don't really expect to find any. Mama was not a keeper - she was a neat freak, so when she got older and didn't cook fancy any more, she probably used them as rags and got rid of them.
When they're all ironed up and laid out for picture taking to add to my descriptions on eBay, they make quite a display of domesticity, and they always carry me back to Grandmother's and Mama's kitchens, and big hugs that buried my face in their sun scented cotton aprons.Labels: aprons, childhood memories, eBay, Estate Sales, nostalgia, vintage
jan,
Dirty Butter,
