Saturday, February 16, 2019

Saturday's postcard: Driving through a redwood


This black-and-white postcard was never mailed but instead had been glued into a scrapbook with black pages many years ago. The printing on the front states:

Drive through
"The Redwood Shrine" tree
At Myers, Redwood Highway.


This tree still exists, and you can still drive through it in Myers Flat, California. FamousRedwoods.com states that the Shrine Drive Thru Tree is also known as the Doust Tree, Redwood Shrine Tree and Shrine of the Redwoods.

Writing on Inspired Imperfection in 2017, Jennifer Bourn states:
"The Shrine Drive-Thru Tree is a chimney tree whose trunk was originally hollowed out by fire more than a century ago. So unlike the other drive-through trees, this one was mostly created by Mother Nature and not cut by man. The natural angled opening was later widened to create a 7.0 foot wide by 7.0 foot tall tunnel through the tree and when Avenue of the Giants was paved, the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree became one of the first roadside attractions along California’s new Redwood Highway."
Bourn also notes that the tree is now held up by steel cables and that her family could not drive through it because large vans, SUVs and pickup trucks are prohibited. For folks who do want to go through, admission is $8 for a vehicle, $4 for a motorcycle and $3 for bicyclists or walkers. You can see some groovy present-day pictures here.

Monday, February 11, 2019

"Fate" classifieds, August 1975


Last year I shared 30 classified ads from the June 1971 issue of "Fate" magazine. Now, let's speed forward four summers in time and check out the classified advertisements from the August 1975 issue of that magazine.

So let's see if things were much different when Gerald Ford was president, the Helsinki Accords were signed, New England was baking under a heat wave, terrorism was devastating Northern Ireland, and the Viking 1 probe was launched toward Mars.

  • WORLD'S Most Outspoken Publication, Natural Health, Healing, Organic Gardening. Free Copy. — Provoker Press, St. Catharines 113, Ontario, Canada L2R 7C9
  • BOOK REVEALS MYSTICAL SECRETS FOR YOUR SUCCESS! Read THE MESSAGE OF THE GRAIL. Unlocks mysteries - Holy Grail, Search for Legendary Chalice by Camelot Knights-Parsifal! Specific answers for your problems NOW! Send $6.25 to: CSA Press, Box 127F, Lakemont, GA 30552
  • FANTASTIC COSMIC TELECOMMUNICATOR. Speaks directly to your subconscious mind. Remove mental blocks to wealth, success, spiritual growth. Details: Madeleine, Box 4307-TD, Inglewood, CA 90309
  • FREE ENERGY-100 MPG "Suppressed Inventions" $4.95. Psionic Machine Plans $3.00. Guaranteed. 10c listing. — Fry's, 879-J Park, Perris, CA 92370
  • FAMOUS ORACLE OF HERMES — Oraculum Book, $2.00. Table of Questions-Answers, Consult Daily, Know your Future — ENOB SERBOK, 1382 Stewart Ave., SW, Atlanta, GA 30310
  • USED OCCULT BOOKS. Free lists. — P.O. Box 13953, Portland, OR 97215
  • FANTASTIC BEAUTY SECRETS. Keep youth-beauty forever. Look 20 years younger. Details-proof of amazing results. — Madeleine, Box 4307-B, Inglewood, CA 90309
  • THE NEW SEXUAL EXPERIENCE Discover the NEW mystical signficance of Sex. Complete instruction in Self-transcendence. Free information. — INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED THINKING. Dept. F-875, P.O. Box 606, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
  • MAITREYA DICTATIONS. Occult Gazette, 6 Phillimore Place, Kensington, London, W.8, England
  • "DIVINE POSTURE INFLUENCE UPON ENDOCRINE GLANDS" by Cajzoran Ali. Esoteric secrets in the 13 glands for physical, mental, spiritual awakening. 58 illustrations. Healing and regeneration. Send $6.95 "YOUR DESTINY" Route 1, Box 384, Oklawah, Fla. 32679
  • ANCIENT DRUID RUNE STONES used to foretell your future. Eleven amazing stones. Guaranteed. $4.95. — EVE Enterprizes, Box 3535, Knoxville, TN 37917
  • LOST? Biofeedback may put you back in touch with yourself. — Aquarius Electronics, Box 96 P, Albion CA 95410
  • PLASTERCRAFT ... Profitable Home Business. Over 1,000 molds available. Details: Lynnette, 6251J Mentor Park, Mentor, OH 44060
  • WHY GROW OLD AND DIE? Li-Chung-Yun lived 256 years. You could too. Learn how. $1.00. — Fortune House, Rt 1, Box 350B, Gainesville, GA 30501
  • SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF DEATH! Stamp appreciated. — Methods, Box 1263, Mountain View, CA 94042
  • MONEY for Words. Information $1.00. — LYCEUM, Bx 9409, Richmond, VA 23228
  • FLYING SAUCERS — ICVS 35 photos $2.00. Catalog 35c. — UFO International. P.O. Box 552. Detroit, MI 48232
  • SCIENTIFIC MASSAGE: Big earnings uncrowded profession. Learn spare time at home. Diploma awarded. Free catalog. Write: Anderson School, Dept. J-67C, Princeton, IL 61356
  • RECEIVE VALUABLE MINERALS Monthly!! Free Information. — Mineral of the Month Club, 13057-NK California, Yucaipa, CA 92399
  • HERE COMES THE SUN! Free. — Box 241, Stillwater, OK 74074
  • PERSONALITY PORTRAIT, $5.00. Send birthdate, including year. — Jay Diamond, 1608 S. El Molino, Alhambra, CA 91801
  • ONE MAN OPERATION Dice Divining Game Board with spinning wheels, also plays regulation dice. $4.99 plus tax, plus 50c postage. — World Wide World Games, 1926 Weepah Way, Hollywood, CA 90046
  • ZODIAC SIGNS T-shirts $3.00, iron-ons $1.00 Tarot, I-Ching, Satans ram, magic sigils, many others. Free brochure. — Leco, 2419 Greensburg Pike, Pittsburgh PA 15221
  • CHARTER YOUR OWN CHURCH. $3.00 free includes information, ministerial appointments and ecumenical charter. — BROTHERHOOD, Box 2142, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
  • MONEY LOCATING, Map Dowsing, Details $1.00. Write: Ron Muterspaugh, 1712½ Lake Ave., Panama City, FL 32401
  • TROUBLED, MISFORTUNES, HEXED? Try the Legendary Powers of the Unknown. $3.00 contribution appreciated. Catalog $1.25. — Witch Adonia, P.O. Box 1119, Gretna, LA 70053
  • WITCHES NEWSLETTER. ten—$4; WITCHCRAFT DIGEST, $1.25; CURSES IN VERSES, $1.25; GUIDE TO COVENS, $2.00 — MARTELLO, 153 W. 80th, New York, NY 10024


Addendum
No, I wasn't going to let Enob Serbok pass without comment. It sounds like a fake name and/or an anagram, and it absolutely is. Enob Serbok was a pseudonym for Marie Kobres Bone (1919-2014). According to her obituary, "she traveled the world and wrote the book The Elephant Hotel: Hedwig And The Tagebuch at the age of 90." That book is about the early years of Lucy the Elephant, which is located just south of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and is, according to Wikipedia, "the oldest surviving roadside tourist attraction in America."

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Bookplate inside "The Angry Planet"


This lovely bookplate, with a tree's roots wrapped firmly around a book, appears inside a copy of The Angry Planet, written by John Keir Cross and published in 1946 by Coward-McCann. I'll be referring back to this book in a future post, because its illustrator is Robin Jacques.

Jacques (1920-1995) was renowned for his illustrations for Ruth Manning-Sanders' fairy tale collections, but I plan to write about some of the other amazing work he did during his career. So you'll be seeing more from The Angry Planet.

But today I just wanted to share this bookplate, which states PRESENTED TO, thus making it a bookplate that was specifically for gift-giving. You can see some more beautiful bookplates featuring trees in this Pinterest collection curated by Henk Weltje. I especially love those for Anna Baumgärtner and Pierre E. Apse.

As you can see, this volume was presented to Jon and Lydia Sally. Dr. Jon H. Sally died last October at the age of 83. According to his obituary, his many accomplishments and interests included:

  • "After Kent State, he attended the Philadelphia School of Osteopathic Medicine where he graduated with his degree as a Doctor of Osteopathic medicine."
  • "He believed in education and commitment to the community as shown by his mentoring of many future doctors, nurse-practitioners and nurses and staff which trained with him thru their practice during his long career."
  • "Dear to his heart was a plaque given to him by Child Health Services of Portage County symbolizing the 'Doctor Mother' that Dr. Sally was to the children of Portage County."
  • "In addition to medicine, Jon had a fervent passion for art. Among other disciplines, he was a prolific sculptor, carver, pencil artist, and painter."

In fact, Dr. Sally had his own art exhibition in 2005, getting the opportunity to display that side of his interests. His biography for that exhibition states, in part:
"His interest in art began in Miss Hutt's grade school class. The young artist had his own ideas and was unable to follow the teacher's vision of how one should color. Consequently, he spent most of his second grade with his head down on the desk, as punishment for his failure to conform. ... During his years at college and medical school, creating art became an outlet for releving stress. ... Now that he has retired, he continues to take pleasure in painting. He also does wood carving and portraiture, but painting is his first love and greatest pleasure."