Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Helen's big 1973 adventure in Italy


I need to stay in good practice when it comes to reading the questionable cursive writing of my grandmother (Helen Chandler Adams Ingham). So today I'm challenging myself — with a little help from housemates — to transcribe her message of the back of this postcard that she sent from northern Italy to Wallingford, Pennsylvania, in May 1973.

The card itself shows Ristorante Tre Corone in Verona, Italy. (The restaurant has "helpfully" been circled on the front of the postcard.) But the card was mailed from Bolzano, Italy, which is about 95 miles north of Verona.

In a note to her parents (Howard and Greta), Helen writes:
5/13/73
Bolzano is lovely town — beautiful shops, old castles — aren't I glad it's Sunday!
Met Amer. Express tour at Touring Hotel in Milan yesterday. Today we started at 8:30 — stopped at Lake Garda, took boat across to Sirmione — lovely resort area — then to Verona saw Juliet's balcony?!

[entire indecipherable line, possibly about a beach ... or lunch]

cafe (pictured) — Lasagna — turkey cacciatore [?] on to Bolzano. Venice tomorrow. Rec'd my pkg (ticket) from AAA. No other mail though. See you soon.
Love Helen

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Unstaged shelfie just for the halibut 1

Some of these have certainly been blogged about.

Monday, April 22, 2019

At Muskoka Lakes (1917)


I'll write much more about this later, but this year I've been in the slow process of having numerous century-old negatives of family photos scanned and digitized at Camera Center of York. I'm also getting one print of each photo — the first time these photos have been printed, to my knowledge, because I don't recall seeing any of them in family albums.

I just wanted to share this one in a quick post, because it's a gorgeous snapshot. It was from a negative envelope labeled "1917 Muskoka Lakes." There is both a Township of Muskoka Lakes and a Lake Muskoka in Ontario, Canada. It appears to be a spot my ancestors vacationed at a century ago.

I'm fairly certain that the second person from left, in the white hat, is the oft-mentioned Greta Miriam Chandler Adams (1894-1988), my great-grandmother. It's not immediately clear to me who the other folks are, but I might eventually be able to suss out some of their identities.

Sunday, April 21, 2019

From the readers: In which Phyllis gets a lot of web traffic

The March 11 Papergreat post "Lamenting what we'll never know about Phyllis J. Stalnaker Harris" has been getting a lot of traffic in the past week, with more than 4,500 pageviews. Most of it — no surprise, I reckon — is from the same kind of Reddit and Twitter posts that inspired me to write about her in the first place.

There have also been some very kind comments left by readers on Phyllis' post:
  • Joan, of Ask Joan fame, writes: "I'm glad you tell stories."
  • Ingrid Medova writes: "Yes, sad there is not enough respect for this woman."
  • Unknown writes: "It does look like she is about to smile in her mugshot."
  • Tami writes: "Rest In Peace dear lady."
  • Mr Smith writes: "Highlighted by Reddit, given flesh by you. Thank you."
  • Siobhan writes: "Her photo was posted this morning on Pictures in History. Thank you for adding to her story."
  • Unknown writes: "Thank you for making her something more than a Facebook post that says 'Weed head, tramp.'"

Saturday's postcard: Driving through a redwood: Wendyvee of the awesome Roadside Wonders and possibly the forthcoming memoir Grand Auto Adventures in Brooklyn writes: "There used to be a photo of my grandparents and their car with a Giant Redwood ... lost to the sands of time apparently."

Soviet-era magazine cartoons: Joan writes: "I want a T-shirt of that hedgehog."

Plenty of projects in Pack-o-Fun: Rushd Lady, who is involved with a number of blogs, writes: "I grew up to recycling crafts featured in the Pack-o-Fun and Workbasket magazines. You wouldn't happen to know where Edna or John Clapper were buried do you? I'm a member of Find-a-Grave and I have a 'Creatives' virtual cemetery I would love to add them to."

Alas, I do not know where those two individuals are buried.

Fairy tale food & drink of Ruth Manning-Sanders: Joan writes: "I most enjoy 'wine in a sack.' But also radishes. And cabbage."

Bookplate inside "The Angry Planet": "Mark Felt," Stealth Research Assistant and Executive Vice President in Charge of Ephemera Reunions, writes: "Dr. Sally's youngest daughter, Lesa Lillibridge of Kent, Ohio, would be proud of the posting of her father's bookplate. Bless Dr. Sally's memory."

The Moorestown Mall and its questionable Monkey Cage: Wendyvee, commenting on Facebook, writes: "My college roomie had memories of them from when she was really little. I think that they had ducks in the 'mall fountains' too."

1970s gang graffiti inside a 1928 book of plays: Stewart lil writes: "Is this for sale by any chance?"

I'm not sure if I still have it! This post was way back in 2012, another lifetime ago. The days of keeping everything I've posted passed a long time ago. With nearly 3,000 posts, you just can't keep it all. But this was was unique enough that there's at least a chance I still have it ... somewhere.

Hans Gerhard Sørensen's cover art for "A Brief History of Norway": Unknown writes: "Looking for a list of Hans Gerhard Sorensen's prints and value so I know how to insure them."

Alas, I believe you would need to an expert for that. I am clearly just a generalist and amateur.

* * *

Bonus: Spam comment of the month

On "Old business card for Hayes Flying Service":
"Would you choose a pun-filled name for your business? Are puns effective in attracting consumers to your brand? We look at how puns can actually be beneficial clicking here your business and brand, and how it can build your consumer base through the power of humour!"