From the readers: Long's Park mile marker, skeleton bookplate and more

Time for another round of reader comments. Thank you to everyone who continues to read Papergreat, whether it's the new posts or delving deep into the archives.

"Suzi and the Milestone" — helping to market Stel-Mar postcards: Cory Van Brookhoven, who writes the From Brunnerville to Broad Street blog about the history of Lititz, Pennsylvania, comments: "Yes an authentic Turnpike marker that was once next to Long’s Park in Lancaster, PA. It’s been MIA for decades."

Oh wow! I used to to drive past Long's Park every day on the way to work. And I saw a performance of Twelfth Night there that used No Doubt's "Just a Girl," circa 1996. I wonder what happened to the marker. Is it in someone's basement?

Cathy's Little Free Libraries in Globe, Arizona: The Family and Friends of Cathy Sanchez-Cañez write: "Thank you so much for featuring our Little Free Libraries in your blog. Since Cathy’s passing, six years ago, we have helped circulate over 12,000 books into the region, including Teacher From Heaven. We appreciate the shoutout, and the effort to keep Cathy’s legacy alive."

You're very welcome. It's a truly wonderful set of LFLs.

Ephemera I wish I still had: Christopher (not me) writes: "Somewhere in storage, I have a self-published book by an unhinged HVAC tech from Milwaukee who claimed that Jesus Christ was part of a 'woodworking and carpentry sex cult.' I treasure it."

I couldn't find any online trace of a book that fits Christopher's description. But there is the (slightly) more mainstream 1970 book titled The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, by John Allegro, which, according to Wikipedia, "argues that Christianity and other religions originated from ancient fertility cults involving psychoactive mushroom rituals, claiming Jesus was a mythological figure created under the influence of psychoactive substances."

That sounds exactly like the kind of book that would have been published in 1970.

RIP Art Bell, of the Kingdom of Nye: Anonymous writes: "He was the best!"

What are the odds Bell discussed The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross at some point? Or might that have been more of a Long John Nebel thing?

Box of Dennison DeLuxe Gummed Reinforcements: Anonymous writes: "I've been using an old box of De Luxe O gummed reinforcements for about 15 years to reinforce my government three-month calendar display. I believe I have enough until I retire. Just got curious and looked them up. Found your article. Thanks!" 

Sorting out the tiny drawers: I had asked, "How often does one truly need a thumb tack or rubber band in the course of a workweek?" And Anonymous replies: "But how much time does one spend looking for one when one really needs one and doesn't have a place to keep them?"

Which is why we have tiny drawers! And why (ahem) some folks still have Dennison DeLuxe Gummed Reinforcements.

1924 advertisement: "Heaney's Great Milk Can Escape": Anonymous writes: "Did Heaney charge for the secret of how to escape after you'd bought the can, perhaps?"

I'm guessing the $30 covered the construction of the milk and the accompanying directions on its use, which would indeed be the closely guarded secret. And once you bought someone else's secret, there was an incredibly strong honor system not to tell others. You don't want to anger magicians.

Old bookplate featuring a beard-grabbing skeleton: Robin Heisley Helfers writes: "Virginia (Mimi) and Ed were my Great Aunt & Uncle on my father's side of the family. My Grandmother was Effie Mason Heisley. Both sisters were accomplished artists! I'm thrilled to find this unusual example of Aunt Mimi's talent!"

I'm glad I could help in a small way to keep the memory of Virginia Mason Gifford (Aunt Mimi) alive! That's what Papergreat is all about.

Cheerful Card Company can help you earn extra money for the holidays: Anonymous writes: "I worked summers with a group of college kids in the White Plains, N.Y., post office in 1958-60 shipping boxes of their Christmas cards all across the US. That's all we did all day long, loading boxes into dusty canvas mail sacks. By Labor Day, we were in great shape to head back to college."

Excommunicated! A family story (maybe) about Communion cups: Unknown writes: "Do records of the First Reformed Church of Easton or Dr. Kieffer still exist? If they do they should have Mr. Otto's address somewhere in them."

Great question, and that's something I should have mentioned. Yes, church records would be the very best starting place in the next stage of investigating this historical incident. And maybe there's even an official document of excommunication and/or papers regarding the Communion cup issue. And there are a lot of news articles and website that discuss Kieffer, given that he was a noteworthy author, but I'm not sure much of it would contain clues regarding this mystery. The more I've thought about this, by the way, the more I think it's most likely that the John B. Otto who was temporarily excommunicated was the 57-year-old single alderman, and not my great-great-grandfather. Which doesn't make the story any less compelling. It just means my family was not involved. 

A shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather*

*Lyric from "Like the Weather," 1987 song by 10,000 Maniacs, written by Natalie Merchant

It's been a rough year for the stability of weather forecasting in the United States. Since late January, hundreds of National Weather Service positions have been cut, some key facilities have faced closures or lease terminations, crucial climate and geological databases are no longer publicly accessible, and the infrastructure supporting some early-warning forecast systems has been weakened.

All these cutbacks likely mean less-detailed warnings and slower forecasts, leaving people — especially those in less-populated areas who rely most on the National Weather Service — at greater risk when extreme weather inevitably strikes. (Of course, these actions by this administration are far from the only ones endangering people in the United States.¹)

As stupid and unnecessary as all these anti-science, anti-safety directives are, it got me thinking that we might someday have to lean again on our own observation skills for weather forecasting. I hope it never comes to that, of course. But just like it’s smart to know how to find fresh water or navigate if you’re lost in the woods, it’s smart to know how to read the skies for signs of the weather that’s coming.

Which brings us to today's book. (And the ongoing idea that books are increasingly crucial for the preservation of knowledge in a world where governments can delete or block online information.)

Weather Wisdom, subtitled "Being an Illustrated Practical Volume Wherein is Contained Unique Compilation and Analysis of the Facts and Folklore of Natural Weather Prediction," was written by Albert Lee, illustrated by William C. Sherb and published by Doubleday & Company in 1976. This copy was long part of the Nicholas P. Sims Library in Waxahachie, Texas, before being discarded, which became my gain. Weather observation folklore never gets out of date, and I reckon they could use as much of it as possible in Texas. (Aside: Waxahachie is the birthplace of Josie Briggs Hall, who wrote A Scroll of Facts and Advice, a collection of poems that in 1905 became the first book published by a Black Texan woman.)

The dust jacket text states: "It's all spelled out for you here in this handy almanac: all the natural indicators of the weather — from the cows lying in the field, to the shapes of the clouds, to the pain in Grandpa's game leg — and why they are so accurate. The folklore of weather in America is vast, handed down from the early settlers, the farmers, the sailors, the Indians, the pioneers ..."  

Here's a sample passage, reaching all the way back to cite Theophrastus and Samuel Butler:

Shakespeare's works are mentioned throughout the book, as is the Bible and, at one point, "Fiddler on the Roof." Lee writes in the introduction: "Being weather-wise means more than never getting rained on. It means being sensitive to nature. The weather-wise individual is aware of the color and texture of the heavens, the dew on the grass, the flight of birds, the chirping of crickets, and the very taste of the wind. These are the indicators on which an observation forecast is made. The subtle changes that take place in our environment all have meanings."

I love the William C. Sherb illustration that concludes the book, accompanied by these lines from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra:

“In nature's infinite book of secrecy

A little I can read.”

That illustration makes me want to log off and go outside. But there's a rain and dust storm right now. If only I had known it was coming...

* * *

Here was my attempt to take an artsy photo of today's book. Taken earlier, as the early morning heat was already approaching the upper 90s. The book came safely back inside after the photo. If you think having you own copy of Weather Wisdom might come in handy, you can find plenty of copies online for $10 or less.

Rising fascism footnote

1. Just a handful of the skeets I've bookmarked in recent gut-wrenching days:

• George Takei: "Trump wants to get rid of mail-in ballots so he can intimidate voters with federal troops stationed at the polling stations. Hard to scare people who can just quietly mail in their votes. Protect mail-in voting at all cost."
• Max Berger: "Donald Trump wants to be a dictator who ends freedom of speech and competitive elections. He's saying out loud. He's militarily occupying American cities. It would be great if Democrats in Congress started acting like it."
• Garrett M. Graff: "The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed."
• Kendra Pierre-Louis: "We're going to deport you to a random country if you don't take a plea deal for a crime you said you didn't do, doesn't sound like justice to me."
• "Truth Tony": "Troops are literally marching down the streets of American cities and we are still debating whether or not this is authoritarianism. We can't convince people fast enough. I have no point. I'm just ... worried"
• Ruth Zakarin: "The fact that this administration is hell bent on punishing Kilmar Abrego Garcia while rewarding Ghislane Maxwell tells you all you need to know about their violent racism and misogyny."

Sorting out the tiny drawers

The above photo is from nearly 15 years ago (September 14, 2010). It's my cubicle at the York Daily Record, where I had a set of tiny drawers that I used to sort paperclips, thumb tacks and other office supplies. It was very nerdy and mostly unnecessary. How often does one truly need a thumb tack or rubber band in the course of a workweek? 

Eventually, the tiny drawers ended up back home. And over many years and a couple of moves, I stashed very random things into the drawers, stuffing most of them full. 

Last week we did an excavation. Joan, Ashar and I went through the drawers one by one and sorted stuff into five piles: Sell, Trash, Office Supplies, Tuck Away Inside A Book and Keep. Yes, that's a very Papergreat set of categories. What did you expect? 

We came across all sorts of stuff. Just to name a few: Game pieces, sports and movie ticket stubs, Christmas light bulbs, baseball cards, small pencils, stickers, a bar of soap, keys, buttons, a locket of Coby's hair, pins, small photos, bottlecaps, wrappers, keychain trinkets, Dick Clark's autograph, a small piece of candy that I ate, coins, tokens, my wedding ring and much more. It was a lot of fun! Some of the cats even "helped."

And we were getting rid of stuff in multiple ways, so that was great too. There's already a listing on eBay for some of the stuff. Here are some photos: