Thursday, November 24, 2016

Vintage postcard of peaceful Irish cottage with goats



American readers, I hope you're enjoying your Thanksgiving.

This undated real photo postcard of an Irish cottage was published by a company named Renaud, which was based in the Manchester, England, suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy.1 It looks like a cozy-enough home. A beautiful spot to live from spring through autumn and then — with some logs, wool blankets, hay for the goats and books — a place to hole up in the winter. It could use a little bit of work, but that's true of most dwellings.

This card fits in nicely with these previous posts:


Footnote
1. Here's a bit of history about that curious name from Wikipedia:
"Chorlton probably means Ceolfrith's farm or settlement from the Old English personal name and tūn, an enclosure, farmstead or village. Hardy is derived from a personal name, Hearda, and ēg, Anglian for island or dry ground in a well-watered land. It has alternatively been suggested that Hardy may mean 'by the woods', in reference to the ancient forest of Arden Wood that grew on both sides of the River Mersey in the area. ... The ancient hamlets of Chorlton and Hardy, separated by the Chorlton Brook, together with Martledge and Barlow Moor, did not come under the combined name of Chorlton-cum-Hardy (cum is Latin for "with") until the 18th century."
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Thoughts on America, race and religion ... from 88 years ago

Sorting through some books, I came across this passage from 1928's Youth and the New America, by social activist and Methodist preacher Garfield Bromley Oxnam. Setting aside some of the unfortunately dated language and focusing on the spirit of Oxnam's message, it's interesting to juxtapose (1) that this was written nearly nine decades ago with (2) where we stand in America today, on so many fronts.

RACIAL PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD TODAY
There are some Americans who think of the racial problem in terms of the Negro or the Oriental, but the racial question is infinitely larger than that. Of it H.G. Wells declares: "I am convinced myself that there is no more evil thing in this present world than race prejudice; none at all. I write deliberately — it is the worst single thing in life now. It justifies and holds together more baseness, cruelty, and abomination than any other sort of error in the world." The yellow races, the brown, the black, the red, are rapidly coming to self-consciousness. Approximately a third of the world population is white, nearly a third is yellow, and a little more than a third is black or brown. This means that there are two colored persons for every white person. The question we face this hour is whether or not, in the light of Christ's teachings which reveal a common Father and declare that all are brothers, we can work out this racial problem in conference and good-will, removing thus the danger of conflict.

There is a school of amateur anthropologists in America who, in flaming scareheads, picture the rise of the colored races and the eventual extermination of the white peoples. They have gone so far as to insist upon the supremacy of a small section of the white race, and to urge its development for the purpose of assuring its rule of the world. They insist upon "Nordic race superiority." This school is supposed of men whom President Glenn Frank, of the University of Wisconsin, sarcastically calls "facile journalistic camp followers" of the real scientists, and are not to be taken seriously by any student. In the approach to the racial problem the young American must turn to the responsible inquirers in the field and beware of these pseudo-sociologists. By what scientific evidence do you justify the assumption that you belong to the superior group?

... Is not the place to attack the race problem right at home, first by studying our own minds, uprooting prejudice, and seeking to develop the attitude necessary to cooperation? And then, is it not the duty of young Americans, Christians, to work out practical steps whereby understanding may grow, contacts of friendship increase, and the fine art of living together emerge?
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Cool illustrations: The New Human Interest Library (Part 7)

With this installment of illustrations from 1929's The New Human Interest Library, we enter the section of the book titled "The Do-It-Yourself Book (Elementary Projects)," which kicks off with a chapter called "Drawing Made Easy." These first four illustrations are by the wonderfully named Cobb Shinn. His full name was Conrad (Cobb) X. Shinn, and he lived from 1887 to 1951. According to askART, Shinn was primarily known as a postcard artist. He was a native of Indiana who worked as a camouflage artist during World War I. He was known for "humorous postcards, in particular a series called 'Whazzer Mazzer,' which featured well-known Indianapolis landmarks, but drawn in a distorted way, as they might appear to drunks."

Extensive information about Shinn can be found at a 2010 post on the ephemera blog "Tattered and Lost." There, you can find out about his work with Ford Motor Company, his illustrations for Little Black Sambo, his work as a pioneer with "clip art" and photographs of a turtle drinking milk.

In these illustrations from The New Human Interest Library, Shinn shows how to draw Jack-In-The-Pulpits, dandelions, carnations and rose buds.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Our scary world in Tweets


Important news and insights are flying past so fast these days...






























Full Arnade Twitter essay starting with the above Tweet:
"1. About the "I talked to my cab/uber driver" thing some journalists still amazingly do without irony. It is so so lazy and so so clueless. 2. Imagine pro athlete bragging about climbing the stairs to their home as their workout for the day! I mean. Talking to people is your gig! 3. I been doing this journalism thing for about 2 yrs. One of biggest disappointment is how afraid many journalists are of the different. 4. Different places. Different people. Different views. If you are worried to go into a "rough" hood (many are). Rethink what that means. 5. There many curious, open, extrovert journalist. They are often limited by budgets & by what editors want. Which is now data data data. 6. There is also a culture of journalism that often discourages meeting others. Media travels in a media bubble of Marriotts and Starbucks. 7. Write it off as a cheap gimmick, but I really have learned more hanging in sad McDonald's and per hour motels than in any other places. 8. I would love to see more journalist talk about their bus driver. Or better yet the other people on their bus or at their bus stop. 9. A cab or uber is a luxury in the world I spend my time in as a journalist. Unless it is a hack cab. Or is because so so many DUIs. 10. So. Please stop the I talked to my cab driver thing. I mean. Geez. It really really really really really shouldn't have to be said."




















Full Arnade Twitter essay starting with the above Tweet:
"1. A small exchange with @zeynep sent me down a wormhole of reading and thinking. I have way overlooked impact of Facebook on voters. 2. I spend most of my time in low income communities. Minority and white. And in those places Facebook dominates as a source of information. 3. Whenever I take a picture of someone, and we exchange info, their first question is a version of, "Are you on Facebook. If so, tag me." 4. I wrote about McDonald's as social centers. Part of reason is free WiFi & part of that appeal is using facebook. 5. This includes people who are homeless, or those moving between rehab, detox, half-way homes, shelters, and/or jail. 6. I have been in drug traps at 2 am, and asked to take a selfie with someone who just shot up, and they then say, "Can I tag you?" 7. For many working poor, Facebook is their news source. And what news and stories they see is now determined by what comes into their feed. 8. We are already a country so very divided. Segregated into camps isolated by geography, class, race, & education. 9. That division will get more pronounced as we start getting different "facts & news" It is moving towards having two separate realities. 10. When you have two realities, compromise becomes impossible. Because when you cannot agree on facts, little else can follow. 11. I mention this too much. But it reminds me of Venezuela & Chavez. A country with massive inequality, two realities, that then fell apart. 12. So add Facebook to the reasons I believe the US is drifting towards behaving like a 3rd world country."



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Pleasant days of Middle East travel


Yes, there was once a time was vacationing in the Middle East was safe and realistic and perhaps even encouraged. That hasn't been true for a long time, of course. This postcard is from the same batch that included the postcard from this March post about the Jeita Grotto in Lebanon.

This postcard was mailed to a Martha in the Bronx. There's no date, but I think the year on the postmark is 1970, though I'm not 100% certain.

The jovial note states:
Dear Aunt Martha,
Having a fine time here in Beirut. Doing a lot of siteseeing & visiting many of their friends. Everyone is so nice & we're invited out all the time. We went to the beach, & visited a Casino, went through a cave in the mountains. Helda's husbands parents have a summer house in the mts. overlooking Beirut so we go up often, it's so beautiful. We went shopping downtown, they have a lot of American stuff. Bye for now. Love, Patsy.
While there have been some short periods of relative peace and stability, Beirut hasn't really been a safe destination for tourists since the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, more than four decades ago.

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Sunday, November 20, 2016

Another book finds its proper home


It has been an outstanding autumn for returning books and ephemera to the families that should rightfully have them. Earlier this month, I told the story of A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony and its reunion with a woman who penned a short inscription inside many decades ago.

Not long after, I received an email about some law textbooks (and the papers inside) that had belonged to Elbert Nostrand Carvel, who had two stints as the governor of Delaware between 1949 and 1965. I wrote about these Carvel books way back in 2011. So it was a surprise when, 274 weeks after that post, I received this email from a reader named Lisa:
I was browsing on the net today and came across your website. Very interested to read about the items related to Elbert Carvel (my grandfather) — especially the survey from the yearbook. (BTW he married a brunette at the age of 22. During a snowstorm. During Prohibition. Had to use his handkerchief dabbed with spirits from his flask to clear the windscreen and when he arrived his bride-to-be said "Nos! Have you been drinking?!") We have a lot of info about him, but not so much in his early years. Can you tell me about the stuff you have about him?
I only had one of Carvel's textbooks still in my possession — 1914's Handbook of the Law of Municipal Corporations. It was sitting on a shelf alongside some other older books. I had kept this one because it was the volume with all of the old Carvel-related papers inside — study notes, the University of Baltimore class survey that I detailed in 2011 and more. I didn't want to sell or donate a book with that much personal history inside.

Clearly, though I couldn't have known it, I was just waiting for Lisa to get in touch!

And, clearly, this book had to get back into the hands of the Carvel family.

Lisa gave me her address and I shipped the book, with its papers tucked inside. Another happy ending. After it arrived, I received this short note:
The book came on Tuesday! I'm very happy to have it and will be sharing with my siblings at Thanksgiving. Thank you very much! And a little packet is on its way to you.
"Little packet" was quite the understatement! Linda, as an incredibly generous gesture of thanks, sent me a manila envelope filled with amazing ephemera. Look at all of these items! You will surely be reading about these in multiple future Papergreat posts. Thank you, Linda.
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Friday, November 18, 2016

History's turning points:
When we chose TV over goats


Big news: I have discovered a heretofore undocumented moment of extreme importance within our reality1 in the space-time continuum. A crucial pivot in human history. Bigger even than the invention of plastics.

The turning point is this: The moment humankind decided that television is more important goats and reinforced this notion through a popular school textbook.

At the center of this conspiracy is the 1953 textbook Just Imagine!, which was published by Scott, Foresman and Company, and an author named Frances C. Hines.

Just Imagine! was part of The New Basic Reading Program and was described as "a transition reader designed to meet the needs of children as they take the big step from primary to intermediate grades." Apparently, another one of its jobs was to brainwash children and turn them into consumer-culture couch potatoes.

Here's the summary of what happens in "TV and the Goat," by Hines, which is the first story in the textbook:

  • Jack has a pet goat named Hooker.
  • Jack and Hooker play outside in the fresh air every day.
  • Jack learns that his family is getting a TV.
  • Jack ties Hooker to a tree.
  • "So long, Hooker," Jack says.
  • Hooker is sad.
  • Jack doesn't have time to play with Hooker any more.
  • Jack wants to watch cowboy shows on TV.
  • Hooker is sad.
  • Hooker chews through his rope.
  • Hooker watches through the window as his former playmate stares at the television.
  • The next day, Jack comes home from school.
  • Hooker meets Jack at the gate.
  • Jack runs right past Hooker and heads inside for the TV.
  • Hooker is sad.
  • Hooker butts against things to get attention.
  • "You're a bad goat," Jack cries.
  • Hooker is sad.
  • Hooker returns to the porch and makes a commotion.
  • Hooker is ultimately allowed to stare through the window while Jack stares at the TV.
  • That's Hooker's new existence.
  • "Hooker likes to watch the cowboys," Jack says. "Hooker is a TV goat."
  • The End.
  • Bleat.

Wrong, Jack. WRONG. Hooker is not a "TV goat." Hooker misses his playmate. Hooker wants YOU. Hooker wants you to come out in the yard, in the fresh air and sunshine, and play with him.

This is a very damaging and misleading story.

What if, six decades ago, we had rejected television? What if we had chosen goats over TV? What if we could send time-travelers back to the 1950s to influence Frances C. Hines and have her turn this into a pro-goat/anti-TV tale? How might things have turned out differently?2

Discuss.

Then go outside.


Footnotes
1. Reality 47.451e.
2. For one thing, we would have avoided Charles in Charge.




CHOOSE GOATS
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Thursday, November 17, 2016

Fairly odd thing found inside a Little Free Library


Recently, while placing some books in the Little Free Library in downtown York, I discovered this torn-off magazine cover inside. It's kind of an odd thing to discover in a Little Free Library, especially given its age.

This is Volume VIII, No. 2 of Bernat Afghans, which, I believe, had an original publication date of March 1937 — making the above cover 79 years old. I can't find much information online about the history of this magazine, editor Paul Bernat or The Handicrafter — another magazine of that era that Bernat was involved with. I did find this undated advertising text for Bernat Yarns:
"BERNAT YARNS offer many possibilities for craft work in your recreational program. There are coarse warps and fillers for rug weaving, yarns and designs for hooking, also fine wools, silks, and cottons for hand-weaving, embroidery, knitting, and allied crafts. Our magazine, the Handicrafter published six times a year, subscription price $2.00 offers many timely articles on the crafts. There are projects suitable for children and for adults.
Write for samples and prices
EMILE BERNAT & SONS CO. Jamaica Plain, Mass."

The other side of this cover features a short essay titled "Afghans should be Heirlooms." Here's an excerpt:
"The pleasure and satisfaction of making an afghan is multiplied a hundredfold if while you work you know that it will be beautiful enough to someday pass on to someone dear to you ... and that person will cherish it during her lifetime and in turn hand it down with pride. A well made afghan is worthy of becoming an heirloom and we believe in presenting this, our first afghan book, we will actually help women create such afghans. We have searched far and wide for the designs in this book and they are diversified enough to appeal to all afghan lovers. When made of Bernat's Afghan Yarns they become valued possessions."
I wonder if Bernat Afghans was just a special edition of The Handicrafter, since the above excerpt mentions "our first afghan book."

Bernat, by the way, still produces very-popular yarns. One place you can find it is a site called Yarnspirations, which states: "Bernat is the go-to for the whole family, with great yarns for fashion, home décor projects, and baby! From tried and true basics, to cutting-edge textures, there’s a yarn for everyone, and every project."
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