Old spools of sewing thread

In the category of Things I Don't Need To Be Hoarding¹, I have a metal container full of old thread spools and sewing needles that I picked up a couple of years ago at a yard sale. Because.

It's time for this sewing paraphernalia to move on to another owner. But before it moves out, I wanted to record for posterity some of these really old spools (which is kind of why I bought the container in the first place). The spools are from American Thread Co., Coats & Clark's, Talon, Clark's O.N.T., Richardson's, and Star, among others.

At least these were within a proper container. Back in January 2012, I posted about some embroidery thread, pins and more that I found buried inside an old geography book.

Footnote
1. My wife thinks that many things I've brought into the house fall into this category. She is correct.

The Hams of Vesuvius, Virginia

Pictured above is an image from the first page of 1912's New High School Algebra by Webster Wells and Walter W. Hart.¹

Per the stamp, the book was for the W.O. McCluskey Oyster & Fruit Co. of Wheeling, West Virginia, and was from Raleigh Givens Ham of Vesuvius, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Rockbridge County.²

Vesuvius, believe it or not, has a website. Here's an excerpt from its history of Vesuvius:

"The beginnings of the village of Vesuvius date back to the Iron Furnace that was built in northeastern Rockbridge County around 1828. Named for the Mt. Vesuvius volcano in Italy, Vesuvius Furnace was located about one-half mile from the present intersection of Route 56 and 608. ... Pig Iron stamped 'Vesuvius' has since been recovered from the port of Richmond. ... Although the Furnace ceased operations on December 15, 1854, ruins of the Furnace still stand, giving an idea as to what it was like in Vesuvius Furnace's heyday. ... Among the early names of the residents of Vesuvius were Bryan, Bradley, Campbell, Cash, Crist, Drawbond, Fitzgerald, Hite, Humphries, and Wright. ... The area is also home to rare minerals. One is called churchite and is a fairly scarce rare-earth phosphate containing yttrium and erbium, industrially valuable metals. Churchite is found only in Rockbridge County, USA; Cornwall, England; and Auerbach, Germany. Another rare phosphate is Rockbridgeite."

Meanwhile, in addition to the mention of Raleigh Givens Ham, the initials A.M.H. (above the word "McCluskey") refer to A.M. Ham, whose name is written elsewhere in the mathematics textbook. Finally, Maxine Ham is written on the inside front cover. (Of course, it is possible that A.M. Ham and Maxine Ham refer to the same person.)

According to Ancestry.com, there was a Raleigh Givens Ham who was born on 1912 to Robert Fulton Ham and Rosa Ella Fitzgerald. He married Mary Margaret Garber, had six children, worked for a time as a bricklayer, and died on March 29, 1985, in Augusta, Virginia. But I don't believe he was the only Raleigh Givens Ham in the family.

While we It would be interesting to find out more about W.O. McCluskey Oyster & Fruit Co. and the Hams of Virginia.

I wonder if one of the Hams worked out the equations I found written on this sheet of paper tucked away inside New High School Algebra.

Footnotes
1. According to the copyright page: "This book may be had with answers or without answers at the same price. Answer books, bound in paper, may be obtained free of charge of teachers."
2. Other unincorporated communities in that county include Brownsburg, Gilmore Mills, Marlbrook, Mechanicsville, Natural Bridge, Natural Bridge Station, Raphine, and Rockbridge Baths.

Three illustrations from 1925's "Mother Goose Secrets"

Way back in May 2011, I wrote about the marvelous Story Gnome in Mother Goose Secrets, a 1925 book by Barbara Webb Bourjaily. Revisiting that volume, which is in very rough shape, I find that I gave short shrift to some of the book's other illustrations.

In and of themselves, they are quite impressive — part fairy-tale whimsy with a little bit of 1920s design and style mixed in. They're definitely a product of their era. Here are three of them for your enjoyment this evening.

From "Hush-a-bye, Baby"

From "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary"

From "Hickory Dickory Dock"

1908 bookplate from novel used at The Jacob Tome Institute

In 1908, The Jacob Tome Institute purchased a copy of Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe for 33 cents and issued it to one of its pupils.

Was it ever returned? Possibly not.

The bookplate affixed to the inside front cover (shown above) indicates that the novel was supplied to a student named Worthy E. Coslett on April 21, 1908. He is the only person listed as a recipient, and this is what was written in the column on the book's status:

So, Worthy never gave it back? Did he like Daniel Defoe's novel that much?

Or, perhaps, the book was officially given to him as some sort of reward or incentive. We'll certainly never know for sure.

I can't find much about the life of Worthy, beyond a 1910 U.S. Census report that indicates that he was born around 1894 in Pennsylvania and had moved to Cecil County, Maryland, by 1910. He would have been about 14 when he was issued this book.

For information about Jacob Tome and The Jacob Tome Institute, the best account I discovered is a piece by historian June Lloyd. Tome, it turns out, was born in York County, Pennsylvania, near Hanover. Here's a relevant excerpt from Lloyd's account:

"Jacob Tome (1810-1898) grew up poor in York County, but died at Port Deposit, Md., as one of the richest men in America. ... His crowning achievement was the Tome Institute, a free school founded for Cecil County children. The day school opened in 1894, with the 600 student capacity quickly reached. Estimated construction costs were around $500,000, and Tome's initial endowment was $2.5 million. Jacob passed away on March 16, 1898, pleased that the first commencement from the school was about to take place. An even grander school with multiple buildings was erected above Port Deposit after his death. Probably due to the Great Depression, the Institute's holdings depreciated to a point that the upper campus was sold in 1938 and closed in 1941, but in 1942 the U.S. Navy took over, and the site became the core of the Bainbridge USNTC, eventually training 244,000 sailors. ... USNTC Bainbridge closed in 1976, and in 2000 the closed base, including multiple imposing former Tome Institute stone buildings, was turned over by the federal government to the state for redevelopment."

But that's only a sliver of Tome's fascinating life. To learn more, I recommend Lloyd's article as a great starting point.

Saturday's postcard and 8 things about Hotel del Coronado

This vintage postcard shows the famous Hotel del Coronado illuminated by moonlight and all lit up inside like a Thomas Kinkade dwelling.

Here are eight tidbits about Hotel del Coronado, which opened in 1887 and is located in Coronado, California (near San Diego).

• It is the second largest wooden structure in the United States, behind only the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon.
• The hotel's Crown Room, designed by architect James W. Reid, has a wooden ceiling that was installed with pegs and glue — and not a single nail.
• The original amenities included an Olympic-sized salt-water pool, tennis courts, a Japanese tea garden, an ostrich farm, billiards, bowling alleys, hunting expeditions, and deep sea fishing.
• When Hotel del Coronado opened, electricity was still a novelty. The hotel itself supplied electricity to the city of Coronado. Other technological leaps forward, according to the hotel's website, included "steam-powered hydraulic elevators (among the first in the country), a state-of-the-art fire sprinkler system, and telephone service."
• Notable guests have included Thomas Edison, L. Frank Baum, Charlie Chaplin, Vincent Price, Babe Ruth, James Stewart, Brad Pitt and Madonna.
• Baum did much of his writing at the hotel, and the hotel itself inspired books and stories by Ambrose Bierce, Richard Matheson and Stephen King. The hotel has also been featured in more than a dozen movies, the most famous of which is Some Like It Hot.
• During a three-month stay at the hotel in 1892, a girl named Noel wrote a series of letters describing her experiences. The letters were accompanied by watercolors done by Noel's governess. The letters and watercolors were collected in a recent book titled "The Loveliest Hotel You Can Imagine."
• As is the case with most buildings that are more than a century old, the Coronado has its share of ghost stories. The moust famous one involves Kate Morgan. Among the many articles discussing that spectral mystery is this February 2013 piece from San Diego Reader.

A few ephemeral tidbits for your Halloween 2013 enjoyment

Greetings on this Nos Calan Gaeaf.¹ This is our black cat, Mr. Bill, who helps us with our Halloween decorating each year.

Last night, he was kind enough to sit for a photo shoot with some gourds. He probably thought that it was an acceptable accommodation, especially compared to a few years ago, when I made him a temporary prop in my scarecrow/hay bale costume.

In the, ahem, spirit of the day, here are a few spooky-themed pieces for your enjoyment.

Dark Terrors, 1994

This is issue #8, from April 1994, of Dark Terrors, a magazine that focused on the history of Hammer horror films. According to www.moviemags.com, only 18 issues were published.

Mike Murphy of Cornwall, England, is listed as the publisher for this issue, which includes articles titled:

• An Interview with Barbara Shelley: Hammer Scream Queen says fangs for the memories!
• Censored Hammer — When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
• Ray Harryhausen: Mike Hankin looks at the work of this special effects wizard on One Millions Years B.C.
• An Interview with Harry Oakes: Camera assistant at Bray Studios talks about his Hammer days at the house of horror
• Philip Martell: A tribute to Hammer's long-serving Musical Supervisor
• Quatermass: Behind the scenes of Hammer's adaptations of Nigel Kneale's classic science fiction stories
• Val Guest: Wesley Walker profiles the work of one of Hammer's finest directors

"Spirited Spooks play medieval melodies"

This undated postcard (early 1970s?) shows one of the scenes within the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in California. The famous dark ride opened in August 1969.

The caption on the back of the postcard states (this works best if you imagine Vincent Price saying the words):

"Crypt doors creak and tombstones quake to the rhythm of a haunting refrain. Spirited Spooks play medieval melodies for graveyard guests as all do the dance macabre in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion."

Don't look in the attic

Snapshot taken earlier this year in a friend's attic.
It's a wonder I made it out alive!

Footnote
1. In Welsh culture, Calan Gaeaf is the first day of winter, and is observed on November 1. That makes today Nos Calan Gaeaf, which is thought to be a day when spirits are out and about and the living should tread carefully.

Now softer and with more sheets for all your holiday TPing needs

Of course, none of you is planning anything mischievous tonight or tomorrow, right? RIGHT?

This ScotTissue toilet-paper advertisement was featured in the April 1953 issue of Woman's Day magazine. It promises greater softness and greater whiteness with its "water-woven" technology that employs only "pure 'white' pulp." And all of that at no increase in price.

I tried to find some information about the cultural history of toilet-papering as a prank.¹ But, beyond mentioning The Rocky Horror Picture Show and a few other tidbits, Wikipedia doesn't have much to say on the matter.

Now, Mischief Night² in its various incarnations has existed since the 18th century, but I don't now when the TPing trend first began to, ahem, unravel.

So, lacking any further information on that topic, if you're interested in the history of toilet paper itself, here is The United Colon Vlog presenting "From corncobs to Charmin: The history of toilet paper." Enjoy!

Footnote
1. Because that's what I do here, folks. Who else is going to investigate these questions?
2. Mischief Night, which is usually October 30, is also known as Devil's Night, Cabbage Night, Gate Night, Mizzy Night, and Miggy Night.

Guest post: Remembering those treasures from cereal boxes

Jim Fahringer recently shared these cereal-premium remembrances on Facebook, and he is graciously allowing me to share them here. I hope they spur some of your own memories, and you that can share them in the comments section.¹ Enjoy!

Remember the wonderful cereal premiums that were once included inside the boxes of cereal?

I remember the diving submarine which had the little compartment with a metal cap at the bottom which you filled with baking soda and the sub would slowly rise and sink.

Another neat premium was the records which were part of the back of the cereal box. You would cut them out and put on your record player and they actually played. Sometimes you had to tape a quarter or other coin onto the cardboard record to keep it flat when it played.

Then there were those miniature tin license plates of all the states. I wonder how much cereal was needlessly purchased just to try to amass the complete set of 48 states.

Then there were those tin circular medallions of all the major automobile companies. They came complete with two holes that you could put wire or string through and many of us attached them to our bikes.

In the late 1950s, when cats-eye marbles first came out, one of the cereal companies included a little cellophane roll full of about four or five of these marbles.

Oh, and don't forget the high-quality graphic masks on the back of some of the cereal boxes. We would cut them out and wear the mask.

You could also save several cereal box tops and send a quarter to a dollar for some special premiums. One of the most interesting was for all of us who watched "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon." If you sent in a box top or maybe it was more, and $1 you could own one square inch of the Yukon Territory. We were so excited that we thought we could save up a lot of money and own a large piece of land in the Yukon. But alas, when we received the official looking deed to our one square foot of Yukon Territory it said that this deed had no legal binding ownership of the actual territory.

I also remember sending for the three colored navy frogmen (yellow, blue, and red). These too, like the diving submarine, had a little compartment on the bottom which you filled with baking soda and covered with the metal cap with a hole in it. The navy frogmen would rise and sink as the baking soda produced gas to move them.

There were many other neat cereal premiums. What were some of your favorites?

Here are a few other Papergreat posts on the topic of cereal premiums:

• Get your Kix rocket troopers!
• Straight Arrow Injun-uity card from Nabisco Shredded Wheat
• Mighty Mouse Stops an Evil Plan
• A Mother's Oats coupon

Footnote
1. In previous posts, Fahringer has discussed QSL cards and stamp collecting.