Nineteen Eighty Something

The Goldberg’s

September 24, 2019

Great storytellers often revert to their youth as a way to mine for fictional gems.

In the 1970’s it was the TV program Happy Days which took us back to the 1950’s. Then there were The Wonder Years which aired in the late 80’s but was set from 1968 to 1974.

The Goldberg’s TV family

For anyone who grew up in the 1980’s they can tune in to ABC’s current program The Goldberg s and see their childhood come to life. It premiered on September 24, 2013.

Created by Adam F. Goldberg, the show is based on people he knew and events which happened to him while he was growing up. Season 7 begins on Wednesday (Sept. 25) (For 2020, Season 8 begins October 21)

the-goldbergs-murray-goldberg-dad-mlk4tf7mb022bko9xivzesuy8qeaprr3x37kk34hyw

Murray in his recliner

Like all great TV shows, excellent writing and casting are key. Adam’s is a wacky family which begins with his father, Murray, whose main goal in life is to be able to relax in his recliner (sans trousers) and watch TV undisturbed by his three children, who he calls ‘morons.’ The heart of the family is the ultimate intrusive mother, Beverly, who Adam and his siblings, Erica and Barry, call the ‘Smother.’ Although she ‘could have been a lawyer’, her only focus in life is finding ways to stay inappropriately relevant in her teenage children’s’ lives. The travails of the three siblings are fleshed out by a host of friends and rivals.

Beverly going in for a smothering snuggie

From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“The Goldberg’s is set in the 1980’s in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. The show is loosely based on the show runner’s childhood, during which he videotaped events, many of which are reenacted throughout the program. It shows the reality of the 1980’s through a young boy’s eyes.

The series stars Jeff Garlin as patriarch Murray and Wendi McLendon-Covey as matriarch Beverly. Their two older children are Erica (Hayley Orrantia) and Barry (Troy Gentile). The youngest child, Adam (Sean Giambrone), documents his family life with his video camera. Beverly’s father, Albert “Pops” Solomon (George Segal), is frequently around to provide advice or to help out his grandchildren (often behind his daughter’s back).

TROY GENTILE, HAYLEY ORRANTIA, SEAN GIAMBRONE

Barry, Erica, and Adam

The present-day ‘Adult Adam’ (Patton Oswalt) narrates every episode as taking place in ‘1980-something’.

Many references to real-life Philadelphia-area businesses are made, including the Wawa Inc. convenience store chain, Gimbel’s department store, Willow Grove Park Mall, and Kremp’s Florist of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.”

It was halfway through season six that I saw my first ‘Goldberg’s.’ Over the past 10 years, I have traveled frequently to Yakima to assist my parents. What started as an every five or six weeks visit to cook meals for my dad has shortened over the years as the needs increased. I’ve literally spent hundreds of days there helping both of them and dealing with a variety of crises. There have been hospital stays for both my parents, my mother living in multiple care facilities for 8 years, legal battles, her passing in November 2017, and now the decline of my 96 year old father.

In January 2019, my dad took ill and ended up in the hospital. Upon his release my siblings and I recognized that we needed to place him into a facility as my brother, who had lived with him for the previous five years, was not able to provide the level of care needed.

I was in Yakima to facilitate dad’s move and arrived back at my Dad’s place one evening sometime the last week of January. My brother told me he had discovered a new TV show and asked if I wanted to watch. I did and, like him, was soon hooked on The Goldberg’s.

For most people it’s a simple thing to be able to watch and enjoy a TV program. That was not the case at my Dad’s house.

While Dad was still at home, the TV was his main activity, particularly after my mother died, and there were only a few programs he watched: Sports and News.

During the five years my brother lived there those were the choices during the hours Dad was present.

In those first weeks after Dad moved to Assisted Living, a weird quiet descended over the house. I think both my brother and I were in a bit of state of shock as the new reality settled in.

Enter the Goldberg’s. My brother set up the TV to record every episode as it played since season’s one through five were being rebroadcast. Many evenings in the next few months during the days and weeks I was in Yakima, I’d arrive back after visiting Dad and my brother and I would binge watch, often staying up way too late.

In many ways it was a lifeline and a way to deal with the stress. Laughter and the occasional cry do that for you.

On another level there was a more subtle lesson to be learned. One that comes through from the Goldberg’s in every episode:

Sure, stuff happens in life and we’re not always at our best with our family and friends, but in the end cherish your family because things change – sometimes in an instant – and you cannot get it back.

We recently completed an estate sale at my Dad’s place. Soon the condo will be on the market. As we went through the process of sorting everything last summer, we’d come upon items which triggered emotional responses. When I handed the electric griddle to my sister in law to use for her grand kids it hit me that I would never cook another pancake (I made thousands in those 10 years) or a pot pie for Dad in that kitchen, or stay there, or hear my dad’s walker thumping overhead in the morning. Everything had changed.

The author with Reggie, one of the double doodles

But a new and different way of loving and supporting family has emerged. When I’m over there I now stay with my sister and her husband. Herbert and Teddy, their two dogs, announce every arrival in a cacophony of barking. Shop Cat – who is an outdoor pet – will come and hang out on the deck and has decided I’m okay, rubbing against my legs and looking to be petted. My sister’s adult daughter – who lives nearby – arrives most every evening, bringing with her Reggie and Rex, the Double Doodle dogs, who join in the melee.

I visit dad at least once a day when over there. He has good days and bad days… last week he had one particularly good day and insisted he wanted to have Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. So what the heck? I loaded him and his walker into the car and we went to KFC. Was it easy? No. But I recognize his days are short and doing something so simple made him happy for a little while. And that makes it all worthwhile. No regrets.

Dinner with Dad at KFC

2019 has been a hard year, but it was made better thanks to the Goldberg’s and my own family.

Here’s the link to Wikipedia, but really, it does not do justice to the show. Give yourself a treat and watch an episode.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goldbergs_(2013_TV_series)

Update 2022: When I posted this on September 24, 2019, I had no idea that exactly one month later my Dad would be gone. While I have not watched the Goldberg’s for over a year, those early episodes were wonderful.

With A Twitch of the Nose

Sep17

September 17, 2019

Bewitched title capture From the moment this TV show premiered, on September 17, 1964, a spell was cast over the American public and everyone fell in love with a beautiful witch named Samantha.

Bewitched was an instant hit, drawing everyone in to its crazy premise:

What if a witch were to fall in love with a mortal and give up her magical world to become a modern day housewife?

Samantha Darren Eldora Of course that’s not quite how it worked out. Week after week we were given a glimpse into the life and marriage of Darren and Samantha Stevens who, with interference from her mother Endora and a wide cast of other relatives, seemed to stir up trouble for poor Darren. Add to that mix the nosy neighbor, Gladys Kravitz, and Darren’s demanding boss, Larry Tate, and you had the recipe for a sitcom which aired for the next eight years.

From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“The witches and their male counterparts, warlocks, are very long-lived; while Samantha appears to be a young woman, many episodes suggest she is actually hundreds of years old. To keep their society secret, witches avoid showing their powers in front of mortals other than Darrin. Nevertheless, the effects of their spells – and Samantha’s attempts to hide their supernatural origin from mortals – drive the plot of most episodes. Witches and warlocks usually use physical gestures along with their incantations. To perform magic, Samantha often twitches her nose to create a spell. Special visual effects are accompanied by music to highlight such an action.”

The combination of great script writers coupled with outstanding casting was, no doubt, key to the series success. Elizabeth Montgomery, as Samantha, is frequently seen using her nose to make the dishes wash themselves, clean up a mess, or handle some mundane chore. Darren was frustrated each week at his wife’s use of magic to handle life.

Personally, as a child, I very badly wanted to live in that world. My bedroom was ALWAYS a disaster of toys, books, and games, with never enough space to store them. If, of course, I was inclined to be tidy, which I was not.

My sister, who is 21 months older, forbade me from stepping foot onto her side of the room during those years. An invisible line was drawn between our matching twin beds and across that boundary I dared not venture. Oh to have Samantha’s nose which I could just twitch and get everything cleaned up in an instant! Then I might have been allowed across the magic threshold.

gladys kravitz But my favorite character on the show had to have been the ever vigilant neighbor Gladys. The woman epitomized the term busy body and was often seen skulking around the Steven’s house. She would climb into the shrubbery and peer through windows, certain that all sorts of strange things were going on inside. Of course she was right but she never succeeded in convincing her disinterested husband, Abner, or the occasional law enforcement officer she would call, of the shenanigans which took place.

In fact, when I encounter a nosy person, I will refer to them as Gladys. In a loving way, of course, but the name does sum up such a person which members of my generation instantly recognize.

No doubt, when the show went off the air in 1972, it was with a whimper. The original Darren had left in 1969 due to complications from a severe back injury 10 years earlier which made working impossible. The original Gladys died in 1966 as had Samantha’s confused Aunt Clara. These hits to the cast affected the show profoundly. In many ways, in retrospect, it was almost as if a spell had been placed on the show. Elizabeth Montgomery died in 1995 at the age of 64 from colon cancer. Dick York succumbed at age 63 from emphysema. Agnes Moorehead, who played Endora, was stricken with uterine cancer which took her life in 1974 at age 74.

Bewitched lives on in syndication and, subsequently, on DVD and the internet. Although there was a movie made based on the characters, and proposals for a new TV series, no remake will ever be able to replicate and achieve the success of the original. Magic often only happens once.

For more about Bewitched:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched

Howe It’s Made

Sep10

The Invention of the Sewing Machine

September 19, 2019

598px-elias-howe-sewing-machine This invention truly revolutionized American life. The sewing machine was granted a patent on September 10, 1846. While most people associate the name Singer with the sewing machine it was actually an inventor by the name of Elias Howe who conceived of and created the first such machine. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“He almost beggared himself before he discovered where the eye of the needle of the sewing machine should be located. It is probable that there are very few people who know how it came about. His original idea was to follow the model of the ordinary needle, and have the eye at the heel. It never occurred to him that it should be placed near the point, and he might have failed altogether if he had not dreamed he was building a sewing machine for a savage king in a strange country. Just as in his actual working experience, he was perplexed about the needle’s eye. He thought the king gave him twenty-four hours in which to complete the machine and make it sew. If not finished in that time death was to be the punishment. Howe worked and worked, and puzzled, and finally gave it up. Then he thought he was taken out to be executed. He noticed that the warriors carried spears that were pierced near the head. Instantly came the solution of the difficulty, and while the inventor was begging for time, he awoke. It was 4 o’clock in the morning. He jumped out of bed, ran to his workshop, and by 9, a needle with an eye at the point had been rudely modeled. After that it was easy. That is the true story of an important incident in the invention of the sewing machine.”

Alas, Elias Howe had competition in the development of the sewing machine and another, much better known name, came to dominate the industry. Also from the Infalllible Wikipedia:

Elias-Howe-sewing-machine “Despite his (Howe) efforts to sell his machine, other entrepreneurs began manufacturing sewing machines. Howe was forced to defend his patent in a court case that lasted from 1849 to 1854 because he found that Isaac Singer with cooperation from Walter Hunt had perfected a facsimile of his machine and was selling it with the same lockstitch that Howe had invented and patented. He won the dispute and earned considerable royalties from Singer and others for sales of his invention.”

Howe, like Singer, ended up a multimillionaire.

Before this society altering machine was invented, it took some 14 hours for a person – usually a woman – laboring at home and sewing each seam by hand to make a shirt. Those hours were invested after all other chores were done: cooking, cleaning, washing, and child care. The sewing machine, which at first was used in factories, eventually made its way to the home allowing women to sew stronger, better garments, and saving hundreds of hours of valuable time.

For me, my relationship with the sewing machine is a love/hate affair. When in Junior High I took Home Economics classes which, at Wilson Junior High in Yakima, were split into two segments. One was to learn all the skills needed to cook. The other was to learn how to sew. I was in eighth grade in the sewing segment when I received my first exposure to home economics.

A line dress Our initial project was to sew a basic A-line dress. For those unfamiliar with the term, what that meant was a dress of three pieces: front, and two mirror image back pieces with a zipper down part of the middle. No sleeves, just armholes with armhole facings; darts at the bodice completed the fitting. In all, the pattern consisted of 8 pieces. Five of those pieces were facings around the arms and neck.

Our teacher sent us out on the mission to purchase material for our dresses. I acquired a very loud, very late 1960’s/early 1970’s fabric, with colorful flowers on a white background. Day by day we labored. Pattern pieces had to be carefully laid out and pinned down, paying attention to concepts such as grain lines as we learned how to ‘read’ the pattern. When that was completed, we cut the fabric, making sure to follow the printed lines of the pattern and the little tabs to be matched. Step by step we succeeded in sewing together our creation. We learned the proper way to sew darts (the dress had four of them), install a zipper, finish edges, and to sew (by hand) a hem.

Material similar to that used in my first dress

When my dress was completed I was excited to wear it… only to discover that due to a similarity to a long legged colt, the length of the dress was such that all anyone noticed were my knock-kneed legs extending a mile from the hem to the floor.

This might have been due to the fact that the mini skirt was the dominant fashion in the late 1960’s. Or it might have been that between my 8^th and 9^th grade years of school I grew, literally, six inches in height. From the time I started the dress to when it was finished, I had gained most of this height.

But I was not discouraged as I had discovered I possessed ability in creating garments. Soon I had a bit of a cottage industry going. As a member of the Rainbow Girls the need for custom dresses for its members provided customers. The very first dress I made for someone else was for my friend, Wende, who paid me $15 to sew a dress.

Over the years the ability to sew has come in handy. I can mend pretty much anything and can sew clothing. I’ve created costumes for my children, dresses for countless Rainbow girls, and my most recent project of sewing 21 identical aprons for gifts.

The most painful experience occurred, however, in January 2010. Sewing, I discovered, was still a time consuming process despite Mr. Howe’s invention and subsequent improvements to his design.

Enter into my world the serger. Unlike the sewing machine, a serger will completely bind the edge of the material, cutting and simultaneously sewing together two pieces of fabric into a never to be undone seam. The addition of the serger was a miracle for me. Seams which before had taken 20 minutes each now required but a few minutes.

The blue dress

Until. Until I was sewing my first project using the serger. It was to be a rather delicate and beautiful blue dress using a pattern in the same style as the wedding dress worn by Kate Middleton for her marriage to Prince William. There was lace. There was satin. It was going to be stunning. I was happily serging the seams in anticipation of the dress being completed when my foot slipped on the pedal and the serger went one stitch too far. I looked down at the garment and there, in the nearly completed dress, was a perfect cut into the midriff in the shape of a small upside down V.

The dress which was attacked.

I stared in horror at the incision and wondered how to fix the mistake. Could I bind the edge to repair it? Could I tuck in under?

The reality of the situation hit me. There was no way to ‘fix’ the mistake. It would have to be redone.

The memory of that day is forever seared into my brain. I continued to study the ruined bodice for what seemed like several minutes. At last I stood. I turned off the machine. I left the dress right where it was, a testament to the old adage “A stitch in time saves nine.” I left my sewing room for the rest of day, literally sick over the fact that I would have to recreate the destroyed section, learning in that moment that a serger was but a tool which, if not used correctly, was no more useful than any other tool in the wrong hands.

The next day I returned to the sewing room, cut out the new section and was able to recreate the damaged piece. My mistake had added a couple of hours to the project. The dress? It turned out beautifully, a true masterpiece on the lovely young woman who wore it. Thankfully, I had enough extra material to fix what had been so easily destroyed.

As for me, sewing is something I do because it served an end, but it’s not my life’s passion. My passion is this: writing.

I do find, however, that when my brain is tired from the creative process of writing, sewing can provide a comfort in the sheer rote of its methods. Seams are seams. There are only so many ways to put a garment together and once you master that you can make pretty much anything so long as you respect the machines which make it possible.

But writing… well, that taps into my creative mind as I’m always looking for new and different ways to share ancient truths.

So I leave the sewing to those whose passion it is. Artistry comes in many forms. Except for an occasional project, my 10 hour sewing days are behind me and I’ve closed the shop.

I also think it’s time to bring back Home Ec. classes like sewing. We’ve now raised a couple generations of people, the majority of whom seem to lack basic life skills. Being able to sew a seam, and put up a hem is just one example of valuable ability. Cooking, carpentry, and mechanical aptitude should be added to that list also.

So I salute Elias Howe and his vision for the modern sewing machine. It truly changed the life of women.

The Infallible Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewing_machine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Howe

The First Tuesday in September

Sep3

September 3, 2019

On Saddle Shoes and Pee Chee Folders

The first Tuesday of September was always a day which struck fear in my heart. In fact, no other day of the year caused more anxiety and distress than this one.

The reason, of course, was due to the fact that when I was growing up school always started on this day.

Unlike in today’s world, where we are inundated with back to school ads for supplies and equipment beginning in late July, in the 1960’s and 70’s, we didn’t much think about going back to school. That is until one day in late August my mother would ominously announce that school started the next week.

So off we would go to get things. Our back to school supply list included Pee Chee folders, notebook paper, #2 pencils, and BIC pens. That was it.

For clothing, I was lucky to get one new outfit for the first day of school. And the most evil of all footwear ever invented: saddle shoes.

I’ll get back to those in a bit. First off, however, I imagine you are wondering about the Pee Chee. What is a Pee Chee? And why do so many people my age wax so nostalgic over a folded in half piece of cardstock? I knew it deserved Tuesday Newsday status. Since I couldn’t find the official day they were introduced, the first Tuesday in September seemed the perfect date to learn about them. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“The yellow Pee-Chee All Season Portfolio was a common American stationery item in the second half of the 20th century, commonly used by students for storing school papers. It was first produced in 1943 by the Western Tablet and Stationery Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Pee-Chees were later produced by the Mead Corporation. (snip) These inexpensive folders are made of card stock with two internal pockets for the storage of loose leaf paper. The pockets are printed with a variety of reference information including factors for converting between Imperial and metric measurement units, and a multiplication table. The folders had fallen out of general use by the 2000s, but are available from Mead as of 2014.”

useful information.jpg Note the words “multiplication table.” This was probably the most valuable thing a Pee Chee provided as we were expected to memorize this table. By the time you got up to the twelves, it got a bit difficult. The handy dandy Pee Chee came to your rescue. Of course our teachers knew this and we had to put our Pee Chee’s away during test time.

When I walked home from elementary school I only carried a Pee Chee and rarely any books unless it was one checked out from the library. By the time I was in Junior High and High School, books were part of the equation. Along with the Pee Chee of course.

That brand new, unmarked, non-dog-eared Pee Chee was the best part of being forced to go back to school. And paper, pencils and BIC pens, of course. Oooh, and Flair pens starting in Junior High!

The worst part? From first grade through sixth I was subjected to torture by being forced to wear saddle shoes. Whoever invented this shoe should have been required to wear a new pair every week for their entire lives just so they would know what pain they subjected multiple generations of girls to endure.

Yakima Nordstrom My mother would take me and my sister to Nordstrom’s Shoe store… in the 1960’s in Yakima that’s all it was… a shoe store. We would bypass all the beautiful shiny black patent leather shoes and the cute Mary Janes and go directly to the rack of clunky saddle shoes. There they sat, big, bulky, and ugly. They had brown soles thicker than a slice of French toast. Across their beige bodies was a second strip of stiff brown leather, with laces through the holes, just waiting to cinch your foot into bondage. Heaven forbid that you got shoes which fit… no, they had to be a bit big so you’d grow in to them and not grow out of them before the following June.

We would wear them around the house for several days before school started in a futile effort to ‘break’ them in. It never worked. The first few weeks of school our feet bore witness to the horrors of saddle shoes; oozing red blisters were covered with adhesive tape and we’d limp through the day. Eventually the leather softened and the blisters abated… usually by October. Kids today just don’t realize how lucky they are to have been spared the scourge of saddle shoes. beige and brown saddle shoes

Even now the first week of September is my least favorite time of the year; despite the fact I do not have to go back to school nor do my children.

I am, however, very, very tempted to go hang out in the office supply store and indulge myself in the smell of paper and ink and the plethora of notebooks, papers, pens, and paperclips. Anyone who has seen my office knows that I have stacks of spiral notebooks, hundreds of colored paperclips (many with decorative tops), and a collection of G-2 G 2 pens pens of every hue. In fact, just writing about it inspires me to head to my nearest Office Depot Max to see what’s on sale. Unlike saddle shoes, office supplies never go out of fashion!

As always a couple of links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee_Chee_folder

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddle_shoe

Yes, it is true. In 1960 Nordstrom’s only sold shoes. The store in Yakima was one of only 8 stores at the time.

https://shop.nordstrom.com/content/company-history

2022 Update: In honor of school starting, I ordered presents for my printers! Yes, shiny new ink cartridges. And, yes, printers as in I have two in my office. One can never have too much ink.

Practically Perfect In Every Way

Aug27

Mary Poppins

August 27, 2019

mary-poppins_poster_goldposter_com_3 Unlike most of the musical films of the previous decades, this one was aimed at children. It introduced new words into our collective vocabulary and catapulted its two stars into the stratosphere. Children everywhere wanted a nanny just like Mary Poppins and her chimney sweep friend Bert.

Mary Poppins hit the silver screen on August 27, 1964, and soon everyone was exclaiming Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and singing Chim-Chim-Cheree.

The movie was based on a children’s book by P.L. Travers. It was the song writing brothers of Robert and Richard Sherman who created over 30 songs for the movie. Of those, 14 made the final cut.

It was, however, the superb casting, particularly of Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, which provided the magic needed for the story. Andrews, who was a Broadway actress at the time, transitioned to film and would, the next year, define the iconic Maria Von Trapp in the Sound of Music.

Between the incredible casting, the musical score, and the script, it proved a recipe for success. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“It received a total of 13 Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture – a record for any film released by Walt Disney Studios – and won five: Best Actress for Andrews, Best Film Editing, Best Original Music Score, Best Visual Effects, and Best Original Song for ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’. In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’. Mary Poppins is considered Walt Disney’s crowning live-action achievement, and is the only one of his films which earned a Best Picture nomination during his lifetime.”

For a seven year old, getting to go to a theater and see a movie was a big deal. Especially when it was the very FIRST movie that seven year old had ever seen in a theater.

I have a distinct memory of being dropped off at the Capitol Theater in Yakima along with my older siblings to watch the movie. I doubt my then 15 year old brother was thrilled at being the designated baby sitter for the event. Of course that mattered not to me. I was enthralled from the moment Mary Poppins, umbrella unfurled and carpet bag in hand, floated down to the Banks house.

In the days, weeks, and months which followed, I strove to be Mary Poppins. If I was outside playing it was with an umbrella in hand, running down the street wishing to be lifted from the ground so that I could float away to magical places. Alas, despite some pretty strong winds at times, my Mary Poppins dreams went unfulfilled although I did manage to get airborne quite often.

Mary arrives at Banks house

After I had children of my own I made it one of my missions to expose them to the cultural phenomenon of Musicals. Although they enjoyed Mary Poppins I do not believe it impacted them quite the same way.

On a trip to Disneyland when my daughter was near the magical age of seven, we were on Main Street early one morning. Across the plaza I spied Mary Poppins. Determined to get her autograph for the daughter’s book, we hurried over.

The daughter proffered the souvenir and asked ‘Mary’ if she would sign it. A nanny’s eye landed on my daughter, said good morning, then proceeded – in character – to instruct the child to stand up straight, feet together, toes turned slightly out, with the admonishment of “spit spot.” Although my daughter was slightly flummoxed by the encounter, I was enchanted.

The whole nanny thing, I decided, might still be a good idea for seven year old children although I don’t think it’s a great idea for those same children to take flying leaps into the air in an effort to fly.

No article is complete without a link to the Infallible Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Poppins_(film)

My Teenage Lifeline

Aug20

The Rotary Dial Phone

August 20, 2019

For young people in the 1960’s and 70’s, this device was as essential to teenagers as the smart phones of today.

The difference being that this device was tethered to a specific location and it allowed you to do but one thing: talk.

Nearly every household in middle America had one and, by the early 1960’s, all featured a rotary dial, the patent for which was applied for on August 20, 1896. The device was, of course, the telephone.

Rotary Dial phones

It was, however, the addition of the rotary dial which made it possible for the telephone to become a common household essential. As is often the case, controversy surrounded the granting of patents. The first rotary style was developed in 1891. According to the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Almon Brown Strowger was the first to file a patent for a rotary dial on December 21, 1891, which was awarded on November 29, 1892, as U.S. Patent 486,909. The early rotary dials used lugs on a finger plate instead of holes, and the pulse train was generated without the control of spring action or a governor on the forward movement of the wheel, which proved to be difficult to operate correctly.”

It was only a few short years later when three inventors in Kansas – brother’s Charles and Frank Erickson along with their friend Frank Lundquist – provided the refinement needed and the rotary dial with finger holes that we know was invented. Different enough from Strowger’s design, it became the standard. From the historical files of the Kansas Collection:

“The most dramatic contribution of the Ericksons in telephony is associated with the invention and development of the dial telephone. Application for the patent was made by (A.E.) Keith and the Ericksons on August 20, 1896, and Patent No. 597,062 was granted on January 11, 1898. The dial method was based upon a finger wheel dial instead of the push buttons, which were cumbersome and impractical. The dial method, with the switching and trunk systems, provided full access to the vast resources of a telephone exchange. R. B. Hill, an authority in telephony, has described this important development as follows: ‘Dialing a number wound up a spring whose tension, when the finger was withdrawn, caused the dial to return to its normal position. The return rotation was limited to a moderate speed by an escapement mechanism, and, during the return, the required number of circuit interruptions took place to control the movement of the central office apparatus.’”

Telephone numbers in the 1960’s were identified by a combination of letters and numbers. Eight of the finger holes on the phone had 3 letters. My phone number growing up, then, was listed as follows: Glencourt 2, 4100, or in its phone book listed form, GL2-4100. Translation for the kids of today: 452-4100. Area Codes were added in 1947 but unlike today were not needed for all calls.

Standard issue phone in the 1960’s

In my household the phone was strategically placed in the kitchen. When it rang, you answered as there was no answering machine. Up until about 1971 the phone was never for me and the conversations were usually brief as the device was a method for setting up an appointment or such other daily business.

With teenagers in the house, however, its use ballooned. My sister used it, especially, for the higher purpose of dialing in to radio stations to make song requests and try to win things. With transistor radio on one ear and the telephone on the other she’d dial incessantly to be the 10^th or 20^th or 93^rd caller. She seemed to win. A lot.

My long suffering parents finally tired of chatty teenagers doing their teenager business in the middle of the family area and a second phone was installed.

This phone was the holy grail of all things teen. Located in my parents’ bedroom it provided the one thing we craved: privacy.

When boys started to call my older sister – and eventually me – we were allowed to use the phone in my parent’s bedroom. There was no chair next to the phone, just the bed and the floor. Many an hour was spent sitting on that floor, back against the bed, talking to the boy of the month… at least until Mom would come in to the room and tell us to wrap it up.

Mike's Beacon Hill apartment December 1971

Unlike today, photos of people with phones was uncommon. In going through old photo albums this was the only picture I found with a phone in it. I took this photo at my older brother’s apartment (he was 24) when me and my parents drove to Seattle on December 27, 1971, to bring him Christmas. Mom is on the right. Rotary dial phone is on the left.

We envied the few friends who had their own phone in their room. What a luxury!

When I became a parent and cell phones (before the smart phones took over) were a thing it became very difficult to monitor what the child was doing. No doubt it’s even more difficult now with text messages, unfettered internet access, and app’s like Instagram. It was much easier for my parents as they could cut the conversation off at any time and when the household went to bed no teen was sneakily talking or texting on the phone.

I attribute my ability to pick up a phone and call anyone about anything to the training I received as a teenager. Back then the only way anything was going to happen was by grabbing the phone and twisting those 10 little holes to make a call. Ah, the good old days.

A couple of links for those who wish to learn more about phones and the rotary dial:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_dial

Dan Fogelberg

Aug13

August 13, 2019

Gone Like The Sand and The Foam

The year was 1979 when this artist entered the American consciousness with a song destined to become a wedding favorite. No doubt he never intended for that to be the case but said of the song, which he wrote while vacationing in Maui, that he was “”lounging in a hammock one night and looking up at the stars. It just seems this song was drifting around the universe, saw me, and decided I’d give it a good home.”

Dan Fogelberg 1980 The song was Longer. The artist Dan Fogelberg, who was born on August 13, 1951.

Although Fogelberg had another hit song, Part of the Plan in 1974, it was the song Longer which was his most commercially successful song. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1980 and created a fan base of twenty-something young women.

This was due to a number of factors: first, he was an incredible songwriter. His true gift was as a storyteller who could set his tales to music. He encapsulated human emotion into concise, memorable lyrics which managed to tug at one’s heartstrings and, often, produced ennui. His voice possessed qualities which carried the listener to another place and time, evoking sentiment and meaning with his rich vocals. And, because so many of his songs were written from personal experience they were believable and relate-able.

In a short time period after Longer – which did top out at number 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts – a series of memorable hits followed.

According the Infallible Wikipedia:

“The Innocent Age, released in October 1981, was Fogelberg’s critical and commercial peak. The double album included four of his biggest hits: “Same Old Lang Syne”, “Hard to Say”, “Leader of the Band”, and “Run for the Roses”. He drew inspiration for The Innocent Age from Thomas Wolfe’s novel Of Time and the River. A 1982 greatest hits album contained two new songs, both of which were released as singles: “Missing You” and “Make Love Stay.” In 1984, he released the album Windows and Walls, containing the singles “The Language of Love” and “Believe in Me.”

While Dan Fogelberg was not a flashy performer, his concerts capitalized on the very qualities I listed above. I was privileged to see him perform live twice. The first time was in 1994 for an acoustic concert at the Paramount in Seattle. It was just Dan and the instruments he played, primarily guitar and piano. He connected with the audience and was passionate about his music but also about his commitment to environmental causes.

The second time was at a Summer Nights at the Pier concert in the early 2000’s. I’m not entirely sure which year it was as he played there in 2000, 2001, and 2002 from what I’ve been able to research.

What I do know is that the hubby and I experienced a magical Seattle evening on Elliott Bay enjoying Dan Fogelberg as he shared his music.

Sadly, he was diagnosed with advance prostate cancer in May 2004 and died on December 16, 2007.

But what gifts he shared with the world. He released 16 studio albums and 21 singles. His greatest success was on the Adult Contemporary charts. Of the 21 singles, four went to number one and a total of 12 were top ten hits.

As one of my favorite ‘hitchhikers’ he often keeps me company in my treks back and forth across the mountains. There are so many great songs that it’s difficult to pick just one. So I’ll pick two instead.

The first one is easy as it was the song of his I fell in love with and that would be Longer. Despite having friends who suggested that having it sung at our wedding would be too predictable (it charted in March 1980 – I was married in August that year), my sis-in-law did a beautiful rendition and the song will forever have a tender spot in my heart.

The second one is also from his Innocent Age album. It was never released as a single (although it was the B-side of Run For The Roses) and, I would guess, most people have never heard it. It is, however, a gorgeous song which showcases his talent. The song is titled The Sand and the Foam and here’s a YouTube link. No flashy video. Just pure, unadulterated music by my favorite artist.

And a couple of links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Fogelberg

https://www.danfogelberg.com/

https://www.danfogelberg.com/our-story-a-serial-memoir

Peak DeVore

Aug6

August 6, 2019

As someone born into a family with an uncommon last name, I notice whenever I see that name. A year ago in June I wrote about my ignorance of Washington State geology when I admitted I did not realize Glacier Peak was this state’s ‘fifth’ volcano. (You can read all about it at https://barbaradevore.com/2018/06/12/glacier-peak-washington/)

Fast forward to August 3… when I receive the following text from the hubby:

1200px-Devore_Peak,_from_White_Goat_Mountain.jpg

Devore Peak in the Glacier Peak Wilderness

“Just saw on King 5 there is a Devore Creek fire near Stehiken. Comes down from Devore Peak.”

What!?

How is it I never knew of this Devore Peak or Creek? Yet, here it has been, hiding out 20 miles northeast of Glacier Peak, undoubtedly since the time the first settlers imparted their names on things.

From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Devore Peak is an 8,360+ ft (2,550+ m) mountain summit located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness of the North Cascades in Washington State. The mountain is situated in Chelan County, on land managed by Wenatchee National Forest. Its nearest higher peak is Martin Peak, 3.36 mi (5.41 km) to the southwest, and Tupshin Peak lies 1.55 mi (2.49 km) to the north-northeast. Precipitation runoff from the peak drains to nearby Lake Chelan via tributaries of the Stehekin River.”

So it got me thinking… where else are things named Devore (or DeVore as my family spells it) that I do not know about?

DeVore, California welcome sign

Of course I know about DeVore, California although I’ve never been there. The town was a stop on historic Route 66. It has since been incorporated into sprawling, 81 square mile, San Bernardino. Much of the DeVore neighborhood was leveled by a wildfire in 2003, with 904 homes destroyed.

Lovely Cataract Falls near Devore, Indiana

If you travel 1,723 miles to the east you will find a dot-on-the-road community in Indiana also named Devore. Originally named Mill Creek, some interloper relative of mine got a post office located there and probably named it after himself.

But back to Devore Peak. Despite my extensive internet research I cannot find any ancestor or relative after whom the mountain is named although I suppose it could be the Reverend John DeVore. He was the first minister to establish a church north of the Columbia River in Steilacoom. From the Washington State History link site:

“(Lafayette)Balch (Steilacoom’s founder) persuaded Reverend John F. DeVore (1817-1889) and his wife Jane Devore (d. 1860) to relocate to Steilacoom in 1853. DeVore built a two-story Methodist Episcopal church that also served as a school and meeting hall. When the church bell, ordered from the East, arrived with a balance due, residents took up a collection. Afterward the bell became town property, used to signal emergencies and public meetings along with the call to worship.”

Steilacoom,_WA_-_Protestant_Church_monument_01.jpg

Monument in Steilacoom, Washington commemorating the erection of the first Protestant Church by Reverend John DeVore

When a college student, I drove down there one day from nearby University of Puget Sound (which was founded as a Methodist college) and located the marker for Reverend DeVore. Alas, the Reverend is not a direct ancestor and I was never able to establish any relationship.

But it does make one wonder – unless you have a very common last name – how many others share yours?

According to the website HowManyOfMe.com, (http://howmanyofme.com/) in the 2010 census there were 13,501 people in the United States with the last name of DeVore. When you consider that there are some 329 million in the country that’s only .004 percent of all people with the same last name. If I extrapolate that even further and add my first name there were 65 other people named Barbara DeVore in the U.S. that year.

As I was growing up I knew of only one other person with the last name DeVore who was not related to our family. That would be the butcher who worked at the Safeway on 36^th and Tieton Drive in Yakima. I was always so very amused when I would go to the store with my mother. If the shopping trip involved a visit to the meat counter inevitably the exchange would go something like this:

Butcher: “Good Afternoon, Mrs. DeVore.”

Mom: “Good Afternoon, Mr. Devoir.”

And then they both would laugh.

Yes, Mr. Devoir the butcher spelled it different. But the two of them obviously enjoyed the inside joke of having the ‘same’ last name.

As I was writing this article I could not think of a single person I’ve met casually with the last name DeVore. Through my genealogy research and DNA matching, I’ve found quite a number of cousins and have enjoyed getting to know many of them on Facebook.

Occasionally I will have someone ask do you know ‘fill-in-the-blank’ DeVore? Often I am able to say he/she is my second cousin, once removed. But mostly it doesn’t come up.

I rather like the unique name and the mystery of it all. According to a book about the DeVore families compiled by Betty DeVore Mann in 1992, the history of the name is this:

19311

“There is a small, stately chateau in Normandy, near Alencon and 3 kilometers from Remalard, named Chateau de Vore. The de Vore family left in the 17^th century. Several American Devores have interviewed the 2 remaining de Vores in Paris. They knew very little about their ancestry, because their grandfather was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family and he was sent away when he was very young. He carried his mother’s maiden-name. And so the story goes…”

She also adds “the Huguenot Society tells us that Devore is of Huguenot origin. The Huguenots were the French Protestants who were persecuted and made a mass exodus from France between 1550 and 1780.”

When I got my DNA information back recently it confirmed that I was 3 percent French*. While the family history will likely remain hidden in the mists of time, the pursuit of it has dogged me since I became old enough to ask “Who am I? And what am I doing here?”

Who knows, maybe there’s an historical novel in there, the intrigue of an illegitimate child who grows to a man. It is the story of a man who must disavow his country for his religion, never able to claim his true heritage, who must establish a new life in a distant land.

Perhaps not my family’s story… after all I know that my great-great grandfather Hartley DeVore was a shoemaker in Wisconsin in 1850. Not nearly as romantic!

As always, links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devore_Peak

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devore,_California

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devore,_Indiana

*In my most recently updated DNA profile, the French connection has disappeared. I covered THAT topic here: https://barbaradevore.com/2022/07/26/ancestor-hunting-dna/

Just like me, they long to be…

Jul30

…Close To You

July 30, 2019

In the spring of 1970 there were around 17 million Americans between the ages of 12 and 16, approximately eight and a half million of which were female. It was the era of AM radio and the dawn of a musical period often dominated by a form of music known as soft rock.

According to the Infallible Wikipedia:

“The Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts became more similar again toward the end of the 1960s and into the early and mid-1970s, when the texture of much of the music played on Top 40 radio once more began to soften. The adult contemporary format began evolving into the sound that later defined it, with rock-oriented acts as Chicago, the Eagles and Elton John becoming associated with the format. The Carpenters’ hit version of ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You’ was released in the summer of 1970, followed by Bread’s ‘Make It with You’, both early examples of a softer sound that was coming to dominate the charts.”

It was during the last week of July 1970 when Close To You topped the Billboard Hot 100 and held the number one position for four weeks. It marked the ascension of The Carpenters as one of the defining musical acts of the early 1970’s.

Despite the group being derided as saccharin at the time, their musical success is undisputed. Much has been written about Karen Carpenter’s voice and her three octave range and soulful interpretations. The Carpenters would not, however, have been the Carpenters without older brother Richard who was the arranger behind their ‘sound.’

Love em or hate em, the Carpenters’ style was original enough to propel them to the top of the pop charts. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:

“They produced a distinct soft musical style, combining Karen’s contralto vocals with Richard’s arranging and composition skills. During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded ten albums, along with numerous singles and several television specials.”

It was from 1970 through 1973, however, when they achieved their greatest success, appealing to a demographic who purchased their records and made the Carpenters a household name: females aged 13 to 18.

“Their career together ended in 1983 when Karen died from heart failure brought on by complications of anorexia. Extensive news coverage surrounding these circumstances increased public awareness of eating disorders. Though the Carpenters were criticized for their clean-cut and wholesome conservative image in the 1970s, their music has since been re-evaluated, attracting critical acclaim and continued commercial success.”

I have decided to reserve the right to blog more about the Carpenters at a later date. They were the most influential musical group for me during my teen years and I will have more to say. But this article is only to focus on their launch and the song Close To You.

My early blogging was in the form of keeping a diary. Although I couldn’t put my hands on my 1970 diary, I found a reference to this song at the end of my 1971 diary, noting when it was played on the radio.

I was so obsessed with the song that I used a cassette tape recorder with the microphone held up to the radio to record it for later listening. Close To You was one of the first single records I purchased as was their album of the same title. It’s four week run on the charts also coincided with my 13th birthday.

My obsession even prompted me to think it was a good idea to do a lip-sync version for a competition where I needed a ‘talent.’ (I have zero public performance talents) Taken from the pages of my 1971 diary on December 31 I dutifully record that “I am going to pantomime Close to You like I’m a chorus girl or something. I’m going to wear Sue’s blue velvet formal and silver shoes. If she’ll let me.”

Yes, my older sister did let me wear the dress and the shoes. Yes, it was a total embarrassment. It’s why I avoid karaoke and limit my singing to the shower and the car.

Thank goodness Karen Carpenter – who suffered from stage fright – was able to overcome it enough to share her amazing voice with the world. But I’m not so sure the price she paid was worth it.

The lyrics:

Why do birds suddenly appear, ev’ry time you are near?
Just like me, they long to be close to you.
Why do stars fall down from the sky, ev’ry time you walk by?
Just like me, they long to be close to you.

On the day that you were born the angels got together.
And decided to create a dream come true.
So, they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And star-light in your eyes of blue.
That is why all the girls in town follow you all around.
Just like me, they long to be close to you…

And a couple of links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(They_Long_to_Be)_Close_to_You

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_rock

Take The Plunge!

Jul23

The Swimming Pool

July 23, 2019

With the extreme temperatures which have gripped much of the United States the past week, people – especially parents with kids at home – often seek out water as a way to find relief.

It’s appropriate, then, that the first swimming school in the U.S. opened on July 23, 1827, in Boston, Massachusetts. The proprietor, German immigrant Franz Lieber, believed that swimming was a healthy activity necessary to aid a boy’s growth. Unfortunately, the swimming school failed after two years

First public pool in Brookline, Massachusetts

Now I can’t find the reason for this failure except to say that it might have been due to the absence of a heated water holding area where his young charges could safely swim. If those boys were forced to swim in the Charles River, they likely found it somewhat unpleasant. Alas, it was another 60 years before the first public swimming pool opened in nearby Brookline.

Over the years, the swimming pool has become a staple of American life; a desired amenity for traveling Americans and nearly a requirement for suburban homes across the southern half of the nation.

In my research I found some interesting ‘records’ for pools. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“According to the Guinness World Records, the largest swimming pool in the world is San Alfonso del Mar Seawater pool in Algarrobo, Chile. It is 1,013 m (3,323 ft) long and has an area of 8 ha (20 acres). At its deepest, it is 3.5 m (11 ft) deep. It was completed in December 2006.

The largest indoor wave pool in North America is at the West Edmonton Mall and the largest indoor pool is at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in the Sonny Carter Training Facility at NASA JSC in Houston.

In 2014, the Y-40 swimming pool at the Hotel Terme Millepini in Padua, Italy became the deepest indoor pool at 42.15 m (138.3 ft), certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. The recreational diving center Nemo 33 near Brussels, Belgium previously held the record (34.5 m (113 ft)) from May 2004 until the Y-40 was completed in June 2014.

Fleishhacker Pool which was really more of a man made lake complete with boats

The Fleishhacker Pool in San Francisco was the largest heated outdoor swimming pool in the United States. Opened on 23 April 1925, it measured 1,000 by 150 ft (300 by 50 m) and was so large that the lifeguards required kayaks for patrol. It was closed in 1971 due to low patronage.

In Europe, the largest swimming pool opened in 1934 in Elbląg (Poland), providing a water area of 33,500 square metres (361,000 sq ft).

One of the largest swimming pools ever built was reputedly created in Moscow after the Palace of Soviets remained uncompleted. The foundations of the palace were converted into the Moskva Pool open-air swimming pool after the process of de-Stalinisation. However, after the fall of communism, Christ the Saviour Cathedral was re-built on the site between 1995 and 2000; the cathedral had originally been located there.

The highest swimming pool is believed to be in Yangbajain (Tibet, China). This resort is located at 4200 m AMSL and has two indoor swimming pools and one outdoor swimming pool, all filled with water from hot springs.”

One of the world’s most iconic and beautiful pools located at Hearst Castle in California.

If you want to really indulge in pool envy one needs only to watch the HGTV show “Ultimate Pools” which features beautiful private oases of the rich but not famous.

Having grown up in Yakima, Washington, the hot, dry summers made it a natural spot for pools to proliferate. When my family moved there in the early 1960’s, however, very few families I knew had built in backyard pools. Instead, the first ‘pool’ I recall was about the size of large area rug and constructed of industrial canvas and metal poles. It was no more than 18 inches tall. Once it was filled with icy cold water my sister and I would, on hot days, lay in the shallow water to cool off.

For my 7^th birthday a new pool arrived. It was round and about the size of a small bedroom. Its hard plastic walls stood about 3 feet tall and it was definitely an upgrade. It was during this time, however, that I was introduced to the public swimming pool. The best summer days were those when we got to go down to Franklin Park – about a mile from our house – and pay our 10 cents to swim.

I was unable to find an historic photo of the death board at Franklin Park. It was located on the other side of the water slide in the original pool. The pool in the foreground was added sometime after 1980.

It seemed as if we were gone all day but I’m pretty certain it was only for a couple of hours. The pool was constructed in an ‘L’ shape with one area being the shallow end and the other being the terrifying end. In the years I went to Franklin pool there was one thing I never did. I never jumped off the high dive board. I can still see that board, suspended over the deep end, beckoning me like the death trap I was certain it must be. Yet other, much braver, young souls would scale the ladder, walk the plank, and then plunge 47 feet to their death. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t 47 feet. More like fifteen. And to the best of my knowledge no one ever died. But I was not taking any chances. Mostly I got cold after a short time swimming and would go hang out in the locker room with the girl who worked there. I remember her name was Nancy and she was in high school and very kind to this annoying child.

It was in the summer of 1973, however, that things really changed. That was the year my parents decided to put a pool in the backyard of our home. What an exciting summer that was. One morning a crew arrived with backhoes and soon there was a huge hole behind our house. For several weeks we watched the daily progress until one day in late summer the pool was complete and the hoses began to flow.

That pool was the dream of every teenage girl. A diving board was set just above the water so no death defying plunges were required; and it featured a curved water slide that flung the rider into the pool.

Pete demonstrating the water slide September 1973

My brother demonstrating proper use of the water slide. September 1973

As for me, I still got cold far too easily and discovered that the best way to ‘swim’ was with the aid of an air mattress. Hours were spent each of the next several summers floating on my conveyance about the pool, getting in the water when I got too hot, but would soon return to the lazy comfort of my air mattress.

16 year old me out investigating the pool construction site August 1973. They had to remove a deck at the side of the house to access the yard. (behind me)

Eventually the upkeep of the pool became too much and was one of the factors which prompted our parents to sell the house and move in 1984. What great memories I have of those summers in the 1970’s and the hours spent afloat on that pool. When we are young we often don’t appreciate something so special. Ah, to be 16 again with nary a care in the world and a pool to call my own!

As always a couple of links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming_pool

Pool envy:

https://www.hgtv.com/shows/ultimate-pools

History of pools:

https://www.swimmingpool.com/pool-living/pool-history-facts-and-terms/history-pools