Boys' Life - The old covers were better. . . . . .

But then I have always felt you could dream more in a painting than you could in a photograph.

I am a life long lover of the Boy Scouts. I may not agree with everything they do now, but they still have my support.

Even now I can still remember some of my favorite covers from the Boys Life magazine.
And being a real big Norman Rockwell fan, his covers were just magic. He was active with the Boy Scout program for many years.

When a cover was illustrated by an artist, I am able to transport myself into the image or scene. While there are wonderful photos, they have never been able to move me the same way. Photos are exact and don't allow much in the way of imagination. Paintings, being less exact allow one, me, to adjust the image in my mind. ( I am not sure what that says about me?).

Here is a new cover. . . . and while it shows a young boy out on an adventure, it doesn't really invite me in or create a scene I want to participate in.

And here is another I feel the same way about.

While he looks like he is having fun I don't in any way feel I could be part of it.











And here are some older covers that I remember to this day. . . .

 I see these old illustrations and I am remind that I wanted to be in those 'pictures'. I wanted those adventures, and gear, etc.

 For some reason this is my all time favorite.

Two wonderful Norman Rockwell's.

And these two covers were so fun for so many reasons.

See if you can name all the images.


















While the illustrated cover had been slowly going away for a while when I got into Scouts, many covers were still done by artists. And I also had my brothers older copies.



Here is a self portrait of Norman Rockwell painting at a Scout camp.

Going with the unknown. . . .

Sepia Sat. for June 10th.

What an interesting photo Alan has presented to us this week.
Once again one of those that leave it to us to decide what we want to take from it.

Did we have a box maker in the family? No.
How about a hat maker? Nope.

Did any of our family wear bowler hats? Not that I have seen. Although not to long ago I tried one on and thought it suited me. Wife said no it didn't. In all our old photos we seem to have only one family member that made a point of wearing a hat; Uncle John in London.

He is a tradesman of some sort I suppose. Maybe in veggies. It seems like it would be a good box for veggies. Pack them in and send them off to market. It's not a fancy box. Something made to us maybe just a few times, made out of rough lumber, then burned our used for something else.
He has on a tradesman's jacket. Something to wear over his clothes.

I love the moustaches and his eyebrowes.

But I couldn't come up with anything I could associate with the old pictures I have (probably find one tomorrow).

So I thought I would go with, 'In search of the unknown.'

We have a photo in my moms collection that is an unknown, and intriques me.

 On the back is written, 'Your father and Gorden'.
That's all.

This is the photo.

I have been assuming the older of the two individuals is the one called, 'Your Father' while the younger of the two would be 'and Gordon'.

It is a wonderful photo. The small pipe, the covering on the table. The watch chain. The ring on the mans finger. The glass of I hope Guinness on the table.
Even the 'binky' on the end of the ribbon for the baby.

The pipe appears to be clay, and the man seems to have happy eyes. Is he finally our Irish connection?

There is a drain of some sort coming out of the wall just behind the table.

But other than those four words on the back, I don't know anything for sure about these two.

We do have a Gordon on my mothers side of the family.
Here he is in his uniform from the British Army in WW2.

I have written about him, here, a few times and his time in service.

He is the one I think is the above 'and Gordon'.
If that is the case the photo was taken around 1915.


As I do with most pictures I don't know, or mom doesn't remember, I us Facebook to send them to cousins overseas and see if any of them know anything about it.

None did. 'Your Father and Gordon' remained a mystery.

At least for a while.

A couple of years ago I got in touch with some cousins on my moms side and asked them to send me any old photos they may have of the family so I could add them to my collection.
Well a copy of 'Your Father and Gordon' was amongst my cousins collection.
Except on his file it was labeled 'Cyril'.

One more piece of the puzzle?

So with that bit of information I once again inquired of overseas relatives and asked if anyone knew of 'Cyril'.

None did.

Jump to yesterday.
Each time I go over to moms now I usually pull out some of her 'old' stuff and start to go through it.

My daughter had a blast going through old jewellry with her,  (she even went home with a couple of pieces!).


Well, while they were doing that I discoverd a bunch of old letters exchanged between my mom and dad and family 'back home' from the late 50's through about 2005.

So I brought the letters home and over the last few days have been going through them finding wonderful bits of family history that I was to young to remember back when they were going back and forth over the ocean.

A couple of the letters were from an aunt I never met.
She died before I was old enough to know her.

Well last night before we went out I had a bit of time to go through a few more letters dating about 1956, just after we came to America.

Now as many of you know letters like these were often the only way relatives overseas found out about the passing of someone, whether family member or family friend. So the letters were a source of news to distant relatives.

Well while going through one of the letters from that aunt last night she wrote a line about '. . . how Auntie Edith was missing Cyril.'

CYRIL! Could it be one and the same? This is the only other mention of Cyril other than the label on the photo from my cousin.

It at least gives me somewhere new to start. One more piece of the puzzle.

There have been other pieces of puzzles to come out of some of these old letters about other family members, and I hope to share some of those discoveries here some day.

For now, I'm off to hunt the elusive 'Cyril'.

Ode to the cigar box. . . .

I have been going through some old cupboards of mom's over the last few months, with her.
We have come up with many fun, historical, hysterical and interesting finds.

One item brought back many memories, The Cigar Box!

 We use to ask at the old '905 Liquor Store' when ever dad took us in, it they had any empty cigar boxes.

At least that's the one I remember asking for them in. There were probably others, but that's the one that sticks out.

I came across this one this past weekend.

It must hold treasures, right!

 This is a view of the contents.

An old clipping that a friend of the family had written about her memories of living through the 'Battle of Britain'.

An old Scotch tape container, which held other things.

A Lucy from 'Peanuts' ornament of some sort, made of wood. Unknown age. My family never expressed any warm feelings for the Peanuts people, so this one is a mystery.

And a letter from my uncle Alvin, who served in WW2 and passed away a few days before Kennedy was shot. We were in the funeral parade when we hard about the assassination.

I have not read it all yet, I think my cousins will like a copy, but for some reason it was written to my mom to give to my aunt.

It's not always about what's inside as much as finding something new/old to explore.

Do they still make cigar boxes?
I wish they did, I would get some for my daughter to explore when I get old.

What do you keep your treasures in?

Love his theme here. . . .

Luke Frazier

And a few more along the same line.

Ah, imagination, it's a good thing.

 We had to go up to Shelbina for a funeral a few days ago. My daughters great grandfather passed away.
During the lunch after wards the kids got to hanging out with the Preachers daughter (always trouble right?).
She wanted to show them this old house in town.

So off they went.

Being a small town, and the preachers daughter, we let them go off on their own for a while (15 year old cousin with them, the responsible type).

After they had been gone, well, long enough, I set off to find them.

I met them coming back, at which point this gave them a reason to go back. To show me.

 Once a grand place it is now pretty well to far gone to save.

They convinced themselves that at one time it had been part of the underground railway.

And who knows, maybe it had been.

Older cousins of my wife said they had heard the same when they were kids.

The roof line and brick work are, or were, beautiful.

With porches painted white, at one time it most have been one of the nicer homes in this small town.

 This doorway under a side porch was where they decide the slaves at one time hid.

From this view you can almost imagine how nice it once was.

In contrast, this house completely remodeled and kept up is only a few doors away.

Vindicated - The elephant is no longer in the closet.

A while back I posted this image and a comment that I wanted my daughter to ride an elephant at the visiting circus because at one time I had ridden an elephant (although not at the circus).
Shared memories, that sort of thing.

I also posted the story on facebook.

And had a response from another facebook user that they remembered the elephant ride and had pictures of themselves on the elephant, but, alas, none of me. Why would they?


At least I was correct in that an elephant had been in my hometown.

Not to long ago I posted that I had started to have some of our old family films turned digital so we could view them and save what we could.

It was hard to let them out of my control, but they would have only wasted away if we didn't do something.




Well I have had two shipments done so far, about fifteen films.
Most have turned out pretty good. A few had almost reached the point of no hope. But we did get some images.

Well, in the latest shipment, which we got back a few days ago was. . . .

. . . .a video of my brother and I riding on the elephant.

This image is just an IPhone photo of a paused image from the video.

But, in the film, you can really tell it is my brother and I. And you can also tell it is the same elephant and trailer as in the first photo.

Having proof of this is almost as good as when I found the photo of me on the RMS Queen Elizabeth on our voyage over.

National Treasure - Vera Lynn turns 100

Vera Lynn

18 British Villages You Should Run Away To - Yea, one we stayed at was first on the list.

Staithes, Yorkshire.

You can almost see the cottage we stayed in for a week.

source for the story

George Orwell's other great work.

George Orwell

A Nice Cup of Tea

If you look up ‘tea’ in the first cookery book that comes to hand you will probably find that it is unmentioned; or at most you will find a few lines of sketchy instructions which give no ruling on several ofthe most important points.

This is curious, not only because tea is one of the main stays ofcivilization in this country, as well as in Eire, Australia and New Zealand, but because the best manner of making it is the subject ofviolent disputes.

When I look through my own recipe for the perfect cup of tea, I findno fewer than eleven outstanding points. On perhaps two of them there would be pretty general agreement, but at least four others areacutely controversial. Here are my own eleven rules, every one ofwhich I regard as golden:

First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China teahas virtues which are not to be despised nowadays — it is economical, and one can drink it without milk — but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase ‘a nice cup oftea’ invariably means Indian tea. Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities — that is, in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army tea, made ina cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The teapot should be madeof china or earthenware. Silver or Britanniaware teapots produceinferior tea and enamel pots are worse; though curiously enough apewter teapot (a rarity nowadays) is not so bad. Thirdly, the pot should be warmed beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the usual method of swilling it outwith hot water. Fourthly, the tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, ifyou are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoonswould be about right. In a time of rationing, this is not an idea thatcan be realized on every day of the week, but I maintain that onestrong cup of tea is better than twenty weak ones. All true tea loversnot only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger witheach year that passes — a fact which is recognized in the extra rationissued to old-age pensioners. Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices to imprison the tea. In some countries teapots are fitted with little dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the potit never infuses properly. Sixthly, one should take the teapot to the kettle and not the other way about. The water should be actually boiling at the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on the flame while one pours. Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that it makes any difference. Seventhly, after making the tea, one should stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves to settle. Eighthly, one should drink out of a good breakfast cup — that is,the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat, shallow type. The breakfastcup holds more, and with the other kind one’s tea is always half coldbefore one has well started on it. Ninthly, one should pour the cream off the milk before using itfor tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea a sickly taste. Tenthly, one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one ofthe most controversial points of all; indeed in every family inBritain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, butI maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactlyregulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too muchmilk if one does it the other way round. Lastly, tea — unless one is drinking it in the Russian style — should be drunk without sugar. I know very well that I am in aminority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tea-lover ifyou destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It wouldbe equally reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to bebitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you areno longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you couldmake a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water.

Some people would answer that they don’t like tea in itself, that they only drink it in order to be warmed and stimulated, and they need sugar to take the taste away. To those misguided people I would say: Try drinking tea without sugar for, say, a fortnight and it is very unlikely that you will ever want to ruin your tea by sweetening it again.

These are not the only controversial points to arise in connexion with tea drinking, but they are sufficient to show how subtilized the whole business has become. There is also the mysterious social etiquette surrounding the teapot (why is it considered vulgar to drink out of your saucer, for instance?) and much might be written about the subsidiary uses of tealeaves, such as telling fortunes, predicting the arrival of visitors, feeding rabbits, healing burns and sweeping thecarpet. It is worth paying attention to such details as warming the pot and using water that is really boiling, so as to make quite sureof wringing out of one’s ration the twenty good, strong cups of thattwo ounces, properly handled, ought to represent.

1946

THE END

Family, history, airplanes and RAF

My dad, while in the RAF, was stationed on a field where the American Eagle Squadron was stationed.
While he was not assigned to the Eagle Squadron he did state that at times they would be sent over to help on the Spitfires.

Here I have found some art work done by Disney artists for the Eagle Squadron.

Over the course of the war, Disney artists designed more than 1,200 combat insignia for all branches of the US military and for its allies. Besides the famed Flying Tigers insignia, one of the most celebrated designs was made for England’s (UK's)Royal Air Force. Prior to Pearl Harbor, many American pilots joined England’s Royal Air Force as members of Eagle Squadrons 71, 121, and 133. An entry in a Hearst newspaper insignia stamp album stated, "Walt Disney artists were quick to chronicle the significance of this combat union with an American Eagle ‘on guard.’ Fiercely he advances to contest the fouling tactics of a barbarous and un-sportsmanlike adversary, as he moves in to the attack with his English ‘comrade-at-arms.’”

Sepia Saturday 350 - Windows unknown

This is the photo that suggests this weeks Sepia Saturday theme. And as usual we can take from it what we chose.
The photo is a fix of the photo on the left with a close up of a window on the right. One photo made into two. made into one, as it were.

We will never know why the young man is standing on the window sill.
Hope it was for good reason.

While I have been off with eye surgery (which is going great!) I have started sorting old family photos so that I can scan and save them all and make disc copies for all the family.

As you can see it will be a timely process.

As with all ventures of this nature we are left with some unanswered questions about some of the photos.

The pile below the key board is my pile so far of unknown family photos.

Mom, in her 90's was able to remember most, but we are still left with a few we do not know.

 I have chosen these two to go along with this weeks theme which I have decided (for myself of course) to call 'Windows unknown'

Both of these were probably taken in Selby, Yorkshire in the mid fifties.
Some sort of celebration or parade.

The only reason I would suggest Selby is because it was a ship yard town and in the lower photo one of the businesses is a Ships Chandler.

My Grandfather and an Uncle both worked at the ship yard, 'Cochran and Sons'.

I don't know if any relatives are in either photo.

None the less, it is fun to have these in the collection.

Sepia Saturday 349 - post for this week. Things over the shoulder.

 This is the image that suggests our posting for this Saturday. And while it is left up to us to chose what we take from the photo, it can, well, be rather obscure at times.
If was first trying to find a photo of my dad with his camera bag over his shoulder. We always made fun of my dad because he would forget to take pictures because he would be waving his camera as he cheered us on in what ever we were doing that he was suppose to be filming.
He most not have done to bad however because we did end up with quite a bit of film.

I however could not find that photo.

So I chose to go with the theme 'Off the Shoulder'
The gentleman above has on an apron to protect him from the chemicals he uses in his photography.

In my photo, all the young lads have a service bag hanging from their shoulders.
My dad (foreground in black standing at attention. Very start from his RAF days) worked for St John's Ambulance Brigade for a number of years after the war in Selby, Yorkshire.
He loved the job. And while with the Brigade he worded with their youth program (a job he also loved). Sort of similar to the Scouts over here in the U.S.
I would imagine the boys carried first aid supplies in their shoulder bags. This era, from the war on, seemed to be a time when many people carried some sort of shoulder bag; for helmets, gas masks, etc. And they look so smart when they all match.

I have yet to find a shoulder bag that works for me, other than the one I used for 37 years as a mailman.

Sepia Saturday blog

Yet another new 'favorite' artist e jeffrey

I had not heard of e. jeffrey the illustrator till today while reading Alan's blog.

I have always loved the artwork in books about

Rupert the Bear,












and Hal Foster's Prince Valiant.

But I had never heard of Toby Twirl with art by e jeffrey.

 This one has the Rubert feel about it. . .

. . . while this one has a Prince Valiant feel.











I am going to have to check out more of his work.