I spent about a day and a half recently in the process of rearranging framed pictures in a couple of rooms, and taking many of them down permanently, as well as spackling nail holes, sanding, and refinishing the patched areas in preparation for eventually moving further south to be closer to our granddaughters. No wonder I’m tired!
Wall work in a dress!
The project will continue later this week with even more walls! I’m getting semi-professional at this refinishing stuff…hopefully it will be good enough that any real estate agent won’t eventually tell us to have the whole house repainted… That’s a waste of money, because ours is a neutral color, looks good, and most new owners want to repaint their new homes into their own color choices anyway!
Wifey made sure I wore an old sleeveless dress and short sleeve blouse for this project, with old white sandals, so “ I don’t have to spend time removing paint from your dresses and shoes.” Working on ladders and step stools in a dress is a new experience – since I wasn’t in public, no “wolf whistles.” But I will undoubtedly be doing it some more – or so I’ve been told!
One of my “at-home” outfits
As for my everyday outfits: they’re fine – no paint on them! A typical cold-weather outfit (you can tell by the long-sleeve blouse and flats!) Perhaps some day I’ll hear: “From now on, just stay in your dress whenever you – or we – leave the house. You look very nice, dear. No more changing.”)
Our recent trip to Delaware for a visit to a Vera Bradley shop brought back the memory of a previous trip, when Wifey and I visited Fort Miles, a dis-used World War 2 military fort at Cape Henlopen, DE.
As the primary fort of the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware, it was built to defend Delaware Bay and the Delaware River, and to protect domestic shipping from enemy fire between Cape May and Cape Henlopen, particularly from the German surface fleet. The fort also operated a controlled underwater minefield to prevent ships entering the Delaware River estuary. One of these mines was revealed following 2016 Hurricane Hermine by local Cape Henlopen state park staff. The sea mine and anchor were archaeologically conserved.
By 1950 the Army’s coast defense role had been transferred to the Navy and coastal artillery defenses were obsolete with the fort becoming surplus. The Army continued to use portions and in 1962 the Navy established Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Lewes, a Sound Surveillance System shore terminal there to replace the one at Cape May (across the bay in New Jersey) that was damaged in a storm. The NAVFAC was in commission May 1, 1962 to September 30,1981. Its headquarters building now houses the Biden Environmental Conference Center.
The fort is now Cape Henlopen State Park.
That trip, which was in cooler weather, found me in a similar-type outfit:
Yours truly at Fort Miles
…except back then, I was wearing a long-sleeve turtleneck top. Between my feminine outfit and the fact that my jacket was tied around my waist (giving the appearance of a skirt), I was often recognized as female. That included a restaurant meal (something the pandemic has eliminated from our activities.)
Came across this antique at a small museum in Federalsburg, MD:
A 1948 RCA Television
Like the tube tester from the earlier post, this TV is a fine example of early tech. We didn’t have one at home until the early 1950’s, and I don’t even remember much about it until the mid-1950’s!
A bit of history picked up on line: after World War Two, production of TV sets started in the U.S. In 1946, only a few stations were on the air, and broadcasting hours were very limited. By 1949, almost all major cities had at least one station. At the end of 1946, only 44,000 homes had a TV set; by the end of 1949, there were 4.2 million homes with TV. By 1953, 50% of American homes had television.
In the late ’40s, A T & T started building a microwave and coaxial cable network to tie together TV stations in the U.S. The network started on the east coast, but by 1950 it had been expanded to the south and midwest. By 1956, most cities were linked to network programming.
The rest is history – you know, progressing from “free TV and an antenna on every roof” to “cable providers,” and now satellite television…with dishes on many roofs. Many changes, many improvements, more $$!
Some errands during Wifey’s recent dentist appointment on the other side of the bay provided an interesting reminder that simply a pair of shorts, blouse and ballet flats, along with smooth hairless legs, long hair, long nails (shiny & pink) and a purse, can result in being interpreted as female…or “possibly even involve trouble?” Really?
Yes, really.
After dropping Wifey off at the dentist’s office, I set out to have a portable stadium chair with carrying case repaired at a shoe shop (if they could physically handle it. ) “Yes, Ma’am, we can fix it – but only if you wait for it. This item is so big that we don’t have space to hold it for your return at a later time.” “Go for it, Sir, I’ll wait.” They took care of it promptly, and I was on my way in about 10 minutes. Good news – that folding chair with built-in “roof”, case and carrying strap (which had been expensive to buy a number of years ago), has now been saved, and no follow-up trip across the bridge to retrieve it, will be necessary.
Then it was off to visit a coin shop…I had earlier discovered a few old USA coins under a file cabinet drawer at the house, and wanted to see if they were worth turning into cash. Having dealt with a reputable coin shop previously, while sorting out some of Mom’s coins on her behalf a few years ago, I returned to that shop.
“Good morning, Ma’am.” Having not met this particular clerk before, I showed him (who was a 40-something male) all the coins, making sure my shiny light pink fingernails were in plain sight. Just then, another customer – a 40something rather scruffy male – walked in. He waited quietly– till he noticed us discussing some of the coins, and started to interrupt. “Miss, I’ll give you more for them.”
While being flattered at being identified as female without even trying, I ignored the interrupter’s comments. But soon the clerk had heard enough. After nicely requesting quiet, he directed a comment at the interrupter: “I’m not going to tolerate such interruptions in my own shop”. The interrupter continued – making a lot of fuss for such a few coins.
The clerk gave me an opportunity to cancel his review and deal directly with the interrupter, at some location away from his parking lot if I so desired, or continue with what we were doing. I had serious concerns that if I did leave the shop with the coins, the interrupter might ‘buy them” and pay for them by check (which would subsequently bounce) or more likely, do harmful things to me in order to steal them. So I told the dealer to go ahead.
Due to the small number of coins, and tiny dollar amount involved (I had already checked prices from the internet and coin price books – the shop clerk was not trying to rip me off) I told the clerk to continue, and he proceeded to tell the intruder to leave “in no uncertain terms.” The interrupter kept on arguing, so the clerk picked up the phone to call police, which finally convinced the interrupter to give up and go away. His car was in plain view, so I noted the license number as he left, just in case. But his car disappeared completely…it was not seen again.
Before you inquire – initially, I wondered whether it might have been a set-up. Had we been dealing with a big stash of coins and big bucks, that would have been a much more likely scenario. Any sane person (and even most insane ones) would deem it not worth the risk of jail time/other punishment, or even any police involvement at all, for such a paltry sum – just enough to pay for four or five gallons of gas, a couple of bridge tolls and a hamburger. My clerk apologized for the intrusion and inconvenience as he concluded the coin review. In the end, I left with a check from the store, in case the intruder might try anything stupid off-property! (He didn’t!)
Thankfully, I’m not in the “old coin business’ – or operating any retail establishment! Dealing with people like that is not fun…
Back in 2017 Mandy took a fabulous cross-country rail tour – back in the good old days before Covid (recently heard those days referred to as “BC”, such as 2017 being the year 2 BC.”) It included stops in NOLA, LA and Sacramento…the latter included a two-night stay on the Delta King Hotel, which was/still is a 285-foot-long stern-wheel steamboat. (Below.) And…is the sister ship of the famous Delta Queen!
It was built in Scotland and California for the California Transportation Company’s service between Sacramento and San Francisco, California. She entered service in 1927 and continued until 1940. After wartime service with the United States Navy, Delta King served as an accommodation ship at Kitimat, British Columbia in the 1950s. Then it was returned to California for static use at Old Sacramento, where she remains today – as a hotel, restaurant and venue.
The below was taken on the steamboat’s balcony, just off the dining room.
Once again I was up early, because it was time to start the trek home, in a skirt and top today, of course (above.) And at that hour of the morning, there wasn’t much activity, even though the staterooms were sold out. Departure time was rapidly approaching, and it was with mixed emotions. That’s because even after such a wonderful trip (and a desire to keep traveling), it was time to get home to Wifey and my familiar surroundings.
I had breakfast in the steamboat’s dining room again… but this time with a different female server. I was not identified as a woman, nor were any male or female greetings/comments made. She just did her job. That’s ok with me. At that hour of the morning, there wasn’t much activity. But yes, the free full breakfast was delicious!
When was the last time you saw one of these things out in the real world? Gotta think about that for a minute!
We no longer have any tube-type equipment around the house – the last of that went to the scrapyard upon its failure, nearly 25 years ago. And I can’t remember seeing any of these machines in stores since the late 1970’s (or maybe early 1980’s.)
This beauty was found in a small museum in Federalsburg, MD. Glad they saved it! Definitely a piece of techno-history!
Last Sunday Morning, I had occasion to cross the bridge and drive into the Baltimore area to drop off some things to a friend. So I had to forget dresses for this trip. Shorts and one of Mom’s black tunics had to suffice!
Ever heard of Bromo Seltzer? It was patented by Emerson Drug Company in 1890, packed in cobalt blue bottles, and used bromine to remedy all those headaches and tummy aches we get from time to time. And in 1911, a building bearing the product’s name (the Emerson Tower – now Bromo Seltzer tower – picture below) was built in Baltimore, topped with a rendition of the cobalt blue bottle! The Emerson Tower was tallest building in town at that time.
This historic structure, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was modeled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. Captain Isaac Emerson, the inventor of the headache remedy Bromo Seltzer and builder of the Tower, had a genuine interest in the City of Baltimore as one of his contemporaries noted, “…he interests himself thoroughly in everything tending to advance our city, and is a patron of all worthy enterprises seeking to push Baltimore to the front.”
Sadly, the bromide concoction provided some unpleasant physical characteristics – it’s a sedative that can mess you up, and normal dosage could lead to symptoms including hallucinations, confusion, and possibly a coma! Also, at the time, up to 10% of patients in psychiatric hospitals at that time were victims of bromine! Needless to say, Bromo Seltzer was discontinued in 1975, and re-introduced in the mid-90’s, after complete reformulation, and of course, without the bromine.
The empty tower has been extensively renovated. Baltimore’s Office of Promotion & The Arts officially re-opened the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, with studio spaces for visual and literary artists in 2008.
The most interesting detail of the tower is the still-functioning tower clock, the face of which displays the word BROMO-SELTZER instead of numbers. Designed by Seth Thomas in 1911, it was the largest four-dial gravity-driven non-chiming clock in the world. A full restoration of the clock was completed in 2017. (The tower had originally been topped by an impressive 51-foot revolving replica of the blue Bromo-Seltzer bottle, which was illuminated with 596 lights and could be seen 20 miles away. But that fell into disrepair and was removed in the 1930’s)
Also inside the Tower is the Emerson/Maryland Glass Museum which houses the largest collection of Bromo Seltzer and Maryland Glass bottles in existence. The Museum is on the 15th floor and is on loan from and curated by Ernest Dimler.
Fascinating stuff. Wish it had been open for tours. Darn virus!
Of Mount Washington, that is! And getting there WAS half the fun (since it was by rail!)
Back in 2002, Wifey and I took a train trip north to New Hampshire (via Mystic Seaport and their Amtrak station) for a wedding (and some sightseeing, of course.) The official business required a rental car and about 3 days. The rest of the time was ours to spend as we wished.
One of the locations visited was beautiful Mt. Washington, with its magnificent namesake mountain, rising to an elevation of over 6,000 ft., and its cog railway providing breathtaking views on its way to the top!
The Mount Washington Cog Railway is the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway (rack-and-pinion railway). The railway is still in operation, climbing Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It uses a Marsh rack system and both steam and (due to what locals call “Cog Smog”) biodiesel-powered locomotives to carry tourists to the top of the mountain.
Its track is built to a 4 ft 8 in. gauge, which is technically “narrow gauge”, as it is 1⁄2 inch less than a 4 ft 8-1⁄2 in. standard gauge. It’s the second steepest rack railway in the world after the Pilatus Railway in Switzerland, with an average grade of over 25% and a maximum grade of 37%. The railway is approximately 3 miles long and ascends Mount Washington’s western slope, beginning at an elevation of approximately 2,700 feet above sea level and ending just short of the mountain’s summit peak of 6,288 feet (1,917 m). The train ascends the mountain at 2.8 miles per hour (4.5 km/h) and descends at 4.6 mph (7.4 km/h). Steam locomotives take approximately 65 minutes to ascend and 40 minutes to descend, while the biodiesel engines can go up in as little as 36 minutes.
You can sense the beauty and splendor from the above…
If you ever get a chance to visit, you’ll have a great time!
The borough of Railroad, PA owes its existence, and its name, to what became the Northern Central, which was built connecting Baltimore, MD and Harrisburg, PA. The Railroad Borough Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Railroad has been described by some as a “tiny town of three hundred people near the Maryland border…home to the Jackson House B&B, a popular crab shack, and not much else.” I was there (a few years back), and it’s an accurate description!
The building stock of Railroad Borough reflects the town’s roles as a rail freight depot and manufacturing center, and reflects the continued importance of agriculture in the area as well. Some of the more important buildings directly related to the railroad and industry include a two and one-half story store and commission house, a large, three story, stucco’ed stone hotel, and a sprawling early twentieth century brick industrial complex.
The district presents a variety of very muted decorative features from various stylistic influences. These include block wooden lintels from the Greek Revival period, paired brackets and segmental arches from the Italianate period, and patterns: gable-shingles and irregular roof-lines from the Queen Anne period. The architecture of Railroad Borough is not remarkable, however, for its stylistic flamboyance — it is characterized by its straightforwardness of detailing, practicality of design, and for its solidity. Of the forty-five significant and contributing dwellings included within the district, twenty-one are built of either brick or stone. Most of the others are frame, with a few log structures included as well.
The railroad itself started out life as the Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad Company, chartered in 1828, and reached Cockeysville in 1831. After much delay caused by the Pennsylvania state legislature not wanting to let Pennsylvania products head south and leave via the port of Baltimore, they were finally approved for a rail line and reached York in 1838, via a few tricks. This line included the Howard Tunnel, the earliest railroad tunnel in the U.S. which is still in use today. The various railroads that made up the Northern Central were merged together in 1854 to form the Northern Central Railway Company.
In the meantime, the railroad decided to try another approach to “get out of town”, and started heading towards Westminster MD, creating the Green Spring Branch. It never reached there, but finally did connect with the Western Maryland Railroad. , after the WM started their move west out of Baltimore via Westminster.
The Northern Central became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1861, when the PRR purchased a controlling interest to compete with the expansion of the B&O.
In 1968, ownership of the “Northern Central” was taken over by the Penn Central with the merging of the PRR, NYC, and NH. While under Penn Central ownership, hurricane Agnes hit in September of 1972, and wiped out enough of the right-of-way, that the bankrupt PC could not afford to rebuild the line. Instead, to get trains between Baltimore and Harrisburg, they would now go up/down the Port Road via Perryville MD. A little longer, but other than the extra fuel, it didn’t cost them anything.
From 1972 till freight operations ended in 2005 (as a result of the double-tracking project), PC, Conrail, and Norfolk Southern operated the line, although it was “taken over” by the MTA in ~1988 to build the MTA’s light rail line. Once the light rail started operating, freight operations were confined to approx 1:00am to 4:30am. If a train was still on the line when the LRV’s started coming north, they would be stranded on a small siding till the next night. This provided for a few rare daytime shots of freights on the Northern Central after light rail operations began!
Starting in 1990 (till 2005), the right-of-way was shared with the MTA’s Light Rail, which went all the way to the Hunt Valley Mall, via some new track from the Gilroy stop north. For a while, the MTA kept a speeder in a small shed on the south side of Cockeysville Rd. Now, even that is gone, but they still keep the switch in place to give the MTA a place to park engines or MOW equipment just on the north side of Warren Road.
The first “modern” re-make of the Northern Central came in the early 2000’s with the Northern Central RR, as a dinner train. I rode the train at least three times… And that closed down. Now the NC is being operated as “Steam into History” with a newly-constructed steam engine using historical design.
Perhaps I’ll get there to ride “one of these days.” Hopefully this time, I can do it on a nice hot day, wearing a pretty, lightweight dress…
Chances are most baseball fans who park north of Baltimore’s Camden Yards stadium in the garages on Eutaw Street do not know the historical significance of the building they pass just before crossing Lombard Street on the way towards Camden Yards. (Until recently, I certainly didn’t!!!) That building, which currently houses The Goddess, a self-proclaimed “Gentlemen’s Club,” was once owned by Babe Ruth, and the sidewalk outside the building is where Ruth’s father died after injuries he sustained while trying to break up a brawl.
“The past exists all around us, you just have to know where to look.” That certainly is true for this building, located at 38 South Eutaw Street. In 1915, Ruth’s Boston Red Sox won the World Series and legend has it that Ruth took part of his World Series earnings and purchased the building as a bar for his father, which became known as “Ruth’s Cafe.” Babe Ruth and his wife Helen lived above the bar on the second floor of the building during that following winter
Just two plus years after Ruth purchased the building, tragedy struck as Ruth’s father died in the street outside the building. The brawl he tried to break up is said to have involved one of his relatives.
Babe Ruth’s father’s cafe on Eutaw Street should not be confused with another establishment of the same name which Ruth’s father ran on West Conway Street. Prior to the construction of Camden Yards, Conway Street street ran northeast across what is now home plate, through the pitcher’s mound and second base, and across center field towards the green batters eye behind center field. When the State of Maryland excavated the area during construction of Camden Yards, bricks from the building at 406 West Conway Street were unearthed and one is now on display at the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum.
Yes, the past is all around us.. Should you find yourself making your way down Eutaw Street on the way to Camden Yards, be sure to stop at the Goddess and take a moment to appreciate it’s historical significance.
Mandy's Miscellany 