What Would Jimmy Do?

We went to a Super Bowl party last night. We had a really good time, as usual. The game, won by the Patriots, generally received fairly poor reviews and it didn’t set any records as being the most watched game or anything like that. But — the fact is, Super Bowl parties aren’t much about the game, anyhow. I’m sure at least some of the people at the party last night don’t even know who won… I have a feeling at least a couple didn’t know who was playing.

If anyone is really interested in watching the game, they don’t go to a Super Bowl party to do it — Super Bowl parties are all about the party, the fact that a football game is being played is just a good excuse to have a party.

Now, that said, here’s my proposal… Next year, there should be no Super Bowl parties. The day of the game, football fans should stay at home and watch the game. Non-fans should do whatever they do on a Sunday.

From now on, let’s have Pro-Bowl parties. Here’s why — nobody watches the Pro-Bowl and certainly no one cares who “wins.” So it’s the perfect time to have a party. Gather all your food and drinks and friends and party away. Of course you must have the TV tuned to the Pro-Bowl, but no one will watch it — just like the Super Bowl, except the game doesn’t matter anyhow. This takes away any guilty feeling during the party, that maybe you should at least check out how the game’s going.
So congratulations to the Patriots, better luck to the Rams next year — if you both make it to the big game again, maybe we’ll actually be watching, not partying….
— 30 —

Today is Super Bowl LIII – between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams. I’m pretty sure this the the first time both teams got to the Super Bowl via overtime wins in the Conference Championship games. This year’s game will be played in Atlanta.

Originally the “Super Bowl” participants were the champions of the NFL (National Football League) and the AFL (American Football League.) When the two leagues merged, they formed the NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference) and the game is played each year between the champions of these conferences.
The original Super Bowl was officially called The AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Even though “Super Bowl” has been used unofficially from the beginning, the term wasn’t officially recognized by the league until a few year later — the name first appeared on the cover of the program in 1969 and on the tickets in 1970. The first game was held in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967 (the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.)

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Super Bowl Sunday is America’s “second-largest food consumption day.” Only Thanksgiving Day beats it.
The team that has lost the most Super Bowls would be…. Denver (lost five.)
The first Super Bowl halftime show consisted of two marching bands, trumpeter Al Hirt, two men in jet packs, and 300 pigeons.
The only player named the game’s MVP, that was on the losing team was Chuck Howley, a linebacker for the Cowboys. (1971 in Super Bowl V — Dallas lost to the Baltimore Colts.)
Roman numerals are used to number the Super Bowl because the football season falls in two calendar years.
The NFC team is designated the “home” team in odd-numbered Super Bowls, The AFC team is the “home” in even-numbered Super Bowls.
There has never been a shutout in the Super Bowl. (The fewest points scored was 3 — by Miami. They lost to Dallas 24-3 in 1972.)
Cleveland is the only current NFL city that has neither hosted a Super Bowl or seen its own team make an appearance in one.
The Miami Dolphins won the Super Bowl in 1973. Don Shula (Miami’s coach) was being carried off the field and a fan reached up to shake his hand — and stole his watch.

You my have noticed that the Redskins weren’t mentioned once in this blog — so — I don’t really have a favorite…. may the best team win!
—30 —

Well, here it is February and time for Groundhog Day. It always falls on February 2nd and it traditionally marks the midpoint between the winter solstice (in December) and the spring equinox (in March.)

I usually update this blog every year on Groundhog Day and every year it reads just about the same as it did the previous year because — well, it’s Groundhog Day. This day of wonder and curiosity, based on the activities of a groundhog arising out of its winter slumber is celebrated in the United States and Canada.

The first recorded “Groundhog Day” was February 2nd, 1886 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. A local newspaper, The Punxsutawney Spirit, printed the news of the first observance…. “Today is groundhog day, and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen his shadow.” Of course the beast the paper was referring to was Punxsutawney Phil — a groundhog that resided (and still does) in a knoll called Gobbler’s Knob.

So if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there’ll be six more weeks of winter — if he doesn’t, it’ll be an early Spring. Shepherdstown Jimmy also makes a prediction every February 2 — “there’ll be six more weeks of winter…..”
— 30 —

When I was a kid, graffiti was found in a lot of places — admittedly, not nearly as many as today. Back then, if you ran across a dirty word, or phrase, the reaction was shock or a giggle (depending on how bad it was.) The graffiti found on bathroom walls was, by and large, pretty clever — not vulgar. One piece of graffiti that popped up just about everywhere was the drawing (at the right) with the words, “Kilroy was here.” Everyone thought it was funny, but no one knew its meaning, if in fact it did mean something.

Even though “Kilroy was here” popped up all over the world, its origin pretty much remained a mystery. A few years ago, I ran across an article that seemingly explained the mystery of Kilroy’s origin. It’s a little long, but it’s interesting…. In 1946, the American Transit Association (ATA) held a radio contest to establish the origin of the phrase. Lots of people obviously claimed to be the originator, but one those was James J. Kilroy, who worked at the Bethlehem Steel shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts during the war inspecting the work done by others on the tanks and hulls of warships. Here’s his story:

“I started my new job with enthusiasm, carefully surveying every inner bottom and tank before issuing a contract. I was thoroughly upset to find that practically every test leader (the head of a work crew) I met wanted me to go down and look over his job with him, and when I explained  that I had already checked the job and could not spare the time to crawl through one of those tanks again, they  would accuse me of not having looked the job over. I was getting sick of being accused of not looking the jobs over and one day as I came through the manhole of a tank I had just surveyed, I angrily marked, with yellow crayon, on the tank top, where the tester could see it, ‘Kilroy was here.’ The following day, a test gang leader approached me with a grin on his face and said, ‘I see you looked my job over.’ I nodded in agreement.”

Kilroy provided the ATA with corroborating statements from men he worked with at the shipyard, and Kilroy said that he assumed that the shipyard workers who had seen his mark and then joined the military took the phrase with them and began writing it overseas. He won the contest. A lot of things go viral today via social media but maybe not so widespread and long lasting as ‘Kilroy.’

Until James Kilroy won the contest, no one was sure of its origin — or — purpose. It not only mystified, but it alarmed our enemies during World War II. Japanese troops were so mystified by a “Kilroy was here” painted on a bombed out tank on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal that they reported the find to their senior intelligence officers. Some reports indicate that Hitler supposed that Kilroy was some kind of “Super-GI” or spy, and ordered a contingent of men to track down the sneaky American. Of course, he was never found.

So next time you’re reading graffiti on a bathroom wall, no matter how vulgar, enlightening, or clever it may be, just think of Kilroy — he may not be here, but he was….
— 30 —

It looks like it’s getting to be Girl Scout Cookie time again. I remember when this time of year rolled around our house was filled with boxes and boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. Kelly was very active in Girl Scouts and Claire was a scout leader for a number of years. So our house became the warehouse for cookies for their troop every year.

One year when Kelly must have been about six and Dave was two, they filled their wagon with girl scout cookies and toured the neighborhood selling cookies. They must have been really good salesmen or really cute — I think they sold hundreds of boxes of cookies. In out neighborhood back then, kids were allowed to roam around without adult supervision — a “freedom” than most Girl Scouts don’t enjoy today.

When Claire was putting together the cookbook for our church, I learned that the first girl scout cookies were baked by the girl scouts themselves and sold to raise money for their troops.
Cookie “sales” began in 1917 — a Girl Scout Troop in Oklahoma baked and sold sugar cookies at their high school cafeteria to raise fund for a service project. The idea caught on with other troops and they started baking cookies and selling them door-to-door.

In 1922, a scout leader named Florence E. Neil published a shortbread cookie recipe that eventually evolved into the present day Trefoils. The recipe’s ingredients were very cheap — which meant maximum profits, and soon the Girl Scout’s main source of funds came from cookie sales. In 1935, the Girl Scout Federation of Greater New York was the first local Girl Scout council to license a commercial baker for their cookies. The National Girl Scout Organization licensed commercial bakers nationwide a year later.
Sales were halted during World War II due to shortages of sugar, flour, butter, etc. Girl Scouts sold calendars during the war.
Today, there are two licensed bakers manufacturing Girl Scout cookies — Little Brownie Bakers and ABC Bakers.
So here’s to the Girl Scouts and their cookies. As the Cookie Monster says, “I’d give you a cookie, but I ate it.”
—  30 —

Yesterday, we celebrated Beer Can Appreciation Day and we noted that the first cans didn’t have pull-tabs, they had to be opened with a can opener — usually called a “Church Key.” Well, of course that got me to thinking, why call such a device a church key?

Let’s think back many years ago…. many of the best brewers were monks. To protect their aging beers in their monasteries, the monks locked them away in lager cellars, for which only the monks had the keys. These keys were often the same keys used to open and close the church…..

The first “openers” weren’t f for cans, but for bottles. Bottle caps (originally referred to as “crown corks”)  were invented in1862, and unlike the twist-off caps today, required a device to pry the cap off the bottle.
The brewing industry seems to have coined the name church key years ago when beer was only dispensed in bottles — most everybody in the brewery carried a bottle opener or “church key.” It was probably referred to as a church key because it looked like the top end of the kind of heavy ornate keys used to lock/unlock church doors. The term was adopted in the industry for all tools used to open beer.

There are other explanations and theories about the name, such as the name being chosen because the key that punctured the can left an opening that resembled the stereotypical gable and roof line of church buildings, but they all seem less plausible than the fact that the first openers resembled a key.

It just may be appropriate that the term church key is associated with beer and religion.  The best brewers were monks and we’ve all heard the expression, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Even Martin Luther, the man behind the Protestant Reformation, pretty much claimed that those who drink beer get to go to Heaven — here’s his quote: “Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!”
Cheers.
— 30 —

Today is Beer Can Appreciation Day. On this day in 1935, canned beer made its debut. The Krueger Brewing Company, in partnership with the American Can Company delivered 2,000 cans of Krueger’s Finest Beer and Kruger’s Cream Ale to faithful Krueger drinkers in Richmond, Virginia — 84 years ago today. Ninety-one percent of the drinkers approved of the canned beer — and the rest, as they say, is history.

Recently, we discussed (on this blog) the importance of the tin can that gets its special day every year on January 19. By the late 1800’s, cans were instrumental in the mass distribution of foodstuffs, but it wasn’t until 1909 that the first attempt to can beer was made. That first attempt was unsuccessful and it wasn’t tried again until the end of Prohibition in the United States.

In 1933, the American Can Company (after extensive research) developed a can that was pressurized and had a spacial coating to prevent the fizzy beer from chemically reacting with the tin.
After the successful experiment in Richmond, the concept of canned beer continued to be a hard sell, but Kruger’s (located in Newark, New Jersey) overcame people’s initial reservations and became the first brewer to sell canned beer in the United States. Within three months of introducing the cans, over 80 percent of beer distributors were handling Krueger’s canned beer and Krueger’s was eating into the market share of the “big three” national brewers — Anheuser-Busch, Pabst and Schlitz. The other companies jumped on board and by the end of 1935, over 200 million cans were produced and sold.

Cans had the added advantage that, unlike bottles, did not require consumers to pay a deposit. Cans also proved to be easier to stack, more durable and took less time to chill. Their popularity continued to grow throughout the 1930s. But canned beer popularity exploded during World War II when brewers shipped millions of cans of beer to soldiers overseas. Today, canned beer accounts for approximately half of the the $20 billion U.S. beer industry sales.
There is even an emerging trend of micro brewers starting to use cans.
Up until 1963, cans didn’t have a pop top — they were opened with a “Church Key.”
So let’s all raise a glass (or better yet, a can) to that great day in 1935 when beer was first sold in cans.
— 30 —

Not counting January 1, I believe today (January 21) will be the first federal American holiday of 2019. January 15 is Martin Luther King Jr.’s actual birthday but because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by Congress in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be celebrated on the nearest Monday. The day is intended to celebrate the life and achievements of the influential American civil rights leader.

The idea of a Martin Luther King Day was promoted soon after his assassination in 1968. The Congressional bill creating the holiday was not signed until 1983 by President Reagan. The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986 but was not officially observed in all 50 states until the year 2000.
Obviously there was a lot of opposition when the holiday was proposed — the two main arguments were (1) a paid holiday for federal employees would be expensive and (2) a holiday to honor the birth of a private citizen who had never held public office would be contrary to the longstanding tradition.

The traditions of this first federal holiday of the year are in jeopardy this year. The government shutdown has closed sites that are popular to visit on King’s birthday… The historic Ebenezer Baptist Church and King’s birth home are closed as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park (in Atlanta.)

In Washington, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, particularly popular on MLK Day is closed, along with the other 18 museums/galleries managed by the Smithsonian Institution. In Alabama the Selma-to-Montgomery March interpretive centers and the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site and Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site are dark.

So even if you’re not a government employee, the shutdown is beginning to disrupt everyday activities. There are a lot f people to “blame” for the situation we’re in, but maybe the White House should take heed to a statement made by Donald Trump in 2013: “A shutdown falls on the President’s lack of leadership. He can’t even control his own party and get people together in a room. A shutdown means the President is weak.”
Happy MLK Day…..
— 30 —

Here’s a couple of quotes from Republican Presidents of the United States:

“I received a letter just before I left office from a man. I don’t know why he chose to write it, but I’m glad he did. He wrote that you can go t0 live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Italy, but you can’t become a German or Italian. He went through Turkey, Greece, Japan and other countries. But he said anyone, from any corner of the world can come to live in the United States and become an American.”
~ Ronald Reagan

“It’s our right as a sovereign nation to choose immigrants that we think are the likeliest to thrive and flourish and love us.”
~ Donald Trump

I wonder if that same man would send the same letter today…..
— 30 —

A lot of people know that today is Popcorn Day — however, not as many know that it’s also Tin Can Day. That’s a real shame, because tin cans have been an integral part of our lives since the early 1800’s. Some people think the tin can is perhaps one of the greatest inventions in history.
The term ‘tin can’ is a bit of a misnomer today, because a lot of what we call ‘tin’ cans are actually made of other materials. But it’s hard to argue that the humble tin can, in its own way, is historic. It revolutionized the storage of perishable foods, although early tin cans were sealed with lead, causing many cases of lead poisoning.

Peter Durand of England patented the tin can in 1810. Ezra Daggett and Thomas Kensett received the U.S. tin can patent on January 19, 1825. The date chosen for Tin Can Day is in recognition of that event.
As I mentioned, the tin can came into use in the early 1800’s, but it wasn’t until 1858, about 50 years later that the can opener was invented (by Ezra Warner.) Before that significant invention, cans were hacked, chopped, and chiseled open.
So the question is — why is there no Can Opener Day?
— 30 —