What Would Jimmy Do?

Today, November 11, is Veterans Day — a holiday to remember all who have served in the U.S. Military.

Veterans Day is spelled as it is for a very specific reason. The apostrophe, which would be the little curly mark between the “n” and the “s” is not used — that would denote possession. Veterans Day is not a day that belongs to Veterans or is owned by Veterans in any capacity. It is a day for everyone, regardless of they’ve served or not, to reflect on the sacrifices of people who have served. The day may be dedicated to Veterans, but Veterans do not own it.

I think I’ve mentioned before that when I was a kid, every Veterans Day, volunteers went to all the stores in Maysville and handed out red (paper) poppies. They were free, but most people that took the poppies made a donation that went to help the VFW. I never knew the significance of the poppies until long after I had left Maysville and became more “worldly.”

The WWI battlefield was a place where no life could flourish or even survive. After the fighting ceased and the bombings stopped, however, the ravaged land began to heal as nature took its course. During the healing process, red poppies bloomed and gave new life to the death-tainted landscape of WWI.
A Canadian physician Lieutenant, Colonel John McCrae, wrote a heart-wrenching poem depicting the visage of the war-torn, poppy filled battlefields…. called “In Flanders Fields.”

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hand we throw
The torch; be your stop hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Over the years, lots has been written about Veterans Day, but these words may the most poetic and poignant.

In 2016, President Obama signed the Veterans Day Moment of Silence Act. This means that at 3:11 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time) each Veterans Day, the current President will call for an official moment of silence for two minutes. Why 3:11? I’m not sure, but we’ve all heard about the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month…. this was when the Armistice call for a (temporary) cessation of hostilities was signed, but it was not the official end of the war. The ending of World War I is officially marked by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in France on June 28, 1919. But we still celebrate Veterans Day on November 11 because that date marked the beginning of the end of WWI.
Today is Veterans Day — an important day in our history — celebrate it appropriately.
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This has been a crazy week or two and I let November 4th pass without mentioning that it was the birthday of Will Rogers. A lot of the younger generation(s) don’t remember, or know much about Will Rogers. In case you fall into that category, Will Rogers was an American humorist that was born in the Cherokee Nation — in what would become Oklahoma. 

If you’ve read this blog over the years, you know that I joke about there being two famous people from Maysville, Oklahoma — me and Wiley Post. Wiley Post was famous for a number of reasons as was Will Rogers — two men from Oklahoma who broke free from their ordinary background and became prominent figures of their time. Wiley Post and Will Rogers were long time friends.

As I said, Will Rogers was born in the Cherokee Nation, that later became Oklahoma. Will was part Cherokee and he started life on a large ranch in what was then Indian territory. He was taught, by a former slave, how to use a lasso as a tool to work Texas longhorn cattle. He became a rope-trick cowboy and all-around entertainer and his rope tricks eventually led to a career on Broadway and in the movies. He later became a popular broadcaster and syndicated newspaper columnist. He became famous for some of his quotes, like “I don’t make jokes, I just watch the government and report the facts,” and “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

Wiley Post’s parents settled on a farm near Maysville and Wiley fell in love with flying after seeing an air show, or “flying circus” when he was young. He attended a school in Kansas where he learned to fly and supported himself by working in the oil fields in Oklahoma — he referred to that as his day job. It was an accident in the oil fields that cost him his sight in one eye. He used the financial settlement from the accident to buy his first aircraft.

Despite missing an eye, Wiley Post became an exceptional pilot. In 1931, Post and his navigator, Narold Gatty, flew Post’s airplane (Winnie Mae) around the world in just under nine days — breaking the previous record by nearly two weeks. That feat made Wiley Post famous around the world. Then in 1933, he flew around the world again. This time not only did he do it solo, he also broke his own record.

Other than being famous, Wiley Post and Will Rogers seemed like very different people, but as I mentioned, the two had been friends for a long time. It was that friendship that led to them taking a fateful flight together….

Wiley Post was planning an investigative tour of Alaska and Russia to see about creating a mail/passenger route from the United States to Russia. He was originally going to take his wife, Mae, and aviatrix Faye Gillis Wells — however, at the last minute, Wells dropped out.

As a replacement, Post asked Rogers to join (and help fund) the trip. Rogers agreed and was very excited about the adventure. So excited, in fact, that Post’s wife decided not to join the two on the excursion, opting to go back home to Oklahoma rather than endure the harsh camping and hunting trips the two men had planned.

During the trip, on August 15, 1935, Wiley Post and Will Rogers, took off in a Lockheed hybrid airplane from Point Barrow, Alaska — the engine stalled just after take-off and they crashed 15 miles outside of Point Barrow. Both Post and Rogers died instantly. The deaths of the two great men, who had brought hope and lightheartedness during the dark days of the Great Depression was a shocking loss to the nation.
So here’s to two (three if you count me) famous Okies…. 
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Tomorrow is election day…. I’ve voted in pretty much every election since I was old enough to vote — even when I was out of the country and it was more “inconvenient” to do my right as an American.

The freedom to vote is America’s most important political right — outside of maybe the Bill of Rights — and it is also the most hard-won right. The United States Constitution, as originally written, didn’t define specifically who could or couldn’t vote — but it did establish how the new country would vote.

Article 1 of the Constitution determined that members of the Senate and House of Representatives would both be elected directly by popular vote. The president, however, would be elected not by direct vote, but rather by the Electrical College. Over the years, many people and groups have have fought for the right to vote — a lot of us were born with that right, so we probably don’t appreciate how precious it is.

The 2022 midterm elections hold tremendous importance, and the results will impact every American. These elections go beyond who will represent us in Congress — voters will also elect representatives at the state, county, and city levels.
Voting is your chance to stand up for the issues you care about, like affordable housing, economic justice, environmental protection and quality education.
Everyone pays taxes and yet, most people don’t know that money is being used. Voting is your chance to choose how your tax dollars are spent.
Voting is your chance to make a positive impact on your community.

Participating in elections is one of the key freedoms of American life. Many people in countries around the world do not have that freedom, nor did many Americans in years past. No matter what you believe or whom you support, it is more important than ever to exercise your rights.
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Happy Birthday to our number one grandson — Locke.
Locke, as a given name, is of English origin and means “fortified place.” Not a usual name and not a usual grandson.
Being born on November 6 makes Locke a Scorpio…. I checked, and it seems that he is determined to get ahead in Life. He keeps his word and expects the same level of commitment from his friends.
If you know Locke, that comes as no surprise to you. 

A birthday is a gateway, or a door
Into brand new adventures you’ve never had before.
So jump right into this fresh new year,
Your teenage years are getting near.
You’re getting older and the message is clear!
Now you can eat more birthday cake than you could even hold last year!
And you can laugh even louder and enjoy it even more
This is a bigger birthday than you’ve ever had before!
So check the date
Yep, you’re eight!
Time to celebrate!

And this year you get to celebrate for an extra hour!!
Happy 8th Birthday to the best, smartest, and the coolest grandson — Locke.
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The other day, I mentioned “classic” board games. I figure that probably one of the most classic board games has to be Monopoly. It’s been around longer than I have and even has an official birthday — March 19. That’s the date Parker Brothers acquired the rights for the game from Charles Darrow, the original inventor of the game — or at least he claims to be the inventor of the game. Apparently the very first edition of the game that would later become Monopoly was invented by Elizabeth Magie about 30 years before Charles Darrow sold the game to Parker Brothers. 

Interestingly, the original game was designed to help people understand taxes. That may be why a lot of kids today think the game is so boring. Elizabeth Magie’s (who is credited with putting together the first version of the game) goal was to not only understand the tax system better but also real estate. Her name for the game that became Monopoly was “The Landlord’s Game,” and it was meant as a parody of a growing commercial practice as well as an educational tool.

But Charles Darrow made a few tweaks to Magie’s idea and sold the game to Parker Brothers, after the company initially rejected it due to 52 “fundamental errors” such as the length and complexity of the game. Obviously, Parker Brothers later changed their mind.

The original game is based on real-life places in Atlantic City, New Jersey. But Monopoly is truly an international game — it’s been sold in 114 countries and translated into 47 languages. More than 300 versions of Monopoly have been created, including “Star Wars,” “Pokemon,” and “Game of Thrones.”

The little “Monopoly Man” pictured on all the games was inspired by J.P. Morgan, a banker who helped finance the construction of railroads and organized several major corporations including General Electric. Even though the character was inspired by J.P. Morgan, the Monopoly mascot has a real name — Rich Uncle Pennybags. Pennybags has become the face of Monopoly and is generally known as “Mr. Monopoly.”

Other characters on the board have names too… that unfortunate guy in jail is “Jake the Jailbird” and the bobby hauling Jake away is named Officer Edgar Mallory. Mallory’s name is actually a play on an old stereotype of the Irish cop — an image popular in the early 20th century.

Every standard game of Monopoly contains $15,140. Parker Brothers prints about 50 billion dollars in Monopoly money every year — that’s more than twice as much money as the U.S. Mint prints in actual money.

You may have noticed, there’s no inflation in Monopoly — values on the game board are the same today as they were in 1935.

Parker Brothers has manufactured over 5 billion green houses — I guess that makes them the largest real estate builder.The original Monopoly game sold for $2 — they cost around $20 today.

I had heard that the most landed on square in Monopoly was Illinois Avenue, but my extensive research couldn’t confirm that…. it appears the top three most landed on spaces are Jail, Illinois Avenue and Go.

The original board pieces were inspired by Charles Darrow’s niece and were created to resemble figures on her charm bracelet.

And finally — if you think about it, this should come as no surprise, there is a special Monopoly version available just for cheaters — called “Monopoly: Cheaters Edition.” It was launched in 2018 and has incorporated cheating into the rules. In this version of the game, players can attempt to get away with “borrowing” money from the bank, skipping spaces and avoiding rent payments.

So if you’re looking for a “classic” board game — if you can sort through all the special editions to find it — Monopoly may be for you….. 
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Special Day today — Dave and Chassie’s anniversary. I’m not good with numbers but I think this one is number nine. Of course love isn’t about how many years you’ve been together, it’s about how much you love each other every single day. 

Anniversaries always bring to (my) mind an old Henny Youngman joke: “Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes on Tuesdays, I go on Friday.”
I always think that’s funny, but I’m pretty sure Dave and Chassie go on the same night.

Just remember that success in marriage doesn’t come from merely finding the right mate, but through being the right mate.

Congratulations on another year of being together — wishing you love, laughter and happiness for many more years to come…..
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Just turned another page on the calendar — time to talk about the upcoming month.
“And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither….”

Well, that’s how Robert Frost described November — sounds kind of depressing, and I guess it is a little bit. I’m always sorry to see the weather turn cold, but November marks the beginning of the winter holiday season for most people so the colder weather doesn’t seem so bad until the beginning of next year. 

All sorts of activities pick up this month — like All Saints’ Day, Will Rogers Day, Sadie Hawkins Day, Election Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. And on top of all that, Daylight Saving Time ends and November 28 is the first Sunday of Advent. If that’s not enough, three fourths of our grandkids have birthdays this month and it’s Dave and Chassie’s anniversary.

November comes from the Latin word novem, “nine,” because this had been the ninth month of the early Roman Calendar.

The moon this month is traditionally called the Beaver Moon — in Colonial times, this was the month to set beaver traps before the swamps froze and beavers retired for the winter, so they’d have a supply of warm winter furs. This month’s full moon occurs on November 8 — and —a total lunar eclipse will be visible early in the morning, supposedly to much of North America.
And like every month, November has it’s share of “folklore” about the weather…
If trees show buds in November, the winter will last until May, There is no better month in the year to cut wood than November and ice in November brings mud in December are some examples.

I usually don’t mention a month’s birthstone, but November’s birthstone is the topaz. The ancient Greeks believed that topaz could make a wearer invisible. I think that’s pretty cool.
So buckle up — it’s going to be a busy month.
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Halloween is a fun and spooky holiday, steeped in folklore and superstitions. And even though we think of halloween as mostly a “kids” holiday, or a chance to dress up in costumes, halloween traditions stem from darker roots. About 2,000 years ago, the ancient Celts celebrated Samhain on November 1st. The festival honored the dead but the folks celebrating were sure to keep wandering spirits at bay by taking part in certain rituals. It was believed that on October 31st, the barrier between the living and dead weakened and the dead returned.

Some superstitions that I remember hearing when growing up — a lot of them were from my grandparents — include….. if you see bats flying around your home on Halloween night, spirits and ghosts are nearby. If a black cat meows at you window iron your porch, a death will soon occur within the family. If you hold your breath while you drive by a cemetery, evil spirits can’t enter your body. When passing a graveyard or a house where someone has died, turn your pockets inside out to make sure you don’t bring home ghosts in your pockets.

I still think of Halloween more as a day for the kids, but then I read an article in the Huffington Post about “deindividuation.” According to the article, deindividuation is when people become less likely to evaluate their own behavior, and less apprehensive over the possibility that they’ll be recognized or observed by others. The article goes on to state that Halloween stirs up the perfect storm of factors to lead kids to deindividuation. Masks and traveling in group can potentially cause deindividuation and bad behavior. Any consequences are less severe when the person you’r “tricking” can’t identify you under a mask or costume. Studies found that masked kids between 9 and 13 are more likely to take large quantities of candy compared to those kids who are unmasked.
Make what you will of this, but keep an eye out tonight for evil children — that’s all I’m saying.
Happy Haloween!
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It’s time for that “Fall Classic” again — the World Series. I think I’ve mentioned before that when I was a kid, the World Series took precedence over just about everything this time of year. All the World Series games were played during the day back then, and you never went into a store that didn’t have a radio tuned to the World Series. I remember we even got to listen to the World Series on the radio during school sometimes.

Today? Not so much — I actually checked to see what day (night) the series starts this year. So lots of things have changed over the years, and the World Series is one of them…. in case you don’t know — and care — the 2022 World Series starts Friday night, October 28. 

But even though it’s not as popular as it used to be, it’s still an American Classic — the first official World Series was held in 1903. Since that time, it’s been played every year except for two years. In 1904, the National League champion, New York Giants, refused to play against the American League champion, the Boston Americans, because the Giants manager had personal animosity against the American League president. (New rules were drafted the following year, compelling the champions of both leagues to participate in the World Series.) Most of us remember the only other time the series wasn’t played — in 1994 due to the players strike.

That first World Series in 1903 was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates an the Boston Americans. It was a best-of-nine series, not a best-of-seven that they play today. The Americans won that first series five games to three.

The longest World Series game in history (in both time and innings) took place in Game 3 on October 26, 2018, between the Boston Red Sox and the L.A. Dodgers. The Dodgers ended up winning 3-2 after 7 hours and 20 minutes.

Even though baseball had been playing night games since the 1930s, it wasn’t until 1971 that the World Series had a night game. Apparently Major League Baseball figured out that most people were watching the World Series on TV, but it’s hard to watch TV at school or work. The first night game was played between the Pittsburg Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles. 

Deion Sanders is the only person with the distinction of playing in both a World Series and two Super Bowls. He played in the 1992 World Series for the Atlanta Braves and played in back-to-back Super Bowls with San Francisco and Dallas.
Don Larsen of the Yankees pitched the only no-hitter — and it was a perfect game — in World Series history during game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
The first pinch-hit home run in World Series history was hit by Yogi Berra in Game 3 of the 1947 World Series.

In 2003 it was decided that the winning team of the MLB All-Star game would determine which league would have home-field advantage in the World Series.The change was intended to add strategy (and probably interest) to the exhibition game.

The 2016 World Series featured the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians — the two teams with the longest championship drought in history. The Cubs hadn’t won since 1908, and the Indians since 1948, a combined 176-year drought. Prior to winning in 2016, the Cubs had the longest drought of winning a championship in all major American sports..

Some believe the Cubs drought was caused by a “curse.” Baseball is full of superstitions and one of the best is the “curse” supposedly placed on the Chicago Cubs… In 1945, Billy Sianis, the owner of Billy Goat Tavern, was ordered to leave the Cubs’ World Series game against the Detroit Tigers. Apparently the pet goat that traveled most places with Billy was so smelly it was upsetting the other fans. Outraged at this insult to his goat, Billy announced that the Cubs wouldn’t win. They didn’t — even though they kept trying every year. Many attempts were made over the years to break the curse, including getting Billy Sianis’ nephew to bring a goat into Wrigley Field.

And even though it may be called “The World Series,” it doesn’t really include the rest of the world. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only team outside the U.S. to have won the World Series. 

Friday night, this year’s version of the fall classic begins — hopefully it’ll be an exciting series and, hopefully, something will happen that will make World Series history and we’ll be talking about around the water cooler — or at least on social media…..
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A couple of days ago I got off on the subject of door-to-door salesmen — I forgot to mention that were pretty famous door-to-door saleswomen during that time, and maybe even today. I’m referring to the Avon Lady. I honestly don’t remember seeing, or hearing about, Avon Ladies when I was little, but maybe it just wasn’t a thing around Maysville.

I do remember, when I was older, Avon advertisements on TV and I remember they always started, or ended, with “Ding Dong, Avon Calling.”
But regardless if I remember it, Avon has been ringing the doorbells of housewives since 1886.

The Avon enterprise was the brainchild of David H. McConnell, a New York traveling salesman who sold books (what else?) door-to- door. McConnell was an excellent salesman and he came up with the idea of using vials of perfume to entice his female customers to open their doors (and pocketbooks) to him — and his books. When he realized the perfume was a bigger hit than the books he was selling, he changed his course.

With the assistance of one of his employees, a Mrs. Albee, McConnell sold perfume under the name California Perfume Company. McConnell realized that the best way to market his products to women would be to hire women to sell them. Seems obvious today, but I guess someone had to take that first step. At age 50, Persis Foster Earnes Albee was hired to travel by buggy and train doing door-to-door business all around the northeast. Albee soon began to train a fleet of female salespeople to do the same — and the Avon Lady was born!
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