What Would Jimmy Do?

Today’s blog is to Dave and Chassie on their wedding anniversary — number 8, I think.
I remember your wedding and that everyone marveled at the rustic cake stand — made by an artist from West Virginia.

Of course the expression of love to another isn’t reserved for a single day, or a special occasion like an anniversary — It’s more about how you live each day with the one you love and care for. So take some time today to celebrate the memories you have created and home of love you’ve provided.
Happy Anniversary to an awesome couple!
— 30 —

Today is Halloween — 2021. In Mexico, it’s the Day of the Dead, or at least the start of it. The Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, takes place October 31 through November 2 in Mexico and a few other Hispanic countries. November 1, Dia de los Inocentes, honors children that have died, and family members decorate graves with baby’s breath and white orchids. On November 2, Dia de los Muertos, families honor adults who have died and place orange marigolds on grave sites.

The original Aztec celebration lasted a month, but when Spanish conquistadors came to Mexico in the 16th century, they merged the festival with the Catholic All Saints’ Day. Today’s celebrations are a mix of both Aztec rituals of skulls, altars to the dead and food, with Catholic masses and prayers.

If you live in Des Moines, Iowa, last night was Beggars’ Night. The event began in Des Moines about 1938 as a way to prevent vandalism and give younger children a safer way to enjoy Halloween. Beggars’ Night is very similar to regular trick or treating, except the kids are required to tell a joke, poem, or perform a “trick” for a treat. 

Every year around Halloween, you hear about the spirits at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. There are continuing reports from the White House of ghostly appearances and eerie sounds — and not only on election years…. The most famous ghost sighting in the White House is of Abraham Lincoln, who’s supposedly been spotted by Eleanor Roosevelt, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Winston Churchill.

Jack-O’-lanterns were not originally made from pumpkins… the name jack-O’-lantern is rooted in  an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack who fooled the devil and in turn was forced to walk the Earth with only a burning coal in a hollowed turnip to light his way. The Irish began to call him “Jack of the Lantern,” and then just “Jack O’Lantern. Immigrants in the United States began to use pumpkins, that were native to North America instead of turnips.

A lot of people like Halloween — some don’t. My sister maybe doesn’t “hate” Halloween, but she’s certainly not a big fan. Some people actually fear Halloween. They suffer from Samhainophobia.

One of the “treats” that was popular when I was a kid was candy corn — I still see it in the stores, especially this time of year. Candy corn was created by George Renninger in the 1880s and because corn is what was used to feed chickens, it’s original name was “Chicken Feed”… the box was decorated with a rooster.

So today is Halloween around here, but no matter what you’re celebrating today, hope you have a spooky good time…..
— 30 —

A number of years ago I was involved in a project that kept me in San Diego for a period of time. Although I never stayed there, I had occasion to visit the Hotel Del Coronado several times. There were a number of good restaurants there and I attended a few “meetings” in the facility.

In case you don’t know, the hotel has become a kind of legend — it’s been there for more than 130 years and has been host to celebrities, royalty, and U.S. Presidents. It was built in 1888 by Elisha Babcock and Hampton L. Story and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. 

Since this is the Halloween “season” I thought it might be a good time to talk about the thing that made the place most fascinating to me — the hotel, affectionately called “the Del,” is home to some noteworthy ghosts….

On November 24, 1892, Kate Morgan checked into the Hotel Del Coronado under the name of Lottie A. Bernard, from Detroit. She looked pale and she wasn’t feeling well. She mentioned that she was planning to meet her brother, a doctor.
After a few days, the staff began to worry. The mysterious woman had checked in with no luggage. Her brother hadn’t arrived, and she had hardly left her room.
On Monday, November 28, the woman went into town and purchased a gun. Her body was found early the next morning on stairs that led from the hotel to the beach. From the gunshot wound to her head, it appeared she had committed suicide. When police investigated, they found few personal belongings in her hotel room. 

After Kate’s death, police determined that “Lottie A. Bernard” was an alias. They sent a sketch of her to newspapers, which described her as “the beautiful stranger.” Further investigation uncovered that “Lottie” had been born Kate Farmer — in Iowa, and had married Tom Morgan in 1885.

Morgan was rumored to be a con artist as well as a gambler. He allegedly worked the rails and enlisted Kate’s help in stealing money from train passengers. According to a witness, on a train somewhere between Los Angles and San Diego, Kate and Morgan had an intense argument. Morgan got off the train before it reached San Diego. Kate stayed on the train until it arrived in San Diego and then checked into the Del.

Some people claim the clues at the scene add up to a murder, rather than suicide. Attorney Alan May’s book, written in 1990, The Legend of Kate Morgan, claims the bullet that killed Kate was a different caliber than the gun she’d purchased.
But no matter what happened, Kate’s ghost has taken up residence at the Del. She often manifests as eerie eyes and lips appearing in the mirror or reflected in the window of her room. Kate’s spirit may be responsible for strange noises and unexplained breezes around her room as well. The curtains on closed windows billow for no reason, and lights and televisions turn themselves on and off. Kate also appears as a pale young woman in a black lace dress. A sweet fragrance lingers after apparition disappears. 

Kate stayed in room 302. Later, during remodeling, the hotel changed the room number to 3327. The haunted room is so popular that people ask for it as “the Kate Morgan room.” The hotel welcomes and answers questions about the ghost, and everyone treats Kate as an honored guest.

Independent paranormal researchers have documented supernormal activity in Kate’s room using high-tech gadgetry, including infrared cameras, night vision goggles, radiation sensors, toxic-chemical indicators, microwave imaging systems, and high-frequency sound detectors. 

There have also been Kate sightings in hotel hallways and along the seashore. Another very “active” area is the hotel’s gift shop. Visitors and employees routinely witness haunted happenings and giftware mysteriously flying off shelves, oftentimes falling upright and always unbroken. 
In fact the Hotel sells a book, Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan in their gift shop.

Actually, Kate isn’t the only mysterious resident in the hotel. Room 3519 is also haunted — maybe even more intensely than Kat’s room.

In 1983, a Secret Service agent stayed in room 3519 while guarding then Vice President George H.W. Bush. The special agent bolted from the room in the middle of the night claiming that he’d head unearthly gurgling noises and that the entire room seemed to glow. 
It’s possible that the Secret Service agent may have encountered a ghost related to the Kate Morgan mystery. According to one legend, while Kate was at the hotel, a maid stayed in what would later be room 3519. In some versions of the story, the maid was traveling with Kate. In others, the maid had simply befriended her. Whatever the connection between the two, the maid allegedly vanished the same morning Kate was found dead. 

That’s not the only ghost story connected with room 3519. Another story goes that in 1888, the year the hotel was built, a wealthy man kept his mistress in that room. When the woman found out that she was pregnant, she killed herself. Her body was removed from the Del, and nothing else is known about her, not even her name. Ghost hunters believe she is the one who causes the lights in the room to flicker and is responsible for the unexplained cold spot in front of the room’s door.

In recent years, some hotel guests have reported sightings of the ghost of Marilyn Monroe. She loved the Hotel Del Coronado and stayed there during the filming of Some Like it Hot. Marilyn’s ghost has appeared at several of her favorite places, including Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel, where people see her in the lobby’s mirror.
At the Del, Monroe is often seen outdoors as a fleeting, translucent apparition near the door to the hotel or on the beach nearby. Those who see the ghost comment on her windswept blonde hair and her fringed shawl that flutters in the breeze.

So the Hotel Del Coronado continues to be a popular place and seems like an great place to visit, especially around this time of year. Just remember, if you stay there, you’re never alone. 
Happy Halloween to everyone.
— 30 —

A few days ago, I discussed trick or treating and mentioned an article I had recently read claiming that the practice only became popular due to a 1951 Peanuts comic strip. I indicated that just didn’t seem right to me because I remember trick or treating from when I was very small. 

Well, I went back and re-read the article and threw in a little extensive research to boot, and I’ve decided that the Peanuts cartoon theory of popularizing trick or treating may have some merit….

When I was young, I remember some Halloween pranks getting a little out of hand and, certainly today, would be classified as vandalism. 
History suggests that excessive mischief and pranks on Halloween led to widespread adoption of an organized, community-based trick or treating tradition in the 1930s. 

That trend was abruptly curtailed, however, with the outbreak of World War II, when sugar rationing meant there were few treats to hand out. At the height of the postwar baby boom, trick or treating reclaimed its place among other Halloween customs, and quickly became standard practice for millions of kids in America’s cities and newly built suburbs. Candy companies, no longer constrained by sugar rationing, capitalized on the lucrative ritual and launched national advertising campaigns specifically aimed at Halloween.

Before candy, the “treats” were, fruit or nuts, or maybe coins. So I suspect that the reference to the Peanuts cartoon was referring more to the increase in the popularity of candy rather than the practice of trick or treating. 

But I guess it just wouldn’t be Halloween without Linus and the Peanut gang — waiting for the Great Pumpkin…. I suppose I should end this right now — Linus always said, “There are three things I’ve learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”
— 30 — 

I read an article the other day that was describing Halloween traditions. The author indicated that trick or treating became popular in the United States primarily due to a Peanuts Comic Strip published in 1951. Not to start an argument, but I’m pretty sure that’s not very accurate. Trick or treating has been popular for as long as I can remember and I remember going trick or treating long before 1951. Maybe it became more popular due to that comic strip — I don’t know…. but of course I just had to do a little extensive research….

Trick or treating’s roots can be traced back to Celtic Britain and Ireland in the 9th century. The night of October 31 was known as Samhain, a Pagan festival that was later combined with Christian celebrations and renamed All Saints’ Day by the Catholic Church. 

At Samhain, pagans believed the souls of our dead came into our world — and were appeased by offerings of food and drink. Trick or treating may have evolved from a ritual where people dressed as ghosts and demons, performed dances around a bonfire and received treats to appease evil spirits. 

This practice was known as mumming, but by the time Christianity had spread to Britain, a new practice called souling had developed. Poor people would visit the houses of the rich and receive pastries called soul cakes, in exchange for promises to pray for the homeowners’ dead relatives. In Scotland and Ireland, young people would visit their neighbors’ houses and sing a song, recite a poem, or perform another sort of “trick” before receiving a treat of nuts, fruit or coins. 

The term trick or treating wasn’t used until the 1920s, when it was adopted in America. The first mention of trick or treating in print occurred in 1927. A Canadian journalist wrote an article discussing a town’s Halloween meeting….”The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word ‘trick or treat,’ to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robber away rejoicing.” 

When this practice first started, adults weren’t too happy about being forced to hand out sweets, under the threat of a trick — they saw it more as an offer they couldn’t refuse. 

So trick or treating has been around a long time and even though it isn’t like I remember it when I was a kid, seems like it’s here to stay.
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I guess this maybe falls into the “it’s a small world” category, but I was reading something the other day that reminded me of one of our experiences years ago. I won’t go into all the detail that finally led me to the thing that sparked my memory, but while looking for something else, I ran across an old article from March of 2020 that said the Singapore Zoo had announced that Suzie the Nile hippopotamus had died at the age of 44. The article indicated that this age was well past a hippo’s prime, as hippos in the wild typically live up to 40 years. Susie arrived at the Singapore Zoo in 1976 — four hears after the zoo opened. 

We visited the Singapore Zoo in 1974 — although the zoo “opened” in 1972, it didn’t actually start operating until 1973. So the zoo had only been open about a year before we visited, but it already had quite a reputation. It seems that in an effort to make the zoo environment as “natural” as possible, the designers/builders over-achieved. Many of the animals were constantly “escaping” — even those in in areas with “bars.” They initially set the bars so far apart that animals like lions and tigers could just walk out between the bars. 

One of the more famous “escapes” was Congo, a hippo that gained fame for hiding out in the local reservoir for 52 days. We were in Singapore during those 52 days. Every day or so, there’d be an article in the local newspaper about Congo being sighted in the reservoir. The hippo was the “talk of the town” there for a while. 

The Singapore Zoo was first conceptualized in 1969. The Public Utilities Board decided to develop the land around Singapore’s reservoirs to public spaces. The land around the Upper Seletar Reservoir was set aside as land for a zoo. The zoo’s opening day was June 27, 1973. The Prime Minister when we were there, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, was concerned about the hippopotamus polluting the water, but at the time he seemed to be just about the only one concerned about that — everyone else was just following Congo’s adventures. When we left Singapore, Congo was still having a good time in the reservoir. I remember reading later that zookeepers finally lured Congo into a crate with bananas and sweet potatoes.
— 30 — 

Halloween is just around the corner and with that comes Trick or Treating — even though, as we’ve discussed in the past, Trick or Treat ain’t what it used to be. I’ve mentioned that when I was a kid, one of the “have-to-do” tricks on Halloween was to turn over people’s outhouses. 

Of course today, most people don’t even know what an outhouse is…. so, I though it might be interesting to talk about this icon that holds an important place in the history of civilization. 

Prehistoric man didn’t have much need for privacy, so bodily functions were simply relieved behind a tree or shrub, or sometimes they dug a hole in the ground and then covered it. 
Actually, this practice is described in the Bible, specifically the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 23:12-13.) “Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your encampment, have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover your excrement.”

Later, when communities began to form, it brought about the need for greater privacy. Many years, probably centuries, passed without significant improvement in methods for dealing with human excrement. My extensive research discovered that the flush toilet was invented in 1596 by Sir John Harrington, but it turned out to be an idea before its time and didn’t catch on. I was never really able to come up with where, when, and whose idea the first “outhouse” turned out to be. The American colonists, especially the wealthy ones, had their “necessaries” — another name for an outhouse. Outhouses remained in use in cities, as well as the country well into the 20th century.

You’ve probably noticed that when you see a picture of an outhouse, they almost all have holes cut in the doors — often in the shape of a moon. One theory is that the holes in the door were designed to let light from a lantern shine out at night. This would alert everyone that the outhouse was occupied. Another explanation is that the doors were commonly marked with either a crescent shaped moon or a circle-star design — the shape denoted the intended users. The crescent moon, symbol for the Roman moon goddess, Luna, indicated a ladies’ outhouse. The circle or star was symbolic of the sun and the Greeks’ male sun god, Apollo. A more popular belief is that the crescent shape was simply a way to open and close the door from the inside, because using expensive latching hardware would be a waste on such a humble structure… but even later, when latches were added, the crescent Moon tradition lived on. I don’t think there were ever any specifications, or building codes, for outhouses but they were usually 3 to 4 feet square by 7 feet high with no window or heat. A well-built outhouse had a vent along the roof to vent out the chamber and a pipe from the box through the ceiling to vent out the gasses. To avoid the odor reaching the home, most outhouses were built between 50 and 150 feet from the main house, often facing away from the house. They had either one or two chamber holes inside — one for the adults and a smaller one for the children.

During the Roosevelt administration, the President was noted for the Works Progress Administration — the WPA — a program that employed millions of out-of-work men. Many of these men worked on teams that built a lot, if not most, of the outhouses in rural areas. The WPA was not without controversy — its critics complained of wasteful government spending. But some praised the outhouse building program for helping to create better standards of hygiene in the rural areas.

In the 1880s, outhouses were built discretely behind homes. An old joke said that outhouses were “too close in the summer, too far in the winter.” Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogs did double duty in the outhouse — serving as both reading material and toilet paper. (Toilet paper was not commonly used until the 1920s, and it was first sold in packs of sheets, rather than on rolls.) A lot of colloquial terms for outhouse became popular: the throne, head, office, library, loo, privy, latrine, WC, shithouse, reading room, can, john, crapper, lavatory, toilet, pisser, potty, jakes, tollhouse.

Most two-hole outhouses were built with a smaller hole for children. A major phobia of children in the 1900s was fear of falling into the dark hole, which probably seemed like a portal to horror to them. In fact, over the years, outhouses sometimes did conceal horrific secrets — murder weapons, bottles of poison, axes, guns, knives, and sometimes even victims themselves.

Throughout the 1800s, new toilet technologies were being developed, but even in 1900, a bowl, pitcher, and chamber pot kept in a cabinet called a “commode,” were still standard in most homes. 

Near the end of the 1800s, cholera, typhoid fever, and bacteria began to be associated with unsanitary conditions and women’s magazines like House Beautiful and Better Homes and Gardens began promoting indoor toilets and plumbing, not only for convenience but for health reasons. By 1910, most new house plans included an indoor bathroom and plumbing. But — indoor plumbing didn’t become commonly retrofitted in existing city homes until the 1920s. Rural areas lagged way behind, and didn’t get indoor toilets until the 1930s and some as late as the 1950s or 1960s. My grandparents didn’t get an indoor bathroom until the mid-1950s.

Once indoor plumbing began to become popular, many outhouses remained in back yards until they fell apart, were damaged by pranksters, or were removed. 

If you’ve kept up with this blog, you know that I talk, whine, complain every year about the porta-potty our neighbors sit in front of their house for their annual July 4th party. So you only have to come here around the 4th of July to see a modern day version of this age old amenity — of course this one is made of plastic and it resides in the front — not “out back.”
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A couple of days ago I talked about the popular candy names when I was growing up. One candy that I didn’t mention was M&Ms. Since I was born in 1938 and M&Ms were released in 1941, you might find that a little strange. It may have occurred to you that Maysville, Oklahoma was probably just a little behind the times and it took them a while to find out about M&Ms. While that may be partially true, that’s not the whole story. 

The first M&M that I ever saw was when I was in junior high. A friend had bought a tube (they were originally sold in cardboard tubes) at a place called the “Shack” — a little store that exclusively sold candy and snacks. It was located next to Maysville High School and only operated during school hours. 

Mars was granted a patent for manufacturing M&Ms in March of 1941, but the candy was exclusively sold to the military, enabling the heat-resistant, and easy to transport, chocolate to be included in American soldiers’ rations. So not only were M&Ms not available in Maysville, they weren’t available anywhere — except to the military. 

Actually, M&Ms have a pretty long and interesting history…. it pretty much started in 1932 when Forrest Mars of the Mars candy company had a falling out with his father and business partner and moved to England, where he began manufacturing Mars bars for troops. As the story goes, it was during the Spanish Civil War that Mars encountered British volunteers eating small chocolate beads encased in a hard sugar shell, that prevented melting. Because there was no air conditioning in those days, sales of chocolate typically dropped off during summer months. Mars was excited at the prospect of developing a product that would be able to resist melting in high temperatures. 

When Mars returned to the United States, he proposed a new business venture to Bruce Murrie, the son of Hershey executive William Murrie. Mars was looking for a partnership that would ensure a steady supply of resources needed to produce his idea for a new candy. Murrie received a 20 percent stake in the M&M product, which was named “Mars” and “Murrie.” (This led to the first M&Ms being made with Hershey chocolate!)

As I mentioned earlier, Mars was granted a patent in 1941 and began production in Newark, New Jersey.

After the war ended, M&Ms were made available to the general public. Forrest Mars bought out Murrie’s shares in the company and took sole ownership of the M&M brand. The cardboard tube packaging went away when the brown bag package was introduced in 1948. In 1950 each M&M was imprinted with a black “m.” That was changed to a white “m” in 1954.

Originally, M&M were produced with a brown, red, orange, yellow, green or violet coating, but between 1976 and 1987, there were no red M&Ms. In the early 1970s, a Russian study was released linking FD&C Red Dye No. 2 — then the most widely used commercial food dye in America, to cancer and fetal death. The Food and Drug Administration banned its use in 1976. Due to public demand, red M&Ms were re-introduced in 1987 — by which time Red Dye No. 2 was proven not to be carcinogenic, after all.

If all this isn’t enough, the same qualities that made M&Ms durable wartime rations made them perfect for space travel. They were requested by the crew aboard NASA’s first space shuttle, Columbia, and became the first candy in space.

So whether you eat them by the handful, or sort them by colors before eating, like Emily…. they still melt in you mouth, not in your hand.
— 30 —

Claire bought some Halloween candy for the trick or treaters a couple of days ago — it was an assortment of various candies, all made by the same company, I’m sure. But as I looked at the bag, I realized that only a couple of names stuck out that I remember from my childhood. 

When I was growing up, my grandad, my uncle and my dad all owned grocery stores at some time during my childhood. (When I was little, there were no supermarkets or food stores — if the store sold food, it was a grocery store.)

But all the grocery stores had a “candy counter,” and that’s where all the candy was… it wasn’t located throughout the store like it is today and there was no candy at the checkout counters, because there weren’t any checkout counters. People just strolled around the store and piled their items on long counters. 

But back to the candy — I was just thinking about the candy that was popular, at least in Maysville, when I was growing up. There was always Hershey bars, Milky Way, Mars bars, Oh Henry, Mounds, Almond Joy, Clark, Nestle, Butterfinger, Heath, Baby Ruth, PayDay, Snickers, Mallo Cup, Krackel and Bazooka and Fleers bubble Gum. 

A candy bar that was always in the candy counter was Forever Yours — I don’t know if they still make them… it was a “vanilla” Milky Way. And the 3 Musketeers was scored in 3 pieces and each section was a different color inside — they all tasted the same, but were different colors.

The big candy company when I was a kid — other than Hershey and Mars — was Curtis, that made Butterfinger, Baby Ruth and a number of other popular names. One staple in the candy department was always gum… I only remember Wrigley’s (Spearmint, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit, mostly) and Dentine. But there was always bubble gum — the only two I remember is Bazooka and Fleers. Fleers came wrapped with a small comic strip in each piece. 

Another “staple” on the candy counter was candy cigarettes. Back then, no one ever though about cigarettes being dangerous — most adults smoked and kids enjoyed candy cigarettes. They were very popular. 

One other thing that was always on the candy counter, especially in my grandad’s store was peanuts. I remember small bags of Planter’s peanuts with “Mr.. Peanut” on the label, but there was another very popular peanut item — I don’t remember the name. For those of you old enough to remember when cameras used film, these peanuts came in a short round tube just about the size of a 35mm film canister. The attractive thing about these peanuts was that if you were lucky, you might find money in the container. Some of the containers contained coins — usually a penny, dime or nickel, but if you were very lucky you might find a quarter! Obviously, such packaging wouldn’t be allowed today.

Anyhow, I think candy was more of a treat 80 years ago than it is today. If you got a candy bar, it was special. 
So on Halloween night, the trick or treaters won’t realize how lucky they are…. they’ll certainly get more candy here in Deerfield Village than we got in an entire year.
— 30 — 

A couple of days ago while running errands, we stopped at my favorite Mexican restaurant for a late lunch. When the waiter, which we knew, sat the food down, he said, “careful — hot plate.” The fact is he always says that. Actually I don’t remember eating in any Mexican restaurant and not being told that the pate was hot.

Well, I got to thinking about that…. I don’t remember ever being told to be careful of the hot plate in any other kind of a restaurant. Apparently there is a science behind why some food is placed on a hot plate while other plates are room temperature or even cooled. The temperature of the plate can make a major difference in the food’s quality.

A number of Mexican dishes should be served on plates near the temperature of the meal that is being placed on the plate. If the plate is colder than the food, the food will begin to cool down quicker. We’ve taken food that we didn’t finish home from Mexican restaurants and it’s never as good as it was in the restaurant. A cold burrito or enchilada are not nearly as tasty as they are when they are warm. Cold rice or beans are also not very good. 

(Good) Mexican restaurant cooks quickly transfer the food onto a warm plate for the server to take to the customer. At busy times, the plates with the food are placed under a heating lamp to keep it hot and fresh. Sometimes the plate and meal are placed in a broiler or oven — usually when cheese needs to be melted as part of the meal.

Some years ago, we frequented a good steakhouse that heated the plates to keep the steak nice and warm — but I was never warned that the plate might be “hot.”

Of course if I wanted to take the negative view, I’d say that the food was already prepared and quickly rewarmed. I doubt that this practice is seldom, if ever, the case in a quality restaurant — I just choose to believe that they make the effort to heat the plate as part of providing quality food.

But I do like Mexican food —Ive heard it said that you should live everyday like it’s Taco Tuesday. Seems like good advice….
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