Where Sombreros Are Born

Ever wonder how it is that every full-service Mexican restaurant has ample sombreros to place upon each birthday patron’s head? Now you know.

Mexico City 1911, Underwood & Underwood
Mexico City 1911, Underwood & Underwood

These milliners are ankle deep in straw hats of different weaves. Do you own one, tucked into the back of your closet? No? Have you ever been the lucky sap beneath the hat at a Mexican restaurant? I have. At the place we patronize each Sunday after church, they chant a generic name to the birthday boy or girl. “Happy BIRTH-day, Panchito, Happy Birthday to you!” And then Panchito gets complimentary fried ice cream.

 

Swimmers Of All Sizes

Nat'l Geographic June '67
Nat’l Geographic June ’67

Elephants enjoy the sea at Sanary on the French Riviera. Visible in the upper right-hand corner is the big top of a traveling circus, which visited the port each summer.

Italian Campaign, 1943

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A burst from an American 155mm gun illuminates a poplar grove during a night shelling of German positions at Mignano Dec 2. Much of the fighting on the front has taken place at night. Germans say the Americans never sleep. 

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Champion Ratkiller DeGlopper

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In 1944, rats were ravaging farms, gnawing into sill beams, eating poultry and eggs and consuming livestock feed. Rats were estimated to destroy $45 worth of food a year, at a time when chicken and livestock feed were hard to come by.

Little Robert De Glopper was made of sturdier stock than children these days, and consequently made himself quite a profit at 3 cents per dead rat. Ten rats an hour would match the minimum wage of 30 cents.

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Can you imagine if today’s town clerks had to count rat tails?

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War bond prizes were given to the boy or girl who 1) killed the most rats, 2)the heaviest rats, or 3) the ones with the longest tails. Such fun before TV and video games existed! Even dogs and cats were cited for meritorious work.

We All Party In A Newly-Commissioned Submarine

Commander Carl Johnson, officer of a newly-commissioned submarine at the Navy’s New London, Connecticut submarine base, cut into a sub-shaped cake (pre-Cake Boss era) with “Good Hunting” festooned on the side.

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LIFE 1-3-44

Gals from the Connecticut College for Women were on hand to help the crew celebrate, along with plenty of lobster and pastries. After the men completed a test for active duty, they were allowed to visit Neptune and his mermaids.

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Part of the equipment at New London school included a captured Japanese periscope. Torpedoman (that sounds like a superhero) Homer Christie was more than happy to show Beverly Chambers how it operated.

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Check out these two, getting cozy astride a torpedo.

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Sub love was certainly in the air.

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Our Trees Think It’s Spring

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Little buds are sprouting due to warm weather, despite the fact that we haven’t seen measurable rainfall since Thanksgiving.

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Cooler weather is coming next week, but I doubt it will stop these buds from growing.

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Do you see the bee?

As Italian As Naples

GoodHousekeepingFeb58009

No need for expensive airfare or pushy bellhops when Chef Boy-Ar-Dee can transport you to Naples with its “zippy pizza sauce.” Go ahead and scratch the Amalfi Coast off your bucket list altogether. Why bother when you can taste Italy in your mouth?

Fun Fact #1

The company itself was founded back in 1928 by Italian immigrant Ettore “Hector” Boiardi in Cleveland, Ohio. You know, where Drew Carey is from. Taking note of Americans’ incapacity to pronounce highfalutin foreign words, Boiardi named his products Boy-Ar-Dee. Boy, are dey stoopid. 

Fun Fact #2:

http://www.chefboyardee.com/
http://www.chefboyardee.com/

Though he passed in 1985, his likeness remains on the cans to this day. Buon appetito!

Light It Up, But Don’t Inhale

LIFE Century of Change
LIFE Century of Change–Gordon Tenney

Nope, this isn’t like Clinton denying that he ever inhaled. If you can believe it, these business execs were gathered at a meeting to encourage lighting up. It was 1963, the year before the surgeon general’s warning against smoking, and heck, even the president did it.

http://www.substance.com/
http://www.substance.com/

The cigar manufacturer, Stephano Brothers, taught lessons on how to enjoy a stogie without inhaling, a means of career advancement by sophisticated habit. Sounds like pretense.

http://www.relique.com/
http://www.relique.com/

Even Ronald Reagan knew the score.

pinterest
pinterest

Isn’t it odd how it refers to the “satisfying fragrance” of cigars? Pipe smoke, now that’s a horse of a different color. That smell makes me happy. Cigar smoke, not so much. However, these ladies didn’t seem to mind.

www.famous-smoke.com
http://www.famous-smoke.com

Not What You Think

Corbis-LIFE
Corbis-LIFE

Why is Kerbey posting nipple-less breasts? That’s not like her. No, but WWII is totally like me! Did you know that over 60 million people were killed in WWII (about 3% of the 2.3 billion 1940 world population)? And 7 million of those casualties were in factories and defense plants in the U.S. Can you imagine?

In response to the casualties, a plant in Los Angeles mounted a safety campaign to protect its many female workers. On the left, you see the goggles. On the right is the protective bra. Cumbersome much? Did they make them in many sizes? I wonder how many chest injuries actually occurred. It makes you wonder how much training unskilled workers received before getting their feet wet, so to speak.