When Did Women Stop Wearing Surgical Masks in the Maternity Ward? I was having lunch recently at a Cracker Barrel (love the country vegetable plate!). A framed newspaper article hung next to my table. It was from 1942. Newborn In the article, there was a photo of three sisters who were in the maternity ward at the same time. They had had their babies within five days of each other. They were wearing surgical masks. When did women stop wearing surgical masks when they had babies? Click here to read a 1944 article in The Journal of Pediatrics, “The role of the surgical mask in the prevention... (Read More ...)
Did Anyone Ever Tell You a Story That Made You Feel a Lot Better? Wedding dresses are on my mind because I just wore mine to a 60s Beatles party. A 1968 Bride in a Miniskirt It’s easy to be authentic when you still have a dress from 1968. Because I eloped, I did not wear the long, traditional wedding gown. I wore a dress with a miniskirt that I already had. It was all white. It looked like the short dresses you used to see on Laugh-In. We got married at 4 o’clock on a cold, gray winter afternoon. And, the flash on my camera didn’t work. Some People Just Know How to Make You Feel Better Feeling... (Read More ...)
Aren’t Whooping Cranes Extinct? Young Whooping Cranes, Migrating from Wisconsin to Florida in 2009, Led by an Ultralight Aircraft. Organized by Operation Migration Whooping cranes almost went extinct in our lifetimes. After overhunting and the loss of their habitat, the Whooping crane population was whittled down to 21 wild and 2 captive birds in 1941. Then, something happened. People decided to try to keep them from disappearing altogether. In 1967, the Whooping crane was declared endangered. In 1975, the U.S. and Canadian Wildlife Services tried to establish a second flock of whooping cranes... (Read More ...)
Weekly Recap. Playing Cards The posts viewers spent the most time on last week were: What Do You Do That Is a Family Tradition? Do You Use Self-Serve at the Grocery Store? What Do You Do That Is a Family Tradition? Do You Remember When Gas Stations Used to Give Free Gifts? What Are Some Different Names for Grandmother? The posts people spent the most time on last month were: Pennies from a Heav’n What Does a Memory Championship Have to Do with Cancer? Did Your Mom Ever Stop You from Doing Something and You Found Out Later She Was Right? Belinda is a Treasured Childhood Memory What Do You... (Read More ...)
Grandparents. Poems. Wishes. Silver Pennies from the Vale of York Hoard, British Museum Today’s poem is a wish that parents or grandparents might have for their children or grandchildren, born of a life’s wisdom. I Bid You Keep Some Few Small Dreams I pray that you may never have The things you long for most, For he who gratifies desire Must pay a princely cost. The world was spread out at my feet; It spelled romance to me; I spent ten years in travel – Now there’s nothing left to see. The doll I wanted as a child Seemed strangely wonderful, Until I held her in my arms – Then... (Read More ...)
Why Doesn’t a Golf Ball Fall Faster Than a Tennis Ball? Golf Ball A golf ball is heavier than a tennis ball. But, a tennis ball is bigger than a golf ball. Which do you think would hit the ground sooner if you dropped them both at the same time? You Will Need: A metal cookie tray A tennis ball A golf ball A feather (optional, but fun) A chair or stepladder to stand on The Experiment First, estimate which you think will hit the ground first. The metal cookie tray will help amplify the sound to tell you. Then, decide why you think your decision is what will happen. Is it the relative size of... (Read More ...)
Does Attitude Matter In Cancer? U.S. Median Household Income Though Book Thursdays usually review classic children’s books or cancer survivor stories, this one is about a cancer survivor who wrote an essay about how to cope with the despair of a cancer diagnosis. A scientist and statistician, Stephen Jay Gould was diagnosed with abdominal mesothelioma in 1982. When Gould asked his oncologist for the scientific literature he could read about his diagnosis after surgery, the doctor said there was nothing worthwhile to read. Gould, used to deep research, set out to find out for himself. That was... (Read More ...)
Do You Use Self-Serve at the Grocery Store? I rarely use self-serve at the grocery store. The Original Piggly-Wiggly in Memphis, Tennessee, the First Self-Service Grocery Store I know it’s a generational thing. I know that some people prefer checking their own groceries and getting out the door to waiting in line for a cashier. I know that the first President Bush was famously ridiculed for not knowing that cashiers scanned prices in instead of keying them into a cash register because it had been so long since he’d done his own grocery shopping. In political terms, this meant he was out-of-touch... (Read More ...)
I Love Lucy Cast He Married Me Anyway. My husband says I married him because he told me he only bought permanent press shirts. And, indeed, he taught me that if you take them out of the dryer as soon as it stops, they are just like freshly ironed shirts. However, when he got a chance to interview with IBM his Senior year of college, I decided his shirts needed a little touch-up. I scorched two of them. The third was perfect. Though a two-day trip, he said he only needed one shirt for the interview. He got the job. A cousin tells the story that she put the wrong type of gas in her boyfriend’s... (Read More ...)
Gas Station Signs During the 1973 Oil Crisis Do You Remember When Gas Stations Used to Give Free Gifts? We are down to the last glass we got free at a gas station. We never got a tiger tail in our gas tank, but I saw them around, for those who shopped at Exxon and wanted to “Put a tiger in your tank.” Of course, all gas stations had free maps. Why Did They Stop Doing It? Giveaways were popular in the 60s, to lure customers away from the competition, when gasoline prices were competitive. This lasted right up until the 1973 oil crisis, after OPEC declared an oil embargo in retaliation for... (Read More ...)
