ADVERTISING IN LATE NINETEENTH & EARLY 20th CENTURY AMERICA
"There was a certain amount of petty fraud often of a good- humored kind, in the advertising of the day. For instance, persons sending money for an advertised 'Potato Bug Eradicator' received two slivers of wood with the instructions 'Place the potato bug between the two sticks of wood and press them together.' Telling this story in the Atlantic Monthly (1904) Margaret Jenkins said that a victim's first reaction would be one of indignation, then of wry laughter; soon afterwards he would be urging all his friends to write the advertiser. So it would go on until the postal department , notoriously unable to see a joke, would step in."
E. S. Turner. The Shocking History of Advertising. (New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc. 1953)
** A SONG WRITTEN FOR WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
"When a pesky newspaper claimed that Harrison sat in a log cabin and swilled hard cider all day, Harrison didn’t fight the libelous claim. He embraced it. Supporters started calling him the “Log Cabin and Hard Cider candidate” and handed out cider and specialty bottles of booze shaped like log cabins. (Supporters even composed a song for him called “Good Hard Cider.”)
https://www.interestingfacts.com/american-president-facts/ January 3, 2024 ** LIFE EXPECTANCY IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1900
"For most of human history, humans didn't live long enough to confront the ailments of old age. In 1900, a baby born in the U.S. could expect to live just forty-seven years, and one in five died before the age of ten."
Dhruv Khullar "No Time to Die" in The New Yorker (April 22 & 29, 2024) **
AMERICA IS A DANDY PLACE
America's a dandy place: The people are all brothers: And when one's got a punkin pye, He shares it with the others.
[from "A Song for the Fourth of July, 1806," in The Port Folio, Philadelphia, Aug. 30, 1806], in THE ONLINE ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY for the word PUMPKIN **
JOHN ADAMS & THE BOSTON MASSACRE
" March 1770, a group of British soldiers fired into a rebellious crowd of Boston colonists, killing five civilians. John Adams, a lawyer who steadfastly believed in the right to counsel, was asked to defend the redcoats when everyone else refused. In the trial, Adams claimed that the soldiers were victims of a mob — “if an assault was made to endanger their lives, the law is clear, they had a right to kill in their own defence [sic]” — and had fired their muskets in self defense. He uttered the quote "facts are stubborn things …" while making his case to the jury, and the strategy worked: The Captain and six of his soldiers were found innocent, with only two convicted of manslaughter.""
History Facts (April 13, 2024)
**
VERONICA LAKE'S ICONIC HAIR STYLE
During World War Two, the rage for her peek-a-boo bangs became a hazard when women in the defense industry would get their bangs caught in machinery. Lake had to take a publicity picture in which she reacted painfully to her hair getting "caught" in a drill press in order to heighten public awareness about the hazard of her hairstyle
iMBd trivia -Veronica Lake ** ON NAMING ATLANTA, GEORGIA
"Both Atlantis and the Atlantic Ocean are named after Atlas. Oddly, the city of Atlanta is nowhere near the Atlantic coast. It got its name from being the terminus of the Western and Atlantic Railroad line."
Anu Garg. Wordsmith Website (October 11, 2024) https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQXJZvgdnPRmxPRKVfTqnGfSFTk **
DO YOU HAVE AN AXE TO GRIND?
"Influence of Poor Richard's Almanac and other publications made Benjamin Franklin one of the most widely read of early American writers. He is a central character in one of his own stories. In the tale, a young Franklin was approached by a fellow who stopped to admire the family grindstone. Asking to be shown how it worked, the stranger offered young Ben an ax with which to demonstrate. Once his ax was sharp, the fellow walked off, laughing. Readers should beware of anyone who has an ax to grind, for they have a hidden motive."
Webb Garrison. Why You Say It (New York: MJM Books, 1992) ** THE SON OF COCHISE
Although famed Apache war chief Cochise did indeed have a son named Taza, this biopic is a highly fictionalized account of his life. For example, Taza had a son named Nino Cochise (born Ciyo Cochise, who later in his life became an actor and had parts in several early westerns).
DMb Trivia.TAZA, SON OF COCHISE ** TAZA, SON OF COCHISE
Reason, Rex -- Never played Oedipus Rex But he did act in Taza, Son of Cochise. Is this fact of any use? ** HISTORY
What do I know But that we go & come, Come & go, Thru whiplashes Of several seasons. Each passing day Lays out for us Visible violence We call History. One fine morning When the sunlight Covered so many of us With indifference, I hiked across The upper meadow Which was crowded With 110 Crow dead.
Where do you get this stuff ?? Remarkable. and good ! ==== Speaking of remarkable, I think I told you the yarn about my colleague the 1-star. He said he and his wife had to go to “Charm School” so they would know how to behave in political circles, receiving lines, etc. She even had to learn to war elbow-length gloves. He was also taught to respond to ridiculous questions or statements with “Remarkable!” instead of “BullShit!!” When he told me this story, my response was “Remarkable!”.
Another of his stories: At some point in his career he had to attend jump school. On his first jump, they were lined up ready to take their turns jumping out the door. The Sergeant in charge yelled “You ARE going to Jump !! If you hesitate, I’ll shove this swagger stick in up to your throat!” I asked him if he jumped. He said, “Just a little”. And I said………..
PhillipsMiscellany 
Good to see you recovered from the election.
Keep ’em coming!
Luv ya!
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Where do you get this stuff ?? Remarkable. and good ! ==== Speaking of remarkable, I think I told you the yarn about my colleague the 1-star. He said he and his wife had to go to “Charm School” so they would know how to behave in political circles, receiving lines, etc. She even had to learn to war elbow-length gloves. He was also taught to respond to ridiculous questions or statements with “Remarkable!” instead of “BullShit!!” When he told me this story, my response was “Remarkable!”.
Another of his stories: At some point in his career he had to attend jump school. On his first jump, they were lined up ready to take their turns jumping out the door. The Sergeant in charge yelled “You ARE going to Jump !! If you hesitate, I’ll shove this swagger stick in up to your throat!” I asked him if he jumped. He said, “Just a little”. And I said………..
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Now I know why you don’t wear your hair like Veronica Lake did
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