BITS & PIECES OF A MISLAID LIFE: AMERICANA

In 1997 David Bowie raised $55 million by selling investors securities backed by the royalties of 25 of his albums. The so-called “Bowie Bonds” had a 7.9% return over 10 years, higher than the 6.37 percent of a 10-year U.S. Treasury note.

ONE GOOD FACT website June 06, 2024
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Benjamin Franklin Designed the First Penny

"Long before Abraham Lincoln’s portrait graced the face of the one-cent piece, founding father Benjamin Franklin reportedly conceived of an early coin design now known as the “Fugio” penny. Franklin’s concept was first approved and manufactured under the watchful eye of the Congress of the Confederation in 1787, predating the U.S. Mint’s production by several years. The Fugio penny’s obverse depicts a sun and sundial accompanied by the Latin word “fugio” (translating to “I fly”), as well as the phrase “Mind Your Business.” On its other side, the reverse, the cent features the words “We Are One,” surrounded by 13 chain links to represent the original 13 colonies. All told, U.S. pennies have featured 11 different designs throughout history."

INTERESTING FACTS website (March 8, 2025)
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THE SMALLEST UNIT OF U.S CURRENCY

For now, the penny survives as the smallest unit of U.S. currency — but that wasn’t always the case. When the U.S. Mint was established in 1792, it made 10 denominations of coins, and the smallest was the half-cent. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton proposed the half-cent for two reasons: so America’s poorest residents could buy smaller quantities of items for less money, and so merchants could price their wares more competitively in smaller increments. Average wages in the 1790s were around $65 a year, so a half-penny made sense for purchasing everyday items.

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HANGMAN PRESIDENT

Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump are  the only U.S. president to serve two non-consecutive terms,  but Grover Cleveland  also holds another record—the only president who was also a hangman. As sheriff of Buffalo, New York, Grover Cleveland personally operated the lever of the gallows during two men’s executions.

INTERESTING FACTS (May 17, 2023)
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                            At 3 O'clock
                      on Saturday afternoon
                      Theodore ROOSEVELT
                           WILL WALK
                                on the
                      WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN

Spurious flyer distributed at the Republican National Convention (1932)

Nancy McPhee. The Book of Insults: Ancient and Modern (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1994)
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ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE WRESTLING HALL OF FAME

"Standing 6 feet, 4 inches tall, Lincoln was a formidable opponent in amateur wrestling. At age 19, he reportedly defended his stepbrother’s river barge by throwing potential hijackers overboard. In 1831, he wrestled and defeated Jack Armstrong, the leader of a local gang in New Salem, Illinois. While some reports claim the pair may have actually fought to a stalemate, the bout earned Lincoln respect and a reputation for being tough. Lincoln continued to wrestle while studying law, and legend has it that he amassed more than 300 victories during a 12-year period, losing just one time. Lincoln was honored with the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Outstanding American award in 1992."

HISTORY FACTS (Feb. 23, 2025)
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQZTMSlSjbRvPwQBtVxHJGPrPTg
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Amelia Earhart Once Took Eleanor Roosevelt on a Nighttime Joyride

"Although her aviation career lasted just 17 years, Amelia Earhart remains one of the most famous people ever to take to the sky. In addition to being renowned for her many firsts — including being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and the first person to fly alone from Hawaii to the mainland U.S. — she’s known for her 1937 disappearance and the many theories it spawned. Less well known but considerably more fun to imagine is the time she took Eleanor Roosevelt on a nighttime joyride from Washington, D.C., to Baltimore on April 20, 1933. The brief flight took place with both of them in their evening wear following a White House dinner party.
“I’d love to do it myself. I make no bones about it,” the First Lady told the Baltimore Sun after the flight. “It does mark an epoch, doesn’t it, when a girl in an evening dress and slippers can pilot a plane at night.” In fact, Roosevelt herself had recently received a student pilot license and briefly took over the controls of the 
twin-engine Curtiss Condor, borrowed from Eastern Air Transport at nearby Hoover Field. Eleanor’s brother Hall also ditched the dinner party in favor of the flight that night..."

INTERESTING FACTS (March 8, 2024)

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CARRIE NATION ON STAGE

"For years in the 1900's Carrie Nation not only demolished saloons with her hatchet but publicly knocked cigars from
men's mouths and berated women for wearing evening gowns. Nothing  daunted her until the night she did her 'hatchet act --
for $300 --on the stage of Meiner's Burlesque on the New York Bowery, when she was almost drowned in the heaviest barrage 
of eggs ever laid down by an Amerian audience."

Frelig Foster. "Keeping Up With the World" in Colliers (July 25, 1936)
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SPEED TRAP

Heading toward that tourist destination:
Fame & Fortune,
I took exit ramp 10A & ended up
In a town with a 5 MPH speed limit.

Police on motorcycles,
Appearingj from behind billboards,
With alacrity escorted me
To the nearest judge.

I was fined a zillion dollars for speeding.
Then  slapped into a cell
Labelled  obscurity
When I could not pay.

Ah, well. Sour grapes galore.
The Goddess of Fame
Is far too fickle
& obvioudly not at all my type.
 
Louis Phillips