by david allan van nostrand | Dec 30, 2024 | Americana, The iterative process, The Wayback Machine
Hubcaps or Hub Caps? Wikipedia says a hubcap is a decorative disk on an automobile wheel. True, but that’s starting the story in the middle. Long before hubcaps (one word, emphasis on the first syllable), there were hub caps (two words, emphasis on the second...
by david allan van nostrand | Dec 23, 2024 | Americana, The Wayback Machine, TV
The Life of Riley In the 1920s, America’s most popular comedians were on the radio: Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Groucho Marx, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Burns and Allen, Fanny Brice, Red Skelton, and more. Most told jokes or performed skits. When programs put a regular...
by david allan van nostrand | Dec 16, 2024 | Americana, Fads, Items in the News
Ugly Christmas Sweater Day It is bitterly cold much of the year in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark, especially for people in the days before electricity and indoor plumbing. They needed to keep warm while working outdoors in the cold, wind, and snow,...
by david allan van nostrand | Dec 9, 2024 | Actively observing, Point of view
Half Full or Half Empty? Objectively speaking, the glass contains water up to the half-way point. The rest is a matter of interpretation. Half-fullers interpret the reality in a positive context. Half-emptiers interpret the reality in a negative context, focusing on...
by david allan van nostrand | Dec 2, 2024 | The Wayback Machine, The world around us
The Lost Fairy Tales When a story starts with “Once upon a time,” we know we’re about to hear a fairy tale, and pesos to pollos, the tale will involve a beautiful heroine and a villain, especially an ugly one. It will also have a moral and a happy ending....
