Bruce's Smorsasborg

 By Bruce Shawkey This piqued my interest because my first "real" job after a short stint as a pizza cook, was a shoe salesman at J.C. Penny East Towne, in Madison, Wis. It was an OK job, apart from the fact that the department manager, Don Veldboom, never seemed to order enough shoes in the common womens' sizes ... 6-1/2 to 8. This required me to bring out at least one or two "alternate choices" in case we didn't have the customer's first choice in stock in the desired size. Back to school was always an interesting and busy time. And the parents always wanted their kids' shoes two sizes too big because they were "growing like a weed." And my time in the department during the 1970s was the era when Dupont came out with the dreaded Corfam synthetic leather that did not breathe and caused feet to sweat. These were the tools of my trade. But all in all, it was a good time. I asked a cute co-worker, Darcy Davies, out to dinner on one of my firs...

 By Bruce Shawkey The quote "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves" is a powerful proverb that suggests revenge is a double-edged sword, harming both the perpetrator and the target. It implies that pursuing revenge not only harms the person you intend to harm but also takes a toll on your own well-being and relationships.

 THE WOMAN'S BOOK CONTAINS EVERYTHING A WOMAN OUGHT TO KNOW Written by a man, no less. In 1911. Table of contents: The chapter on miscellaneous facts and figures is exactly that ... 20 pages of miscellaneous, seemingly unrelated, facts and figures.  Assumes women never leave the house. There is one chapter titled Women in Science, and another Women in Business. But former deals with domestic science rather than anything dealing with chemistry or biology. The chapter on business deals with women employed as clerks, typists, and stenographers. No mention is made of a woman as a manager or, God forbid, a business owner. There is no mention of smoking or drinking (alcohol) in the book. Smoking is limited to the care of the smoking room for men (which is actually carried out by the butler). Alcohol is not recommended, but a cup of milk before bedtime is permissible as a substitute. 

By Bruce Shawkey Found this cool book on the Internet, The Open Air Guide, on how to take walks. Chapters as follow: The first begins: WALKING AND CLIMBING “To walk, perchance to climb."  Hamlet,’’ Revised.  We are not concerned with those who walk on roads as fast as they can from one place to another. They are excellent fellows, no doubt, but not wayfarers. This section is for those who roam.  Most wayfarers begin by taking country walks of a mild type and pass from that to more ambitious routes over moorland or hilly country. This may be defined as rambling. A more advanced type is fell walking wherein the summits of our British hills are attained. There are walking routes up almost every peak in Great Britain but inevitably the fell walker sooner or later gets his or her hands on rock and scrambling begins. Henceforth he finds a fascination in choosing routes up mountains which will give him boulders and low crags at a moderate angle, finds instead of the grass and he...

 By Bruce Shawkey    From an 1871 catalog of door knobs, door locks and related hardware from the  "Mallory, Wheeler & Co.,"   of   New Haven, Conn. Interesting because I remember seeing these old padlocks    similar to these on postal mailboxes in the '70s and even as late as the 1980s. . Here are some more images of padlocks from the company:

  From ancient potions to modern miracle pills, weight-loss quackery has thrived for centuries, preying on people’s (particularly women) insecurities and desire for quick fixes. Despite medical advancements and a better understanding of human physiology, the promise of effortless weight loss continues to lure millions into the arms of charlatans.  Ancient Roots: The First Fads Weight-loss quackery is not a modern invention. In ancient Greece and Rome, elite men and women were already fixated on body size and appearance. Hippocrates, the "father of medicine," recommended vomiting and excessive exercise for the overweight. Roman doctors sometimes prescribed purgatives, hot baths, and long walks in thick clothing to induce sweating and fat loss. Meanwhile, dubious “remedies” were already circulating. Herbal concoctions claimed to suppress appetite or speed up digestion, often with little to no scientific basis—practices that have echoed through time. By the 1700s, weight loss ha...

  Elvis 1961, reportedly weighing between 160-165 pounds Elvis, shortly before his death, Aug. 16, 1977, reportedly 350 pounds

 By Bruce Shawkey One of the more scary movies I remember as a teen was The Abominable Dr. Phibes, made in 1971, and starring Vincent Price. Price plays Dr. Anton Phibes, who blames the medical team that attended to his wife's surgery four years earlier, for her death and sets out to exact vengeance on each one. He is inspired in his murder spree by the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the Old Testament. The film co-stars Joseph Cotten, Hugh Griffith, Terry- Thomas, Virginia North, with an uncredited Caroline Munro appearing as Phibes's wife. North had earlier appeared as a Bond girl in the movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Plot Dr. Anton Phibes, a famous concert organist with doctorates in both music and theology, is believed to have been killed in a car crash in Switzerland in 1921, while racing home upon hearing of the death of his beloved wife, Victoria, during surgery. Phibes survived the crash, but was horribly scarred and left unable to speak. He remade his face with ...

 Catalog of truly useless (but neat!) gifts, circa mid-1960s. From Hobi Inc.,  of Flushing, NY. Like a Harrod's of London, only for the U.S. The Ericofon is a one-piece plastic telephone created by the Ericsson Company of Sweden and marketed through the second half of the 20th century. It was the first commercially marketed telephone to incorporate the dial and handset into a single unit. Because of its styling and its influence on future telephone design, the Ericofon is considered one of the most significant industrial designs of the 20th century. It is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In Sweden, the Ericofon is known as the cobra telephone for its resemblance to the hooded snake of the same name.

 By Bruce Shawkey Much has been written about the beauty and mystique of Wisconsin's driftless area. From David Rhodes and Aldo Leopold to Frank Lloyd Wright, many have waxed poetic about this stretch of land mysteriously untouched by the glaciers of the Paleozoic Era, some 250 million years ago. But here's a story about a couple that didn't find it so romantic and magical, and moved back to Madison. For 15 years, Wisconsin writer Tamara Dean lived off the land in the heart of Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, known for its rolling hills, bluffs and deep river valleys carved in sandstone.  Dean and her partner David spent that time homesteading, finding beauty and adventure in every corner of their 275-acre property. Her new book of essays “Shelter and Storm” recounts some of their adventures together. Dean offers a glimpse into what she learned from her time in the Driftless Area — including her quickly corrected misconceptions of what it’s like to homestead with your partner....

 ... here's a story about a guy who let venomous snakes bite him some 200 times to create a better snakebite antivenom. In 2001, after working up to it for years, Tim Friede finally allowed himself to be bitten by a snake. He started with venomous cobras because they're dangerous — and because they're what he had on hand at the time. "My first couple bites were really crazy," he says. "It's like a bee sting times a thousand. I mean, you can have levels of anxiety that goes through the roof." Friede has been fascinated with snakes for as long as he can remember. He used to hunt garter snakes growing up in Wisconsin. As an adult, his obsession turned to venomous snakes — and the harm they cause people globally. He felt the most dramatic way to raise awareness of the issue was to allow himself to be bit, repeatedly. He admits it's been "a rocky road," however. Right out of the gate, he says, "I was put in ICU after two cobra bites and...

 By Bruce Shawkey P.T. Barnum had it right more than a century ago: "There's a sucker born every minute." H.L. Mencken was also pretty perceptive: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people." Take the practice of sweepstakes. They've been around since the late 18th Century. Certainly, many were (and are) legitimate. But there have been scams through the ages, most notably in the second half of the 20th Century.  One of the lesser known ones was sponsored by the Wayfarers Club of Bala-Cynwyd, Pa. This 1968 sweepstakes promised a chance to win  a luxurious month-along "ROUND-THE-WORLD HOLIDAY" for two!  You’ll love "doing" PARIS - ROME - RIO - HAWAII - TOKYO ... all the glittering capitals of the world! All expenses  paid including air fare, deluxe hotel accommodations, in¬ternationally famous shows and show places — plus $500.00  cash "pocket money" to spend any way you please! But once you fi...