Now we're COOKIN' WITH GAS!

Thinking of buying a new stove? Not finding what you want? Step back in time to January 12, 1927 to a small store south of San Francisco along the Peninsula that sold stoves by Tappan.


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If either of these guys try to sell you one of these…think twice. It’ll be a real pain trying to find parts.

Tappan appliances was founded by W.J. Tappan as the Ohio Valley Foundry Company in Bellaire, Ohio in 1881 selling cast-iron stoves door-to-door. The company relocated to Mansfield, Ohio in 1889 and was renamed the Eclipse Stove Company before being renamed the Tappan Stove Company. It was acquired by Electrolux in 1979.

Tappan claims several innovations, including:

▪ 1920s all-porcelain range available in various colors
▪ 1955 the first microwave oven model for home use.
▪ 1960s electric ignition for gas ranges
▪ 1965 single unit conventional range and microwave oven.

(SOURCE: Wikipedia)

I'm guessing that this fellow is the boss. His shoes are shined.



I'm guessing this fellow is not the boss. His shoes are not shined.



And I'm guessing that most paper doll lovers would be thrilled to find one of these cut-outs.



This post allows Sepia Saturday posters to find a way to cook all of the staples Alan has recommended for this weeks post.

AIM FIRST BEFORE YOU SHOOT...

or be a cute little girl. Being cute can often get you out of all sorts of trouble.

CATEGORIE STUPIDI!

Sometimes I ask myself, because often there is nobody else to talk to, exactly why did I choose the people eating watermelon category? One of the answers I get, and might I say the answer usually comes to me with an Italian accent, is that it chose me. I’m guessing I need not ask how I ended up with the “people cutting cakes” category unless I’m in the mood for that Italian accent buzzing in my brain.

Categories are mindless fun, some more mindless than others. I’ll admit, even if I was fluent in Italian I would not understand collecting images that show a thumb covering up, well…most of the image. But hey, if you like blurred closeups of fingers go for it. If I find any I’ll send them to you.

Okay, I’m getting something coming through in Italian which is, “Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.” It actually sounded more like, “Non promettere ciò che non in grado di fernier.” I apparently have some sort of translation unit installed in my brain because I would have never been able to translate this on my own.

Okay, more incoming…”Sai, hai più viti allentate del Titanic.”

I’m sorry, but due to low blood sugar I’m unable to translate that last line. I really need to remember to eat lunch.

Anyway, I think what the voice was trying to tell me is that I actually never find any photos of fingers over images in any of the places I buy stuff. So don’t contact me.

Now, in a roundabout way I want to introduce you to my latest cake cutting shot. Again, a category you would think is easy to find, but no. People sitting at tables with cakes? Lots of them. Birthday parties with cakes? Tons of them! Cutting the cake? Pretty rare.


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So what is it about the cutting that gets me? It’s the anticipation. Until the knife cuts into the cake the taste buds are neutral. Once the shiny metal starts to slide down through the luscious layers of moist cake and sweet creamy icing…well…you can see it in the eyes of those watching the knife, especially kids.

Don’t say you don’t get your money’s worth here. Well, you can say it, but give me the name of another blog where the writer is channeling a language they don’t even speak? Or the fact that sometimes at night they see a Viking standing at the foot of their bed that glows in the dark? You sometimes get top dollar weirdness here.

Remembering MINNIE PEARL'S HAT

The prompt for this weeks Sepia Saturday is hats. The ladies in Alan's image are very stylish wearing delicate hats on their tenderly upswept hair. Would I have an image to compliment Alan's? Of course I do.

I give you two unknown ladies in what can only be described as Minnie Pearl style hats. You be the judge.


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Don't know Minnie Pearl? Well, I'm sorry you missed her. She was a firecracker!

Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as Minnie Pearl, was an American country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (from 1940 to 1991) and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.

Sarah Colley was born in Centerville, in Hickman County, Tennessee, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Nashville. She was the youngest of the five daughters of a prosperous lumberman in Centerville. She graduated from Ward-Belmont College (now Belmont University), at the time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where her major was theater studies and dance was a particular interest. After graduation she taught dance for several years

Her first professional theatrical job was with the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, a touring theater company based in Atlanta, for which she produced and directed plays and musicals for local organizations in small towns throughout the southeastern United States.

As part of her work with the Sewell company, she made brief appearances at civic organizations to promote the group's shows. She developed her Minnie Pearl routine during this period. While producing an amateur musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama, she met a mountain woman whose style and talk became the basis for "Cousin Minnie Pearl". Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in Aiken, South Carolina. The following year, executives from Nashville radio station WSM-AM saw her perform at a bankers' convention in Centerville and gave her an opportunity to appear on the Grand Ole Opry on November 30, 1940. The success of her debut on the show began an association with the Grand Ole Opry that continued for more than 50 years.

Pearl's comedy was gentle satire of rural Southern culture, often called "hillbilly" culture. Pearl always dressed in styleless "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the price of $1.98. Her catch phrase was "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I'm jes' so proud to be here!" delivered in a loud holler. After she became an established star, her audiences usually shouted "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E!" back. Pearl's humor was often self-deprecating, and involved her unsuccessful attempts at attracting the attention of "a feller" and, particularly in later years, her age. She also told monologues involving her comical 'ne'er-do-well' relatives, notably "Uncle Nabob" and "Brother", who was simultaneously both slow-witted and wise. She usually closed her monologues with the exit line, "I love you so much it hurts!" She also sang comic novelty songs.

Pearl's comic material derived heavily from her hometown of Centerville, which in her act she called Grinder's Switch. Grinder's Switch is a community just outside of Centerville that consisted of little more than a railroad switch. Those who knew her recognized that the characters were largely based on real residents of Centerville. So much traffic resulted from fans and tourists looking for Grinder's Switch that the Hickman County Highway Department eventually changed the designation on the "Grinder's Switch" road sign to "Hickman Springs Road." (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

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New book NOW available on Amazon.
Tattered and Lost: Forgotten Dolls

This one is for those who love dolls!

Snapshots from the last 100+ years of children and adults with dolls. Okay, there are a couple of dogs too.

Perfect stocking stuffer for the doll collector on your list!

SCOUT FINCH?

When I first looked at this little girl I thought of Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. This would be the sort of dress Scout would tolerate with its rough cotton and large stitching; not a frill or ruffle on it. She makes me smile and think of summer and Jem and Dill and Boo.


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As to who she really is, the clue is faint. "Burdett" is all that really survives.

Sometimes A WATERMELON IS JUST A WATERMELON...

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and then sometimes...

GENE DICKINSON was almost too beautiful

This photo has been in the bin at the antique store for years. I'm not sure why I've always put it back after looking at this incredibly beautiful face, but obviously I'm not alone. Why didn't anyone take this fellow home? He's stunning. If he walked into an agents office they'd sign him before he opened his mouth. Perhaps it's that he's almost too perfect.


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Was life easy for him because of his looks? Was he born into wealth? Or was he able to use his looks to meet his aspirations? Was he a kind man or a cruel man?

If he was doted upon, charmed everyone, succeeded in life, how would the people who were jealous of him react to finding his photo has been rejected by others; that his face, out of context to his life, can be easily ignored.

His name is Gene Dickinson, and that is most likely all we will ever know.

UPDATE: IntenseGuy has provided the following which might be information about Gene's life:

I think this is Eugene E. Dickerson -

His find a grave memorial is here:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7692906

He was born July 1864 in Michigan and Hattie and settled in Woodstock, McHenry County, Illinois (as of 1900) and had several sons and daughters.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MS44-TGJ

They moved west and were in Tulare County, California by 1910.

He is listed as a "House Painter". (Doesn't that kill the romance?) and he and his wife Hattie lived in Kaweah, Tulare, California for several years before moving to Pasadena by 1930.

CAMPING without too much labor

How fast could this camper put their campsite together?


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I'm hoping to do some camping later in the year. I wouldn't even think about camping on this busy weekend. If the campground is full of people, the road home sure would be backed up. I prefer to camp in the offseason when kids are back in school and things are a bit more quiet. With luck I'll head north to Oregon. If I'm really really lucky I'll find a day to go to Powell's Bookstore in Portland. My heart beats a little faster just thinking about it.