The Way We Were by Joyce Ray Wheeler Edmonson County in rural Kentucky where I grew up was known as the poorest county in the state. My father, a bachelor at this time, owned the first car in the county. It was a Ford, and on the day of the purchase, someone showed him how […]
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DYK: The true meaning of a long shot?
Did you know that…. In the past, guns were only accurate at short range and a ‘long shot’ (fun fired over a long distance) only had a small chance of hitting its target. That is how the term ‘long shot’ derived.
Seventeen and Green – Going off to College in 1946 – It was much different
(Going off to college was much different in 1946 compared to present day. Many students on farms had never seen a big city as this story by a contributing author reveals.) Seventeen and Green by Paul Hancock I never felt more alone in all the seventeen years my life; yet I had more people milling […]
DYK: Pease porridge hot, peace porridge cold
Did you know that…. In olden days all kinds of food went into a big pot for cooking. If you sat down to a meal with a family you often had to take ‘pot luck’ and could never be quite sure what you would be served. Sometimes what was in the pot might be […]
DYK: Do you have a frog in your throat?
This is a very confusing saying that doesn’t seem to make sense. How would anyone get an actual frog in their throat? Medieval physicians believed that the secretions of a frog could cure a cough if they were coated on the throat of the patient. It may be unbelievable, but a frog was placed in […]
Don’t ever have a heart attack when traveling!
Don’t ever have a heart attack when traveling! by Jean Butterworth An adventure you don’t want to have to have is to become ill in a foreign country! My next door neighbor, Erle and Virginia have in their lifetime traveled all over the world, either with the Friendship Force of Birmingham or with travel […]
DYK -(Did you know) that paper money was once considered a health risk?
Paper Money Health Risk was considered a health risk. The Constitution only authorized the federal government to issue coins, not paper money. “Article One of the Constitution granted the federal government the sole power “to coin money” and ‘regulate the value thereof.’ However, it said nothing about paper money. This was largely because the founding […]
Using our imagination for fun, has it been forgotten?
(This story by a contributing author brings me back to the days of spending the night with my cousins in the country. What great times?) MEMORIES by Bob Doherty When I was a young boy growing up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi during World War 2, I was very lucky. There were six houses on one block […]
DYK: A visit to the powder room
In olden days, after ladies had their hair styled by a servant, they would have a servant fill a bellows with powder to powder it. To contain the powder, there was often a small room set outside for this called the Powder Room. Thus, the name of the powder room came into being. VINEGAR OF THE […]
A day in the life of Thomaston, Conneticut 1939 clockmaker – when you’re dead you don’t know it
This town is known for clock making, which started in 1803, when Eli Terry established a factory in the town. Terry brought mass production to the clock making industry, helping to reduce the cost of clocks. He introduced and patented the shelf clock in 1814 which reduced the cost of a clock from $25 to […]