Where Have All the Chinaberry Trees Gone? By Dorothy Graham Gast Seventy years ago the umbrella shaped chinaberry tree was in almost every county yard. The tiny purplish spring blossoms with their faint sweet smell gave way to glossy green berries hidden in the darker green leaves. Those berries were ideally suited for pea shooters […]
A surprise hurricane in July, 1943 that hit Texas was considered at the time the worst since the 1915 Galveston hurricane. The tropical storm developed over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico on July 25 and strengthened while it tracked westward. The Old Southern Hotel 1943 Texas City Library.org Information and reports about the hurricane were […]
LEMONS TO LEMONADE by Inez McCollum There is a well known cliché, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” We frequently read news articles that give this message. One in particular was a paragraph I read about rubble from the World Trade Center. The USS New York, was built of steel salvaged from the ruins […]
The Ole Black Wash Pot by Jean Butterworth The ole black wash pot now has more uses that it used to. Where is yours? Mine was given to me by a grandmother so long ago I have forgotten which one. My wash pot is used to hold a blue Hydrangea bush and is so beautiful […]
The World’s Fair took place in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. Below are some stereoscope pictures of many of the Native Americans at the event. David K. [i.e., R.] Francis declaring the exposition opened, World’s Fair, St. Louis, 1904 A pike parade before Fair Japan, looking east, World’s Fair, St. Louis, 1904 Iowa and Mississippi […]
Waiting for the Mailman by Jean Butterworth During the early forties in the summertime I would find my Granddaddy Champion, who lived in Tuscaloosa, Alabama sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair. After a morning of plowing with a mule in the cotton or corn fields, he was tired. He would have finished […]
Taken back is another nautical term. If the wind suddenly changed direction a sailing ship stopped moving forward. It was ‘taken aback’, which was a bit of a shock for the sailors. VINEGAR OF THE FOUR THIEVES: Recipes & curious tips from the past See best-selling books by Donna R Causey
A shamble was a bench where butchers used to set to sell meat from. In time the street where meat was sold often became known as the Shambles. (This street name survives in many towns today). However because butchers used to throw offal into the street, shambles came to mean a mess or something very […]
