What's the oldest thing in your closet?

Earlier this year I put on my Jeans belt and the hole for the buckle finally gave way.  Doesn't surprise me too much, for leather belts aren't supposed to last for 50 years.  I remember that I purchased this belt when I was in high school.  Originally it came with a Coors belt buckle, but that broke before I graduated.

The buckle came from Summerfest in 1975.  I was volunteering as part of a flag corp so we got free admission.  I needed a belt buckle and there were many vendors supplying various items of clothing.  I have no idea why I picked this buckle.  It reads Livingston,Wells & Co., Domestic and Foreign Gold Dealers and has the image of a schooner in the middle.  Apparently, this company was a predecessor to Wells Fargo bank.  

I find it interesting looking at the hole pattern in the belt.  Apparently, I've grown a few inches around since high school.  Some of the ones closest to the end are even stretched out a bit.  Apparently, I've enjoyed a few beers while wearing this belt.  

I also find it interesting that if you do a search on the Internet, there are dozens of Livingston, Wells and Co belt buckles for sale as "vintage".  I guess that makes me vintage as well.  My buckle shows more wear, though.  It's had a good life so far.  Now all I need to do is look for a new leather belt.  

Keys

Random Box of Keys

One of the things you get to do when you move is to clean out drawers that have sat idle for a long, long, time.  They are called junk drawers because we tend to put things into them without thought.  If there isn't a place for it, it must go in the junk drawer.  One of the things collected in the junk drawer are keys.

I have no idea where most of these keys come from.  I've got a better idea where some of the key rings came from, but those are lost in history as well.  Some of them are labeled (like the keys to the cottage, 1500 miles away), and some are anonymous. 

I wandered around the house with the keys trying the various locks on things, and I still can't find the key for a few locks.  Some are now identified, but there are many that are lost in the depths of time. 

Key from the house where I grew up

However, I did recognize one old key.  Don't know why I still have it, but it is the key to the house where I grew up.  I'm certain the new owner has changed the locks since then, so I'll keep it in the box as a reminder. 

Printing Press - Part I

Found this note from my father with the Superior Rotary Printing Press.

This printing set was a 1943 Christmas Present, when I was 11 years old.  

The reason I "remember" this is that one of the ambitious projects I tried with it was to print an article "Seharnhorst, Huge German Battleship, Sunk in Fight".  That naval battle and sinking took place on December 26, 1943.  It is described on pages 267-271 in The German Northern Theater of Operation 1940-1945, by Earl F. Ziemki, 9 June 1959 (Department of the Army pamphlet No 20-271).  

Note the citation and format of the citation.  He wrote this in June 12, 2002, approximately 50 years after his last English/Technical Writing class.  The underlining and format exactly as he wrote it in his note.  

Link to Book

Bob's T-Shirt Quilt

During the last round of t-shirt quilt making, Gail took a bunch of my old t-shirts and made me a quilt.  The quilt tells a bit of my story, from my favorite football teams to churches I've attended, to places I've lived and worked and other interests.

Each of these squares has a story or a memory that makes it special.  You can see National Parks on here, maps, ice cream, minor league baseball, old tuba shirts from college, NPR programs and mementos of trips I've taken.

The oldest shirt dated from 1975 (grey shirt on the left edge).  That's the year my sister went off to college at St. Olaf and bought me a handful of t-shirts for Christmas.  There's a map of Milwaukee from the 70's, an Immanuel Lutheran Chapel shirt from the 80's, Richmond Rooster's shirt from the 90's, Bethany Lutheran shirt from 2000, and a Yellowstone shirt from the 10's.

40 years of my life, keeping me warm.

Happy Mother's Day

joie de vivre

In the summer of 1990, We vacationed at our cottage in central Wisconsin.  At the same time, Gail's cousin was summering at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo.  It's a pretty cool place if you've never been there.   

We were in the stands watching the trapeze artists perform and you could just see my Mom looking on with envy.  Then the emcee started his call for volunteers.  "Does anyone want to try the trapeze?"

I reached over to raise her hand.  I'm not certain if I got her hand up first or she got her hand up first, but when the emcee saw this lady in her mid-fifties volunteer, he jumped on it.

Spry as a kitten, she climbed the ladder and stood there while they strapped the safety belt on her.  When they were ready to go, she calmly stepped off into the air and started to swing.

The crowd was delighted.  There she was, swinging back and forth in the air.  The emcee was trying to talk to her to tell her what to do, but she was in her own world.  She swung back and forth being the star of the circus.  Finally, when she got tired, she called out that she was ready to get down.  They lowered her to the net in a round of thunderous applause.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.