Nancy Drew -- Eighty Years Young

Did you know that you can buy a facsimile of the original Nancy Drew, book 1? The Secret of the Old Clock is on sale at Amazon and tons of other places I am sure. But I don't need one. I still have my own copy from the fifties. I also have The Hidden Staircase and remember reading them over and over. She was daring, she had the freedom to do as she liked and, of course, she was rich.

Last night I went to a lecture which was taped for television re-broadcast. The topic was the
(R)Evolution of Nancy Drew. Yes, that really was the title--the point being that Miss Nancy has had a tremendous effect on American girlhood.

The lecturer was an enthusiastic young English prof named Michael Cornelius who got hooked on Nancy Drews from his mother's bookcase when he was a kid. He had on the coolest tie that someone had made for him from "Girl Sleuth" fabric. He's co-written a book about her and the other girl sleuths.

The wikipedia article has tons of info. I picked up a few additional tidbits from the lecture though. Her titian red hair wasn't always red. Seems that they misprinted a book cover and it was cheaper to change her hair color in the text than to change the cover art.  I learned that the man who dreamed up the series, Walter Stratemeyer, gave the ghostwriters an outline to work from. And that the outlines still exist as the family's archives are great. I also learned that some of the foreign translations don't go word for word but actually work from these same outlines. So the books are very different. According to this  young expert, Nancy has always been popular in countries where girls have a lot of freedom.

They allowed the audience to share memories and ask questions. Several women, teachers and librarians, told how they were discouraged from reading them and not allowed to use Nancy Drews for book reports when they were kids. Now teachers and librarians are thrilled if kids read anything! O tempora, o mores.

Happy Father's Day!

This is my dad's dad. He was born in the county where I now live. He left school in eighth grade to go to work as a printer's devil right here in Luzerne County, PA. He worked very hard and learned all he could. He built up his own business and supported a large family as well as serve the community as a lifelong Kiwanian and as a school board president. He was a man of great personal integrity, intelligence and wisdom.

If a man has a desire to be a good dad, he can learn. But the ones who have the easiest job are the ones who had good dads themselves. That's the greatest gift a man can pass on. In that, Michael was blessed and my brothers are too. One day  I'm hoping my son will have the opportunity to be a great dad too.

So Happy Father's Day to all those dads out there who make my family great!

My daughter's blog says it all

Please look at my daughter's blog post for today, June 18th, 2010. She calls her blog Puking Pastilles. This is important.

The Boulevard Bistro

Michael was in charge of a project at work that required that he work twelve hour days and most weekends for months. The project? The Boulevard Bistro. He worked with architects, contractors, landlords, city officials, caterers, you name it, to put in a cafeteria for the employees at his work. It was grueling. The long hours mostly came from the fact that he had to stay late every day to supervise with the people actually building the space.

The result? I finally got to go on Friday. It is lovely. He did such a wonderful job. In the hallway on the way to the cafeteria there was a bulletin board honoring a few of the six hundred plus people at his facility who had gone the extra mile. He had been too busy to notice that he was on it. It was lovely to see him thanked for the project.

I sadly missed the grand opening (he actually got to use the big scissors to cut the ribbon). I was in Baton Rouge at my nephew's memorial service. I hated not being there. It was his big moment of glory for all that work he'd done.

But it is a wonderful thing that he did. The variety of food available is amazing. There's a couple of entrees, they can make you a hamburger or fries if you like, there's grinders (heroes, subs--whatever you call them where you live) and all kinds of cold cases with salads, fruit, snacks, and lots of things to drink. I noticed there were lots of healthy options. Also, desserts like big cookies, brownies and so on. I had a stuffed tomato tuna salad that the chef had dreamed up. He had put parmesan cheese and bacon bits on it. Delicious but probably not as healthy as the original. Michael had a Mongolian stir fry. I did see something I've not seen anywhere else. Maybe they're new and you've seen them. But they're giant Smarties. Looks just like a small roll of Smarties but the size of a Necco wafer roll. Amusing! And, of course, there's a big space with fridges and microwaves for the folks who bring their own lunches.

The photo? Random. I'm not allowed to take pictures inside Michael's facility so no photos of the Boulevard Bistro today. Instead, it's another Prague photo. There's a kind of covered arcade by the Charles bridge in Prague that has the ultimate tourist shops. Teeshirts, china images of the Infant Jesus of Prague, snow globes and these. This is the most pervasive reminder that the Russians ruled Prague. The matryoshka dolls are everywhere. Click on the photo for better details. Michael and MF are in the photo and I'm in there twice! Can you find us?

My new blog

Okay, I have a lot of patterns. And not all of them I can sell. They have missing pieces or instructions or both. But I love them. The one on the left is from 1963 and I remember girls looking just like this. Note the gloves and circle pin that were de rigueur. This one is missing the godet. And I'm guessing a lot of my readers don't even know what a godet is.

I've started a new blog called The Coconut Pie Shop about patterns and fashion in general. I hope my readers who are interested in those things will also visit my new blog from time to time. And leave a comment so I don't feel so lonely out there.

Adieu to Prague and the Czech Republic

It has been difficult having my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren so far away in Prague. But graciously, the past two summers, MF spent a long vacation with us which we greatly appreciated. As happy as I am to have her coming home so that at least all my children live in the same country (as vast as it it), I was sad to think that we might never return to Prague. We'd love to go back but don't know if it will ever happen. A few more photos to show why Prague and the Czech Republic will live on forever in my heart. It's no wonder Czech immigrants to America clung so dearly to their culture.

The fountain is in the castle gardens at Cesky Krumlov. The astronomical clock is one of the biggest tourist draws in the Old Town Square. On the hour, huge crowds assemble to see the apostles come out. Czech modern style extended into the subway. These gorgeous metal tiles lined the subway stations with the different stations color coded. Lastly, Czechs love fruit and I think they display it better than anyone.
So as the sun sets  in the West, we bid adieu to the beautiful city of Prague.

Too much Mucha?

Impossible. It is impossible to get too much Mucha in my opinion. Let me say this again. Much Mucha is a magnificent thing. And Prague is full of Mucha. The king of the Secessionist movement (also known as Art Nouveau), Mucha spent a lot of time in Paris doing advertisements but never forgot where he came from--Bohemia. His influence is everywhere and his actual work is not that hard to find. Some examples:
The stained glass above is in the Saint Vitus Cathedral. Beyond belief beautiful with a understanding of aqua that not many artists have had.

 

This glorious piece is part of the drapes (yes, drapes) in the Mucha room in the Municipal house. The whole building is a paean to Czech nationalism and to Art Nouveau as an extension of their culture. A must see if you go to Prague.

This is also in the Mucha room in the Municipal house. Impossible to get a photo (although Michael did a magnificent job getting details) that shows the feeling you get in each room because you are surrounded from floor to ceiling with the artist's vision of what the Czech Republic and Prague are all about.

With some musicians you just know they "get" their culture: Chopin, Copland, Gershwin, Liszt. But to me, not so many artists ooze with nationalism. In the Czech Republic it seems that so many artists "get" their culture. All you have to do to understand what it means to be a Czech is to open your eyes.