Time On Our Hands:  Book cover 1910

and how it relates to a poem I wrote in 1992

I bought this book over the weekend at an Estate sale.  It's called "Going Some" which makes no sense to me whatsoever.  But I love the cover.  The colors are brilliant for the age of the book and in fact the whole book is in pretty good condition for $1.00.

Here are some fun quotes from the book.  I think they are fun because of the way things are stated.  Just the old language used is amazing.

"And Stover went on his way to spread the tidings."


"Glass allowed his mouth to open in amazement.  The day was replete with surprises."


"'Listen, Pig! If you spik to her again, I will cut you.' The gaze of the Mexican pierced his victim. 'I will not keel you, I will just -- cut you!'"


"' Did you hear what I said?' demanded Willie, in a voice that sounded like the sawing of a meat bone."


"Willie paused, while Glass licked his lips and undertook to frame a reply."

I don't know why these little phrases capture my imagination but they do.  They are here in no particular order but just what I came across on a few pages.  The whole book is full of this colorful language.  Wish I could write like this.  And, you might ask, what does that picture have to do with any of this?  Well, so far I haven't the foggiest idea!

Throughout the book there are small drawings at the bottom of pages here and there.  They are so funny and so apt.  There are Indians, cowboys, gentlemen small and tall, even a few ladies.  One heavyset man appears bald and in a striped shirt over and over.  I am thinking he is Glass or maybe Mr. Speed, another character who appears often.
~~~~~~~~~

One time I wrote a poem for a friend and I guess that's what the cover picture reminded me of.  I'm going to post it here.  See if it brings this picture to mind for you.

STRINGS

Dreaming of fairies

and brownies and things,

Winding through childhood

our lives were like strings.

We tangled our life lines

in jumbles and knots,

Blending and weaving

our fantastical plots.

Carefree, exuberant,

joyful and free;

Around every corner

was something to see.

As year passed to year

our strings were exchanged

For bright colored ribbons

as our lives rearranged.

We ran with our streamers

so shiny and slick.

They flew out behind us

our feet moving quick.

Soon they were banners

proclaiming our views.

We bore them so proudly

Parading in twos.

With childhood behind us

and dreams stored away,

We began making plans

for each passing day.

We slowly turned inward

to our lives and our homes.

We dropped all our banners

and our strings fell like stones.

Then after the kids left

the houses were silent.

The adventures less often.

The string was all spent.

In the midst of our settling

feeling sorry and old,

Were the memories of friends

and bright ribbons of gold.

As we reached for the strings

that once tied us in knots,

Hoping to capture

old dreams and brave plots,

We've discovered our lives

have just barely begun.

We are older and wiser

but twice as much fun.

The ribbons and strings?

We've passed them right by.

With silk gliders' wings

we fly through the sky.

We're soaring and swooping

and spreading our wings,

Once again dreaming 

of fairies and things.

September 1992

Time on Our Hands:  

The Fashionable Bowl Cut

I have no idea of the time frame of this little picture.  The children look very young and of similar age.  Could be one class in a city school.  There is a sidewalk and the building looks a little more structured than a wooden country school house.

This picture has a tear right down almost to the bottom.  It starts at the top of the door on the right and ends at the shoulder of the little girl, third from right, in the front row.  How sad someone  must have been when it tore. After that it was pasted on this cardboard backing.  Then that tore, too!  Luckily not much.

Here is what I see in this photo: Meek and unsmiling children.  It reminds me of the play Oliver.  I expect one of the kids to produce a bowl and say, "More porridge, please!"  But! they all have shoes, they look clean and presentable, and many of the girls have the fashionable bowl cut!  Why oh why did anyone ever think that was attractive, I wonder?  No wonder they look so forlorn!

Or perhaps they've never had a picture taken?  They seem utterly exposed and fearful of that photographer. Maybe he was gruff and abrupt? Maybe he was short tempered.  Looking at those little faces I imagine him to be a horror of a person.

Maybe he asked them to say Cheese! and they didn't know what cheese was.

I guess I shouldn't put all the blame on the photographer. It could be the teacher, the principal, or maybe they will face a test after the photo shoot.

I don't see any unusually naughty kids in this photo, nor do I see any that look particularly smart.  Instead they look like they need breakfast.  The back row is the worst.  That must be the last place the food goes to.  They are thinking that it will be another hour before their line is fed.  The front row, where the faces are anxious but not so desperate, is where the lucky ones sit -- the ones who will eat before long!

I have to admit this one is a bit puzzling.  It's sad for me to see children so young with so little joy.  I wish there were something we could do from the future to make their lives sweeter.

Time on Our Hands:  Class of 1923

 

This class is posing in the Fall of 1923.  In their midst is a young lady named Margaretta Zimmerman who evidently owned this photo for a while.  This is a motley crew.  Only seven are girls in this entire group.  Looks like maybe 5 older girls and two younger.  I am guessing that Ms. Zimmerman is the girl in the front row wearing a dark sweater. Is that what you think?  

Why are there so few girls?  Were there just fewer girls in this community or was it considered unnecessary for girls to go on to school after a few years?  It looks like maybe a high school to me, with the younger ones in front and the older ones in back.  So only two younger girls.  That is a very small number to choose your best friend from!  

The five older girls look studious, well behaved and well groomed.  I think that in their age group there are only 2 or 3 boys.  They all look pretty serious about being up there in the back row.  

In the middle of the picture is a jumble of boys.  Short pants, overalls, work shirts, colored shirts, white shirts, sweaters and two jackets.  Wild hair and groomed hair.  Ties, no ties, scuffed shoes.  What a job!  

Why do you suppose that one boy is off by himself on the steps to the left?  I think he should have been down front at the end.  Maybe he was trying to escape to the privy?  Well, he never made it!  

The boy in the dark jacket in the middle of the front row has a sourpuss face.  He reminds me of a boss I had once who considered it a good day if he made one of the women in our office cry.  This boy needs to lighten up! Behind him and to the left are two boys with windswept hair and mischievous smiles.  There's something going on with the feet back there.  I suppose they are up to something that gave them great joy but it's hard to say what at this point in time!  

My mother was 3 when this picture was taken.  Three and a half.  She started school the next year just after turning four.  Many in this class would be the ages of her brothers or sisters, all but one of whom were older than she was.  Just a few more years until the Depression.  I wonder where all these young people went? Where did those shoes carry them?  Did this teacher prepare them well?  What kind of work did they do?  Did they marry and have children, become ministers, doctors, teachers, postmen, farmers, businessmen?  Did they own homes, land, a business?  Was one of them a banker?  Was one of them a dirt farmer?  

On this day, it doesn't really matter.  All the future was theirs the day this picture was taken.  

Craft:  Texture and Collage

My sister-in-law, Kim, is an artist.  She recently taught a class in collage at a local store.  This is my collage from that class.  

It was such a fun afternoon!  Being small in number, we were able to talk and share as we couldn't have done if our group were larger.

Our first assignment was to choose a color for the board and add it atop the texture that Kim had applied to the board before we arrived.  I loved this pretty aqua color so I chose that, covering the board with it and then painting black at the edges and in toward the middle to add depth.  

I am a hesitant painter.  Not bold!  My black coat is light and not very dramatic.  It would have been better, I think, had I made it more emotional or outrageous, but still I was conveying the song of this sweet little bird so maybe we're fine with this light grey edge.  

The poem I cut from an old book is glued at the left under the bird's tail.  It's title is "A Lament".  The words on the music at the top are "blushed to say he kissed me".  The bird is a cut-out as are all the other icons, including the limb which was cut free hand from a piece of brown paper by Kim.  I painted the musical notes.

The title of the piece is Tweet.

Tweet now sits atop a ledge in my office at home.

Time On Our Hands:  Boys' Class Roosevelt School

Well, here are the boys from Roosevelt School.  I think this one must be in a city because there are enough boys of one age to fill a frame.  I love the little bow ties and dress shirts, slicked back hair for some of them.  For the most part the pant legs have been rolled up though one dark pair in the front fits perfectly, and then a little left of center one boy has very baggy pants of some kind.  Not sure I have ever seen anything like them.  

I always thought the kids in these pictures were clowning around and making faces but I examined this one more and think maybe they are squinting from the sun.  Heads are tipped down and eyes are squeezed almost shut.  

Exceptions exist.  The last boy on the right must be a movie fan.  He is deep into his Frankenstein pose.  He's quite convincing.  

The young man in the center of the back row looks strangely familiar.  Like Orsen Welles, maybe?   

So now the most popular boy...hmm.  I think it might be the one with all the golden curls, three from the end on the right, front row.  He is very cute, tall and lean.  Or maybe it's the banker in the middle in the tan vest and trousers.  

I am not worried about who the biggest cut up is.  I know he is Frankenstein.  He gave himself away for all posterity the day he posed for this picture with such enthusiasm.  

What year is this?  It could be as late as the 1950s but I am not sure.  Bow ties were in then and corduroy (mr. popular is wearing cords).  I don't think it's as late as the 1960s.  Any ideas?  

Cool, too, are the big schoolhouse windows and the window boxes with something just beginning to show it's little green head there.  Long sleeves with sun and little plants starting to grow.  It must be spring at Roosevelt School!  

Time on Our Hands: Bare Feet

Lots of bare feet in this photo.  The original is very small so this one is kind of blurry.  It started out at only 3 1/2 by 3 1/4 so you see my problem.  I  love it but have to use a magnifying glass to see details.  

There's a batch of 6 or 7 little boys in the front that are just adorable and look so tickled with themselves and this new adventure.  Hands in pockets, grins in place.  I have a feeling there might be a frog in one of those pockets, don't you?  

On second thought, the boys might have been told to put those hands in their pockets just to avoid the mischief that tempted them while standing still on the steps.  Even the bigger boys are doing it.  Hands all around in overall pockets.

With the girls it's dresses, smiles and high button shoes or, for even some of the girls, a simple bare foot look if all she's doing is going to school.  

It's a sunny day.  The school yard is dirt, but the children all look well fed, clean and happy.  I see some spunk in this group.  The teacher (is that her up there in the left corner?) probably has her hands full with the fun-seekers but I'll bet her days are rewarding with so many happy children to spend each day with.  

I wish I knew when this was, where it was.  Would love to hear the stories of this class.  

Craft:

making iPad 

cases 

Last Christmas I decided to make iPad cases for my two nieces.  I had these pretty red silk "place mats" which were small--about the size of an iPad is it turns out.  They had rich brocade strips running down the center.  I thought I would use one for the front, one for the back and one for the flap.  I found vintage men's ties in the same shade of red and bought those.  I had some lighter red material that would work fine for the lining and some antique buttons that were just for decoration on the flaps.  

 Here I have the back attached to the flap and I am pinning in the lining with pockets for iPhone and pens.  Does anyone use a pen anymore?  The tie you see draped across is the shoulder strap.

Above is the finished bag for one of the girls.  The antique buttons are sewn to the tie that lies over the flap.  It is the end of the tie that is used for a shoulder strap.  Below is the second bag.  They came out so pretty.  I was very happy with them.
Now I am not so sure they are practical or that they will ever be used but they are super attractive to my eye and the girls seemed to really like them.  It was a fun project and took me only one day....AFTER I spent about 2 months planning!