NOVEMBER • 2008 • NEWSLETTER

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Dear $$firstname$$,

Think it’s too early to start Christmas shopping? Take it from a procrastinating pro…better to be early than dodging fellow shoppers the morning before Christmas Eve. Too many times, in my college days, the family would be waiting downstairs as I did my final gift-wrapping, the paper of choice being the most recent Sunday comics.

For those of you who like to prepare unique gifts, you may get an idea from our first contributor below, whose mother used a favorite memory of Dad’s to create a sentimental treasure.

If you didn’t notice it last month, we’re presenting an opportunity to travel with Reminisce through the beauty of Colorado on vintage trains. Check it out by clicking on the World Wide Country Tours promotion below. Barring any difficulties, I’ll be riding along on the August tour.

—John Burlingham at Reminisce

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In this issue:

• Preserving the Old Church
• Johnson-Smith, We Love You
• Those Pearl Onions
• Poem: She Married a Farmer Boy
• Over the Back Fence
• Time Capsule Trivia
• A Thought to Remember

Arrive Early or Linger Longer!

Reserve our new Reminisce tour, Colorado’s Vintage Railways, by December 30, 2008, and a pre- or post-tour hotel night will be on us—a $118.00 value. Get details »

Preserving the Old Church

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By Linda Ernst
Meadville, Pennsylvania

There comes a time in every family’s life when you ask, “What are we going to get Dad for Christmas this year?” If your family is anything like ours, there’s no easy answer. What do you buy for a father who has everything he needs and asks for little more?

A few years ago, my father’s enthusiasm surrounding some old pictures taken of a church he attended as a child gave my mother an idea. In the weeks leading up to the holiday, she enlisted my help as well as that of my siblings to complete her project by Christmas.

The pictures were of the Baptist church started during the oil-field boom—in the 1880s at Ross, West Virginia. The community of Ross included a schoolhouse, a post office, a general store and the Baptist church. Among the pictures of the church was a rather worn copy of a poem written by a church member, Ethel Fluharty.

We took the pictures to the high school art teacher, Bob Slevin, who happened to be a member of my parents’ church. He crafted a composite sketch of the Baptist Church in earlier times. Then, we took the sketch to a calligrapher, Jan Patton, to have the poem penned over the sketch. Once matted, framed and wrapped, we eagerly waited to present this unique gift to our father.

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When he opened the present, he cupped his face in his hands and cried. The pictures and poem were all that remained of his childhood memories, and many people had worked together to give them new life.

As the families who farmed that valley moved away to find work, the community of Ross slowly closed down—the post office and general store in the early 1940s and the school in 1946. My father’s family moved to Pennsylvania in 1948. The church closed its doors in 1950, and the structure was later dismantled and the lumber saved for another church.

As you read the poem, you can almost hear the voices in the hills that gathered to worship. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to preserve your family memories in as loving a way. After all, bringing new life to old stories is what this little country church was all about!

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Johnson-Smith, We Love You

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By Joe Cuhaj
Daphne, Alabama

It’s hard to believe, but the granddaddy of all practical-joke companies, the Johnson-Smith Company, is still in business. One of its catalogs came in the mail the other day, and memories of their ads came flooding back.

Johnson-Smith ads appeared in comic books of the 1950s and ’60s and were full pages of glorious black-and-white line drawings promising hilarious results. For kids of 9 and 10 years old, it was a company well worth investing in.

One ad caught our eyes week after week. It promoted a pair of glasses with swirly, hypnotic lenses: the X-Ray Glasses. One illustration showed that you could see a person’s skeleton, while the other said that you could see a woman’s body under her dress. Never did we question the impossibility of seeing bones 1 minute and a naked woman the next, but the latter was appealing.

No one in our gang, of course, had the nerve to purchase them for fear we’d be labeled a pervert. No one, that is, except Fred. One summer day, we were summoned to the tree house.

“Look, guys!” Fred shouted. “X-Ray Glasses!” We all looked at them. “Where’s the swirly lenses?” I asked. He didn’t know.

“Those aren’t real,” my buddy “Creep” chimed in. “Are, too,” Fred insisted. “Paid a buck and a half for ’em!”

“Those are sunglasses,” Creep shot back. In all honesty, they didn’t even look as well made as sunglasses with their flimsy, red-cellophane lenses.

“Where are the swirly lenses?” I asked again. “Forget the swirly things!” Fred shouted. “I’ll prove it to you. Let’s take ’em out for a test run.”

“Wait!” I said. “I’ve got something, too.” I held out my hands. In one were five fake firecrackers. The tubes were empty of gunpowder, but what a hoot when you lit the fuse and tossed them at someone.

In my other hand was a bag that contained 10 snake capsules. These gems were pellets that, when you ignited them with a match, billowed smoke and expanded into an ashen snake 5 feet long.

We scampered down the tree and ran to town for a day of practical joking and a bit of peeping with the glasses.

As we walked toward our neighborhood’s downtown area, I thought up the great idea of grinding up the snake pellets and putting the powder into the fake firecrackers? What a smoke bomb that would make! I thought my invention was sheer genius!

When we got to Schwartz’s 5- and 10-cent store, my friend Mitch and I ground up three or four pellets and stuffed them into the hollow tube of one of the firecrackers.

As Creep and Fred watched us creating our latest invention, they still were debating the X-Ray Glasses.

“Did you ever think,” Creep asked Fred, “if those are really X-Ray Glasses, they might burn your eyes out and you’ll never see again?”

Fred thought about that for a moment…but just then, Gianina, our beautiful classmate, came walking by. Fred was ready to throw caution (and his eyesight) to the wind.

“Hi, boys,” she cooed, flicking that long hair of hers our way.

“H-h-hi, Gianina,” Fred stuttered as he fumbled to get the X-Ray Glasses out of his pocket.

About that same time, I had lit the fuse of our first smoke bomb and was ready to toss it out into the street. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied Officer Harrison approaching us. I had to ditch the evidence—fast! Quickly, I tossed the smoke bomb the other way. It landed at Fred’s feet.

Fred had just put the glasses on, and in that instant, the smoke bomb let out a belching, black-and-green cloud, engulfing him in a putrid stench. Choking and wheezing, Fred stumbled around, bumping into everything around him. His eyes turned puffy and were streaming with tears.

“I can’t see!” Fred screamed as he collapsed onto the pavement.

Officer Harrison, witnessing the whole thing, ran into the store and alerted the owner, Mr. Schwartz, who came running out of his store with a damp rag. With the cloth over Fred’s eyes, the puffiness disappeared in no time and Fred was able to see again.

“When will you boys ever learn?” Officer Harrison asked in a scolding voice. “Someone could be seriously injured with these pranks of yours.”

“Yes, Officer Harrison,” we all said in unison, our heads hanging low.

Creep stepped forward and extended his hand out to Officer Harrison. “We’re sorry, sir. We won’t do it again.”

Officer Harrison reached out to shake Creep’s hand. Buzzzz! Off went the joy buzzer, which Creep had so discreetly hidden in his hand. “Hey!” Officer Harrison bellowed. We watched him shake his head as Creep, Mitch and I ran off back home, chuckling after a good day of practical joking.

And Fred? He never did own up to what he saw through those X-Ray Glasses!

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Those Pearl Onions

By Anne Fauvell
Rapid City, South Dakota

Opening the cedar chest, I found a cluster of six papers with typewritten work on them. The papers were clipped together and marked with red-inked checkmarks.

The words were Aunt Mary’s holiday recipes. The recipe with the most red-inked marks featured directions for Aunt Mary’s Creamed Early Pearl Onions.

I looked at the recipe and thought, Oh! It’s the pearl onions! Then I laughed.

Every Thanksgiving dinner included Aunt Mary’s creamed pearl onions. No one liked the recipe (except Aunt Mary), but somehow they showed up on every holiday table. White on white—creamed sauce and onions—did not look appetizing to me.

But this was a tradition for a special holiday. I was always thankful I did not have to eat more than three creamed onions on that day.

Aunt Mary was a farmwoman who loved to cook. In March, the year I turned 11, Aunt Mary died suddenly after a heart attack at the age of 88. That year, when Thanksgiving came around, we did not have creamed pearl onions.

Everyone had a comment for the absence of her specialty.

“It’s odd without the onions.”

“No onions! This holiday doesn’t seem like it’s a holiday.”

“Next year, let’s make pearl onions in memory of Aunt Mary.”

So the recipe that no one liked was saved and preserved because we missed Aunt Mary after her passing. She became part of our family tradition. We cooked and ate something we really did not enjoy.

The recipe became precious and was filed with other treasures in the cedar chest. It brought back memories of a good woman who loved to share with the younger generation. Her pearl onions were diamonds to her...and to us, in the end.

Share Your Thoughts and Enter to Win a Prize

Join the Reminisce Powerhouse Panel, and you’ll get free, members-only access to special offers, discounts, and rewards, plus the chance to share your thoughts on new products, hot topics and more. Sign up today! You can enter to win a high-tech digital camera and other great prizes. No purchase is necessary to win. The sweepstakes, open to U.S. residents ages 18 and over, begins on October 14, 2008 and ends on December 31, 2008; void where prohibited. Entry details and official rules are available on-line at www.reminiscepowerhouse.com/rules.

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Poem: She Married a Farmer Boy

By Carolyn Pearl Owens
Edina, Minnesota
(in the voice of her Grandma Bernice, who married Jesse Pool)

Once when I was young and spry,
A handsome stranger caught my eye.
He had it all—looks, youth and charm.
To top it off, he owned a farm.

I made my plans and acted coy
To capture that unknowing boy.
My darling never stood a chance,
And soon we danced our wedding dance.

Fifty years gone since that day;
My how time has slipped away.
Thinking back now in good fun,
With just a hint of a smile;
Before he had a chance to run,
I ran him down the aisle!

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Over the Back Fence

Editor’s Note: Have you ever seen an “unholy” gaffe in your church bulletin? In the past, we’ve solicited bloopers that actually appeared in those Sunday pamphlets, so I’m sharing a few sent in by Lucille Ray of Ashby, Minnesota. Enjoy!

“The outreach committee has enlisted 25 visitors to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church.”

“The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning.”

“The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment.”

“For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.”

“Pastor is on vacation. Massages can be given to church secretary.”

Time Capsule Trivia

From the decades spanning the 1920s to the 1960s, try to guess what year these historic events took place. The answer is given below, but no peeking!

1. Lt. Commander Richard E. Byrd makes the first flight over the South Pole in a Ford Tri-Motor airplane. He and his pilot, Bernt Balchen, and two other men spend 19 hours in the air.

2. Five members of a criminal gang line up seven members of Bugs Moran’s  gang against a garage wall on Chicago’s North Side and mow them down with machine guns in what becomes known as the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.”

3. In their first “talkies,” Ronald Coleman stars in the film Bulldog Drummond, Mary Pickford plays an ill-tempered flapper in Coquette and the Marx Brothers make their movie debut in The Cocoanuts.

4. Radio’s first Jewish comedy, The Goldbergs, debuts in November and soon becomes a hit. Other top shows premiering include Amos ’n’ Andy and The Fleischmann Hour variety show.

5. The Chicago Cubs are National League champions in professional baseball.

For the answer to Time Capsule Trivia, click here.

A Thought to Remember

Reason often makes mistakes, but conscience never does.

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