Happy Mother's Day

from 

Norman Rockwell 

 

OTI'S CO

Skaneateles, N.Y.

The Erie Canal is an historic canal in upstate New York that runs east to west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie.  Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Applachians.  In effect, the canal accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region, the westward expansion of the United States and the economic rise of New York State.  It has been called "The Nation's First Superhighway".

The length of the canal is 363 miles and is 571 feet above sea level.  The principal engineer was Benjamin Wright. The New York State Legislature authorized construction on July 4, 1817 at Rome, New York. The canal opened on October 26, 1825. The start point is at the Hudson River near Albany, New York and the end point if Niagara River near Buffalo, New York.  Branches are the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario and the Cayuga-Seneca Canal to Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake.  The Erie Canal connects to the Champlain Canal to Lake Champlain and the Welland Canal to Lake Ontario.

A canal from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes was first proposed in the 1780s, but a formal survey was not conducted until 1808.  The New York State Legislature authorized construction in 1817.  The westward connection gave New York City a strong advantage over all other U.S. posts and brought major growth to canal cities such as Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo.  

The construction of the Erie Canal was a landmark civil engineering achievement in the early history of the United States.  When built, the canal was the second-longest in the world (after the Grand Canal in China). The canal has 34 locks, including the Waterford Flight, the steepest locks in the United States.  When leaving the canal, boats must also traverse the Black Rock Lock to reach Lake Erie or the Troy Federal Lock to reach the tidal Hudson.  The overall elevation difference is about 565 feet.  

The Erie Canal's peak year was 1855, when 33,000 commercial shipments took place.  It continues to be competitive with railroads until about 1902 when tolls were abolished.  Commercial traffic declined heavily in the latter half of the 20th century due to competition from trucking and the 1959 opening of the larger St. Lawrence Seaway.  The canal's last regularly scheduled hauler, the Day Peckinpaugh, ended service in 1994.  

Today, the Erie Canal is mainly used by recreational watercraft from May through November each year. 

 This photo features a highway tunnel that goes underneath the canal.

During winter, water is drained from parts of the canal for maintenance.  The canal has also become a tourist attractions in its own right and a number of parks/museums are dedicated to its history.  The New York State Canalway Trail is a popular cycling path that follows the canal across the state.  In 2000, Congress designated the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor to protect and promote the system.  

There are several locks on the Erie Canal. Locks are elevators for boats, lifting and lowering them as they travel along the waterway.  It takes about 15 minutes to "lock through".  There are 57 locks on New York's canal system, including 35 on the Erie Canal though originally 83 locks then the number was reduced to 72 locks, 11 on the Champlain Canal, 7 on the Oswego Canal and 4 on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal. In the early days of the canal, when horses and mules walked the towpath, this is how a canal boat passed through a lock.  Today,  boat owners are required to follow certain rules to "lock through".  The official New York Sstate Canal System website has a page on Navigating the Canals.  The original Erie Canal locks were 90 feet long and 15 feet wide.  They were designed for a canal boat 61 feet long and 7 feet wide with a 3 1/2 foot draft. In order to keep pace with the increasing traffic on the canal, it was enlarged between 1836 and 1862.  The size of the locks was increased to 110 feet long and 18 feet wide.  The depth of the Erie Canal, today is 12-23 feet and it took 8 years to dig the 360-mile canal through thick forests and stubborn rock!  An engineering marvel, unlike anything America had ever seen.  The man-made waterway included a final "flight" of interconnected locks to raise boats over the 70-foot Niagara Escarpment. Escarpment:  a long, steep slope, especially one at the edge of a plateau or separating areas of land at different heights.  

Tugboat at Lock E33 in Rochester, New York

The Erie Canal is a destination for tourists from around the world and has inspired guidebooks dedicated to exploration of the waterway.  An Erie Canal Cruise Company, based in Herekimer, New York located southeast of Utica, operates from mid-May until mid-October with daily cruises.

Aside from transportation, numerous businesses, farms, factories and communities alongside its banks still utilize the canal's waters for other purposes such as irrigation for farmland.  Use of the canal system has an estimated total economic impart of $6.2 billion, annually. 

                                          

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark.  As of April 10, 2024 there were 2,778 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California.  The stars are monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry, bearing the names of a mix of actors, actresses, directors, producers, musicians, theatrical/musical groups, fictional characters and others. 

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is undoubtedly the most famous sidewalk in the world and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Los Angeles.  Some sources claim the Hollywood Walk of Fame was inspired by the Hollywood Hotel which stood for 50 years and where they had painted celebrities' names on the dining room ceiling above the tables. This idea may have served as an early inspiration. By another account, the stars were "inspired by Harry Sugarman's (another Chamber member and president) Tropics Restaurant drinks menu which featured celebrity photos framed in gold stars".  The attraction was idealized in the late 1950s by business leaders in Hollywood.  The original plan would include a caricature of the honoree inside a blue star on a brown background.  However, caricatures proved too  expensive and difficult to execute in brass with the technology available at the time.  The brown and blue motif was vetoed by Charles E. Toberman, the legendary real estate developer known as "Mr. Hollywood" because the colors clashed with a new building he was building on Hollywood Boulevard.

By March of 1956, the final design had been approved.  Between the spring of 1956 and the fall of 1957, 1,558 honorees were selected by committees representing the four major branches of the entertainment industry at that time:  motion pictures, television, audio recording and radio.  The committees met at the Brown Derby restaurant including such prominent names as Cecil B. DeMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Hal Roach and Walt Disney.  

One of the first celebrities to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was the Academy Award winner, Joanne Woodward, famous for The Three Faces of Eve at a groundbreaking ceremony on February 9, 1960.  After the official ceremony, the contruction continued for 16 months with over 1,500 stars were added.  The most famous sidewalk in the world became a landmark in 1978.  The Hollywood Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce who hold the trademark rights and is maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust.  It is a popluar tourist attraction receiving an estimated 10 million annual visitors in 2010.  The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E.M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953 with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame.  Stuart reportedly proposed the Walk as a means to "maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamour and excitement".  

Each year an average of 200 nominations are submitted to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Walk of Fame selection committee.  Anyone, including fans, can nominate anyone active in the field of entertainment as long as the nominee or their management approves the nomination. Nominees must have a minimum of five years experience in the category for which they are nominated and a history of "charitable contributions".  Posthumous nomnees must have been deceased at least five years.  At a meeting each June, the committee selects approximately 20-24 celebrities to receive stars on the Walk of Fame.  One posthumous award is given each year, as well.  The nominations of those not selected are carried over to the following year for reconsideration.  Those not selected two years in a row are dropped and must be renominated to receive further consideration.  Living recipients must agree to personally attend a presentation ceremony within two years of selection.  

All living honorees have been required since 1968 to personally attend their star's unveiling and approximately 40 have declined the honor due to this condition.  The only recipient, to date, who failed to appear after agreeing to do so was Barbra Streisand in 1976.  Her star was unveiled anyway near the intersection of Hollywood and Highland.  Streisand did attend when her husband, James Brolin, unveiled his star in 1998 two blocks to the east.

Gene Autry is the only person to be awarded stars in the five fields required on the Walk of Fame: film, television, radio, live performance and music.  During this lifetime, Autry emerged as both a top money-making entertainer and a powerful businessman. 

The only star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame whose star can't be stepped on is Muhammad Ali.  Its placement on a wall of the Dolby Theatre makes it the only star mounted on a vertical surface.  This is due to the fact Ali requested his name not be walked upon as he shared his name with the Islamic prophet Muhammad.  

Stars such as Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Bruce Springsteen, Leonardo DiCapiro, Madonna, Prince, George Clooney and Clint Eastwood have reportedly turned down the idea of having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  The largest group of individuals represented by a single star is the estimated 122 adults and 12 children collectively known as the Munchkins, from the landmark 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. 

Such names as Liberace, Houdini, Pink, Roseanne, Shakira, Usher have only one name on their star.  For a list of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame the link is https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_on_the_Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame

On February 8, 1960 Lucille Ball was given two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 6436 Hollywood Boulevard for contributions to motion pictures and a 6100 Hollywood Boulevard for her contribution to the arts and sciences of television.  

 

The Twin Spires:  The Iconic Symbol of Churchill Downs

The year, 2010 marked the 125th anniversary of the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs.  As the iconic feature of Churchill Downs, the Twin Spires have provided a sense of place. 

The Twin Spires debuted in 1895 as part of a new grandstand, designed by 24-year-old Joseph Baldez.  According to Churchill Downs, the original plans did not include the Twin Spires along the roofline.  The architect added these as "he felt the structure needed something to give it a striking appearance".  Described as towers in the original drawings, the Spires provide an ornate contrast to the simplicity of the grandstand.  Baldez designed other structures, but this might be the one for which he is most remembered.  It is said that Churchill Downs Executive, Matt Winn told Baldez .. Joe, when you die there's one monument that will never be taken down, the Twin Spires.  

Reverence for the Twin Spires is not limited to those most closely connected to Churchill Downs.  It extends both locally and nationally.  On the 100th anniversary of the Twin Spires in 1995, Hal Bock of the Los Angeles Times wrote eloquently about their importance.  They stand majestically atop the grandstand at Churchill Downs, two wonderfully unique exclamation points highlighting the skyline of America's most famous race track.  

For locals, the Twin Spires provide a sense of place and a reminder of the Derby as Louisville's premier event.  So strong is the belief that these icons are "sacred grounds".  The Twin Spires have served as the iconic landmark of Churchill Downs.  Initially designed and created as simply an addition these structures have become permanently linked to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby.  A reminder of place, the Twin Spires have become a .. revered symbol.  

 

150th Kentucky Derby

May 4, 2024

Live Coverage Time: 2:30

Post Time: 6:57

Churchill Downs

Louisville, Kentucky

on 

NBC

This year's theme is "Celebrating Derby 150" in honor of the Kentucky Derby 150. The official post time  is 6:57 p.m. ET.   A special rose will be placed in the center of the arrangement to symbolize the struggle and heart necessary to reach the Kentucky Derby Winner's Circle.  The winning horse will be adorned with the Garland of Roses, the most coveted possession in the world of horse racing.  The popular Derby nickname "Run for the Roses" coined by sports columnist, Bill Corum in 1925 is reflected in the blanket of red roses draped over the victorious horse after the race, a tradition dating back to at least 1932. 

The race length is just 1 and 1/4 mile and is open to any 3-year old horse although due to the need for speed and power, the race is largely dominated by male horses.  Since 1875, only three fillies (female horses) have won the derby.  

Jeff and Carrie Ketterman 

Carrie designs her own hats which she sells to help pay for their Derby tickets.

And be sure to check out their FB page 

Our Technicolor Life 

 

Carolyn Keene is the pseudonym of the authors of the Nancy Drew mystery stories produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate.  Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Syndicate, hired writers to write the manuscripts for the Nancy Drew books.  The writers were paid $125 for each book and were required by their contract to give up all rights to the work and to maintain confidentiality.  Writer, Mildred Wirt Benson is credited as the primary writer of Nancy Drew books under the pseudonym pen name, Carolyn Keene. Benson wrote 23 of the original 30 books.  Harriet Adams (Stratemeyer's daughter) rewrote the original books and added new titles after the withdrawal of Benson.  Also involved in the Nancy Drew writing process were Harriet Stratemeyer Adams' daughters who gave input on the series and sometimes helped to choose book titles.

In 1979, the Stratemeyer Syndicate changed publishers to Simon & Schuster, a move that the former publishers, Grosset & Dunlap went to court to prevent, claiming a breach of contract.  The decision was made in favor of the Syndicate stating they could choose which publisher they would like to sue for subsequent entries in the series.  In 1985, the Syndicate was bought by publishers Simon & Schuster.  The Drew books are not handled by Mega-Books, a New York book packager.  

First published in 1930, The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories have sold over 70 million copies and become a cherished part of our cultural landscape.  The teenage sleuth has been a noted inspiration for generations of young women. 

Happy 94th birthday to Nancy Drew! The first volume in the long-running girl detective series, "The Secret of the Old Clock," was published 94 years ago under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. In a tribute to the iconic sleuth, author Theodore Jefferson writes, “Agency. It is that which forms the foundation for any hero’s ability to save the day. In America, agency for teenage girls in literature made its debut in 1930 in the person of Nancy Drew.” This original Mighty Girl character paved the way for many more heroic female characters and inspired generations of real-life girls and women.

Ghostwritten by Mildred Wirt Benson and later revised by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, the first volume of Nancy Drew had a huge influence on young readers. Jefferson writes, Nancy Drew provided them with “stories of someone like themselves who had a positive effect on the world instead of passively sitting at home… She is a character with that magical ‘what if’ question woven into her identity, and one that effortlessly captures the imaginations of readers by allowing them to participate in a world where the answers to that question are just as entertaining as the stories themselves.”

At the time, some viewed Nancy Drew as a poor role model, “contradicting adults while she squared off with the villains.  She is mechanically inclined and at the same time doesn’t act like most people in the 1930s would have expected a teenage girl to act.” In fact, many libraries and bookstores refused to carry the Nancy Drew stories. Despite -- or because of that disapproval, kids collected the books voraciously, and in the midst of the Depression, used copies were shared and traded like trading cards are today. As a result, “any kid, even those who couldn’t afford new books, would very likely get to read every adventure starring their favorite character.”

The tremendous influence of Nancy Drew continues to this day states Jefferson.  “It is difficult to overstate how powerful Nancy Drew’s presence remains in literature and in other media. She has influenced film, comics, video games and animation for 94 years, and will continue to do so as long as teenage girls take the lead as our heroes in the imaginative worlds of adventure."

To share your love of the Nancy Drew series with a new generation, we recommend the beautiful box set of the first four classic Nancy Drew books at https://www.amightygirl.com/nancy-drew-mystery-stories

For long-time Nancy Drew fans who dreamed of cracking the case, there's a fantastic new immersive game, "Nancy Drew: Mystery at Magnolia Gardens," for teens and adults, 13 and up, at https://www.amightygirl.com/mystery-at-magnolia-gardens

There is also a 90th Anniversary 10-Book Collection of the Nancy Drew Diaries for ages 8 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/nancy-drew-diaries-90th-anniversary-collection

For younger children, there is a box set of five Nancy Drew Clue Books, "Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew Collection" for ages 6 to 9 at https://www.amightygirl.com/nancy-drew-clue-crew-collection

For more girl-empowering books starring mystery-solving Mighty Girls for all ages, check out our blog post, “Elementary, My Dear Mighty Girl: 50 Books Starring Mighty Girl Detectives” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12393

To read Jefferson's entire essay on The Mary Sue, visit http://bit.ly/1bk0r1o

Above information found on Facebook .. A Mighty Girl. 

Sidenote:  Both the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series spawned from Edward Stratemyer's imagination and were fleshed out by ghost writers writing under the series' pseudonyms Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon, respectively.  Thus, some of the books may have been written by the same writers. In the beginning of the development of the series, some writers had more influence in the sculpting of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys characters.  Mildred Wirt Benson and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams are credited with developing many plots and sculpting the character of Nancy Drew.  Leslie McFarlane is credited with writing many of the original Hardy Boys books. 

 

Vine City Dairy

Westfield, New York

In modern day, whenever we want to get milk we travel to the supermarket to get a carton of our favorite type of milk.  In the past, however, people received milk through a different method .. thanks to the friendly milkman who delivered milk right to our homes.

Customers would place their orders with the milkman and fresh milk was delivered to their doorsteps the next day. Some homes had insulated boxes placed on their porches while some homes cubbies or milk boxes that were built into the side of the house.  In fact, some older homes still have their nostalgic milk boxes to this day!  My childhood home had the milk box mounted to the side of the house by a back door leading into the garage. The milkman would place fresh bottles of milk into the milk boxes and the take the empty bottles. After the automobile came on the scene, milk trucks delivered the fresh milk to homes across the country.  Eventually, glass milk bottles were replaced by wax paper coated cartons.  By the 1950s, almost all milk in the United States was packaged in square cartons.

A Galvanized and Insulated Milk Box

Today, doorstep mile delivery is no longer commonplace.  According to USDA, in the 1950s, more than half of consumer milk sales came from home delivery services.  

Remember the days when mornings were associated with the clinking of glass bottles as the friendly milkman set them down in the milk box?  Our milkman was Lester Johnson who worked for the Vine City Dairy.  He always wore a white hat, white shirt, black bow-tie, jacket with the Vine City insigna, white pants, black shoes and a warm smile for all his happy customers. 

The invention of glass milk bottles changed the dairy delivery scene.  In 1878, the first glass milk bottle was patented.  It was called the Lester Milk Jar.  Milk was sold in glass bottles for the first time a year later, in 1879.  

Henry D.. Thatcher invented a different glass milk bottle design in 1884.  He was the first to include advertising cardboard cap.  Soon, more dairies began to create their own versions and by the 1920s designs and advertisements were etched onto the glass bottles.