Henna Pix

As requested...

Several people have told me in comments and by email that they wanted to see photos of my freshly henna-ed hair.

Here's my problem with posting photos of my hair. To show off the red highlights, I would need sunshine. Sunshine is not allowed into my home at present. I would have to go outside and stand in the hot sunshine. And I'm not good at photographing myself, so I might have a sunstroke  before I finally got a picture that wasn't ridiculous. It makes me cranky even to think about all that, so I'm not going to do it.

But take heart. I was sitting in my car today, enjoying the AC and waiting for my daughter, when I noticed that the sun was shining through the car window on my hair. I immediately thought of my photo-hungry readers, and I got my camera out of my purse and took a few pictures of my image in the visor mirror.

The visor mirror isn't very big, so when I held my camera to the right of my head and out of the picture, the camera saw only half of my face. But I made sure that the photos included the important part -- my glowing red hair. In fact, my hair glows several degrees redder in these photos than it does in real life. You can judge the brilliance of the sunshine and the amount of overexposure in the photos by the lack of color and features in my face.

So, without further ado, dear readers, here are the photos I took. I've decided to post them uncensored and in chronological order. I hope you enjoy them. I would have taken more for you, but mercifully, my daughter returned after #7.

• Shot 1
• Shot 2
• Shot 3
• Shot 4
• Shot 5
• Shot 6
• Shot 7

Henna-ed Again

Hair history

Photo by Khalid Mahmood

What's the same about me and the elderly Punjabi lady in the photo? Well, let's jump to the obvious -- that is, it would be obvious if you saw me. We have both henna-ed our hair!

Yes, my hair is kind of red right now, especially the parts that were formerly gray. But even my formerly gray, now red parts are not as carrot-colored as this lady's hair. (Thank goodness!) 

When I was in my 20s, my girlfriend and hairdresser Pat  introduced me to henna. She sold me the packets of henna powder at a cheap price, and I used it every now and then for several years. It gave my hair a slightly red glow and made it feel thicker. It was fun!

Then I grew up, got busy, and had children. For years, I kept my hair long and wore it in a single braid down my back. It was a quick, tidy style that kept the hair out of my eyes.

About six or seven years ago, I had my hair cut to shoulder length. Over the next several years, I gradually cut it shorter and shorter, and now it's finally short enough that it's out of my eyes again. (I really can't stand my hair falling into my face.)

Over the past decade, I've been getting a few more gray hairs all the time. My hair is still mostly dark, but my sideburns are going gray and the rest of my hair is sprinkled with gray and white. The gray doesn't bother me -- I call it my "natural highlights." And I've always sworn that I would never color my hair because I don't want the fuss of keeping it colored.

That changed a few months ago. Keely told me that she had found an herbs and botannicals website that sold henna by the pound. She said that she had ordered a pound and she was going to henna her hair. I heard myself say, "Oh! Let's do my hair too!"

Keely read online about different methods of applying henna to hair, and she decided we'd mix the henna powder with lemon juice. She said she expected the henna to really "take" because that's the same way that wools are dyed (with an acid.)

And she was right. It was the most effective henna I've ever used! My hair turned surprisingly reddish and even looked several shades lighter than my usual dark brown. I think the lemon juice bleached it a little. All my gray hairs turned red, so my sideburns were quite red. It was sort of an edgy look, compared to my usual self. And my eyes looked very blue with my new hair color.

What I need when I get tired of my red look...

Since then, the color has faded somewhat (not completely). And of course, the gray started showing again (the exact problem that I always thought I'd avoid.) I thought about letting nature take its course. But Keely persuaded me to redo the red, so we had another henna party yesterday evening. I think my hair may be a little redder this time than last time.

I asked Isaac today what he thought about little old ladies with red hair. He avoided saying anything derogatory. My husband patted me this morning and said that I'm always beautiful. Keely is enthusiastic about my redhead look. So, in this absence of criticism, I must say that henna is still fun. 

And Keely's a redhead too. Henna with lemon juice really takes on her light hair, and the color looks good on her! I told her she should say she got her red hair from her mother.

Sunshine and Shadow

At the VA Medical Center in Nashville

I spent a day at the VA Medical Center in Nashville with Dennis, earlier this week. In the late 1960s, he injured his hand while working on a Navy aircraft carrier flight deck. Now the injury is affecting his ability to grip with that hand, so he had a morning appointment related to that. Then he had a 3-hour wait for an unrelated appointment in the afternoon.

While Dennis was at his first appointment, I waited for him in a lobby on the third floor that overlooks a courtyard. The last time I spent time looking through that window, workers were laying the walkway. It was interesting to see the finished project. One thing bothered me, though -- a red piece of garbage on the rocks.

The courtyard, seen through a third floor window

When we went back to the first floor, I walked outside, crunched my way across the rocks, picked up that piece of trash, and put it in a garbage can. It was a jagged piece of red plastic with a few small white words on one side. I decided it was part of a broken sign. Maybe it blew off one of the surrounding rooftops.

In the background, the window where I took the first picture.

Every plant in the courtyard makes a statement. The flower planters had not seen any attention this spring. A scraggly pansy was growing in the corner of one planter. In another, a single tulip was almost ready to bloom. Why not plant ivy in the flower boxes if they aren't going to be kept full of flowers?

Unexpected visual treat

The designer planned for people to experience the courtyard by seeing it from windows, as well as by visiting it. From all levels, the simple structure of the courtyard and the contrasts of light within it are interesting, but soothing.

I didn't spent my entire day analyzing this courtyard, even though it may sound like it. After I got that piece of red plastic trash picked up, I spent the rest of the afternoon in 19th century South Dakota with Norwegian settlers -- Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rölvaag. After we finally got home, I sat down and finished the book.

In Giants in the Earth, there are great dreams, mighty labors, well-earned victories, crippling fears, terrible loneliness, and heartbreaking losses. Several days later, I am still mulling over what I read.

No Stone Unused

Recycled tile flooring

Part of an old foundation, seen in Hopkinsville, KY

Shady Back Yard

Pleasantly overgrown

I peeked over a fence and saw this Hopkinsville (KY) back yard on a hot afternoon a few weeks ago. It was such a pleasant space that I wanted to remember it, so I took a picture. I suppose it's a little overgrown by some people's standards, but it has an abundance of shade and -- in my opinion-- an informal, natural, inviting charm.

Art Deco Facade in Greenville KY

Old building with a 1930s update

I saw this building last fall in Greenville, KY, on a corner near the courthouse in the downtown business district.

The second and third floors appear to have their original fancy window heads. I think the windows might have some Italianate influence, even though the roof line isn't anything special. (If I'm wrong about Italianate, please don't hesitate to correct me.)

I am positive about this -- the concrete front of the building at ground level is Art Deco in style. It was almost certainly added in the 1920s or 1930s. My theory is that a new generation took ownership of the building and wanted to modernize the store front. The fine Art Deco fire station and city hall, built by WPA workers just a block away, may have provided inspiration.

The Art Deco facade was an inappropriate modernization that totally destroyed the building's architectural integrity. However, it's interesting that the facade has developed some architectural value of its own, with the passage of time. I doubt if that will happen with the 1960s facades that Mark wrote about in the comments of another post.

Note: I originally subtitled this post "19th century building with a 1930s update", but I've changed it to "Old building with a 1930s update". I've decided I shouldn't try to estimate the building's age. The building appears to be made of concrete blocks. I did some research on concrete blocks this morning. Hollow concrete block became widely available in the early 1900s, due to new, widely-available block-making machinery. However, both solid and hollow concrete blocks were made and used by individual contractors as early as the mid-1800s.

Flower Power

Still having fun

I saw a lady of unquenchable spirit today. This little elderly lady, the lady of unquenchable spirit, came into the store, leaning heavily on her cane. It was clear that she needed its support.

It was equally obvious that she had given her cane some pizazz. It was decorated from top to bottom with silk flowers, feathers, ribbons, and even a little flag, all in a red, white, and blue theme.

A little girl stared at the lady's wonderful walking stick, and the lady paused to let her see it better. I heard her explain to the little girl's mother that she'll change to an autumn theme in a few weeks.

When the time comes that I need a cane, I think my cane will have flower power, too. Yes, it will be decorated with cascades of imagination and flourishes of bravado, and it will flutter a little as I walk. The grandkids will like it.

The Body as an Industrial Palace

Man's internal machinery

Several years ago, I came across an interesting old illustration on the National Institute of Health (NIH) website. It shows the human body as a factory -- literally, as an "industrial palace." I saved the image because I liked it, and then I quickly forgot about it.

Tonight, I came across the "Industrial Palace" again, and looked at it a little differently, due to my recent (small) study of the modernistic architecture of the early and middle 20th century.

Here are the details of this piece of art, according to the NIH:

Der Mensch als Industriepalast (Man as Industrial Palace)by Fritz Kahn (1888-1968)Stuttgart, 1926. Chromolithograph. National Library of Medicine.Kahn’s modernist visualization of the digestive and respiratory system as "industrial palace," really a chemical plant, was conceived in a period when the German chemical industry was the world’s most advanced.

Source: Dreaming the Industrial Body

It seems that, in the 1920s and 1930s, people were extremely excited about machines. It was the Machine Age. The assembly line had been invented, enabling many people to own personal machines -- automobiles. High speed travel was possible via big ocean liners and streamlined trains. Electricity, produced by generators and turbines, was transforming everyday life. Mechanized factories were churning out many new, inexpensive consumer goods. Machines even made it possible for people to fly.

I've been reading that modernists thought of schools as machines for learning, houses as machines for living, and hospitals as machines for healing. Designed for speed and efficiency, the architecture sometimes seemed cold. Unnecessary frills were stripped away, and the design was streamlined just as a train or an airplane might have been. This was modern!

Given all that, it's not too surprising to see the human body portrayed as a factory, in a drawing from 1926. Fritz Kahn, a doctor, was just creating a bit of modernistic medical art.

My Other Car is a Golf Cart

One way to save on gasoline

Fred Bishop, Prairie Bluestem reader and internet friend, recently sent some interesting photos of golf carts used on the streets around Sun City, Arizona (northwest Phoenix.) Fred, who knows his old cars much better than I do, has identified the little buggy below as a "1932 Ford." In explanation, Fred wrote:

We followed this Golf cart into the Shopping Center to get these photos.

There are a lot of Golf Carts operating on the streets in the Sun City - Pop. 38k, Sun City West - Pop. 28k and Sun City Grande - Pop. 35k (and growing) communities. (Three communities alone, Sun City, Sun City Grand, and Sun City West, together have a population of approximately 100,000 residents who are 55 or older). >> AGS Newsletter :: 2007 First Quarter - Arizona Geriatrics Society

Wife's cousin lives in Sun City Grande. I have not seen coyotes in Sun City west, but they roam and hunt rabbits and house pets, especially in new area Sun City Grande. Coyotes will walk on the top of block fences peering into the backyards looking for lunch. Fences are not used to separate backyards. Fences are only on major streets or used to separate sub-divisions. Backyards are defined by landscaping.

(Back to Golf Carts). Golf Carts are legally State Licensed to operate on the streets in these and other close by retirement areas. Have been told insurance cost less than $100.00 per year. All but in the older area of Sun City are required to be Electric.

Most will only run maybe 25-28 miles per hour. Of course, some of those old guys have geared their cart up so they will run maybe 31-35 mph. Many Golf Carts are used as a 2nd car. Some are designed to be just transportation vehicles as the one [at left.] That's wife Chris at the drivers door.

Note the more conventional cart at top right of photo. Many carts will have canvas/clear plastic panels to keep rain and cold out. Lot's of women , singly and in pairs, run about the area in a cart. Have noticed a lot of women driving with a male companion along for the ride.

Source: Email, June 23, 2008

And regarding this six-seater, Fred writes,

Took the photo last week. Sales person said it would be about $14K out the door. Background is Sun City West looking across Bell Road. There are lots of Palm Trees in the Sun Cities.

Source: Email, June 30, 2008

What does a golf cart need to be legal on Arizona streets?

In Arizona, all street-legal golf carts must be registered with ADOT. Because some are intended for private use only, the ADOT golf cart registry is not an accurate representation of how many vehicles are in the state. ADOT spokeswoman Cydney DeModica said she believes the number is much higher.

To be street-legal, the carts must be equipped with the same safety features as cars: headlights, taillights, turn signals and windshields, DeModica said. They must have license plates, and operators must be licensed. The carts must stay on streets with speed limits of 35 mph or less.

Source: "Souped-up golf carts taking to the streets," by Erin Zlomek, The Arizona Republic, Nov. 30, 2006 12:00 AM

A golf cart isn't a viable solution for everyone, but I can certainly see some benefits -- they're economical to operate, easy to park, and fun to customize.

Pointy Shoes

The pair of beaded, denim shoes above, left, are probably the most pointed shoes I've ever seen in my life. (They certainly wouldn't fit my toes!) Their heels aren't visible, but they were about 2 inches high and also very pointed. These shoes were on the shelves of a Hopkinsville thrift shop, yesterday.

Who's Wearing Maternity Shirts?

Baby-doll tops don't appeal to this baby boomer.

One morning when I was in third grade, my brother told me that we didn't have to go to school for the next two weeks. "The teacher had her baby," he announced.

"Baby?" I wondered. "What are you talking about?"

My brother was amazed at my stupidity. "Didn't you know she was expecting? Why did you think she was wearing big shirts?"

"Nobody told me," I protested. And that was the day that I learned. If a lady wore big shirts, it could mean she was pregnant.

What do pregnant ladies wear, 50 years later? Well, some don't hide under baggy shirts. Their garb makes it clear that they are quite pregnant. Even little third-grade country girls could probably figure it out.

Traditional maternity styles are still available for those who prefer them, as well as tailored styles for business women, and much more. Fashion-wise, it's a great time to be pregnant.

And what do fashion designers offer for us ladies who aren't pregnant? Take a look at the style of this shirt and this one. No, they're not maternity shirts. They're "baby-dolls" (not to be confused with baby-doll maternity wear, of course.)

Baby-dolls are probably very comfortable, but you won't find me wearing one. I don't care if they are fashionable, retro, hippy, or what-have-you. I wore enough shirts like that when I really was pregnant.

Rock County (Nebraska) Courthouse

Life in the Nebraska Sandhills...

A small but steady stream of visitors come to Prairie Bluestem, hoping to find images of the Rock County Courthouse in Bassett, Nebraska. Search engines send them here because I once linked to a photo of the Rock County courthouse as an example of an Art Deco structure.

I came across the above snapshot a few days ago in a box of photos. It was taken about five years ago. It shows the courthouse from a different angle, so it might be interesting to the folks who are seeking info about the building.

According to the Nebraska Historic Building Reconnaissance Report (pdf file):

The first court house built in Rock County was destroyed by a fire in 1899 and the second was torn down to make room for the court house built in 1939. This court house was constructed at a cost to the county of $30,000 with the assistance of a $33,000 Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) grant.

I haven't been inside the Rock County Courthouse for at least 35 years, and I retain only a few, vague memories of the building:

• Sounds echo slightly in the hallways, probably because of the hard stone (?) or ceramic (?) floors.
• I had a macabre fascination with the barred windows of the jail in the basement of the courthouse when I was a child.
• The office of the County Superintendent of Schools in the courthouse had a small library of teacher resources (filmstrips and more). These materials were much appreciated by rural teachers and students.

Technorati tags: Rock County Nebraska, Bassett NE, courthouse, historic building, art deco, WPA,

Mineral Hall and Its Unique Arched Doorway

History and Old Stuff...

Image courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,
Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS MO,48-KANCI,10-5

The curious arched doorway is the photo above is the main entry to Mineral Hall in Kansas City, MO.

Mineral Hall was built between 1903 and 1905. Its architect was Louis Curtiss (1865-1924). He was born in Ontario, Canada. After studying architecture in Toronto and Paris, he came to Kansas City around 1890, apparently attracted by the economic boom and extensive construction in the area.

According to Susan Jezak Ford, writing for the Kansas City Public Library, "[Curtiss] only wore white. He continually smoked monogrammed Turkish cigarettes. He was a reckless driver. Yet his legacy of buildings remains truly recognizable by their style and innovative designs."

The main part of the house was built by William Rule, who never lived in it. About a year after it was built, it was sold to Roland E. Bruner, a businessman with extensive personal and business interests in mining.

To house and showcase his extensive collection of minerals, Bruner employed Curtiss to design and add a wing to the house . The name Mineral Hall was given to the house because samples of local minerals were embedded in the mortar of the interior walls of Bruner's new wing.

The exterior of the home is Jackson County oolitic limestone -- that is, locally quarried stone. The door itself is an example of Art Noveau style. The total cost of the house, when built, was about $25,000.

Mineral Hall looks like the residence of a mining king. The doorway reminds me of a hobbit hole, but of course Louis Curtiss had no such influences on his imagination. In 1903, J. R. R. Tolkien was a mere lad of 11 years.

According to Ford, Louis Curtiss is buried in an unmarked grave in Kansas City's Mount Washington cemetery. He died in 1924, at work at his drafting table.

Mineral Hall is used today as the Admissions Office of the Kansas City Art Institute. The Art Institute website remarks that Mineral Hall's door is said to be "the most photographed doorway in Kansas City."

I found a description of Mineral Hall and the photos I've posted here in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) at the Library of Congress website. Most of the details I've cited here come from the HABS documentation. If you want to read it yourself, the best way to find it is to visit the HABS homepage and type "Mineral Hall Kansas City" into the search bar.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,

Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS MO,48-KANCI,10-2

Note: I revised this a few hours after I posted it to organize it better and to include more information. I also separated some information into a second post about buildings designed by Louis Curtiss.

Technorati tags: Mineral Hall, Louis Curtiss

I Admire the Shaker Arches

And What I Think About It...

South Union Shaker Museum,
near Bowling Green KY

If I could choose one architectural detail that I'd like in my next home just for the joy of it, it would be an arch (or several!) An arched main entry would be nice and some more arched doorways inside.

To me, arched doorways look peaceful and inviting, and apparently the Shakers at South Union, Kentucky agreed. They built many arched doorways into their Centre House.

You can see a few more nice Shaker arches in these National Geographic photos. (Someone has recreated the National Geographic's Shaker dining hall photo in 3-D here.)

Shaker architecture emphasized clean simple lines, the natural beauty of the materials, and useful function. The simple graceful shape of the arch met Shaker aesthetic guidelines and the arches shaped the light and marked the transitions into a different spaces.

When we lived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, one thing I enjoyed in the older homes was the arched entries. I think the arches were a remnant of Moorish influence from Spanish colonial days. I was intrigued by the little drama of passing through an arched doorway that separated public space from private space.

The various arches of triumph that have been built through the centuries are about as opposite as you can get to the humble, simple Shaker arches!

Here's a nice garden arch I saw at the Nashville Zoo. Though I'll probably never live in a house with arched doorways, I could have a nice arched garden gateway. Do you see the benches beneath the arbor? What a lovely transition from the outer world to the garden. The Shakers might approve, as long as the plant on the arbor was something useful like a grapevine.

Garden at Grassmere Farm, Nashville (TN) Zoo

Technorati tags: arches, doorways, Shakers

Shutters on the Windows

And What I Think About It...

We all have our little pet peeves, and one of Isaac's is that he doesn't like fake window shutters. Some people may call them "decorative" shutters, but Isaac is not one to mince words. Shutters are either real or fake to him.

Most of all, Isaac detests picture windows, six or eight feet wide or even wider, with a 1-foot-wide fake shutter on each side. "It's so obvious that they're fake," he moans.

It's amazing how many houses have blatantly fake shutters. Just in Christian County, KY, there must be 50,000 windows with decorative "shutters" that wouldn't cover half the window (if they closed, which they don't.)

I have to agree with Isaac. Functional shutters are best. If the shutters aren't going to be functional, at least match the size of the shutter to the size of the window opening. Better yet, use a little imagination and make your house unique instead of just another fake-shuttered clone.

Technorati tags:

fake
real

Black, The New Christmas Tree Color

Some Interesting News... And What I Think About It...

I know I'm on the dull, safe side, not on the cutting edge, but I was surprised today. Apparently, the latest color for Christmas trees is black.

I read it in the news. It must be so. I did a Google search for "black Christmas tree" and it is so, indeed.

I don't care if someone wants a black tree. Black is no more a fake color than gold or silver or white. I remain a traditionalist, though. My artificial Christmas tree is green and it's going to stay that way.

Technorati tags:

black Christmas tree

Bare Essentials

And What I Think About It...

"Perfection is not when there’s nothing to add,
but when there’s nothing to take away."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944, French aviator and writer)

What a great quote. I could (should) apply it to hundreds of things in my life.

The quote gives more guidance than the well-known saying, "Less is more," but the two are closely related. "Less is more" was the mantra that guided Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), a German-born architect who designed minimalist skyscrapers, such as the IBM Building and the Lake Shore Drive Towers in Chicago.

His [Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's] mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define austere but elegant spaces. He developed the use of exposed steel structure and glass to enclose and define space, striving for an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought to create a rational approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, and is known for his use of the aphorisms “less is more” and "God is in the details".

(Source)

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (whose thought about perfection I quoted above) studied architecture in Paris before becoming a pilot, so perhaps he was influenced by minimalist thought there. He wrote a number of books about flying, but I think most Americans would know him better as the author of "The Little Prince."

I admire the idea of minimalism (things stripped to their essence, unnecessary detail eliminated). There are very few areas where I've achieved such perfection. It remains a goal, and I try to keep reminding myself.

A few years ago, one of the children at church wanted me to buy a magazine for their school fund-raiser. I looked through the list, and the title "Real Simple" caught my eye so I subscribed. To my surprise, it is mostly a shopping magazine. The magazine's theme is, "Life made easier," and they think you need to buy a lot of stuff to achieve that goal.

"Less is more," and "Life made easier," don't perfectly contradict each other, but they don't perfectly parallel each other either.

I think this relates -- we don't own a weedeater or a rototiller. There are times when those tools would make life easier, but if we owned them, we'd start imposing higher standards of perfection on the lawn and garden. Without them, we get a little more exercise occasionally, but most of the time, we save ourselves a lot of work and expense. Even better, we spare ourselves from the guilty feeling of owning expensive yard tools that we think we should use more.

Our yard doesn't have to be groomed to perfection -- we live out in the country. Enough is enough.

Technorati tags:

minimalism

Five Memorable Purses

The histories of five great purses I have owned

I can't tell you how many purses I've had in 55 years. I think the number might be more than 2 dozen but less than 55. Or maybe not. I just can't estimate. Anyway, here are five I remember fondly.

• A square wooden box that looked like a miniature picket fence, with bright green flower-print cloth above and two circular handles. It was a cute, unique purse of the early 70's. The one bad thing about it was that the wooden part tended to snag nylon stockings. Keely played with this little box purse when she was little, and I think she still has it.

• A pearl-beaded envelope clutch. I bought it for some formal event when I was in my early 20's. It served me faithfully for many years and I had many compliments on it. Unfortunately, I decided to hand-wash it a few years ago. The stain in the lining that I wanted to remove is still there, and the innards of the purse were terribly weakened in the water. It must have had some kind of cardboard in it.

• A "man-purse" I bought in Bolivia. It was the smallest purse I ever owned. All the Bolivian guys carried them. It was larger than a wallet, but much smaller than most women's purses. It was leather, and it had a wrist strap. If I couldn't close it, I knew I had too much in it. It died when its main snap stopped working. I still have it somewhere, unless I purged it in a clutter-control attack.

• A handmade leather patchwork purse. It was another of the purses I bought in Bolivia. At the market in La Paz, someone sliced into it with a razor in a pickpocket attempt. (They did this sort of thing there; you had to be on guard constantly in crowds.) The seams of the patchwork were too tough for them, and they didn't get into the bag. I took it back to the shop where it was made, and they were horrified but proud the purse had resisted the attempt. They removed the cut patches and replaced them, and the purse was good as new.

• A huge alligator-skin bag I had when the kids were little. I bought it at the Army Post Exchange (PX) in Berlin, Germany. It had been priced at $125, but I paid about $20 for it on clearance. Did I mention that it was huge? It was long and deep with two short shoulder straps, and it fit nicely under my arm. It held everything I needed and everything the kids needed too -- books, toys, diapers, and more. I never carried a diaper bag.

The purse I'm currently carrying is a black Duck Head® shoulder bag with a zipper closure, and an outside pocket for my cell phone. If it becomes a memorable purse, it will be for its durability. It's going into a second year of hard use, and it still looks decent.

Technorati tags:

purses
handbags

Plastic Flamingos' Swan Song

Some Interesting News...

It's the end of an era. The little factory in Leominster, Massachusetts, where the pink plastic flamingo was invented in 1957 has come upon hard times and is going out of business.

If you own one of these birds, you should check whether it was made by Union Products, Inc. If it's a Union Products flamingo, it will probably become highly collectible, and perhaps you should even keep it safe from thieves!

Union Products Inc. stopped producing flamingos and other lawn ornaments at its Leominster factory in June, and is going out of business Nov. 1 — a victim of rising expenses for plastic resin and electricity, as well financing problems.

The small privately held firm has been in talks with a pair of rival lawn ornament makers interested in buying the molds and resuming production of the flamingos, designed in 1957 by local son Don Featherstone.

"We think the flamingo will go on," Keith Marshall, Union Products' chief financial officer, said at the company's aging brick factory, where just a few years ago more than 100 employees churned out flamingos by the millions.

Quoted from "Pink plastic flamingo faces extinction"
Associated Press by Mark Jewell
Sun Oct 29, 2006

I have never owned a pink plastic flamingo, but I find them mildly amusing. Someone along Country Club Lane in Hopkinsville has a flock of them. They move around on the lawn. It's kind of interesting to see where they'll be next. I'm sure they do most of their moving when it's time to mow the grass.

Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, paid tribute to the infamous bird that has been immortalized everywhere -- from the John Waters' movie Pink Flamingos, to bachelor parties and lawns across America.

"Let's face it," he said. "As iconic emblems of kitsch, there are two pillars of cheesy, campiness in the American pantheon. One is the velvet Elvis. The other is the pink flamingo."

Quoted from "RIP: Pink Flamingo, 1957-2006"
South Florida Sun Sentinel by Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub
October 20 2006

Personally, I would so much rather have a pink plastic flamingo than a velvet Elvis.

_________________

More about pink plastic flamingos:
JaneyZee's Flamingo Pages: The Pretty Pink Plastic Flamingo
Pink Flamingos: So Tacky Yet So Cool

Technorati tags:

kitsch
1950s
pink plastic flamingos

Vintage Clothing Hoard

History and Old Stuff...

If you have any interest in vintage clothing, you'll enjoy reading this unique story about a huge collection of designer clothing that spans 50 years of fashion. The valuable garments were bought and stored unworn by a wealthy woman who suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Her lifetime collection of clothing has been purchased by a vintage clothing store in Los Angeles and it's attracting a lot of attention from movie costumers and celebrities.

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vintage clothing