Nat M Wills One great comedian of an age long ago.

The comic Nat M Wills leaves us with more questions than answers on his life. He was a great performer, but in his private life there were hard times and difficult moments. He was married 4 times. He was a head liner of great fortune. He was working the Palace theater 6 weeks after it opened as its star. He made countless recordings. He was a master at the monologue.

Yet there was sadness in this life. He was in terrible debt, He was for a while living at the Lambs Club on 44th street in New York. He was as the papers said at the time, without any assetts. He was paying alimony on his previous wives. I guess this problem haunted him. He was only 44 when he died, So I gather he went through some marriages rather fast. I guess they were ugly situations as well. But he was working then, but something was wrong.

Things seem to change with his 4th wife. He had a child with his 4th wife, and he lived in New Jersey as many stars did. His address at the time was #2 31st Street in Woodcliff, New Jersey. One would think he was trying to start again. He was popular on Broadway at this time too.

Wills made a number of recordings to cover much of what he did on Broadway and Vaudeville. His recordings of No news or what killed the dog and BPOE were so famous and great sellers. But through it all he was in trouble. One did not see this, but there seemed to be problems.

The NY Times reports on Dec 10, 1917 that Wills went into his garage to work on his car as he was a car buff. He locked the garage doors and turned on the car. Hours later he was found by the door of the garage with the key of the garage in his hand, very dead. Did he want to die? was it a choice? Was he depressed enough to do that? No one really knows.

He was known to tinker a lot with cars. He enjoyed them. But one would think that anyone who knew about cars would know to leave some opening in a garage to allow air to come in. That is what is puzzling? He was a smart man, and a good man with cars. So why lock the door? Does it sound like suicide? I would have to say yes, but I cannot prove that. No one can. If it was a mistake is was a very foolish one, and one that almost does not make sense.

But the world lost a great entertainer on the 10th of December 1917. His death shocked the theatrical community and of course his family. He was embalmed and laid out at Campbell's Funeral home in NYC. His funeral service was joined by delegations from the Lambs club, Friars club and the Players club. He was then entombed in a mausoleum in WoodLawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

I was there looking for him, but as of yet have not found him. I will of course in time. But this short little piece is about a great performer who left us all with a smile, even if he was crying.
Nat M Wills as the Hobo Comedian for which he was famous..... Wills 1873-1917
One of his many Edison recordings, this one BPOE. That was a great classic.
No News or what killed the dog was his greatest hit. It was funny in 1906, and still funny in our own age. Good comedy lives, just like good fashion, for a long time. I played a recording of Wills just before I wrote this. I listened to him and had to smile. If his comedy reaches me a century later he really was doing a great job. He truly was one of the greats on Broadway and in Vaudeville. He left this world far too soon.

The phonograph record that started it all. The record I shared with my friends in Fort Lauderdale Florida in 1969 -70

I have had a fascination for recorded sound since I was a little boy. I went to Thomas Edison's Laboratory in 1964. It was still a working factory then, It was there an old fellow who had worked for the old man played a phonograph for me. I WAS HOOKED. I became fascinated with recorded sound. But did not know much about it. I needed to learn, and I did in time.

The starting point of this learning curve took place in October of 1969. I was in class at Riverland Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I was in Mr Dixon's class in the 6th grade. I had my friends there...Mark (itchy) Fletcher, Jimmy, Kern Orr and a few others. We would hang out together and have fun as all 12 year old kids did in those days. Gosh we would climb trees and sing in them, or just hang out and walk around. I still remember the songs we used to sing in the trees. Those were such fun days, and I have always missed those guys.

It was another age... Kid's today would not understand it at all. But one day in class we did a show and tell program.

I was originally from New Jersey and has some stuff from Washington's Headquarters in Morristown NJ. It was cool pictures of the site. I was proud of my presentation, however a kid in the class brought in something that made my eyes bulge out. He brought to class an old record. He and his dad had gone fishing in Port Everglades and had pulled this up with their hook. It was record unlike any I had ever seen before. I traded with him all my pictures of Washington's Headquarters for that record. I thought at that time I had one of the oldest records in the world. Well I was 12, and VERY naive.

I brought the record to Itchy Fletchers house and his father played it on their stereo. In those days stereos had 78 as a speed. It was amazing to listen too. It was four guys singing harmony. Not very well I will admit. But what did I know. Itchy's father called the local radio station in Fort Lauderdale and they said it was a recording from around 1900. I was excited. It meant it was a recording nearly 70 years old! Well it was nice to think that.

Well that was then, and now 40 years later I have that record, and I know what it is, and what age it is as well. It is from the 1950's. It is a homemade record of 4 guys singing barbershop harmony. Not too well I will admit, But it was this record that started it all for me as a record collector. A record dredged up from Port Everglades. Perhaps the fellows listening to what they recorded, tossed the record into the harbor. Who knows, but since 1969 that record that was fun for us kids to look at has been a part of my collection. It is not worth anything, but it is a wonderful memory of my childhood.

I almost forgot it too, I was leaving Florida on February 14, 1970. I had brought the record to Mark (Itchy) Fletchers house and we did some fun stuff and his dad tried to study it. I took my bike and went home as we were to leave for New Jersey the next day. Both Mark and Jimmy came by and brought back that record to me. It was the last time I would ever see them. So when I do look at this record, I remember my friends from the past in Fort Lauderdale where this record changed my life.

This is that record that I forgot at Mark Fletchers house and he brought back to me with my friend Jimmy, on February 13, 1970. We all said goodbye and cried a little. I wonder how they are all doing today? I always think of them when ever I see this record. The record that started my obsession with the history of recorded sound.

I wish I could talk to those guys again. My friends from so long ago...I miss you

The USS Baltimore..A most remarkable unremarkable American navy vessel

The USS Baltimore lived a very long charmed life. Her existence goes from going into service in January 1890 to finally being scraped in 1942. Few vessel have lived so long and such a varied life as hers.The Baltimore was an early steel navy vessel based on much of the work of an inventor who would always be a part of this vessel. Although he never saw her, John Ericsson the great Swedish inventor who created the original Monitor of 1862 and many afterwards, the screw propeller for ships, and many other wonderful inventions for the United States Navy. Ericsson died in early 1889. In August of 1890 it was decided to send his body back to his his native homeland. The Baltimore was selected to be the vessel who would have the honor to bring back the body of John Ericsson.
John Ericsson 1803-1889
This is a photograph of the Baltimore leaving New York Harbor with the body of Ericsson on board. The USS Boston is firing a salute to Ericsson. There was a massive ceremony in New York. Ericsson's body had been kept in the Marble Cemetery while things were prepared in Sweden to accept his remains. His coffin was cloth covered and sealed in a massive mahogany lead lined outer cover. A very heavy coffin to be sure. On the coffin was placed both the US flag and that of Sweden. On the foremast of the Baltimore as you will see was the flag of Sweden as well.
A panting of that scene in New York Harbor
The Baltimore was all over the globe in the early 1890's. She was in Venezuela during military disputes and soon on the west coast of the US. She was at Mare Island for a while and then in Hawaii till early1898.

The Baltimore soon found herself in Asian waters and as fate would have it, she became part of Dewey's squadron in Hong Kong. She was part of the great battle of Manila Bay. She stayed in that area patroling till 1900.

Then she spend a few years at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. By 1903 she was on the move again. She was part of the Caribbean, Asiatic, and the North Atlantic fleet. By 1911 she was a relic from a distant age already. She was changed into a receiving ship at the Charleston Navy yard. That is usually a sign time is about to run out.

However, things changed and she was made into a mine layer and recommissioned in 1915. She was used in tests and practices in mine laying in the Charleston area. In 1918 the old vessel was sent to Europe to lay mines all around Ireland, Scotland, and Iceland .
The Mine Layer USS Baltimore in 1916. She would serve in Europe till early 1919. Then she sailed for the West coast of the USA and joined the Pacific Squadron. She was there till early 1921. After that she sailed for Pearl Harbor where she was in service till she was placed out of commission as she had been so many times before. But now it was the summer of 1922 and she was 32 years old.

However fate interceded and she became a receiving ship again for Pearl Harbor. She was in the company there of another old timer of the early steel navy, the USS. Kearsarge. In fact by this time the Kearsarge has been changed into a Crane ship. Her hull supported a massive heavy duty crane.

The Baltimore just slowly rusted away in her post as a receiving ship. By 1937 she was pushing 50 and not really even usable as a receiving ship. She was taken of the lists. However she did not go, she stayed there and rusted.
She was there during the attack on Pearl harbor on December 7, 1941. But now with a new war starting there was no use for this old rust bucket of another age. She was finally sold for scrap in February of 1942. She entered this world and left it a lady. As I said in the title, a remarkable, unremarkable ship.

The great Bert Williams (1874-1922).. A great star in a not so great time.

Bert Williams was a great performer, dancer, writer, comedian, and mime. That he happened to be black had nothing to do with anything. But in the age he lived, it did. This was a great mind and a great collector of books. He loved Shakespeare, but never could perform it.

He was one of the most beloved performers on stage, yet he was not allowed in the front door of many of the hotels of the cities in which he performed. He was a star on Columbia Records. His recordings were numerous. He received a handsome amount of money for his recordings alone. He was outsold by only a few on the Columbia label.

He traveled the country to rave reviews. Yet when he wanted a drink at a bar, he was often insulted and driven away. In fact once while at the Astor Hotel he went in and asked for a drink. The Bartender was not going to serve a black man so he told Williams that it would cost $50.00 for a drink. Not to be undone by this racist bartender Williams produced a wad of $100.00 bills and said "Buy a round for every person at the bar" That solved that. But still he had to deal with racism in his work and in his private life.Burt Williams 1874 - 1922
The song that became Williams most popular hit. He came to hate the song in time, but was forced to perform it for the rest of his life. As it became his theme song and most people associated the song with him.
Burt Williams in the Columbia recording laboratory as they liked to call it back then. Notice he is singing into a large horn, and just the end of a clarinet is sticking out behind him.
Here is a 1913 edition of his famous song Nobody. One of the best selling records in the Columbia catalog in its day.
Here is Bert Williams in some of his costumes. He always performed in black face as was the custom of the time. I wonder how many in the audience even knew he was black. What was demeaning was this talented performer had to always perform this way. He made a lot of money that is true. He was a super star of his time. He was perhaps the first of the great black stars on stage. It is sad he lived such a short life.

He lived in a age of Jim Crow, but was a dignified gentleman through out his life. I wish that could be said of most of his white colleagues of the time. Because for many it can not. W.C. Fields wrote of Williams saying, "he was the funnest man I ever saw, and the saddest man I ever knew."
Was he bothered by it all. I am sure he was. But he also knew he was in a much better position to deal with it. He was wealthy, and famous, but still it was hard in America for him. I will finish this up with Bert Williams own words on what he thought of his lot in life.

"People sometimes ask me if I would not give anything to be white. I answer . . . most emphatically, "No." How do I know what I might be if I were a white man? I might be a sandhog, burrowing away and losing my health for $8 a day. I might be a streetcar conductor at $12 or $15 a week. There is many a white man less fortunate and less well-equipped than I am. In fact, I have never been able to discover that there was anything disgraceful in being a colored man. But I have often found it inconvenient . . . in America."

Who is to blame for the sinking of the Lusitania?

On May 7, 1915, the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20. The Lusitania sank in the short space of 18 minutes. This was an amazingly short space of time for a massive ocean liner to sink. What went wrong? This was a very well designed ship. In fact it had been designed to admiralty specifications.

It seems that the torpedo just hit the right spot and doomed the ship many called practically unsinkable. Yes that is what the ads for the Lusitania said. That she was practically unsinkable. It was not just the owners of the Titanic that said that, most ocean liner companies of the period said that. But that is getting away from my point here. Who is to blame for the sinking?

I would have to say both sides are equally at fault. Both are equally to blame. The German's had every right to sink her. She was carrying arms. She was even listed in Jane's fighting ships. The British were guilty of deceiving the world by saying that the Lusitania was not carrying arms. In many ways the British are more guilty than the Germans. If the German's had not stopped the ship, those bullets and shells would be fired at the Germans and killing many of them.

You see the German's had spies in New York Harbor and they saw what was going on. Information was passed. There were 4 Germans caught on the Lusitania and they were imprisoned in the brig below to be taken to England. However their deaths were assured when the vessel was torpedoed.The Lusitania 1907-1915
The Germans made a medal of the Lusitania sinking. It shows Cunard the British Shipping Company selling tickets to a ship they willing filled with arms. The person selling the tickets is death. It makes sense, it was criminal to do such a thing. But they told no one. The German Government put out ads telling people not to sail on the ships that would be going into a war zone. No one listened. Why should they? They were told that the Lusitania could outrun any submarine.

But what they didn't tell them was that many of the boilers of the ship were not lit to reduce the cost of sailing the ship. Therefore she could only go around 18 knots. Not that fast, for she was able when pushed to do 27 knots with all the boilers lit. That was fast, but in her condition as she was she was not the speed queen stated to her passengers. So she was a massive floating lie in many respects.

Once the ship was sunk the medal put out in limited quantities was reproduced by the British in massive quantities and the public was told that they had all been made by the Germans. In fact they were sold in England in great numbers. Over 250,000 were sold. This further demonized the Germans and their sinking of an unarmed vessel.
There are memorial cards further casting blame on Germany for the Lusitania disaster.

The British Government spent weeks over the wreck of the Lusitania in the 1950's. A great deal of mines were dropped onto the wreck to make it almost unrecognisable as the vessel it had once been. WHY?

There has been more recent investigations into the wreck and more bullets and shells have been found in the wreck. A great deal of arms were in this ship. Although they were not responsible for the sinking of the ship, they were contraband and illegal. Germany had every right to sink the vessel. England had no right allowing passengers on a ship that was loaded with arms for a war that played neutral. It was really a bad embarrassing moment for the USA and England.

For it was criminal to allow anyone on a vessel that was carrying arms....The victims of the Lusitania were pawns in a game of chance played by the allies.

A 1898 accessment of Nikola Tesla. The wizard of the electrical world.

The great mind and vision of Tesla are of a lot that is rare in the world. Sadly much of Tesla's life was wasted trying to find support for his experiments. His vision was amazing, his canvas of scientific art incredible. Had he been more able to deal with others or worked with a laboratory in a great university I wonder what would have become of his work and ideas. He was a most gifted man, yet flawed like most geniuses. But the world owes him much. Sadly most of the world does not even know his name. A great man, a great mind, a great seer in the field of electricity and technology.

Walker's Dictionary 1815... One of the first in America

Walker's dictionary started in 1791. It went into various revisions and editions. It was the way a dictionary looked before the age of Websters. The spelling of course is in the British style. The age of Noah Webster was soon to arrive. But as of this printing of 1815, it was still 11 years in the future. This book was published in New York City at 14 Wall Street.
The original owner I would guess was Oliver Corey, who signed this book quite elaborately on Jan 11, 1821.
This is the faceplate of the book
Notices about the publication and what is in the book and introduction. It is interesting to read.
One of the many pages of definitions that really are so different from our own of today. However, many will be recognised. Such as fart, gently described as a wind from behind. Walker's Dictionary was not know as a great dictionary. It was just an early one, specially in the United States where much was lacking in the world of books. Many of the great books were printed in Europe. By the start of the 19th century that was all starting to change. This is one of the books of the transition. Part European, part American. It was the end of an era. Soon everything about the American form of English would change and books like this would be relegated to the shelves and forgotten. As fortune would have it this copy was spared for another day's eyes to enjoy it.

The book no one wanted anyone to read. Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Keckley

I wish I had a first edition of this book. However I have a lovely Lakeside Classics version. Lakeside Classics are printed once a year. I have enjoyed reading it. I gather there were many years ago who were not happy at all it ever existed.Elizabeth Keckley was Mary Lincoln's dressmaker. She was also a confident and friend to the former first lady. She was also in life a slave and a brilliant woman. She worked very hard to purchase her freedom. She was a great dressmaker and gained a reputation for her skills. She made dresses for the wives of a number of famous politicians. In the early 1860's she got a job that was to be her greatest. The dressmaker for Mary Lincoln. A woman of great taste and powerful emotions. A woman who had the ear of the man who ran the United States during it's most trying times. Her emotional state is chronicled to a degree in this book.

She was behind the scenes to many events and conversations. She wrote a book in the late 1860's about her relationship with the troubled first lady and her husband Abraham Lincoln. In her book she made them all a little too human for many, including Mary Lincoln. Robert Lincoln was not at all pleased with the book.

The press against it was quite strong. Keckley never received any money from her original book, and died in poverty in 1907. Her book is a wonderful window into the Lincoln White House. Perhaps one of the more wonderful exchanges in the book describes Lincoln running his fingers through his son's hair as he rested beside him. Or of Lincoln proudly announcing that his goats in the back yard recognized him and he would yell, laugh and wave at them. Lastly it showed the human tragedy of the death of their son Willie. Lincoln was shown to be more human in this book than any before. Perhaps that is why is was not liked. I loved it. I recommend you to read it.

RMS Queen Elizabeth in Fort Lauderdale Florida on December 8, 1968...Newpaper Clippings saved by me as an 11 year old boy.

This is me in 1968

Yes this looks a little rough and not too well done. I must confess it was done by me at the age of 11. It was on Dec 8, 1968, that the RMS Queen Elizabeth was brought to Port Everglades. This was in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I lived a short distance from Port Everglades and I was there often to look at the ships. But this was special. The great Queen Elizabeth, which had sailed for 28 years at this time. It took a while to get her in the harbor as she was way larger than anything that had come on before.

I remember my father wanting to see the ship he had been on in the 1950's called the USS Wasp. It came but had to stay outside of Port Everglades as the draft of the ship was too great for the harbor.

In the case of the Elizabeth, she drew a great deal of water too. She arrived on the 7th. However she could not come in till the 8th as they were dredging the harbor to allow her to make it in. These pictures were from the local paper in Ft. Lauderdale. However it has been too many years and I do not recall the name of the paper anymore.This is a great shot of the Queen Elizabeth
A color picture of the arrival
Greetings at pier 24-25. As a boy I went to this pier and look at the old Queen Elizabeth often. She was a massive wall of rusty steel. I was so impressed by her size. However today liners are much larger. It was something special to stand next to this ship. I had seen as a younger kid the arrival of the Queen Mary in NYC, Now I was seeing the other Queen. I would sit down in the grass and just look at her.
Ok, this is what it is. I was 11 years old and curious. I tried "silly putty" on this picture to see if it did indeed copy the picture. It did but left a nasty scar where a curious 11 year old learned his lesson about using silly putty on important pictures.
One last picture as she comes in. This scrap book was started by my grandfather and I finished it. He had pictures of the Vestris and the Leviathan and I of course added the Queen Elizabeth.

It is always interesting to see what you did as a boy many years after.

Items bought on the Queen Elizabeth in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1969

The Queen Elizabeth was the biggest thing in Fort Lauderdale. Unfortunately it was a great disaster. It never amounted to anything. This post card from the time shows it all. There was not much around there then.The Queen at rest in Florida. She stayed there and just rusted.
Here is a rare advertisement from my days in Ft. Lauderdale. It is from 1969 and I clipped it out and saved it. I never ate on the Queen Elizabeth. But this add makes it sound fascinating.
On the ship you could get things like this. A deck plan
If you look carefully on the lower right bottom you will see The Queen Limited Port Everglades, Florida.
Here is a rare rare item I would imagine. How many people have one of the bags from the Queen Elizabeth's gift shop in Port Everglades? This item was not in use for long and one of the special things I saved as an 11 year old boy.

In fairness to the Hindenberg. It was a wonderful airship. There is much more to this vessel, than it's crash in 1937.

The Hindenburg airship has been the object of failure and disaster for over 70 years now. In fact I have seen it called the Titanic of the air. I have to politely disagree with that. First off the Hindenburg was not an unsuccessful aircraft. It was the airship that followed the most successful passenger airship in history, the Graf Zeppelin. The Hindenburg also had a wonderful season of transportation in the year 1936. In it many thousands of passengers were carried.

The Titanic was a failure from the start. Often it is thought that the Hindenburg was making it's first voyage. Not so, it had been a success for over a year already by the time of the accident. The careful nature on how the vessel was handled was the reason for the success of the flights. The Graf Zeppelin flew from 1929 till 1937 with out any mishap. There would not be a problem as long as certain procedures were always followed.

One of the most important was you did not land an airship like the Hindenburg or Graf Zeppelin during an electrical storm. That was exactly what was done in Lakehurst, New Jersey in May of 1937. The death of the Hindenburg has been bent all out of proportion. I will go into more detail at the end of this piece.The Hindenburg To this day the most luxurious way to fly.
The Hindenburg over New York City
One of the many rooms of the Hindenburg.
Chef's making gourmet meals on board an all electric kitchen
Passengers enjoying some time in the dinning room with an attentive staff
The smoking room, yes I said a smoking room. This room contained not only a room to smoke but also a bar. It was located on a lower deck and was in a well controlled sealed room. There was only one person who could light a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. It was the bartender who had strict control. Also the rooms air pressure was higher in the smoking room to keep out any gas. It was amazingly ingenious in it's design.
The bar and one of the wall decorations. The walls of the Hindenburg were decorated with lovely little paintings and motifs.
One of the two observation decks. This one by the passenger lounge.
The lounge was a popular spot for folks as they traveled. In fact there was a piano on board. Not a normal type of piano, it was made of light materials to allow it to fit in the weight specifications.
A passenger bedroom on the Hindenburg. Not fancy, small yes, but it allowed for this vessel to sleep 60 passengers comfortably. Also if you think of it how much time would you spend in your stateroom. In your stateroom were bunk beds, hot and cold running water, a little desk, and lastly a small closet to put suits and dresses. The bathroom facilities were on the deck below. Along with the shower room. As this was the second successful airship to follow the great Graf. It had many features that were not part of the Graf Zeppelin's design. One of these of course being showers.
The reading and writing room
The dining room set for dinner. This room could seat all 60 passengers
An order form to travel on the vessel. It was not cheap. But the Hindenburg was the Concord of its day. You could go from Europe to the USA in 2 and a half days. This was half the time it usually took on any other transportation system. Also in complete luxury.

Today as we all get crammed into the jets as we travel and have meals that lack much of anything. It seems this would have been a wonderful way to travel. But airliners today have to follow protocol. If there is a problem or bad weather, the flight is delayed or canceled. That is why air flight today is so safe. Had such issues been followed in the days of the Hindenburg, it is probable that the accident would not have occurred.

Now one last thing, more people survived the Hindenburg disaster than died. 35 people died in the Hindenburg accident. That was the first accident of a commercial German airship since the service had started. In 1937 alone well over 100 people were killed in plane accidents. from 1929 to 1937 the airship had one accident and lost 35 people. If you look at the airplane from 1929 to 1937 you will see a massive amount of deaths.

One of the main reasons that the airship was killed had nothing to do with the small amount of deaths compared to airplane travel. It had to do with the Political situation in Germany. There was to be a grander airship called the Graf Zeppelin II which would be the sister to the Hindenburg, and had even better facilities than the Hindenburg.

But due to the fact that Helium could not be had, and the airship demonized by politics and the press it was scraped and never made a commercial voyage.

The Hindenburg has been thought today to be a ship of disaster. However that was not the case. Look at the Jet called the Comet. That was a series of aircraft that were disasters. The Hindenburg carried hydrogen, only cause the USA would not sell the needed Helium. It is understandable due to the conditions of the time, but so sad that they great ships would be doomed by this choice.

Had the Hindenburg used Helium this disaster would never have happened. Or at least not as bad. As much of the problem with the fire on the ship was due to the dope or coating used on the fabric or skin of the airship.

Even still the disaster seems to have been caused by static electricity and of course the vessel was landed late in Lakehurst during an electrical storm which was something not allowed. I repeat, not allowed.

Had the commander followed protocol the disaster most probably would not have happened. But since keeping schedules seemed more important than safety it was landed. In that case the Hindenburg is like the Titanic. Cause the Titanic tragedy was due to following a schedule rather than following safety measures. Although they waited a while till the worst of the weather was over, it was still not a good idea.

I remember waiting at the airport for 5 hours because of heavy and serious thunder and lightning storms. They could not fuel the airplane or do much of anything till the storms had gone.

But in fairness to the Hindenburg and the many passengers she carried safely. They enjoyed a air flight unlike any we today can ever experience, or ever hope for.

The first biography of John Paul Jones. Analectic Magazine and Naval Chronicle July-November 1816

John Paul Jones
The Analectic Magazine and Naval Chronicle was an important magazine to express many of the issues of the day. It shared much of the recent history dealing with the war of 1812 and also dwelling into the days of the American revolution. Of course when this was published the revolution had been over for only 33 years.

So much of what they wrote about in this magazine was of relatively recent history. It is interesting to think that Franklin had been dead 26 years and Washington had been dead but 17 years when this was published. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Madison, John Jay, John Marshall, Aaron Burr, and many other revolutionaries were still very much alive. Of that group Madison was President when it was published and Monroe would be the 5th President after him.

This magazine and this issue was very important as it contained the first biography of John Paul Jones. He had written his memoirs, but this was the first as a biography. The author is unknown. The publisher was Moses Thomas of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Here is the front page from this most early biography
Some information on this publication

Philadelphia: Moses, Thomas, 1816. Life of John Paul Jones from Vol. VIII, Analectic Magazine and Naval Chronicle, July 1816, pp. 1-29. First published biography of John Paul Jones. [Published after Jone's memoirs, but nine years before Sherburne's biography.) Includes a 7-page excerpt from Nathaniel Fanning's memoir, published in 1806, recounting Jone's famous battle with the Serapis. Relates Jone's words exchanged with the enemy not as "I have not yet begun to fight." Rather, in response to a demand that he strike his colors, Jones is quoted as resonding, "Ay, ay, we'll do that when we can fight no longer--but we shall see yours come down first. . . ." Letters of [John] Paul Jones from the November 1816 issue, pp. 399-401. 3 letters: to the Marquis de Nieuil, to Benjamin Franklin, and to Monseigneur de Sartine.

July 20, 1969 My memories of the day we landed on the moon.

I can recall it as if it was yesterday. It was a day of amazing excitement. The world had been on tender hooks since the launch of Apollo 11 several days earlier. The space program was a big thing in America in those days.

I had grown up with it watching John Glenn and every other astronaut go into space. It was the new frontier. It is interesting how much everyone got into it and how excited everyone was. We were going to the moon!

It is funny that on TV that week there was lots of TV shows and movies about space and landing on the moon. I still recall a movie shown at that time called the first men on the moon or something like that.

Every one's thoughts were with the three men in space. I remember their pictures were everywhere. The afternoon of the 20th was the time they were to land on the moon.

I was living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the time and was over at my friends house. It was really nice at his house as they had not only a big antenna over their house to get better reception, but also a big color TV. Not many people had color TV's in 1969 as they were expensive. So for me to see TV in color was always exciting. I recall also that they had a big Lava lamp on top of the TV and my friend had black lights in his room. It was the 60's.

I remember when the time came we were all around the Color TV watching Walter Cronkite speak and listen to the astronauts talk as we watched a cartoon of the landing. One has to remember that there was no way to film the landing and everything was done in drawings or cartoons. That was normal for many things on TV in those days.

I remember we watched and soon we heard Cronkite grasp for words as did everyone else on earth. Man had landed on the moon! It was 8:17 PM EST. We all jumped up and cheered. It was such an exciting moment and one that I will never forget. As soon as that was over I went home. Well I ran home to be honest I was so excited. I remember running so hard and fast in a way I cannot imagine now. But this was an exciting moment in the life of a boy in 1969.

That night I sat with my mother in front of our small black and white TV and watched the walk on the moon. I seem to recall that when the picture started before Neal Armstrong stepped onto the moon it flashed out upside down for a moment and then was corrected. It was a video and sometimes when a camera is starting it does strange things. We watched breathlessly as Armstrong slowly descended the stairs. Then man stood on the moon. We watched the entire moon walk that was not too easy to see or watch. It was being broadcast in black and white so it was fine for us. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin bounced and moved all over and it was exciting to see. I recall thinking of the history of it all.

After watching this for what I guess was two hours I was ready for bed. Before I did I took my dog Shef for walk. Shef was interested in the trees and the grass, but my eyes were looking into space. I am sure I was not alone that night looking into the vastness of space and imagining what it was really like out there.

Walter Cronkite, the dean of American journalists 1916-2009. I was very happy and lucky to have met, recorded and interviewed him.

Walter Cronkite was the voice of much of the 20th century on radio, TV, and in many other fields of entertainment and education. His voice was the one I remember during the Kennedy assassination. His voice was what I remembered during the moon landing. His voice was what I remembered with the Watergate scandal and hearing. His was the voice. Many called him "Uncle Walter", as he was a trusted member of the family it seemed. To me he was always a great and powerful voice in the world of media. Today, although he lived a very long and rich life, his legacy and what he was and represented, was always felt. Therefore now there is a great loss to ourselves as we have lost a favorite uncle. I was very lucky to have met him and spent a wonderful cold January day in his offices in CBS. I thought it would be good to record the voice of Cronkite on wax for a project that I had designed. After a number of phone calls and letters all was set and we had the session on January 21, 2000. It went very well and I recall how charming and delightful he was. He was truly modest and kind.

I recall the question that we asked, it was a simple one, but one that may of interest to many people reading this. How did you learn to speak like you do?

One has to remember that one of the greatest things about Cronkite was his wonderful cadence. He answered the question this way. "I was born in Missouri, and moved to Texas, and I had a father who would rap me on the knuckles every time I showed any sense of a twang." That is why he spoke as he did.

He told us many stories of his past, and how he recalled the voice of General Patton was quite high pitched as he was always yelling in the field. He talked about his youth and how his family had an old fashioned wind up phonograph. He said it was always his job to wind it.

He also said he was one of the greatest fans and critic of the Space Program. In the interview it was talked about how his voice was translated in many languages during the Apollo 11 voyage and moon landing. He asked "How did they translate my WOW!"

He told me he started going to college to learn Print journalism, he said that was the only kind they had at that time. Nothing was taught about radio and of course TV really wasn't a factor yet.

We made the recordings and they came out perfectly. His Secretary called him "One take Walter". After we finished we listened to some recorded music and had a sing along in his office. We listened to a recording of "By the light of the silvery moon." Walter danced a little for us and everyone said how much we had enjoyed ourselves.

After this I was able to get a picture with him and he wrote me a lovely little note wishing me every success. That was Walter Cronkite, a great man and truly a lovely one too.
A photo taken at the end of the the interview and recording.
Making the recordings on wax in his office at CBS.

A nice momento of Jerome Hines and Franco Corelli from 1998

This picture was taken in the fall of 1998, when I was at Jerry Hines home. It is one of the pictures that captures the two old friends well. There were a couple of pictures taken that day and this is one of them. Not the best one, but the only one I have of them together like this. I have written before about how much I enjoyed being at Jerry Hines home and enjoying his many thoughts and conversations. It was great to enjoy his company for several years in the later years of his life.

When the Corelli's would be there it was always very interesting to listen to them converse mainly in Italian and translate into English for me what they were talking about. It was a great time and privilege to share the time I did with those two great artists. I miss them both.

The obituary of Allen Pinkerton. The man who protected Lincoln on his way to Washington DC in 1861

Allen Pinkerton (August 25, 1819 – July 1, 1884) Was the man who was in charge of protecting Lincoln on his journey to Washington DC in February of 1861. He discovered an assassination plot and convinced General Scott and others to make sure Lincoln did not take his regular posted train to Washington. Therefore he was whisked to Washington on a special train and not dressed very Presidential. Pinkerton was also the head of the first Secret Service.Pinkerton (on the left) with Lincoln in 1862

Pinkerton's obituary from July 2, 1884

The William McKinley memorial scrap book. A more detailed history of who made it and received it.

I had written quite a bit a few years ago, on the scrapbook dealing with the McKinley assassination. I had written that I wondered who had done it and made it. After a lot of study I have found out and thought it would be interesting to share that information.President William McKinley (1843-1901) Assassinated in Buffalo, New York. Died Sept 14th.
Congressman William Whiting of Massachusetts. (1841-1911) A good friend of McKinley's
The Memorial scrapbook presented to Whiting by Rev. Charles E. Locke. Locke (1858-1940) was the minister who presided over the funeral service for President McKinley in Buffalo, New York.

This is important as Charles's father, the Rev William Henry Locke, was McKinley's pastor in Ohio. Therefore the Rev. Charles Locke was very familiar and knew McKinley and Whiting very well.

The book is filled with every newspaper story on the assassination from the time of the shooting through the funerals. It is an amazing archive of information.

The album is huge. It must have resided at Whiting's home which is pictured below.

One can guess where this great and very large book has been. I would guess it would have been presented around 1902. I found it in 1977. So it has been with me for well over 30 years. It is one of the most unique books I have ever seen.

I have often wondered if there were more books like this presented to other friends of McKinley? As for Locke, he of course was famous for not only being the minister at McKinley's funeral but also as an author. He was afterwards the minister at the Hanson Place Methodist Church in Brooklyn, New York.

In time I will put more of the information in this book on line.

The Census of 1860. The strangest census of them all. It was printed in May of 1862. Printed while no one knew what would happen to the nation.

This truly is the end of the road in the field of the census. From the first census in 1790 to 1860, it dealt with issues that today we find horrific. It was approved to be printed on May 19, 1862. The information from the southern states of course could not be double checked and some of it dated from 1859. The next census of 1870 would be of a whole new nature.This census was the only one ever done that was not shared with the country as a whole.

This was also the last census to deal with the awful blight of slavery.


You will see that in this census the listing of races and free Blacks, Slaves, Indians and also Chinese. It is chilling to see this was the norm only 150 years ago.

Quite a partisan ad from the election of 1884

This is an amazing piece of advertisement dealing with the nasty election of 1884. Cleveland and Blaine both had baggage. But we can see who this paper was rooting for. Today we talk about the bias in the press. That is nothing new!

The obituary of President Martin Van Buren July 25 1862

President Martin Van Buren December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862 Once again it is always interesting to read what was said at the time of his death. This is the original article from 1862.

The obituary of Daniel Webster Oct 25, 1852

American Statesman and politician Daniel Webster January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852

This is an original news story announcing the death of Webster on Oct. 25, 1852. It is interesting to see what was said at the time of his death.

One of the best photos ever taken of the RMS Titanic..Also parts of her have finally made it to New York after 97 years.

This photo was taken a few days before she sailed from Southampton. It was probably taken around Easter Sunday as the ship seems pretty quiet. In looking at the picture I could see a few of the crew on the decks but little else going on. This picture is big. You can click on it and make it very large.

The ship was one of the Olympic Class of ships of which I think were among the most beautiful in their design. The Olympic Class of ships were the last vessels to have that narrow beam and great length and not look excessively wide and bulging as many ships did after that. One just has to look at the German ships that came out after the Olympic Class to see that. The Olympic, Titanic, Britannic were lovely ships.

Save for the Olympic, their history was not at all so.

The Titanic was sailing for New York. As we all know she never made it. But in June of this year, the Titanic did finally make it to NYC.( At least a piece of her ) This is the largest exhibit of Titanic artifacts ever shown to the public. It is on 44th Street near Times Square. The exhibit will last several months.

I will be going in a few days to see it.

It took 97 years, but the Titanic has finally made it to New York. I would say it is about time!

Henry Clay Barnabee 1833-1917 One of the great comedians of the 19th century. His history, his book, his collection.

Henry Clay Barnabee, was a comedians comedian. His career did span a true lifetime. He was great singer, performer, and most of all, a friend of the theater. He was a member of all the major theatrical groups. He was the founder the Bostonians, a performing group that worked all over the country for 25 years. Lastly he was an author of an autobiography. One of the copies of his book is in my library. I have enjoyed reading it. So here are a few pictures of Barnabee, his book and some of his history. The history is provided by the blog www.seacoastNH.com . Please look at their other posts as well.
This is a great book to read and it is quite a story. Barnabee was friends with William Warren and Edwin Booth. In fact he was born a day after Booth in 1833. He was also a member of Booth's club the Players. It is harder to find an autograph in a book from the early days, often they were inscribed to someone or written in as a gift. But here it is just an autograph.

The Comeback Kidder

Henry Clay Barnabee left his historic collection of comic memorabilia to the Portsmouth LIbrary. But how did it get there? Why is it in the attic? And who the heck was Barnabee, anyway? He may get the last laugh yet -- scholars are taking him seriously. One of the nation's funniest men was born and is buried in Portsmouth. That fact doesn't raise many eyebrows today since Henry Clay Barnabee's name has long faded from the comedy circuit. By his death in 1916, Barnabee's long career as a theater comedian and singer had been pushed aside by vaudeville and the rise of silent movies. How and when Barnabee's enormous private collection of memorabilia ended up in the attic of the local library is a tale more obscure than the actor himself. According to local legend, two large crates appeared suddenly and anonymously on the front steps of the Portsmouth Public Library soon after the death of Henry Clay Barnabee. A librarian dragged them indoors. The cache included 21 of the actor's personal scrapbooks, 23 photo albums, 29 old scripts and thousands of playbills and bits of ephemera from the actor's long successful career on the road. When a distant relative of Barnabee was finally located in New York City, the collection was shipped there C.O.D.. But the crates came back, rejected by the family. That tale, though colorful and often retold, conflicts with reports recently unearthed in an early Portsmouth newspaper. A small notice in the States and Union, eight years before the actor's death, indicates that the actor himself, not his heirs, donated the rare collection that chronicles the rise and fall of comic opera in America. In July 1908, the brief note reads, Portsmouth librarian Hannah Fernald confirmed that "the collection has just now arrived" from Mr. Barnabee. A year later the top headline in the same newspaper offered an exclusive inventory of the collection. Barnabee was in Portsmouth in the summer of 1909, according to the news report, staying with his aged sister Mary Ann French. The actor had apparently decided to donate his extensive collection of books, autographs and photographs to the public library in the town of his birth. It was a plan "which only a limited few are aware of" according to the paper. Barnabee was apparently motivated to pick Portsmouth, despite offers to house his memorabilia in Boston and New York, because local writer Thomas Bailey Aldrich, a close friend of actor Edwin Booth, had done the same at his death in 1907. A "special room" at the library had already been set aside to display the Barnabee gift, the report announced, and it would soon be open to the public. Barnabee himself apparently prepared the exhibit of his work at the library. In a follow-up front page story in September 1909, theStates and Union reported that "the venerable actor with his own hand" had inscribed the placards describing items on display. The article includes detailed transcripts of a number of Barnabee's handwritten paragraphs that were to be posted on the walls of "The Barnabee Room". No records have yet been found of the accession of the original Barnabee items, or of the opening or closing of the library exhibit. The actor was still writing the placards for his "memorial" exhibit in September of 1909. Barnabee was still hard at work on his exhibit to make it "just right", according to the States and Union, before the planned opening. Clara Barnabee died three months later on Christmas Day 1909. It is possible that the exhibit was then never completed, but this seems unlikely based on the actor's avowed desire for public fame and affection. Less than a year later in 1910 Barnabee was back in town where he performed a retrospective of his long career at the Portsmouth Music Hall. His autobiography, dedicated to his "Guiding Light and Leading Lady" Clara, appeared three years later. It seems more likely that the Barnabee exhibit opened in his lifetime, and like the ephemera display in the Thomas Bailey Aldrich House nearby, was later packed away in storage as his fame dwindled in the early 20th century. Barnabee's hand-written guide to his collection still survives among the boxed artifacts. According to the Portsmouth Herald, a Boston scholar searching for the exhibit in 1943 was told by librarian Hannah Fernald that it had been "broken up" long ago. Some of the items were sent to collectors New York, she told him, and the rest went in the library basement. The Barnabee collection sat in the basement of the Portsmouth Public Library for almost 50 years. Then it was moved to the attic. In 1980 an enterprising graduate student from Tufts University pulled open the boxes to catalog the contents. Grown valuable with age, the extraordinarily complete archive is now seen as a rare timeline in the history of American comic theater. We see Barnabee as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the comic opera "Robin Hood", a role he performed nearly 2,000 times. In dozens of lavish costumes he appears, among other roles, as a wealthy duke, a professor in a top hat, and a thickly bearded Rip Van Winkle. We see Barnabee in a kilt, in a toga, dressed as a cowboy, dressed as a soldier, a sailor, a tinker, a mayor, a nobleman and a fop. One ancient handbill announces boldly that Mr. Barnabee "will appear in his new female character, the UNPROTECTED FEMALE, in female costume". Barnabee saw himself as the comic equivalent of tragedian Edwin Booth, likely the best-known American actor in the last half of the 19th century. In the opening lines of his autobiography "My Wanderings" Barnabee points out that he was born just one day after Edwin Booth in November 1833. That fact, he notes whimsically, proves the maxim -- "Mirth follows closely on the heels of tragedy. In his 1913 book, written "from memory" when the actor was almost 80 years old, he waxes nostalgic over his formative years on the New Hampshire coast. His father Willis Barnabee drove the Portsmouth stagecoach back and forth to Boston, and once transported General Lafayette himself to town. When the train finally arrived in Portsmouth, eliminating the stage coach business Willis ran the Franklin Hotel downtown. Young Barnabee got his first dancing lessons from a French instructor staying at the hotel. He got singing lessons from a voice coach, formed a popular glee club with three talented male friends and acted bit parts in local plays. Barnabee earned kudos for his elaborately designed living picture or "tableaux vivant" in which costumed human figures were arranged with painted props into large motionless scenes onstage. Willis Barnabee, a loyal Whig, had named one son after politician Henry Clay and another after Daniel Webster. He supported young Henry's artistic antics, but refused to consider acting a respectable vocation, so after finishing school at 17, the boy became a clerk in a downtown dry goods store. That same year young Barnabee made his first train trip to the nearby metropolis of Boston. There he attended a performance by the renowned Lucius Junius Booth, who performed with his sons Edwin and John Wilkes Booth. According to Barnabee, he decided then and there to become a thespian as soon as he came of age. A dutiful son, Barnabee worked four more years in the dry goods store, learning business skills that later kept his life orderly and centered, even in the tempestuous acting profession. He met and courted Clara George of Portsmouth, who became his wife, script coach, costume mistress, and lifetime traveling companion. According to legend, Barnabee made his first smashing appearance on the Portsmouth stage when a local actor was taken ill. Somebody suggested that the funny clerk could perform excellent sound effects and sing. Barnabee did, and a star was born. At 21 he packed his trunk for Boston where he sang, at first, in churches and later helped form the popular "Bostonians" acting troupe. It is difficult for the modern movie-goer to imagine the enormous appeal of the Victorian light comic opera in which Barnabee excelled. Seen today as stiff, melodramatic, long-winded and prudish, little evidence of it survives. Most accessible, perhaps, is an image of Barnabee as Admiral Porter in Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pinafore", still loved for its rich costumes, spectacular scenery, witty lyrics and hummable tunes. The genre, a forerunner of the familiar musical comedy, died away, Barnabee wrote, for lack of good actors and good scripts. He saw himself, in the end, as the last of the true comedians, actors who could enthrall an audience simply with a powerful and trained voice, a costume, a posture and a grab bag of facial expressions. He had no need for vulgar language or clownish pranks. After the death of his beloved wife in 1909, Barnabee returned to the Portsmouth Music Hall for a crowning farewell performance. His vigor, critics said, was undiminished. A month before his death at age 84, one witness wrote, he could still belt out a rousing rendition of 'I Am the Sheriff of Nottingham". Yet Henry Clay Barnabee, despite his apparent ease and "virility" in performance, was plagued by a lifetime of almost paralyzing stage fright. "It is all I can do, at times, to go on stage," he told a States and Union reporter in 1909. "I approach it with absolute fear, and sometimes, I fear, this dread that I fear I shall never leave it alive." His collection, though still boxed up in the library attic, is gaining more attention from scholars. Ten years ago the items were again catalogued photographed and carefully archived. There is hope that the actor's collection may again go on public display. Plans for a proposed new Portsmouth Public Library include space specifically for display of its historic treasures. There may be life left in old Barnabee, even now.

A look at the Emperor and Crown prince of Korea. Harpers Magazine 1902.. Four wonderful photographs from another age.

This is much in this article and I will try to add more as time goes on. I thought I would share with you these quaint photos of Korea in another age. I would guess the photos are sometime in 1901.
The article states that the Emperor lives in a not too kingly fashion. Also said he was all smiles. However it had little good to say about the Crown Prince. In my studies I see that this Crown Prince was replaced by another in 1907.

I find the clothing of the Emperor to look rather Germanic with that helmet. Of course the uniform is influenced by European or Russian military outfits. Russia was a provider of protection for Korea. This was just before the Russian Japanese conflict.

The Crown Prince in this picture below was not the Crown Prince at all. He was the younger brother of the Crown Prince. He was seen more and thought to be the Prince. But like many parts of history and journalism there are mistakes. So after 107 years I would like to make this correction.

The author Alfred Stead was rather blunt in his statements as many were in those days, But these photographs from 1901 are a wonderful window into a long lost kingdom and a country that is no longer anything like it was here.

Pier 54 on the Hudson in New York. It is a historic pier with a tragic history

Shortly before this 1910 pier was demolished, it was photographed. This is the famous Pier 54. It was removed for a highway project. One of the most historic places in New York history. If you are wondering where the survivors of the the Titanic landed. It was at Pier 54.

1991 was a sad year as the famous pier became no more. I often remember looking at it and remembering its history. Sadly not many officials did.

It is located just west of 12th Street. Stop by and see what is left of this historic pier.
Now today the pier is naked to us. Only the base of the pier has survived. Also the main entrance in front has survived somewhat.

Here is the RMS Carpathia tied up to the right side of the pier on April 19, 1912. After bringing back 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic the night before.

Many great ships tied up to that pier from the Queen Mary to the Titanic's own sister, the Olympic in 1934. I recall our cries to save the pier. Some of it is saved at least.
This is the RMS Lusitania on the left side of the pier. The Lusitania left for her final voyage on the left side as well on May 1, 1915. The Lusitania would be torpedoed on May 7, 1915.

Roadside America.. I loved that place and was there in the early 1960's

Long ago and as you can see, no zip codes!



Now that was a long time ago in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania. But I see from looking at the Internet that it has not changed much at all. I recall the many trains, steam rollers, cars, trucks and rivers. I recall that there was a moment when the evening came and you could hear Kate Smith sing God Bless America and the Spirit of St. Louis flew over head. Now I am not sure that is done anymore, but it seemed fitting and my guess is that they still do it. I have here a few post cards from that visit and thought it would be nice to share. I would like to see that place again after so many years. I know it was amazing then to me. I wonder what I will think 45 years later?

Bill Nye 1850-1896... A very forgotten humorist.

Today when you mention Bill Nye you think of the science commentator. But in the late 19th century Bill Nye was a very famous and well liked humorist. His stories were told all over and his books were quite popular as well.

Here is a photo of the humorist and one of his books I have. Look him up, he was quite funny and had he lived would have had a great place in early 20th century humor.

But sadly he died at 45 years of age. He was yet to turn 46 the year of his death.

War time ration stamps from WW2

During World War Two there was a great deal of rationing going on as to support the troops and the war machine. Therefore nothing excessive was ever bought or used.

Meat was not very plentiful. Butter was replaced with margarine. Gas of course was very limited in its availability.

When ever anyone, man woman or child went to buy something you needed to pay not only with the money but show you had available stamps to make the purchase.

This booklet belonged to a 12 year old boy and one can see he did not use much of the stamps. But this is a great piece of history dealing with the economic side of America in World war two.

Doing talks at the Garden International School in KL, Malaysia

I am here posing with some of the students who came to my talk on the history of the United States from 1919 to 1941. It was a great turnout and I loved the kids there.

This school is a wonder and I look forward to speaking there again. I was very touched by letters from the school. This was all made possible by my friends in Malaysia Jeff and Herman Ho.

The kids asked so many questions and their enthusiasm made me more excited and all in all it was a great program. I really hope to see them again. Great kids, teachers, and administrators. Collectively a really great school!

Miss America 1928 My how things have changed!!

This is a newspaper ad in 1928 talking about the new Miss America of that year. It is something to gaze at and see how much things have changed over the years.

My grandfather William H. Rothmeier 1899-1968.. His Merchant Marine book and money from Haiti 1920

This is my grandfather's paperwork with the Merchant Marines in 1920. He was with them for a short while and also in Haiti. This money from Haiti has one fascinating thing on it, it was printed in the USA.

Who was Logan Marshall? He wrote many books on disasters. Was his name Logan Marshall?

Logan Marshall wrote many books dealing with the Titanic disaster and later with the Lusitania. There are books on the Titanic from 1912 that are by Logan Marshall. But also there are books by Marshall Logan. I came to the understanding that Mr Logan or Marshall or whatever his name was. Was really quite an opportunist and made a lot of money is the disaster biz. I will study him more to learn more. But here are two of his books from 1912 and 1915 respectively. I have had some of his books as Marshall Logan, but do not anymore.

My grandfather William H. Rothmeier 1899-1968 His WWI paperwork

This is my grandfather's card from the army that he received when he joined in 1917. The photograph was taken at the same time. It was one of two special photos my great grandmother kept with her during WWI.

My grandfather was wounded on November 9, 1918. Just two days before the end of the war!. He was in the hospital for a few months and came home on the hospital ship La France. He received his discharge and in time it worked it way to me. It is neat to see after 90 years.

William Warren 1812-1888 The great comedian of the 19th century..The 50th anniversary program of his career Oct 28, 1882

His name was comedy, his career was comedy, his life was comedy. He was the great comedian of his age. William Warren .William Warren was famous for his wigs, as he was completely bald.
This is the program cover for his 50th anniversary performance in Boston.
This is the opening page to this rare piece of theatrical history.
The notices of warmth and remembrance are seen here with two good and dear friends. Of course Joseph Jefferson and the great actor and friend Edwin Booth. Enlarge this and read their warm statements.

It is telling also that when the Players Club was founded by Edwin Booth in Gramacy Park in 1888-1889. There was a great and large event when it was created.

Booth in the founders night address said " Let us drink from this loving cup bequeathed by William Warren of loved and honored memory". Warren was a great friend of Booths, but had died earlier that year. But one can see the importance of Warren to Booth as he opened the Players Club with Warren's loving cup.

William Warren was a beloved comedian and his home base was Boston. He was a relative of another great comedian of the time, Joseph Jefferson. Here is the program for that special 50th anniversary event and performance.

Margaret Woodrow Wilson 1886-1944. The 28th President's songbird daughter.

Margaret Woodrow Wilson studied voice and music at the Peabody Institute. She came into her own musically when her father became President. There was another president who also had a singing daughter named Margaret. That is another story. But Wilson made several recordings for the Columbia Graphophone Company. The one pictured here is a rather uncommon one. it was made in 1915 for the The Panama Pacific International Exposition. Wilson was very much into giving and that was the tenor of this recording. It was sold to raise money for the Red Cross and 25 cents from each sale of the record went to that organization. I have to admit hers was a nice voice, not a great one. Wilson entertained the troops in France during WWI and in fact it was during this time she over stressed her voice and it was gone.

The following story bears reading from the American Presidents blog. Which can be found at www.american-presidents.org

Margaret’s tireless treks across the world for American service men were a constant worry to her father. She would travel twenty miles down artillery-blasted roads to sing for two or three wounded soldiers, often after much bigger performances. By the end of the war, her outdoor concerts had strained her voice beyond repair, and the sights and experiences of battlefield horror prompted a nervous breakdown. Recuperating some months after the war at Grove Oak Inn in North Carolina, General John J. Pershing and his staff asked her to sing. When she told them how she had lost her singing voice, General Pershing rose and lifted his glass. “To Miss Wilson,” he said, “just as much a victim of war service as were the soldiers who filled this country’s hospitals.”
In her later years she was very involved in Indian Mysticism moving to India and spending the rest of her life there. She died in 1944. She was living on a stipend set up by her father in his will. She was happy and never wanted. So far from the days of singing for soldiers and world leaders. I think that time in India gave her much more happiness than singing.
Dad

Carte de visite of Washington Irving This photo was originally a Brady, however it is not on this photo. It is from the studio of George G. Rockwood

This photo is known to have been taken by Brady. However it is on a Carte de visite of George G. Rockwood of 839 Broadway. Rockwood opened his studio in New York in 1857. He was famous for his carte de visite photos. His photos are well known and quite special.

However how did a Brady photo get on his label? Maybe Brady was broke and sold the negative of Irving? I guess more investigation is due, but it sure is an interesting mystery. I would guess that this photo as it is was made by Rockwood in the 1860's. It does mention on the back of the photo that it is a copy and not direct from life. But why was it copied? That is the mystery?

THE DEWEY RECEPTION in NYC 1899..Dewey Day.. The great event that went no where and the arch that was forgotten as quickly as the Admiral.

This book was published in 1899 to celebrate the Dewey reception in New York. This one pictured came with a batch of advertising material. I guess it was a salesman's copy. George Dewey was the king of the world in 1898 and 1899. He was on every ones lips, and of course scared the hell out of every politician.

This book was made to raise money for the many Dewey monuments everywhere. Of course in New York at 24th and Broadway by Madison Square was built the magnificent temporary Dewey Arch. It made Washington's arch look cheap. The idea was for Dewey to come and be feted and many people would buy souvenirs and of course a great book like this. At $5.00 this was an enormous amount of money. But it was for Dewey and the magnificent arch.

He was the great Dewey. The hero of the battle of Manila bay. There was a great drive to make Dewey President. People were saying he was as great as Washington. They had Dewey Fever. Dewey was ill equipped to be President. He told the press that he looked at the job and saw it was rather easy and he would be happy to take his orders from Congress as he does now from his superiors in the Navy.

All the advertising went into this book and of course the more that they sold, the more money would be made for a real stone arch for the greatest leader since Washington..

After Dewey spoke and made several really bad blunders. What's more he seemed to want the office, which is a political no no. Everyone saw Dewey was a second rate fella and not one well suited to politics ..

No one seemed interested in Dewey and more importantly an arch in his honor anymore.

Therefore as many tried to sell books like this and the advertising material below, the temporary arch was torn down and Dewey was left on the curbside of political history.

The one thing that has survived more so than Dewey were his two lines spoken at the battle of Manila Bay. Well at least the first one.

1. You may fire when ready Gridley

2. Pull back for breakfast

A very few words from the front. The first recording made from a battle field of war, of General John J. Pershing.. April 4, 1918

A recording was made of General J.J. Pershing at his Field office in France on April 4, 1918. It was recorded by Nations Forum Records which was originally a part of the Columbia Graphophone Company. This was the first recording made in a field of battle, although not right in it.

It was a spell bounding recording as to where it had been made. That caught the imagination of everyone.

If you look at the record you will see that Pershing speaks for about 25 seconds. One of the shortest commercial recordings ever made. But one of the most historic of the time. He said everything he needed to say in the shortest words possible. You can see he was a general and not a politician.

If you look carefully at the record you will see the short area where the recording is and on the lower half where Pershing signed his name in the wax.

The Henry Clay's funeral program and memorial book New York July 1852.... One of those rare odd finds you never expect to see.

I was walking in Brooklyn 2 months ago and went by an old book store. It was one of those book stores that was loaded up with many old books and was a treasure trove of lovely books from the past to read. I noticed they had a dollar book table outside in front of the store.

It was there that I found this wonderful treasure. The funeral program and memorial book to Henry Clay. Now if you do not know who Henry Clay is, you need to study some. He was voted the greatest member of Congress ever. He was Abraham Lincoln's hero, the man who said I would rather be right than be President. He was one of the greats.

Now this book is rather rare, but there is more to the story. I looked through this book not really believing my eyes. Now it is not in the best of condition I agree, but still a dollar was a wonderful deal. I noticed it was inscribed to someone.

I did not know who either person was. But I did my research. The book was given by a Nicholas Seagrest Esq. to Governor Anthony Durgo. Who was Durgo? He was one of the founding members of the Board of Governors of New York City. This was in the age of Boss Tweed, when politics in New York was not the holiest of professions.

He became a very wealthy man in that office. You will notice a slight misspelling of the name. The "r" is in the wrong place.

But Durgo was there and one of the heads of the committee to deal with Clay's mortal remains. As for Seagrest I am still at a loss. But I am guessing one thing. That the way it is written and how it is done in a rather odd manner tells me that Mr Seagrest is an old fellow. I cannot prove that, but that is my hunch. So enjoy reading through a bit of this book about New York's tribute to the Great Commoner...Henry Clay 1777-1852

Is it time for a new political party? The parties that exist today are so long in the tooth. And if you really want change be serious about it!

In our history as a country there have been many moments that people have said I cannot take it anymore, and bolted from their existing party and created a new one.
What if we look at the historical record. We see it happening many times.

The original party of the United States was the Federalist party. George Washington was our first president and a member of that party as well as John Adams our second president. But by 1800 there was political strife between the Federalists and the Republicans. Republicans in those days were democrats. The battles between parties has gone on and it has never stopped since. There is one exception, the election of 1820.

Some of the parties that existed were the Whigs, the Know Nothings, the Democrats, the Republicans, Socialists, and even a party called the Bull Moose party.

Most of these came into being because of social change. Many of these came into being because of ideology. And some of them came into being because of war.

The main reason that seems to be when it comes to the formation of new political parties. Is that there is a belief and a desire to make a profound change.

Perhaps one of the greatest examples of that is the Republican Party developed in the 1850s. At the time you had the Whigs, Democrats, and a lot of very old Federalists.
The Republican Party was more or less a refined, streamlined and upgraded Whig party. By 1860 the Republican Party became the party of choice with its candidate Abraham Lincoln.

That was sweeping social change.

We have not had a situation quite like that since then. There have been tries as there have been Socialists party's and Bull Moose party's and other things like that. But nothing has had the effect of that great change of the 1850s with the Republican Party.

Today with all the nonsense going on in government and politics and many of the people involved there in the political system.

It seems time to start doing something different. It seems time for another social awakening. I think it's time for a new political party.

I have become extremely sick of the Democrats and the Republicans and the useless banter that goes on between them. The emphasis seems to be more on them than on us.
We have people in Congress who have been there for nearly 50 years. Some because their family did it before them. Please throw them out.

This is utterly ridiculous. I am often reminded of how Benjamin Franklin said Congress should be dealt with. He said that people who serve in Congress should do it without a salary. That it should be an honor to serve your country.

Not to be reckless playboys in the political arena.

So I end this short rant. With the challenge to my fellow Americans.

That it is time for a us to start looking at something new. It is time to start a new social revolution in the field of politics. It is time for us to start to follow the rules set up by our forebears.

I know that now change is talked about all the time by the current President. But how much change has there really been? Save for a change in talk! Pleasing the old members of his party will be the major concern to him and whom ever occupies that high office.

But lets make a new party The last major successful party was founded 150 years ago. Just like the Federalists, Know Nothings, Whigs, and others were pushed aside for sweeping change. We need that now.

I would love to see a candidate who is really for change and have him or her say. " I am for change, therefore I am devoting my term for change and not interested in being re elected. That is not important, change is." Now that will never happen These are politicians, not honest people.

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I truly believe that the people in politics today have become fat, happy, complacent, and intoxicated with power. With this combination they have become completely and totally impotent to the needs and understandings of the general public.
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It seems to me that it is 1850 again, and time for us to create a new party, a party of change, a party of new ideas.

What is happening now will lead us to ruin. It is time to get rid of ALL the waste in Washington and bring in some fresh and new ideas before all these old and useless people in Washington totally destroy this country.
In many ways we are in far worse shape than we were in the 1850's...We are a fat bloated Republic with a leak. Believe me if that leak is not repaired...It could prove a fatal blow to this country.....

Time for term limits, and I hope I can express this best this way...DON'T VOTE for one incumbent. Perhaps with a People's Revolution like that we can change things for the better.

Sadly, I know that is only a dream....so many people will vote with out the slightest thought at all...Just vote for the party I voted for before......TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT. Real change means real change! I don't want to hear about it.

I want to see it!



The United States was created with change in mind. That dream should be as alive in us, as it was in the patriots of Lexington or Concord.