Website Wednesday

As I sit typing this entry, the TV is on in the room and I hear the angry blather of talking heads on some pseudo-news show. I can’t hear what they’re saying but as the tone of their voices rises, as they play a leap frog game of volume (the loudest voice wins) I can feel myself getting tenser and tenser. And, I’m not even viewing the show. But the constant drumbeat of yelling keeps ripping away any veneer of calm I have. I can just imagine the emotional and mental state of the viewers of this angry rhetoric, whatever the topic. I can’t believe they’re coming away from these shows capable of any rational thought.

So here I type; fingers tense; looking forward to the long weekend coming up. Longer for state workers in NJ also since Friday is the first, mandated, unpaid furlough day for all state workers. All of them. The state shuts down. That will show those state workers who are living high on the hog (now that’s an outdated expression.) Bond traders, bankers, fat cats; they’re not the problem. It’s government. Get rid of government is their mandate; not make government work. Unfortunately, the ruling class has convinced so much of the working poor to believe this and not to question the insanity of it. It could lead you to drink, but the rich eat it up. Boy, that was an angry outburst. Damn the TV.

So for my website today let’s look at pictures since pictures can calm you; so they say.

http://www.shorpy.com/

I know I had an old pictures site one Wednesday some time ago but they were pictures from historical events; these pictures are more mundane but none the less interesting.

Shorpy.com is: a vintage photography blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.

I think I mentioned once that I like to watch old movies, even the old bad movies, for what their background shots tell me about the culture of that day. Take a look at the picture of the 1911 girl’s dress on the home page. The caption says: The girl works all day in a cannery so we are looking at a poor child. However, if you have any knowledge of sewing there’s a lot of fine work in her garment. It looks like lace insets on the shoulders, a pleated front and belt and puff sleeves - all three which take extra fabric. If you don’t have children to dress, take a look at children's garments of today. Unless you are looking at the “Conservative’s Guide to Proper Child Wear” you will find that dresses are much plainer and therefore because they are using much less fabric are cheaper and easier to manufacture. And, I got this from only one picture! Scroll down to the 1940 black girl and you will also see a well-made dress (the collar and shoulder stripes match.) On other page you get to see Miss Washington, D.C of 1926's swimsuit and a family sitting on a front porch in PA in 1940 (take a look at the ornate couch the woman is sitting on.)

I know it’s “hot” to study your genealogy and it’s neat to have pictures of your great, great, great grandma. But usually these are just portraits devoid of the cultural trapping from their time period. Shorpy.com brings into focus our common genealogy in the U.S. It’s worth many, many visits.