QUARANTINE BLOG # 462

July 5, 2021

Yesterday, I posted Paul Harvey’s great speech about the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.  One of the blog readers asked me if there is an audio version of it available.  Here is the audio of the story.

👉  Another catch-up.  Last week we took a look at Disney’s Tangled, and I linked you to “Mother Knows Best,” and the Academy Award nominated “I See the Light.”  Amy emailed me to say I had left the best song out, and sent me a link.  She was right.  Here is “I've Got a Dream.”

👉  Friday, I think it was, or maybe Saturday, I tried to open a box and snapped my thumb nail back – not front to back, but side to side and it split down into what my Mom used to call “the quick.”  The easiest thing to do would have been to cut the nail, down to the aforementioned quick, but that would have hurt for not a few days, and so having an aversion to long lasting pain (short lasting pain, too), I reached for the bottle of Super Glue and hopefully it will last long enough so I can cut it when it grows past the quick.  Well, after this little bit of first aid, I ended up with my thumb and index finger glued together.  I pulled them apart and was faced with the task of getting Super Glue off of those two digits.  Unsuccessful with Orange Goop and nail polish remover, I went to my research assistant and Google pulled up familyhandman.com which offered 33 ways to remove Super Glue.

I only tried one from the list, and it worked, but just in case you glue your fingers together and want to experiment here is part of the list (you can get them all at this link): coconut oil and baking soda, salt and water, butter, laundry detergent, petroleum jelly, lemon juice, sandpaper, razor blades (do not try this even at home), Neosporin, egg white, and peanut butter.  There are more, but the one that worked is the one product that is good for a lot more than the 40 it advertises – WD 40.  You are welcome.

👉  Suborbital space flight for paying customers is about to get crowded.  Set to launch on July 11, Virgin Galactic’s Unity 22 mission will mark the first fully crewed spaceflight for the company.  The July 11 test flight will be focused on examining the cabin and customer experience, according to Virgin Galactic.  Liftoff is scheduled for 7 a.m. MST (9 a.m. QB time) out of Spaceport America in southern New Mexico, and the flight will be livestreamed.  Virgin Galactic’s commercial service is anticipated to start in 2022, following two additional test flights.  Nine days later, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will also shoot for the stars when he hops aboard New Shepard.  That flight, via his company BlueOrigin, is set for July 20.

👉  Let’s return to our look into the history of Tootsietoys.  

In 1923 Tootsietoys introduced a sedan which became one of their most popular cars.  Collectors called this the “Yellow Cab” because commercially taxi companies were using that model of Ford automobiles for their vehicles (I couldn’t find a picture of one that was yellow).

The Automobiles and Garage Set of 1925 included 4 different cars, plus a garage to be assembled.  The cover artwork is a capture of life and the automotive industry from that time.

In a venture into other toy styles, 1925 also had a Train and Station Set complete  with engine, coal car and 3 passenger cars, as well as a train station.  Again, the art work is a time capsule of the era.

At the same time Tootsietoys offered delivery trucks in van.  There were six with the generic names of grocery, bakery, market, laundry, milk and florist. 

This truck was also used to make up special custom versions with the names of various department stores cast in the side panels.

L. Bamberger & Co., from Newark NJ (from the Way Back Machine, Aunt Veronica took the Bro and I shopping at Bamberger’s)

Hochschild, Kohn & Co., a store in Baltimore, MD (with those colors, it should have been from Pittsburgh)

New York’s J.C. Penney Co. Department Stores

And, to wrap it up for today, there was a Mac Truck (note the unusual windshield design, and also, for size representation, a quarter is beside the truck), and a boxed Interchangeable Truck set, featuring a single chassis and three interchangeable bodies: stake, coal and tank.

👉  Here is today’s movie mis-quote: “I vant to suck your blood!”  Many people think this line is spoken by Count Dracula, played by Bela Lugosi, in the film Dracula.   Dracula was a vampire’s vampire. None of the moody emotional stuff, like the vampires we have today.  He could turn into a bat, he could dissolve into mist, and he loved nothing more than a fresh serving of hot human blood.  But Dracula just showed up and bit people – he didn’t announce his intention to do so first.  He never said this line.  Not even close.

👉  The remaining part of Champlain Towers South was demolished last night, after officials worried that it might not withstand the powerful winds of an approaching tropical storm and that rescue workers could be endangered.  The demolition came as anguished families continued to await news in the search for 121 people missing since the building collapsed 11 days ago.  Rescue efforts were halted for much of the weekend amid growing worries about the building’s stability.  

Gov. Ron DeSantis said that concerns about the remaining part of the building left few options but demolition.  Residents of the building who survived fled with whatever they had with them and had not been permitted to enter the teetering structure.  Passports, wedding rings, cherished photos were left behind.  “At the end of the day, that building is too unsafe to let people go back in,” Mr. DeSantis said.  “I don’t think that there’s any way you could let someone go back up into that building given the shape that it’s in now.”

👉  Before we close, here is one from our “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up Department.”  While planning for an August 24 celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s defense minister has ruled that  female military cadets wear pumps with heels in the parade.  

“The purpose of any military parade is to demonstrate the military ability of the army.  There should be no room for stereotypes and sexism,” said a joint statement from three Cabinet members.  It noted that about 57,000 women serve in the country’s armed forces and “have proved their worth not in heels, but with machine guns.”

The military offered no explanation as to why female cadets were wearing a different type of shoe than male cadets.

👉  Yesterday’s sermon from the Crawfordville Pulpit was “Happy Birthday America!”

👉  Today’s close is from Praying with the Psalms, by Eugene H. Peterson.

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18).

When we find ourselves deficient in wisdom, it is not because the Word of God has pages missing, but because we have not seen all there is on the pages we already have.  It is not another book we need, but better attention to the book we have; it is not more knowledge we require, but better vision to see what has already been revealed in Christ.

Prayer: Father, as I read your counsels and commandments in scripture, grant that I may not be drowsy or inattentive in my reading, but really see what is there with open, observant eyes, in Jesus name. Amen.

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