My Look Back: 1942

Jane Russell in 1942 posing by the beach
 Photo by Eliot Elisofon from LIFE Photo Archive

Summer is swiftly on it's way and for many of us that means vacations to the beach.  This weekend I'm also thinking about Memorial Day and all that it means to me.  Which brings me to this look back at 1942.  I have family who served in Vietnam and most recently one of my youngest cousins packed up and joined the army.  Needless to say I honor our service men and women and here is a little list of trivia I found when I took a look back at the year 1942.

• The first American forces land in Europe by way of Northern Ireland.
• Muhammad Ali, Manolo Blahnik, Isabel Allende, Jimi Hendrix, Sandra Dee, and Martin Scorsese are born.
• The FCC's minimum programming time of 15 hours per week for a TV station is reduced to 4 hours a week (who knew there was a minimum??).
• Archie Comics makes its debut.
• Instead of 3 time zones, Mexico goes to having 2 time zones.
• Bing Crosby records the album White Christmas.
• Anne Frank begins writing her diary and she goes into hiding at the age of 13.
• Little Golden Books commences publishing.
• The cost of a first class stamp is .03 cents and the unemployment rate in the United States is 4.7%.
• Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman premieres.
• The first "gold record" emerges when RCA Victor sprays Glen Miller's millionth copy sold of Chattanooga Choo Choo gold.
• The 14th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles.  Best Picture goes to How Green Was My Valley starring Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pidgeon.  It beats out The Maltese Falcon, Suspicion, Citizen Kane and Sergeant York.

I'll Have a Shingle with a Shimmy and a Shake in the Alley

Photo by Nat Farbman, April 1959 from LIFE Photo Archive

What the heck is the title of the post you say? It's diner lingo! A shingle with a shimmy is buttered toast with a jam or jelly spread and a shake in the alley is a shake on the side. Diners are right up my alley in so far as nostalgia goes. I love the coziness of the food, the throwback feel, and the sense of an American tradition. Locally I have three favorite diners that I would highly recommend if you are in the area.

Pie n'Burger in Pasadena, CA

913 E. California Blvd. (*Ooooh, and according to Yelp, a new Pie 'n Burger food truck is coming!!)
 

The Rocky Cola Cafe in Whittier, CA

6757 Greenleaf Ave. 

Andy's Coffee Shop in Pasadena, CA

1234 E. Colorado Blvd. (even the address is classic!)

I'm also listing some trivia about diner history and of course diner lingo. You can also visit this awesome website for more: http://www.dinerlingo.com

• The word diner comes from "dining car" because a diner is supposed to be a prefabricated structure that is brought to a permanent location where it will serve as a dining establishment.

• Diners started as converted wagons in the late 19th century (the earliest of lunch trucks). When electric steetcars began replacing the horse drawn wagons, they were converted into dining cars for a cheaper price than actually purchasing a new prefabricated dining car.

• After women got the vote in the twenties, diners begain re-vamping their image in order to gain a feminine following. They basically prettied up their places with flower boxes and fresh coats of paint. Bathrooms were also added.

• Streamlining of dining cars began in the 1930's and when buses replaced trollies, trollies were converted into dining cars as well.

• The 1940's and 1950's were the boom era of the diner. Demand for them skyrocketed and designs followed a more futuristic appeal, especially in the fifties.

• Many diners were and are open 24 hours and many were located strategically near factories that were open all night to cater to night crew laborers.

• Typical wallet-friendly menu items of most diners include hamburgers, fries, shakes, coffee, and of course classic breakfast items like pancakes, eggs, bacon and waffles (you know, all the healthy stuff).

Can you guess what this order would be in regular talk:

"A Stack of Vermont with a Baby and Throw it in the Mud"



Photo by Will Hastings from Flickr Creative Commons



(Answer: Pancakes and a glass of milk with chocolate syrup)

Book Review: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Harper Collins, 2008; 321 pages; ISBN  1554681723
My Goodreads Rating: 5 stars

OK, so I admit that I picked up this book because of the dog on the cover.  I am a sucker for Labrador retrievers, and I actually have two lab-mixes at home (their names are Frida and Che, and yes, I cry my eyes out every time I watch Marley and Me or even those Humane Society commercials), so I was very intrigued by the idea of a book told from a dog's perspective.  But Enzo the dog is no ordinary dog.  He is a human soul trapped in a dog's body (for this particular life cycle, according to him).  His owner, a race car driver named Denny, talks to Enzo like he is his pal and he watches TV with him, even leaving it on for him, which is where Enzo learns about the world and of course, about the art of race car driving.  Enzo is a very philosophical soul (that is why he believes in reincarnation, and he is certain that his next life will be as a human being), and he thinks that the techniques that Denny uses on the race track can be applied to every day life.  As Enzo recalls his life with Denny, including many ups and downs (marriage, a child, tragedy, triumph, and the like), he also takes stock on his role in Denny's life and all that he has learned and hopes to learn and do as a human being.  I know the book spent many weeks on the bestseller list, and rightly so.  I'm pretty sure animal lovers (especially dog lovers) will enjoy the story, but I also strongly feel that the book is for everyone, whether or not you have a furry companion at home.  It's smart, funny, sweet, and very honest, and yes, I also cried during this one too.  A highly recommended read.

Photo: From Goodreads.com website

Read a Book, Sip a Cocktail No. 5

Photo from Goodreads.com

For this month's pairing I was going for the magical and mesmerizing qualities of the book Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen.  I thought it would be perfect for spring.  I wanted to include apple in it because of the enchanted apple tree in the story (and there are also a ton of other flavors, foods, and even wines mentioned in the story, that truth be told I was hungry half the time I was reading the book).  So I combined apple flavored vodka, a lavender infused simple syrup, and good 'ole apple juice.  The result is a sweet martini that is both floral and light.  I was kind of scared about experimenting with lavender because it is a scent that pervades most things (in a good way, but still).  However, it was actually not overpowering at all.  You taste the apple first, then the sweetness, and then the lavender sort of hits you at the end with a slight hint of spring.  I really enjoyed it and I decided to call it The Enchanted Apple.

The Enchanted Apple
1 1/2 oz. Apple vodka
1 oz. Lavender infused simple syrup*
2 oz. Apple juice
How to: In a cocktail shaker mix ice, vodka, simple syrup and apple juice.  Shake for at least 30 seconds.  Serve in a chilled martini glass.  *To make the lavender infused simple syrup, take 1/2 a cup of sugar to 1 cup of water and cook over medium heat (watching it and stirring every so often).  When the sugar has dissolved, take the syrup off the heat and let it cool.  Drop in some dried lavender flowers (about 4-6 tablespoons), and store in a glass jar overnight.  Strain the simple syrup to remove the buds. Make sure you use food grade lavender buds, and not the potpourri kind. Also, you can buy plain simple syrup instead of making your own to save some time. 

I started the lavender infused simple syrup with these buds, 
and my kitchen was smelling so good!

The finished product was very refreshing and enchanting! :)

Teen ARC Giveaway: Unpublished Books!

Congrats to Melissa & Karen!!

Stay tuned for the next giveaway sometime in July and thanks to everyone who participated.

To finish up the month of April I'm hosting another giveaway.  Two lucky winners will receive one of these advance reader copy sets of teen books that are yet to be published.  The first set includes Tiger's Quest by Colleen Houck, Corsets and Clockwork: 13 Steampunk Romances edited by Trisha Telep, and But I Love Him by Amanda Grace and Mandy Hubbard.  The second set includes Mission (Un)Popular by Anna Humphrey, Nerd Girls: The Rise of the Dorkasaurus by Alan Lawrence Sitomer, and Populazzi by Elise Allen.

Fill out the form below to enter, and if you are so inclined:

•  show some blog love and follow me
•  "like" The Nostalgic Librarian Facebook page 
• "like" My RIPE Etsy Shop on Facebook
• tweet the following "RT @msbibliotecaria is hosting a #teenbook #giveaway on nostalgiclibrarian.blogspot.com Please RT!", or 
• mention this giveaway on your own blog

These additional actions will provide extra entries, but are completely optional. Winners will be picked at random, and entries are valid only for United States residents. The deadline for this giveaway is May 12th, 2011 at 11:59pm (PST).  Winner will be announced right here on this post on May 20th.  Good luck!! :)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Step Right Up!

Photo by Nina Leen, March 1949 from LIFE Photo Archive

Last week I posted my review for Sara Gruen's novel Water for Elephants (Algonquin Books, 2006), and today the film version directed by Francis Lawrence was released (he also directed I am Legend and Constantine).  This got me thinking about circus history, which has been compared to a microcosm of the history of the United States, since the circus has been around almost from when this country was founded to the present day.  I'm not going to even try to summarize the extensive history of the circus, but I did find some trivia that caught my nostalgic eye and of course being the librarian that I am, I'm providing a list of books (both fiction and non-fiction) and a list of websites that I used to compile the trivia list.

• The traveling circus on rails reached its peak in 1911, this was when a total of thirty two different shows were touring the country.
• In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge and his wife attended a Ringling Bros. show upon a personal invitation from John Ringling, even though President Coolidge had remarked that their boys were not in, but that he would attend anyways.
• Ringlingville was the original name of the Ringling Bros. Circus and it was founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin in 1884.
• One of the worst circus train wrecks occurred in 1918 when the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus was derailed near Hammond, Indiana.  Since many of the performers that were killed could not be identified, some of their graves only have markers that say "Smiley", "Baldy", or "Unknown Female".  Their graves are part of a section in the cemetery called "Showman's Rest" and they feature elephant statues in typical mourning poses.
• The use of a circus tent seems to have originated in 1825.
• That famous circus theme song (c'mon, you know the one, "doo-doo-doo-roo-roo-roo-roo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo....) is actually a military march composed in 1897 by Czech composer Julius Fučík called Entrance of the Gladiators.
• The flying trapeze was invented by Frenchman Jules Leotard (the leotard performers wear is named after him) when he connected some cords to a bar above his father's swimming pool.

Recommended Reading
Non-Fiction:

The American Circus: An Illustrated History by John Culhane (Henry Holt and Co., 1991)

Ringling: The Florida Years, 1911-1936 by David Chapin Weeks (University Press of Florida, 1993)
The Tattooed Lady: A History by Amelia Klem Osterud (Speck Press, 2009)
American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers by Marc Hartzman (Tarcher, 2005)

Fiction:

Metropolis by Elizabeth Gaffney (Random House, 2005)

The Electric Michelangelo  by Sarah Hall (Harper Perennial, 2005, first published 2004)

The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson (Henry Holt and Co., 2010)

The Circus in Winter by Cathy Day (Harcourt, 2004)

A Son of the Circus by John Irving (Random House, 1994)

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter (Penguin, 1986, first published 1984)

Websites:

Circushistory.org

Circusinamerica.org

Sarasotacircushistory.com

Circusworld.wisconsinhistory.org 

These elephants are remarkable, but I did watch the show wondering how well they were treated, and hoping that they were treated very well because they did some amazing tricks (at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Show, 2010)

Book Review: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Algonquin Books, 2006; 335 pages; ISBN  1565124995
My Goodreads Rating: 5 stars

With the film version of Sara Gruen's excellent Water for Elephants coming out next week, I am excited to revisit the book, which I read last year.  I had been meaning to read the novel for two years and it wasn't until I heard there was a movie version being made that I finally checked it out.  I wish I hadn't waited because this is truly a very charming book.  It's got romance, history, adventure, some mystery, and it incorporates animals into the mix of characters.  The setting switches back and forth between present time in a nursing home and a traveling circus in 1932.  Jacob Jankowski is remembering his time with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth circus as him and his fellow nursing home residents are preparing to attend the circus that just came into town.  In his memories Jacob is 23 years old and his parents have just died in a car crash.  He was studying to be a veterinarian at Cornell and in a fateful turn of events he jumps onto a train not knowing that it is a circus train.  When he is found out he gets offered a job as a vet for the menagerie of animals, even though he insists that he never finished his schooling.  In the circus he meets an eclectic cast of characters, including the insufferable and pompous ring master Uncle Al, the beautiful performer Marlena, Marlena's husband August, the cruel animal trainer, and one of the clowns and his dog, Walter and Queenie.  Jacob has to learn quickly and many lessons are harsh, like the practice of redlighting (when circus workers are thrown off the train in the middle of the night to avoid paying them and to basically get rid of them) and how the circus animals are treated.  The Benzini show is in fierce competition with bigger and better spectacles, like Ringling Brothers, so when Uncle Al gets the chance to acquire Rosie the elephant, he does so and has Marlena work with her to put on a dazzling show that will hopefully boost profits and elevate the reputation of the Benzini Bros.  show.  As Jacob and Marlena both fall in love with each other they must deal with the unkind ways of August and the dangers of circus life.  I loved everything about the novel, especially all of the historical details that the author incorporates because they really bring the story to life.  I also loved how the story unfolded and I always had this sense of foreboding throughout the story that compelled me to keep reading.  Gruen also features actual photographs of the circus during the Great Depression, which offered up another way to visualize the events unfolding during Jacob's recollections.  I cannot wait until the movie release and I really want to see what Reese Witherspoon does with the character, because I never pictured Marlena like Reese.  I pictured her dark-haired, with alabaster skin, and with sharper features, but I've liked pretty much every movie she has made, so we shall see.  I recommend reading the book before watching the film if you can, because usually book versions far outshine their movie counterparts.  Here's the movie trailer:

Photo: From Goodreads.com website