More Observations From History...

We've fallen behind, since the last post a lot has happened: a new job, sold our animals, found a new place to live in a different state, moved all of our belongings and started settling into a new community.  For now, here are additional observations I've wanted to post on things I found at my grandparent's house...

A steamer chest.  I remember learning about these in elementary school.  I suspect this is one they used to cross the Atlantic (these weren't made for sissies; no built in wheels nor retractable handles for pulling).

My grandfathers desk, appears to be untouched since the early 1960s.  Besides some of his cook books (in French) it has calendars from the 1950s with daily entries about what he did.  It's fascinating, I even found a note he wrote to my dad encouraging him and dissuading him from habits that he associated with "sissies." (The white corded earphones are mine, I put them down to take the pic.  The bowling trophies on top are my dad's from the late '50s and early '60s.)

Upon opening one of his calendar books, I found a ticket dated 2/20/1955.  It appears that he didn't use his turn signal and the "park" popo shook him down for $5 (~$45 in 2015 dollars).

I also found a lot of pictures. In some I can recognize people or objects still in the house, but many I cannot relate to anything.  Some appear to be ancestors that we can't ID with certainty like those above.

A 1958 Mercedes 220S sedan.  It's been in the garage for 40 years.  The tires aren't just flat they're falling apart but the body is in great shape.

The steering wheel looks like it belongs in a bus and the leather ain't too supple anymore.  The dash is mostly wood and it only has lap belts.

Interesting, it says "MADE IN WESTERN GERMANY" under the hood.  The former West and East Germany is a great case study.  The East was the ultimate in "big gubmit" run everything, whereas the West had considerably more freedom and much less intrusive gubmit.  There are many things West Germany produced and exported which improved the lives of people around the world (like this car).  When I was there in 1992, I was surprised at how it either matched and in some cases exceeded standards in the US.  I traveled to the former East Germany and the environment was considerably different, as if it was 40 years behind or simply dysfunctional (e.g. cars were made out of compressed cardboard).  How many things does big gubmit produce?  When considering the former East Germany, beside fear and tyranny, the answer is extremely little compared to a free economy (ever see any US imports from East Germany)?

Cigars that my grandfather used to smoke, they appear to be very inexpensive.  1940s maybe?

Well, not quite when you extrapolate for the effects of inflation and notice the blue tax stamps on every box.  It reminds me of a discussion I had with a distillery employee in the Midwest.  He mentioned how the AT F can do inspections to validate "compliance" and that the distillery has to pay "fees" based on what they produce (not based on revenue) or they will be shut down.  I asked if the AT F provided any help or advice to distillers in return for the money they take.  The answer was they do absolutely nothing.  His sentiment was that they were no different than the mob, they coerce producers to pay "protection" money or face violence or time in a steel cage.  The same thing happens with tobacco, the blue stamps were proof that protection money was paid.

Eventually I found a bottle with evidence that protection money had been paid for it.

Coffee grinder, this design was patented in 1905.

One of Great Grandpa's kitchen tools being put back into use.

A bug sprayer (top) and fire extinguisher.  I remember bug sprayers like this one used in cartoons when growing up.  I never could relate to them.  This was the first time I saw a real example.  The fire extinguisher is from the '30s and requires pumping in order to create pressure.  Below is an ad for it:

 

There are many bottles from what appear to be the 1940s? They are all glass and heavy.  Funny how an electric company also made furniture polish.

Grandma's 1950 Singer sewing machine.  I found a receipt for $150 but it mentions a "trade-in," I'm guessing grandma traded in an earlier model.

This find was priceless.  Ever have the JWs (Jehovah's Witnesses) come to your door?  With a little research it's not hard to dismiss their religion as being a cult (they deny that Jesus is God [Romans 9:5, Col 2:9, Titus 2:13, etc.] and they believe salvation is attained thru works and not faith [Ephesians 2:8-9, Gal 1:8-9] among other heresies).  Something a little harder to pin them down on are their false prophesies, like one that the world was to end in 1975 which they'll simply deny as "a lie."  But just imagine a conversation after finding a copy of Awake! from 1968 (published by the Watchtower, the JW equivalent of the "Death Star," it essentially gives JWs their marching orders).

ME: ...and the other significant issue with the Watchtower are the multiple false prophesies they've made.  The Bible tells us in Duet. 18:20-22 to dismiss anyone who makes a false prophesy.  JW (with a wry smile): Well, the world is full of lies, you can't believe everything that you read.  ME (with my version of their wry smile):  Oh yeah, I totally agree, that's why it's great to have original copies of Death Star prophesies ...oops, I mean Watchtower (as I produce the document above).

And here's another use of the word "negro" by the news media, this time in March of 1968, seven years after we're supposed to believe that Hawaii used "African" on certficates of birth?  Could the Pre sident's certificate be a forgery?  Nah, no way, not in land of the free and home of the brave!

When I was a kid I disliked Reader's Digest because the issues never had enough pictures for my satisfaction, especially when in the sitting room at the doctor's office.  Here's one from 1935, it has no pictures at all.  I would have had a really hard time waiting for the doctor in the 30s.

Part of the reason it's taken a while to produce this post is that I didn't know where to start with this American icon.  As I thought about what my grandparents might have been told about the "great emancipator" to make them want his picture in their home, it made me ponder how common and insidious propaganda is.  Especially for Lincoln, the propaganda campaign has been especially successful.  As a victim of the public school system in the '70s and '80s I can commiserate because I bought all of the lies.  "Lincoln was a wonderful hero for opposing slavery and the South didn't like that so they decided it was worth having a 'civil' war over, the South lost and the world is now a better place" sums up what I was taught.  For some great articles on this subject, see here and here.

The funny thing is that the premier candidate for being the worst President of all time (and responsible for war crimes) is venerated as being one of the best (even by many Christians which is even more baffling). 

One could argue that he is the only one that has ever conformed to the Constitution's definition of treason ("Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them"). 

He imprisoned thousands of northerners for exercising their 1st Amendment right by disagreeing with him and he put them in the same POW camps as the Confederates where people were purposely starved to death (unlike in the Confederacy where POWs staved to death because of food shortages imposed by the North). 

In 1858 he said "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes nor of qualifying them to hold office nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."  (Yes, you really did just read that - the words of Abraham Lincoln.  If you feel scandalized, you're a victim of propaganda.)

And yes, he is the first President to invite prominent blacks to the White House... only to ask them to encourage blacks to the leave the country and return to Africa.

He and his buddies knew that the South's contribution to the federal budget was 75% (yes, production in the south funded most of the fed back then via tariffs). Sure, it could be said that the war was about a number of things; preserving taxes generated through tariffs, empire building, or expanding the power of Republican Party, but not slavery.  Just ask the US Senate, on 7/26/1861 they declared that the purpose was "to preserve the Union." Ulysses S. Grant, the most acclaimed Union General, a slaveholder himself, said "If I thought this war was to abolish slavery, I would resign my commission and offer my sword to the other side."  No wonder the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the South and not in four northern slave states.

The South felt plundered by tariffs and resentment grew because most of the taxes were spent in the North, that's why southern states began to seceeeeeeed, meaning that they withdrew from the Union and asserted their independence, just like the original 13 colonies did.  And for that they were invaded.

The South didn't try to take over the federal gubmit as is implied in the words "civil war," their intentions and actions were the opposite - for example, SC was trying to purchase Ft. Sumter from the federal gubmit up until the time Lincoln invaded the South, and Lincoln's representatives acted as if they were considering the sale.  SC didn't realize at that time that Lincoln's real intention was to subjugate them by force. 

That's also why other states seceded, they thought it was madness for Lincoln to invade, their exit had nothing to do with "fighting to keep" slavery (Article I, Section 9 of the Confederate Constitution prohibited the importation of slaves - not something people would do if they wanted to perpetuate it).

The martial law he imposed was later declared by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional (one can understand why after a plain reading of the Constitution), the court declared that martial law "...destroys every guarantee of the Constitution" Ex parte Milligan (71 US 2 [1866]).  

There was enough opposition to the war in the North that congress passed draft laws in 1863 and Lincoln's military killed protesters, most notably in NY (...wait, this gets confusing, why would he unconstitutionally impose servitude into the military upon free men, I thought emancipation was his passion?).  See what I mean, where do you start with this joker?

More importantly, why is there such militant and pervasive propaganda surrounding someone who completely disregarded the Constitution he swore to uphold and defend while unleashing violence, horror and death upon hundreds of thousands?  Easy...  he's the guy who did the most to destroy the Republic, freedom and independence and gave birth to the centralized control that exists today.  Before the invasion of the South, people understood states to be separate countries - that is the obverse of today's understanding.  The gubmit was literally nothing compared to what it is today.  If the gubmit (via the public schools) accurately provided the facts and sentiments surrounding the war it would obviate the very favorable perception of its origin and purpose.