SLOW BUT SURELY SUCCESSFUL: In a previous issue of "VV" I mentioned that I had purchased the first roll of microfilm from Bowling Green State University [there are perhaps 15 reels that span the years 1897 to 1964]; and that I was going to try an scan the film with my MicroTek flatbed scanner. I was not certain that it could be done with any success. And, initially, I was unsuccessful.
But I slept on it.
The next day I went to the hardware store and purchased an 8 ½ by 11 inch pane of glass that would fit between the scan surface and lid of the scanner. I placed a piece of the microfilm under the glass and scanned it like one would any bit of 35mm film.
The result (after a bit of fudging with the resolution size) is what you see above. This is a readable, collectable photograph of the front page of the 2nd edition of The Vermillion News from June 24, 1897.
I could not (of course) display a real size copy of the scan here. But to afford ye some idea of just how clear it is I offer the following view of some of the text on this particular page:
While I am certainly very happy to have found a way to scan these microfilm files it is - after all is said and done - not a very practical process. On the other hand most the microfilm viewers / scanners / printers available are well beyond my financial reach.
They range from about $1000 used to $50,000 new. Some can be leased for about $1200 or more per year - depending on the value of the particular appliance. By and large these are institutional tools. Very few individuals, such as myself, own and / or lease them. And I don't suppose they're in any great demand. Consequently, manufacturers have little reason to make one that might be affordable to "Joe-the-plumber" much less to"Rich-the-Vermilion-Ohio-history-nut".
But I'll sleep on it.
In the meantime methinks "Viewers" can expect to see some more articles from the early microfilm archives of both "The Vermillion" and "The Vermilion" News weekly.
Stay close...
Hires Rootbeer Advertisement
c.1897
HIRES: This Hires Root Beer advertisement appears in the second issue of The Vermillion News - and I found it quite interesting.
When I was a little fellow I used to hand with my Pop in the kitchen on the weekends. Dad did all the cooking from Friday through Sunday to give Mom a break. In any case, he always kept a bottle of syrupy "stuff" that one could mix with water and come up with a root beer beverage. Although I can't recall if it was Hires I always enjoyed it. And this ad brought that memory to mind.
Today - few of us would really want to have to go to all the trouble of making our own soft drink. But a hundred years ago it was a very reasonable and easy way to acquire a pleasant refreshment.
After looking at the ad I couldn't help but wonder about this Charles Hires guy. So I looked him up and here is what I found...
At the age of 12 CHARLES ELMER HIRES (August 19, 1851–July 31, 1937)] worked as a drugstore boy. When he was 16 he moved to Philadelphia and worked in a pharmacy, saving his money until he had nearly $400. Using this money, he started his own drugstore.
Some say Hires discovered root beer on his honeymoon in New Jersey where the woman who ran his honeymoon hotel served root tea. Hires was originally going to call his drink "root tea" also but thought that "root beer" would be more appealing to the working class. Originally, Hires packaged the mixture in boxes and sold it to housewives and soda fountains. They needed to mix in water, sugar, and yeast.
The drink was slow to catch on, but the Reverend Dr. Russell Conwell persuaded Hires to present his product at the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. To make it stand out, he called his drink "The Temperance Drink" and "the greatest health giving beverage in the world". Hires was active in the temperance movement, and it is believed that he wanted root beer to be an alternative to alcohol.
I note - with some amusement - that in the ad root beer is referred to as "the great temperance drink". While one may understand that the temperance reference was intended to be an advertising "hook" (among other things) one can't help but also wonder if there was some other reasoning behind the naming. Was it the color of the beverage? Its propensity to foam?
But whatever the case "root tea" would have been the wrong name.
And in younger days it would not have been the same if - when sitting on a stool in Vermilion's "News-Stand" on a hot summer day enjoying a penny pretzel and an ice cold mug of Hires thickly foaming at the brim - if had it been called "Root Tea".
Robbie K. Jones
ROBBIE: It's always nice to hear about another Vermilion expatriate who has gone on to make a name for themselves in the world. Robbie Jones is one of those people.
The gifted musician has been living and working in Europe for a good number of years now and folks in the world of music are taking note. The following newspaper article was passed to me by his father Jim (a retired school administrator / teacher). Methinks you'll be hearing (no pun intended more) of Robbie in the near future.
Garrett Wall Band In Tally Ho this Sunday
Fresh from wowing crowds at this [sic]year’s banjo festival, one member of the LIuis Gomez Quartet returns to Longford this Sunday night (Oct 5) for a gig with his other band - Garrett Wall Band.
The Tally Ho on New Street is the venue for the unusual but brilliantly dynamic four member band, which includes guitar, trumpet, bass and cajon (flamenco box drum), The combination provides a crafted platform for Wall's soaringly lyrical voice.
Robbie K Jones (pictured), who provides the Cajon (flamenco box dnun) instrument, was in, various venues around Longford town for the festival over last weekend with the LIllis Gomez Quartet. Now he joins up with Garrett Wall band for what promises to be a memorable gig in the Tally Ho.
Garrett Wall's new album, 'Sky Pointing', features five new songs and five older tracks reworked with the new line-up and was mixed in Nashville by long time Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin (Chilli Peppers, Def Jam) collaborator David Ferguson and is already creating a buzz in music circles there. It will see a full conunercial release in 2008.
For now, though, you can catch their sound at the Tally Ho bar on Sunday night, due to start at 9pm. More info on the band at: www.garrettwall.net or www.myspace.com/garrettwall
Cool beans!
19th Century Parlour
19TH CENTURY AMERICAN PARLOUR / FAMILY ROOM:
To be candid this is an extremely bad reproduction of an extremely interesting photograph. While apologies are extended for the inferior quality of the replication the subject matter is so completely compelling - historically - that it would be a shame not to make use of it.
The accompanying portrait is that of a 19th century American parlour. These shadows were captured by Pearl Roscoe one of Vermilion, Ohio’s earliest journalist photographers. Unfortunately, the locale of the shoot is unknown. It could have been in Vermilion, in Roscoe’s hometown of Milan, or in Oberlin or Lorain, Ohio where he worked as a journalist / printer before he and his wife Bessie came to Vermilion in the late 1800’s. Whatever the case, it certainly affords us an intriguing peek into the parlours and, concurrently, the lives of our late 19th and early 20th century ancestors.
The distractions / amusements of those times are rather tame compared to those found in 21st century family rooms. While the walls and sundry furniture in the recreation rooms of yesteryear were decorated much the same: That is to say, with family photographs and delicate knickknacks most folks habitually collect over the years; there are at least three rather interesting variances.
1. The word “parlour” is dated if not altogether dead. It was once used as a appellation for a particular room in a private home (also referred to as the “sitting room”). It was the room where families gathered to interact after supper, and where they received, and entertained, guests. In brief, it was the living room / family room of most 19th and early 20th century homes sans radio, television and Lay-Z-Boy furniture.
2. The Piano: The piano was the centrepiece of home entertainment. It was not just a showpiece. If someone had such an instrument in their home it was very likely that they - as well as several other family members - knew how to play it. And the family commonly performed; either solo or as a chorale. In this particular instance the piece on the piano was called “Over the Ocean Blue” (composer unknown to this writer).
The instrument in the photo was a Cabinet Grand piano made by the Krakauer Bros (est. 1869) of New York. This manufacturer confined itself to building just one high grade quality piano that was available in a wide variety of attractive designs in both Grand and Vertical models. The company was noted for exceptionally artistic and uniquely attractive case designs, and durable construction. The instruments were known for their exceptionally rich tonal quality. They pioneered a patented closed back construction which permitted the piano to be placed anywhere in a room without the necessity of placing it with its back to the wall.
This particular instrument was purchased from The Dreher Piano Co of Cleveland (est. 1853). Originally the founder of that company, Baptiste Dreher (Sept. 1830-9 Apr. 1890), who had migrated to Cleveland from Germany, had been in the business making melodeons. It may interest some to know that Dreher's grandfather, Meinard Dreher, was an organ builder in Illreichen near Ulm, Germany, and was an acquaintance of Johann Sebastian Bach. But I digress.
3. The Lamp: The kerosene lamp on the table on the right side of the photo is known as a “Glass or Banquet Lamp”. These were, customarily, rather ornate pieces. Their mid sections were varied - bronze, glass, pewter, brass - almost any thing the designer wanted. On many of them the lower design duplicated that found on the upper globe.
These pretty pieces were a step above one of the most popular table lamps of the times; the “Rayo Lamp”. As an informational point it may also be of interest to understand that the "Rayo" was registered by the Standard Oil Company of Cleveland, Ohio. At the time J. D. Rockefeller was busy buying up, consolidating or just plain running small refiners out of the refining business. Because lighting was then the major consumer of flammable fluid it was hardly a coincidence that the “Rayo” was manufactured and briskly marketed by Standard Oil. Referring to Mr. Rockefeller as being a shrewd operator would not be an understatement.
And just to bring it all of this back home it is just as interesting to note that the success of F. W. Wakefield’s Brass (Lighting) Company, as well as the prosperity of the place we know as Vermilion, Ohio, was both directly and indirectly related to the social interactions of life in the American Parlour of yesteryear.
Ref: The Encyclopaedia of Cleveland History on-line; David Burton in the Piano World Forums on-line; www.antiquelamps.net; Vermilion Area Archival Society, Pearl Roscoe Photo Collection archive.
11/25/07
2:07 PM
High over Vermilion
c.1938
VERMILION C.1938: This is a rather unusual aerial pic of Vermilion taken 'round about 1938. My friend "Buffalo Bill" Hlavin scanned it, and emailed it to me just yesterday.
Bill collects old postcards - and this photo was on one of them. The card was an advertisment commissioned by the Wells Realty Company as a device designed to promote the sales of "beautiful homes and cottages" in "the most unique Subdivision on the Great Lakes" they called that "Vermilion Lagoons". Earl S. Welch was the local realtor in charge of sales.
This pic is unique (at least it is to me) because it affords one of the best views of the eastern part of the village just before the Lake Shore Electric Bridge was demolished.
Note: the view presented here is but a portion of a larger photograph wherein very few homes existed in the Lagoons Subdivision, and the Valley View area was farmland.
And those days - like the LSE bridge - are forever and ever gone...
HARRY HAYES SOHIO (EVERYONE): I've been working on a project for the Vermilion Area Archival Society and came across this photograph in the Barb Feizli photo collection.
It's not a great photo. But it's good enough for those who recall Harry Hayes' Bridge Sohio Station to recognize. The site is now occupied by Allen Thorley DeLloyd Insurance Agency. I'm not entirely certain - but I believe the current building was built around the shell of Mr. Hayes' enterprise. Looking at the cars being serviced I'd guesstimate the year of the photo to be c.1959-60.
Mr. Hayes was among a generation of small town business people who offered a generous portion of compassion along with their expertise and the products they sold. Trust was paramount in the conduct of such business. But, unfortunately, it doesn't pay the rent.
Consequently, when Harry passed on there were a good number of customers who owed more than a brief prayer. However; that was the way of it back then. And it was not unusual.
Ask anybody.
DON'T JUST SIT THERE WITH A MOUSE IN YOUR HAND!!!:
Take a cyber visit through my on-line store.
Christmas is coming. Break down and get Fido a shirt. He's freezing - for cripes sake!
But seriously, take a tour of the shop. Tell me how you like it and what you might like to see on some items. I'm always open for business and for reasonable requests and suggestions. If nothing else just do a little window shopping. It's fun!
VERMILION VIEWS GIFT SHOP
Also note that all the video (MP4) podcasts (where used) are done in the "Quicktime" format.
Stay with me on this project. Things will get better. (I pro-mize.)
NOTE NOTE:Past podcasts are no longer available in the on-line archive. They just take up too much disk space. But if one really, really, really wants to acquire a copy of a past cast it can be had by contacting moi - and I will place it on a disc and send it to ye for a minimal fee.
If, however, something important crops up it - it will appear here.
If you're looking for my old links section (pictured) I've replaced it with a pull-down menu (visible in the small box next to the word "Go"). If you're looking for links to more Vermilion history check that menu.