Why Call It Canning When It's In Jars?

 

Somewhere I picked up a 2012 Amish Country News. So interesting! Makes me want to go soon to visit there.  

One tidbit I learned was the answer to the question above:

"So if you're putting food in jars, why do you call it 'canning?'"

"In 1795, while engaged in military pursuits, Napoleon offered a cash prize to anyone who could find a way to preserve foods for his troops. A French man names Nicholas Appert found a way to preserve food in jars, sterilized and sealed with pitch. By 1804, he had a vacuum-packing plant up and running. This process was a closely guarded military secret, but by 1810 a Mr. Peter Durand of England had a patent for tin-plated iron to use in "canning." It has been verified that canned rations were on the battlefield at Waterloo. In 1812, a small plant in New York produced hermetically sealed oysters, meats, fruits and vegetables, all in cans. Durand introduced his can top to American in 1818. Later, a man named Henry Evans patented a machine that made the tin cans, increasing production capabilities from 5-6 cans per hour to 50-60. Then, finally, in 1858 the now famous American icon John Mason invented the glass jar for home canning. From that point on "canned" food was found in both tins and jars, and that is why we put canned food in jars today!"

EWGS Loses Another Member

 

Anybody but me remember Elaine Anderson? She was an active EWGS member for years and helped with committees and programs. Went on several trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City with me. She was a true lady and I will miss her.  

Remember Genealogical Publishing Company?

 

Now known as Genealogical.com, this genealogy-book-publishing company has been around for 65 years. I'll just bet you've ordered books more than once from GPC.

If you click to www.Genealogical.com, you'll be like the proverbial kid in a candy shop. So many books! TIP:  If you request their 35-page catalog (2022-2023), then you can browse, red pencil in hand, and start your own Wish List. 

Another TIP:  I find the catalog is handy especially when I begin to research in a new place for I can quickly find what are the major reference books for that place. TIP #2: take the catalog with you to Salt Lake or your favorite library. 

To show how "on the ball" this company is, one of their newest book offerings is Ukrainian Genealogy Research, by Vera Ivanova Miller. Published in 2021, cost is $10.95.  The description begins: "Because the borders of Ukraine shifted many times over the years, researching your Ukrainian ancestors can be challenging........ "

GPC offers How-To Books and Manuals, General Reference and Finding Aids, Heraldry and a long list of resource books for each state and many countries.  

Quoting an old TV commercial, I urge you "to try it, you'll like it!"  Whether Genealogical Publishing Company or Genealogical.com, genealogy BOOKS are their business. 

Elvis Presley the Man

 

Did you light a candle or shed a tear on August 16th last week....... the 45th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death? Or maybe you've visited Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis? (Photo: Find-A-Grave)

We "all" loved or hated Elvis. In 1958 I recall hurrying home from Sunday evening youth group to see Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show! Only from the waist up, of course. 

What did you really know about Elvis the man??

1. He had a twin brother, Jesse, who died at birth.

2. His full name was Elvis Aaron (his father was Vernon Elvis).

3. His favorite sandwich was peanut butter, bacon and banana.

4. His home/mansion, Graceland, was originally a church when he bought it.

5. His first hit? Heartbreak Hotel in 1956.

6. He earned a Black Belt in karate in 1960.

7. He married Priscilla in 1967 in Las Vegas; Lisa Marie was their only child.

8. His first movie was "Love Me Tender."

9. He made 24 albums.

10. He was reading The Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus at the time of his death.

One last Elvis story:  My father was in Sacred Heart hospital in about the year 2000 and when I went to pay for parking, the attendant said it would be free if I could tell him the date of Elvis's death. "Easy! I said. Everybody knows he's NOT dead!"  The fellow laughed and let me pass. 

Origin Of Turnbull Surname---Maybe?

 

I've posted before about Coats of Arms and do we believe them..... or deserve them....today?  Here's a story that I just HAD to share:

"At the town of Stirling began the great wood of Caledon where roamed a number of white bulls, with crisp and curly manes, like fierce lions....and more wild than any other beasts. As soon as any man appeared before them, the bulls would rush forward without fear of hounds, sharp lances or other weapons.

"It is said that King Robert Bruce went hunting in this wood and, having only a small party with him, narrowly escaped with his life. One of the bulls, after being sorely wounded by the hunters, rushed fiercely on the King who had then no weapon in his hand to defend himself from the impact. 

"Then a man of great spirit, who was nearby, leapt before the King and, grappling with the bull, cast it to the earth with great force and held it there while the remaining hunters slew it with their weapons. The man who rescued the King was called thereafter TURN-E-BULL and awarded with rich lands by the King."

This story is retold in a 20-page booklet titled, I Save the King: The Story of the Turnbulls, by R.E. Scott, 1977. Author Scott cites The History of Scotland, published in Latin in Paris about 1626.

Working on a history of Cyrus Turnbull, for whom Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge was named (although he never owned land there and only "squatted" for six years), I found a reference to this story. Tracking it down, I found that a copy was held by a library in Michigan. Inquiring of them, a most kind librarian found a copy online for me! Note the lesson there, dear readers. 

Names----Yesterday & Today

 

Picking a name for baby has always been a delightful challenge. Surely it has always been so. I have a family of four siblings born in the early 1700s in Connecticut named John, Mary, Elizabeth............... and Bazeleel.  Bazeleel? Yep, a Bible name for sure.

We might think that names for baby popping up today are kinda crazy but it was the same decades or centuries ago (as proved by the above example, no?).

Doing some "pay-it-forward" work for the St. Clair County Genealogical Society in Illinois (where some of my ancestors hail from), and helping index and proofread early birth records, I've come upon these names.... and they are first names:

Orben, Noal, Truthadoris, Honey, Ermil, Calliem, Argana, Bornodna, Yarlotts, Falenda, Mortha and Ceeylia.

How long ago were these names, you ask? 1916! 

I'm quite sure that a list compiled in 2122 of some of today's names might sound just as "interesting." Agree? 

Spokane Valley Heritage Museum & The Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit

 

The Spokane Valley Heritage Museum (southside of Sprague just WEST of Pines Road), scored a big coup. They have a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit going on right now through August 2nd. 

The exhibit is on work and the American worker. Divided into four parts: the way we work, where we work, why we work and how we work. Now that might sound dull but I assure you, the many B&W images alone are worth going to see. Please do go see for yourself; you'll not be sorry to have spent the effort and time.

Here are some quotes I gleaned from the exhibit:

The best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Theodore Roosevelt

We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vault of opportunity of this nation.  Martin Luther King

Nothing will work unless you do.  Maya Angelou

Every great invention takes a livelihood away from 50,000 men and within ten years creates a livelihood for half a million men. Mark Twain, 1888

Without ambition one starts nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it. Ralph Waldo  Emerson

Early American Sources---1500-1900

 There is a new kid on the block.......... or a new kid to the block is coming!  The June-July 2022 issue of Internet Genealogy,  author Diane L. Richard spotlighted a brand new resource. I quote from her article:

"In 2021, Joseph Thomas Ross created Early American Sources (www.earlyamericansources.org). The website encompasses archives, digital and published sources for the U.S., Canada and Mexico, ( with more to come from this hemisphere.) The object was to make it easier to connect researchers with "primary resources related to the Americas from roughly 1500 to 1900." This website is a work-in-progress (all U.S. states are not yet done; about 1/2 as we go to press). 

To further "tweak your beak," click to

www.earlyamericansources.og/united-states-archives. 

On the right side of this page is a list of national and extensive archives. There is an overview of holdings and then numerous links to webpages of interest for each archives. The left side of the page has a list of select states. 

Did You Mark National French Fry Day?

 

Who doesn't enjoy a hot, salty french fry? Especially dipped in catsup? Did you know that July 13th is National French Fry Day?

Thomas Jefferson introduced fries to America, it is said. But Google also explains that the dish was discovered by American soldiers in Belgium during World War II......and since the dominant language of southern Belgium is French, the soldiers dubbed the tasty potatoes 'French' fries. (Humm...so perhaps they might should be called 'Flemish Fries?')

Apparently, in old Irish, 'to french' meant to 'cut into pieces.' Perhaps with the Great Potato Famine (1845-1851) the emigrant Irish took 'frenched potatoes' with them? 

There are at least 15 different types of french fries. How many can YOU name? 

Mr. Spock Anyone?

 

One of my favorite TV stars was Mr. Spock of Star Trek. On a whim, I decided to learn more about Leonard Nimoy the man.

 Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 26 March 1931, to Dora (Spinner) and Max Nimoy, who owned a barbershop. His parents were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. (“My folks came to the US as immigrants, aliens, and became citizens. I was born in Boston, a citizen, went to Hollywood and became an alien.”) He had one brother, Melvin. Raised in a tenement and acting in community theaters since age eight, Nimoy did not make his Hollywood debut until he was 20. After two years in the U.S. Army, he was still getting small, often uncredited, parts.

In February 1965, he made his first appearance as Spock in the Star Trek TV pilots “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” and went on to play the character until the end of the production run in early 1969…… soon followed by eight feature films and guest appearances in later spin-offs in the franchise.

Got his famous role of Spock on Star Trek (1966) in part because discussions among writers and producers of the series about the character of Spock led them to put out the word that they were looking for a tall, thin guy to play the role of an alien crew member. Gene Roddenberry and casting director Joseph D'Agosta remembered Nimoy from his work in Roddenberry's first TV series, the WWII drama The Lieutenant (1963). After being invited to come look at the sets and props, Nimoy was offered the role...and so was born his most famous role and start as a popular culture icon.

Leonard Nimoy first saw what would become the famous Vulcan salute, “Live Long and Prosper,” as a child. The placement of the hands comes from a childhood memory, in an Orthodox Jewish synagogue service in Boston. “This is the shape of the letter shin,” Nimoy said in the 2013 interview, making the famous “V” gesture. The Hebrew letter shin, he noted, is the first letter in several Hebrew words, including Shaddai (a name for God), Shalom (the word for hello, goodbye and peace).

The "Vulcan nerve pinch" concept on Star Trek (1966) was invented by Nimoy when he and the series' writers were trying to figure out how an unarmed Spock could overpower an adversary without resorting to violence.

Leonard Nimoy was twice married and left a son and daughter. He was 6’1” tall, was an avid writer of poetry, wrote many books and he was best friends with William Shatner (only a few days older). He spoke Hebrew and Yiddish and was an advocate for keeping those languages alive.

Mr. Spock passed away on 27 February 2015, one month away from what would have been his 84^th birthday. Cause of death was COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). His final Tweet, posted four days before his death, was “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP”  (Live Long and Prosper)  He rests in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

A search with Google will give way more information than I included here.

Donna