Hairstyles. We women have been forever fussing with our hair, do we not?

“Marcelling is a hair styling technique in which hot curling tongs are used to induce a curl into the hair. Its appearance was similar to that of a finger wave, but made by a quite different means.” (Wikipedia) The photos I have of my mother-in-law’s high school graduation in 1920 shows her with “marcelled” hair.

How about this hairstyle from an earlier day? Wonder what she used to keep those curls “stuck” in proper place???? No hair spray back then.

My newspaper, The Spokesman Review, is both blessed and lucky to have Jim Kershner as a regular correspondent. Here is his bit from Sunday, 9 Sep 2018……. and fits well for a WSGS Serendipity blog post:

A mass meeting of citizens in Krupp, Wash., west of Odessa, unanimously voted to petition the U.S. Post Office and the Great Northern Railway to change the name of the post office and the station from Krupp to Marlin.

With war raging against Germany, people had turned against German-sounding names. The name Krupp was particularly problematic, since it was the name of a German munitions company.

Apparently few were in favor of keeping the name Krupp. Yet plenty of debate was devoted to selecting a new name. Some of the suggestions included Wheatland, Marne, Merica, and Wheat.

They settled on Marlin, in honor of Henry Marlin, one of the earliest settlers in the area.

“Marlin raised 12 children here, and his cattle ranged all the way between what is now Odessa and Wilson Creek,” said a correspondent.

The name of the post office was, in fact, duly changed to Marlin. Yet changing the official name of the town itself was another matter. The town had already been incorporated as Krupp in 1911, and to this day it has never been changed, even though the post office is still named Marlin.

On maps, the name is sometimes listed as both Krupp and Marlin — or as Krupp, with ‘Marlin P.O.” in parentheses.

In the 2010 census, Krupp had a population of 48, making it the smallest incorporated town in the state.

In 1918, it had about twice as many residents.

Did you have ancestors who lived in Krupp…… or Marlin???

Falling under the “you really just never know what you’re going to find” category, here’s my story. Visiting the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society’s fantastic library, I only had time to browse the shelves. (They have feet and feet and feet of books on shelves.) And I came across this:

Tracing Your Icelandic Family Tree, by Eric Jonasson, 1975, published in Winnipeg, Canada. Of course this 20-page, mimeographed guide was (I assume) muchly antiquated, but still. To find such a guide in a little genealogy society library? Made me wonder what other treasures did this library hold?

And what treasures does the genealogy society library in your area hold that you don’t even know about? Perhaps you might ought to go take a looksee?

Did learn from this guide (well, from something stuck in) that an Icelandic gastronomic delicacy includes pickled ram’s testicles.  Okay….

Washington State has so much fascinating history! Perhaps not as much as Massachusetts, for example, but plenty enough to keep a history buff in reading for an entire lifetime.

Isn’t this sculpture fascinating? Here’s the story:

“Tillamook…… wind, much like animals, is thought and spoken of as a person in the Myth Times. There are winds from many directions, and they are associated with people of those specific directions.”

Spotted this in a Native American cultural exhibit at Fort Vancouver.

Does it say “WIND” to you?

Ever heard of “mug books?” These were commercial enterprises, and comprise the earliest histories written about a county. They are so called because individuals paid a fee to have their biographical sketches and photographs included in such books…….. and so of course the biographies in these books were often embroidered histories and compiled with laudatory language. Ever man was a pillar of society, sober and kind, a great husband and father, and dealt fairly with every man. Sure.

But such books also provide fairly accurate information about occupations, family origins and backgrounds, descendants and the dates people moved into an area. So despite the biased personal slants, these Mug Books contained important information on events, transportation, agriculture, commercial enterprises and population.

Think “county history” and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what a mug book was. And we’ve all used them, right?

I quite enjoy learning trivia bits of history….. especially Washington state history…. especially as pertains to old towns and ghost towns.

Ever heard of Hylebos? (1925, Pierce Co) Kamilche? (1929, Mason Co)  Day Island? (1919, Pierce Co)  Manette?  (1910, Kitsap Co)  Monitor? (1917, Chelan Co) Ronald? ( 1902, near Roslyn, Kittitas Co)

These were all real towns….. for a short period of time…. and some still exist, having been incorporated into larger towns.

What about “real life” ghost towns? This colorful map is posted on the website, www.ghosttownsofwashington.com. It’s an interactive map, meaning if you click on a county, up will pop the map of that county with all sorts of little…….now ghost….. towns. Only 18 counties are linked as having ghost towns and Spokane has none.

If you want to spend a hot afternoon hour having some clicking-around fun, click to the link above. Have a cold drink handy.

This was just too good not to share: San Antonio, Texas, just a couple of weeks ago. Very pregnant lady was having contractions when she and husband stopped at a Chick-fil-A restaurant to drop off their kids. Mom had to use the restroom…… and baby girl Gracelyn came… in the bathroom! Company says “Gracelyn will have free Chick-fil-A for life and a job when she turns 14.”  Like I said, too good not to share.

Leah Pearce Hansel is a long time member of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society, as was her mother before her. She approached me recently with the generous offer to give away free for postage her genealogical research library. Here’s the photo of what Leah offers:

The blue one on the bottom is Val Greenwood’s good old standard Guide to Research.

Would you like these for your own library or for your society? They’re free but for postage. Reply to me (Donna243@gmail.com) and I’ll get you in touch with Leah.

Apathy has a lot going for it.

It is easy to catch and is painless. You can ignore it and nothing happens. The stronger it gets the less you feel the need to do anything about it.

It becomes most noticeable when it begins to spread over a large area. When it does, the individual usually feels it belongs to someone else.

Another appealing thing about apathy is the warm glow of nothingness it gives.

The temptation is to leave it alone and hope it will go away. With this attitude, it may stay for a long, long time.

Apathy demands a special treatment for it will not go away alone.

The treatment starts with a good dose of involvement followed by long periods of action.

It may be had to get a confirmed apathetic to take the cure. And then, likely, it isn’t permanent.

Action must be rewarded while apathy is to be condemned. Since it is easier to condemn than to praise, it stands to reason that apathy is here to stay. It is needed by those who would rather condemn than act.

Apathy has a lot going for it, but action is more fun. It must be. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Let’s go where the apathy is??”

(Sorry, source unknown to me.)