A Disappointing Celebration of 100 Years of Sea Scouts

For the 100^th birthday of Sea Scouts of America, the SSS Odyssey was chosen to host a fete.  Consequently, 750 invitations to a party were hand printed, hand addressed and sent out.  These went to most of the maritime industry, yacht clubs and Scouting friends throughout Puget Sound, WA. A group of sea shanty singers was booked to perform, a Boy Scout executive was contacted to speak about the history of Sea Scouts, the SSS Odyssey was cleaned and draped in flags and banners.  Soup for the shanty singers was prepared, cookies and cakes were obtained for 1,000 guests, and a venue was booked.  It promised to be a festive evening of song and celebration.

The soup and rustic bread was assigned to me.  I was to arrive at the venue and have soup ready for the sea shanty singers (about 12 plus wives).  I was told they would arrive at 5PM.  I was to be at the Maritime Museum on Dock Street, a place I am familiar with.

The soup was not hard to prepare, and I purchased rolls for an accompaniment.  I had two pots of clam chowder and a vegetarian option of tomato basil and pasta.  Two roaster ovens were being brought by Mr. Robert Goux, who had spent untold hours planning this event.  There was the usual flurry of preparation and boxes and boxes of accompanying flowers, supplies and implements.

Upon arriving promptly at the Maritime Museum, I found the site gutted and under construction.  This was slightly disturbing.  I drove around the area, trying to find where the Maritime Museum might have migrated.  Alas.  No sign of it.  I called several people, most of whom did not answer.  I had a new cell phone I barely knew how to work, but managed to connect to one person who said he did not know where it was.  Then: Ah-OOOO-gah!  My phone battery went dead.

Time to switch from modern technology to Daniel Boone mode.  I needed to figure out where this place was.  Getting out my best intuition flags, I semaphored my way up the street and found the museum in a warehouse.  I came in from the back side and discovered other Sea Scout adults unloading cookies.

There were supposed to be about 1,000 cookies, but somehow, the community college that provided them got the order messed up and gave us 3 or 4 times that many.  There were trays and tray of cookies.  Which is a good thing if you know teenage Sea Scouts.  They will never go to waste.

I asked about tables to serve the soup and electrical outlets.  There were tables of various sizes and a very 

helpful coordinator named Earla.  Unfortunately she had to deal with some very dicey electrical outlets, which kept turning off anytime someone plugged something into them.

We got tables set up and tablecloths one, but had to be very creative in finding electrical outlets to plug roasters and crockpots into.  For about an hour or more, we could not get the roasters nor crockpots turned on.  I was getting panicky as the sea shanty singers were due any moment.  Blessedly, they were caught in traffic, as they were driving from 2-3 hours away.  They live on Whidbey Island, and a sunny Friday in Puget Sound meant traffic issues.  They did not show up until 6:30.  Fortunately, most of them came hungry and ate my pots of soup and rolls, which were by now warmed up.

But very few others showed up.  Only about 25 of our Sea Scouts and a smattering of parents came out of the 1,000 guests expected.  The other Sea Scout ships were no-shows, as were the executives from Scout Hall.  None of the yacht clubs, none of the maritime trade, nor anyone really, showed up. The 750 invitations resulted in not one single person coming.

The sea shanty singers were a delight however, and entertained our 25 Sea Scouts and a few parents.  

The regimental silver was polished and brightly displayed, but it was too bad to have to pack up enormous cakes and thousands of cookies because no one came.

The Sea Scouts that came however, worked like fiends packing things, carrying boxes to cars, and putting away chairs.  Then they climbing into their 90 foot wooden sailboat and went off to Opening Day of boating season up in Seattle, a 30 mile jaunt in the dead of night.  Early next morning, the SSS Odyssey was again bedraped with flags and looking spiffy.  It is a shame that the night before, no one came to celebrate this amazing program that is daily creating leaders and responsible youth.

Funny dog stories

There are few nuttier dogs than the ones we love.  They do such sweet and weird things to amuse us, and actually seem to know when they’ve made us laugh.  Lately our dog Huckleberry has taken to playing “Crazy Dog”.  This consists of grabbing a toy and for no apparent reason, racing from kitchen to bedroom, scooting past us with tail tucked and ears flying, laughing in that gleeful way of his.  Back and forth he’ll go, just to make us laugh.

Copper has a weird game too.  Recently when he had to wear “the cone of shame” after some scrape or other, he discovered it made a great cat catcher.  He’d stalk the cat and place the cone over her, shut his eyes and let her bat at his muzzle in feline frustration.  Eventually he’d let her go and he’d stalk her again.

The all time goofiest though was our friend’s dog Chloe.  She loved to come across the clothes dryer when the door had been left open.  This was the world’s greatest echo chamber, and she’d stick her head in and give a mighty woof.  The first time the family heard this resounding, echoing woof, they came running to see what sort of Hound of the Baskervilles had entered their house.  There was Chloe, head in the dryer, wagging her tail and woofing with gusto.  She’d pull her head out and laugh, then stick it back in to re-impress herself.

What are some funny games your dog likes to play?

Blog Break

As you may have noticed, I'm currently not writing blogs, due to the fact I am spending every free moment writing a second version of my novel to be ready for the Pacific Northwest Writer's Association Conference in mid-July.

Since historical fiction is D-E-A-D, the second version is a post-armageddon steampunk.  We have airships instead of prairie schooners, ray guns instead of bows and arrows, and steampunk motorcycle riding Indians.  All those conversations I labored over to sound historically accurate, kaboom!  Gone!  We've got Indians wearing jeans, punked-out hair, and eye makeup.

Keeping the original.

Sock Decoys

How many of you have children that “borrow” your clothes, never to return them?  I would probably be flattered if my daughters borrowed anything of mine.  I’m “hopelessly quaint” or “delightfully old fashioned” they say, with a wink to each other. Yeah, I know.  I wear Mom pants.  I’ve given up the sweatshirts with flowers and birds on them though.  So there is hope for me yet.

 

But when our daughters were teenagers, they borrowed stuff way too liberally for our tastes.  Even my husband was not immune from their purloining little fingers.  Especially when they needed to do their laundry.  His socks would start disappearing.  Eventually we’d find them in piles on their floor.  They’d do their laundry and ours too with vast and sweeping apologies.

But my husband could not keep his socks kept disappearing. Being crafty and wise old geezer, my husband HID his socks.  That didn’t work.  His stash of socks was discovered and disappeared regularly.

But he is really clever as well as crafty and wise.  Next time they did the laundry and put his socks in their usual place, he knew they would have their own socks for a little while.  He hid all but one pair of his own socks, which he set in their usual place as a decoy.  Our daughters were not brazen enough to take his “last” pair.  The rest he hid in several different places. 

He blithely wore fresh socks from his secret sock hiding places, and they never discovered the sock decoy trick.

Costuming Society of America Western Regional Symposium

On March 17, 2012, I joined Doreen Beard-Simpkins and Nancy Keller-Scholz to present a talk at a symposium of the Costume Society of America, Western Region.  The symposium's theme was “Interpreting History through Costume.”

Our talk was titled A Lady’s Layers at English Camp: 2011 Meets 1860.  It was a “presentation about a presentation” that was made at English Camp in the San Juan Islands, wherein a member of English Camp’s visiting audience was sought as a model willing to be dressed in period clothing.  Out of many willing volunteers, a model was chosen and asked to stand upon a box in shorts and a tank top.  She was then dressed by us in proper ladies attire of the 1860’s.  This included a chemise, corset, petticoats, drawers, undersleeves, dress, collar, parasol and shawl.  The model also had her hair done in an appropriate 1860’s style.  The result never failed to have the model assume proper manner and deportment.  The casual slouch of modernity was replaced by an elegant air of feminine gentility.  Our newly attired lady was ready for visiting or a pleasure excursion.  While we did not replicate this exercise at the symposium, we were allowed to present a power point show of it.

The audience at the English Camp presentations was enthusiastic about learning about what goes into the proper silhouette of a lady of fashion in the 1860’s.  Many questions at English Camp were asked and it allowed us to dispel myths and concerns regarding corsets, heat prostration, and trips to the necessary.  The presentation’s appeal crossed the boundaries of age, gender and social class.  We found that our presentation at English Camp made the reenactors more approachable to visitors who were afraid to ask questions.

The Costume Society’s conference included other talks, including a comparison of costumes worn for performances of “The School for Scandal” by Corrine Larson.  The presenter showed how men of the theatre are better believed when dressed in a historically correct manner, but the theatrical costumers prefer to dress the women in current fashions and pass them off as historic with a few token ringlets.  Other talks included discussions of Mexican rebozos, Indian saris, Greek identity in the 19^th century, and researching a mysterious French designer named Rouff.

The conference was held in Santa Clarita, California at the ranch of William S. Hart, a silent movie actor who was film’s first cowboy.  We toured his ranch house and saw artifacts not only of his movie career, but also his extensive collection of Western artwork, including many by his friend Charles Russell.  

The conference organizers included curators from the Smithsonian Museum and National History Museum of Los Angeles.  The National History Museum of LA loaned the conference artifacts, including a hat worn by Thomas Jefferson, gloves worn by Jefferson Davis, a vest worn by Charlie Chaplin, a helmet from Max Sennett’s Keystone Cops, and brain-tanned Indian child’s pants made by Oklahoma Indians that were also worn in early films.  We saw many artifacts not only from the William S. Hart films, but also from the current Academy Award winners Hugo and The Artist.

Hat worn by Thomas Jefferson

Vest worn by Charlie Chaplin

Keystone Cops helmet

We were treated to a screening of William S. Hart’s last movie, Tumbleweeds, made in 1929.  Accompanying the film was a live piano player.  Thrills!  Spills!  Daring rescues! 

Fort Nisqually was prominently represented, and many people were eager to learn more about and visit our site.  Nancy Keller-Scholz brought Fort Nisqually brochures that were featured on the registration table.  It is hoped that our journey allowed the name of Fort Nisqually to be more widely recognized, and has stirred curiosity among a wide variety of curators and costuming professionals.

Mystery Surrounds the Magnificent Marble Bust of Geo. Washington

Was this really the famous bust of George Washington that was presented to the American people by the French in 1828? 

The original bust, after sitting on the West Front of the Capitol building in Washington DC for 23 years, was in a terrible fire erupted Christmas Eve at the Library of Congress.  The burned up bust was discarded and sat as scrap marble in someone’s backyard in the mud and rain for years.  

Eventually it was sold to James Klaber, a marble dealer, who cleaned it and considered that it was quite a lovely piece.  He asked art experts their opinions.  They informed him it was indeed art.  Mr. Klaber’s son wrote about the bust in Art and Archeology, which eventually resulted in the bust being sold by a New York Gallery to Henry Huntington. 

The discovery and sale of George Washington’s famous bust made national news headlines. 

In 2010, the Huntington Library had John Griswold, an art 

conservator, clean and analyze it.  The marble has indeed been exposed to high heat and is crystalized.  It has indeed very likely been in a fire.

Could this be the famous marble bust of Washington?  A bronze replacement was made after the original disappeared and is on display in the entryway to the House of Representatives at the Capitol.

It has been on display at the Huntington since June of 2011.

 

From the Huntington Library’s blog:

1827 - The government of France gathers money through national subscription to have Pierre-Jean David, called David d’Angers, sculpt a bust of George Washington to be given to the United States on behalf of the French people.

1828 - David d’Angers sculpts a model for the bust in plaster. Soon afterward, the marble version of the bust is presented to the United States and is said to have been placed on view in the Library of Congress, at the time located on the West Front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

1851 - Christmas Eve fire breaks out in Library of Congress.

1852 - Marble bust is apparently discarded with debris from the fire.

1904 - French officials give the United States a bronze copy of the bust as a replacement for the marble that was believed destroyed. This bronze bust is presently on display in an entryway to the House Chamber at the Capitol.

1914 - New York–based marble dealer James Klaber acquires the marble for $25 from someone who had kept it in the backyard of his private residence. After cleaning the marble, Klaber asks the advice of art experts who tell him it is a genuine work of art.

1918 - John J. Klaber, son of the marble dealer, writes in Art and Archeology about his father’s discovery and says that the piece is actually a work by David d’Angers, thought to have been lost in the fire of 1851. The bust is given on commission to Mitchell Kennerley of New York’s Anderson Galleries.

1924 - Kennerley sells the marble to Henry E. Huntington. The work’s discovery and sale to Huntington make national headlines.

1984, 2001–07 - The bust is on public view in the loggia near the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art at The Huntington.

2010 - The work is sent to Los Angeles conservator John Griswold for cleaning and routine analysis.

2011 - Griswold determines the bust had been subjected to intense heat, possibly a fire, thereby providing scientific evidence supporting what had been argued about the work in early newspaper articles and other documents. Catherine Hess, chief curator of European art at The Huntington, places the work on public view on June 8 in the Huntington Art Gallery.

Hobie's Heated Blanket

Everyone in the neighborhood seems to like our cat, Hobie.  We have people driving by our house when he is sitting in the yard, stop their car, and call him.  “George!” they say.  “What are you doing in the neighbors’ yard?  Get home.” 

Hobie obligingly wanders over to their car and they take him to their house, only to have him reappear here.

We did in fact get him as a kitten when his name was Oliver.  We called him Hobie Cat, after the sailboat.  He’s grown into an enormous orange beast with a nicked ear.  Quite a mouser, even a ratter at times.  Our ivy remains pest free with Hobie around.

One of the neighbors tells us that Hobie shows up every night at happy hour when he and his wife are having a cocktail.  They feed him tidbits from their cracker and cheese tray.

Another neighbor tells us that every morning, Hobie is sleeping on their deck and their children let him in for breakfast.

But Hobie’s favorite friend, Katherine, buys him special turkey treats and heats up a blanket in the dryer for him to lie upon.

I can’t say I begrudge the neighbors their time with Hobie.  I am happy to share our garden cat.  I’m not jealous at all. 

Well, a little jealous.  I want a heated blanket.