The 30's and 40's in Color

I came across the Library of Congress's Flickr account today. I was already aware of their significant online collections, but I was astounded at the quality of pictures they have posted on Flickr. They have two collections: News in the 1910s and 1930s and 1940s in color. The color photographs are a beautiful melding of historical content, rich color, and the photographic arts. Color photography was fairly rare during that period, and these offer a stunning mirror of that lost time. The photographers appear to have been more than snapshot takers; many of the pictures rise to the level of art.


The below woman aircraft worker (1942) speaks for itself:

The above photograph is one of my favorites. It is At the Vermont State Fair1941 by Jack Delano. From the matching sets of dresses to the boy in the middle who seems to need to go the bathroom, it is a lovely vignette. I find it interesting that everyone in the family is looking in a different direction as though trying to figure out where to go first, or perhaps waiting for dad and no one notices the photographer. Is the lady in black pregnant with the eighth?


I encourage you to go there, but be warned that there are over 3,000 photographs and you may spend more time there than you intended.



Peace
..._

Snow Days

We had snow on Wednesday evening and Saturday. It was my daughter's first snow, and she had a grand time. My eldest son claims to remember making footprints in the snow when he was two; it's quite possible he does.

We:

Made a snowman

Had a snowball fight

Played orcs and kings (I was the king)

Caught snow on our tongues

Had a child fall on the sidewalk and acquire a bloody knuckle and a knot on his forehead (the youngest twin)

Had hot chocolate

Froliced until our faces were red and our fingers were numb

Peace
..._

Monday Miscellany:

Is there any better time for teaching high school government than right now? I didn't think so.

On the first day back from the break I surveyed my honors and college prep government classes. Of the thirty students, five were planning on voting for Ron Paul. No other candidate received more than one commitment. Paul has had a surprising resonance with the young. Part of it has been powerful grass roots involvement of his supporters on the internet. I will not dare to speculate on other reasons for his followers among the young.

I have been busy working on a blog that I created for my honors government class. You can go and check it out here if you wish. It is the first time I have attempted a class blog; my previous school blocked any and all blogs and well as most of the rest of the internet. Now that I have access and a subject that lends itself to the immediacy of the internet, I couldn't help but give it a try. My students are required to read it weekly and to post a comment to any post that begins with "For Discussion." So far it has been a useful tool.

While working on my government blog, I looked up the term "blowback" to determine its exact etymology and connotation. I came across this definition at Dictionary.com (emphasis mine):
Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English
Main Entry: blowback
Part of Speech: n
Definition: an unintended adverse reaction or effect from an action or cause, especially political
Example: The blowback of Bush's ill-made decisions will last for many years.
Etymology: 1968
Usage: also written blow-back
Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

The example given by the editors at Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English provided my class with a nice example of the prevalence of bias. Whether accurate or not, the example is a politically charged one and has no place in dictionary.


During a lecture today on the Spanish-American War, I exclaimed, "Butcher Weyler didn't get sent to Cuba to sell rump-roasts to the locals; he came with a mandate to put the Cubans in line." I don't know why I said it, but I did. My students gave me hard time about it and were convinced that I spent some time thinking about and planning the line. I didn't, but I made a note of it for next year.


My eldest son turned seven this past weekend. Happy Birthday son. Here he is firing off the new Nerf-type Bazooka he got for Christmas.



Peace
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