Saturday, December 24, 2016

house of cards


Born just five years after our ClockTower in 1891,
 J. C. Hall, youngest son, 
was raised in poverty.


But he had energy and pluck and by the age of 16 he was running his own business, selling postcards from a shoebox door-to-door.


People seemed to like postcards and in 1909 he settled in Kansas City, opening a modest shop with his two older brothers.


Then disaster.

A 1915 fire swept the shop leaving him $17,000 in debt and with no inventory. 

That’s over $406,000 today.


But he recognized his customers wanted more privacy and so he purchased printing presses and began printing elegant cards in gold leaf and embossments with envelopes at higher prices.


And then he displayed them on a rack he designed himself.


The rest is history.



Happy Holidays!


obligatory Saturday food post

Dinner with Mom, now 87 and still kickin’ it!

Merry Christmas, Mother. I love you!


Calves liver, pink, with bacon and onions.
Mashed sweet potatoes
Buttered green beans
Pickled beets
and homemade gravy, on the side.


true blue




Friday, December 23, 2016

not for naught


a whole new ball a' wax




Thursday, December 22, 2016

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

shortest day of the year





B M W


B.e 
M.y 
       W.oman. :-)

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

in the era of the Donald


college daze



“It was the Russians, it was James Comey, it was Wikileaks, it was the electoral college that should have been disbanded long ago.”


Monday, December 19, 2016

forget Uber


Ladder truck #14 serves all of Harlem.

A fireman was in the shotgun seat, when I came it upon it.


Huh? Tennessee plates? What’s up with that?

So I asked him.

“This ladder truck was a gift from the people of east Tennessee to the people of Harlem right after 9/11.”


Hey. I was in town on 9/11.

I wouldn’t mind having a firetruck, either. 

Sunday, December 18, 2016