Michael Popek's Blog, page 242

Yes, We Have No Potatoes

Shopping list.

Found in "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkein. Published by Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

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Sad Dress

I've found action figure accessories before, but this is a first.

Doll clothes, one dress and one pair of bloomers.

Found very forcefully stuffed in "Anchors Aweigh!" by Oliver G. Swan. Published by Grosset and Dunlap, 1929.



By the way, the title comes from the Belly song - one I haven't thought about in a long time.

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The Heritage

From the stationery of Thomas Luce Summa:

To Edward:

In appreciation

We will do it all over again soon - thank you for joining the Heritage.

Best wishes -

Tom

Found in "Tanglewood Tales" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Published by Hampton, 1921.

I did a bit of quick research, it looks like Thomas Luce Summa was the artistic director of The Heritage Theater in Stonington, CT.

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Alice Eliot winners

We have two winners this week. 

First was rossichka, who entered right here. She won the copy of Alice.

 Second was Kristen Butler, who entered on Facebook.

 I'll try and get in touch with you both shortly - but feel free to reach me at fb@forgottenbookmarks.com

Friday Giveaway: Alice Eliot - contest closed

I couldn't choose one book to offer today, so I picked two. That means there will be two winners this week.

First book is "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through The Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll. It's a lovely collector's edition bound in red leather with gilt edges. It's from Longmeadow Press, 1985.

The second book is T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." It's a later printing of the first edition from 1939.

Contest now closed, winners announced shortly.

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Friday Giveaway: Alice Eliot

I couldn't choose one book to offer today, so I picked two. That means there will be two winners this week.

First book is "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through The Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll. It's a lovely collector's edition bound in red leather with gilt edges. It's from Longmeadow Press, 1985.

The second book is T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." It's a later printing of the first edition from 1939.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment here on the site. If you have a preference for one of the books, let me know. You can also enter on Facebook and Twitter .

I'll gather entries up and pick two random winners tomorrow morning at 11:00 AM EST.

Good luck!

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Such Was The Hero Of Our Race

Typed poem titled "Abraham Lincoln." With a little searching, I discovered it's by Charles Monroe Dickinson. This paper doesn't have the complete poem, I'll reproduce it in its entirety:

If any one hath doubt or fear
That this is Freedom's chosen clime--
That God hath sown and planted here
The richest harvest field of Time--
Let him take heart, throw off his fears,
As he looks back a hundred years.

Cities and fields and wealth untold,
With equal rights before the law;
And, better than all lands and gold--
Such as the old world never saw--
Freedom and peace, the right to be,
And honor to those who made us free.

Our greatness did not happen so,
We owe it not to chance or fate;
In furnace heat, by blow on blow,
Were forged the things that make us great;
And men still live who bore that heat,
And felt those deadly hammers beat.

Not in the pampered courts of kings,
Not in the homes that rich men keep,
God calls His Davids with their slings,
Or wakes His Samuels from their sleep;
But from the homes of toil and need
Calls those who serve as well as lead.

Such was the hero of our race;
Skilled in the school of common things,
He felt the sweat on Labor's face,
He knew the pinch of want, the sting
The bondman felt, and all the wrong
The weak had suffered from the strong.

God passed the waiting centuries by,
And kept him for our time of need--
To lead us with his courage high--
To make our country free indeed;
Then, that he be by none surpassed,
God crowned him martyr at the last.

Let speech and pen and song proclaim
Our grateful praise this natal morn;
Time hath preserved no nobler name,
And generations yet unborn
Shall swell the pride of those who can
Claim Lincoln as their countryman.

Found in "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand. Published by Hurst, 1907.

There was an amusing inscription in the book:

I won boo-by prize
Jany 18 1908
Towns curd (???) Party

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Jambalaya

Clipped recipe for jambalaya:

1 cup ham cut in strips
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup green pepper cut in squares
1 medium clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons salad oil
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup
2 cups water
2/3 cup raw rice
1 medium bay leaf
Dash Tabasco sauce
1 cup cooked shrimp
Chopped parsley

In a large skillet, brown ham and cook onion, green pepper, and garlic in oil until vegetables are tender. Add remaining ingredients except shrimp and parsley. Bring to a boil. Cover; cool over low heat 20 minutes. Stir now and then. Stir in the shrimp; cook 5 minutes more or until rice is tender. Garnish with parsley. 4 servings.

Found in "How To Show Your Own Dog" by Virginia Tuck Nichols. Published by TFH, 1976.

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Calling In Sick

It's one of those days. Rainy, chilly, dark... I'm sick, the wife is sick and the baby is sick.

I'm calling in today, but I wanted to leave you with something to read. Here's a favorite bookmark of mine, originally posted in November 2010:



Dear Jennie Are you going to get married, you my dearest friend?

You can read the rest of the letter here.

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I Can See Your House From Here

Black and white photograph, no writing or dates.

Found in "Tender Is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published by Scribners, 1962.


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