Photo Courtesy of Earnest Archives and Library

     Happy New Year! We would like to extend our wishes of happiness, health, and prosperity to our readers. The folks here at Passed Time

    This Lied (Song) is part of a larger broadside--a sheet of paper printed on one side only. Occasionally, only a few examples of a broadside specimen survived. As they were often printed to announce a passing event, broadsides were thrown away once the affair was complete. This New Year Song is the only known survivor of this particular edition. It is a long, narrow sheet with another lied printed below. The original sheet was larger still--at least double in size. The other half probably showed the same two lieds and the printer cut the sheets in half, or even quarters, to sell. 

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Discontinued Game Consoles Way Ahead of Their Time by Andrew Kamal

     Many game companies have vanished, or their ideas have long been forgotten. It is past the age where handhelds where as impressive and SEGA as well as ATARI are way passed any golden years. However one thing is for certain, some game consoles in the past made by different companies were way ahead of its time. For this, I compiled a list:

1. The Atari Cosmos- Atari was experimenting with holoptics and potentially going to release the first holographic/3D screened game console nearly three decades before the Nintendo 3Ds. This was known as Atari Cosmos. The biggest reason I believe it was never released, was the fact that it was going to go into production at the end of Atari’s popular legacy.

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     As we near the season of giving thanks, I found myself racing frantically to accomplish something. Anything. I need a win. As many of you can empathize, my time is spent juggling too many activities in days which seem to last about an hour. Recently, in a more surprising twist, I also struggled to find material to write about. For someone who finds the smallest scrap of paper interesting, this was a new one. Luckily, this gem fell into my lap. As a primary source, it my favorite source material. It is a thank you note and I am sure its timeliness is not lost on our audience. 

     In this day and age (the era of "throw it away and buy a new one"), the gift of a bulletin board might seem inconsequential. In 1938, Americans still struggled with effects of the Great Depression.  Like many small American towns across the country, Mt. Rainier, Maryland was on shaky financial footing and many of its citizens were in need.* As such, small gestures made a great impact.  

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     Okay, here are the available clues to hopefully solve this mystery. (Do You Recognize Me? Where am I? Who are we? etc.)

1. The photograph

2. Two of the persons are identified on the reverse of the photograph (see below)

3. This is a Sanborn Studio photograph from Wil. Del. (see below)

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      Ah, this book has seen better days or, looking at it from the flipside, it has been used well in the past 146 years. In the days before electronic calculators (or cell phones with calculators), Leary's Reckoner and Form Book was carried around or kept closely on hand as a means to quickly perform accurate calculations. This particular example was printed in 1870 and the pocket-sized book also contains standard forms such as those used by merchants and others in days long gone. Young James McLaughlin of Port Jervis, New York took another view. He decided the book's endpapers would best be served to showcase his artwork. Another youngster, Frederick Ross, followed McLaughlin's lead.

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     When I read this letter I was amused to find that the author of the letter, Margaretta Wissler, used that conversational mainstay--the weather. She also alluded to her weight. Fast forward 149 years and we still talk about the weather and women still worry about their weight. My first thought was that nothing changes. Yet, she startled me with a reference to her son, Frankey, who "plays all day long outside." What form of torture is that?

    Margaretta Bowen Wissler married Jacob Hiestand Wissler (Whissler) on November 24, 1847, approximately twenty years prior to this letter.* When she wrote this letter, the Wisslers  lived in Freeport, Pennsylvania roughly 200 miles west of Gettysburg (depending upon route). The letter was sent to Margaretta's sister in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Her sister, Eliza (Bowen) Kendlehart (1815-1902), was married to David Kendlehart (1813-1891) an established Gettysburg merchant.** 

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      Do you know what clickbait is? For those who do not know, clickbait is the term for "articles" with sensationalistic headlines or tantalizing photographs which lure readers to click on them. This act leads readers to another website where they become mired in an endless labyrinth of webjunk (did I just coin a word?). Most of the times the webjunk is completely unrelated to the headline or photo that caused one to click on it in the first place. The process leaves the reader hanging their head and weeping in frustration because they fell for it again--or that is what I have heard. I've personally never fallen for it. I swear. I SWEAR!

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     A friend won a box lot containing a scrapbook and several nondescript three ring binders at an auction recently. He only wanted the scrapbook, but invited me over to go through the binders with him. To echo my teenager's comment, "cool!"

     The binders were created in the early 1920s by Mary Hunter Bean, who took art classes at two separate Pennsylvania schools. Each binder contains a plethora of information recorded by Bean from lectures she attended. They also contain thoughtfully placed newspaper and magazine clippings which enhanced her studies. 

     Within the binders, Mary included information about various classical artists and their individual styles, as well as studies of architectural elements, furniture, and even costumes. The binders could simply be dismissed as any schoolgirl's efforts and truthfully, the significance of this  find did not hit me until I was editing this article. 

      Later in her life, Mary Hunter Bean and her husband Richard Anders Rogers (1903-1967) inhabited one of Pennsylvania's historic homes--the Daniel Hiester house. In recognition of its historical authenticity, the home was purchased by the Montgomery County Lands Trust in 2012 to both preserve its heritage and share that heritage with the public for many generations. I like to believe that is due to the Rogers' family efforts, particularly those of Mary Hunter Rogers nee Bean, that the house retained its authentic features. The realization that these notebooks and her studies probably served as guides for keeping the house true to its origins only hit as I was editing this article. Thank you for bearing with me.

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