Life's Stories

The Devils of Spring

Every spring thru summer, the weather brings us the massive thunder storms and many times the tornadoes.  Life magazine did a short article on the captivating pictures of these massive storms.  Soaring thunderheads are spectacular and fearsome.  They roar a bellow with lightening cracking the thunderbolts’. 

Skin crawls, eyes bulge and the wonderment rivals the fear.  The crashing of hail, pounding on roof, beating venation to its knees.  Lightening flashing across, striking the tree, fire erupting to be extinguished by the drops of water.  Huddling in the cellar, listening to the roar slashing overhead, waiting for the quiet. 

The fearsome beautiful monster passes on by.  Trees twisted, homes in pieces and shambles, dreams to be rebuilt. 

Storms will always be with us and a few will always be in harm’s way.  Then there are those who go storm chasing.  Wanting to watch the brute power form, hear the effects of the monster scream across the land.  Cameras in hand, recording the beasts.

Weather has been recorded in literature and myths throughout the eons.  The thunder god of the Norse and his Hammer, the lightning bolts being hurled down off the mountain by Zeus and the list goes on. 

Harness the energy of the weather, has been a quest for centuries.  The sails on the boats, one of the earliest.  Then the windmills to grind grains and then to pump water and do other chores.  Yet all the energy of the fierce storms goes untapped because of its strength.  Just way to much there for man to tame, so they record it and take pictures. 

The beauty of nature in its many forms. 

Famine In Russia

Communist Famine

            Recently read a blog about the famine that struck Russia in 1918m during the communist revolution.   This made me pause and reflect back on other stories I read about, during that time period nod before.  1918 was the year of the Spanish Flu pandemic.  It was also the end of WWI.  For the beginning of this story one must go back to 1850’s. 

            In 1850, Russia was ruled by a monarchy, Katherine was the ruler at this time.  There were vast lands in Russia that were very arable.  Katherine’s envoys went to Germany and offered free land to German farmers if they would settle in this land and farm it.  The Germans agreed to the conditions, they would not be a part of Russian rule nor could they be conscripted into the military.  On these conditions the Germans emigrated to Russia and began farming.  The Germans became prosperous and had a great market for their products in Russia. 

            During the 1889’s the Czar’s came to power and deposed Queen Katherine.  With the queen gone, the agreement with the Germans was ignored by the Czar’s.  They began taxing them and conscripting their men as soldiers.  No longer was there protection, the Germans began fleeing their lands and returning to their homes in Germany and many continued on to the Americas.  The first great emigration from Russia had begun..

            As these Germans began arriving in the New World, they continued their faming in new lands, North America into South America.  In the United States, many little communities grew up around these new Russian/German settlers. 

            In Russia, the iron fists of the Czars were met with resistance by the Bolshevik’s.  A revolutionary group, which was intent on overthrowing the Czars.  Lenin and his communist minions joined the Bolsheviks’ and the communist revolution was underway. 

            During this upheaval in Russia, late 1800’s, early 1900’s, many young men were taken into the military to fight.  The Germans for the most part had quit farming in Russia, then the closing of the young men, even took more farmers off the land.  With farmers becoming scarce, foods became short supply.  The revolution had killed so many, that finding people to work had become rare. 

            During this time period, WWI was destroying farmland in Europe and the farmers were at war.  So food supplies for Russia in Europe had dried up.  Food in Europe was a rare commodity. 

            Demand for food was growing.  The price of wheat in the US was going skyrocket prices.  Suddenly farmers were making money like bankers.  With the high price of wheat, more ground was broken for farming and large mortgages were taken on the land for more equipment. 

            Lenin reached out to the US for help and met with some resistance, yet the DC politicians relented.  Using a caveat of condemnations of the communist Lenin and his practices, relief food supplies were sent to Russia. This pushed the price of wheat even higher.  By 1920, farming had begun again in Europe and Russia settled down.  Yet during the famine in Russia, millions of people died. 

            The politics of war, revolution and controlling dictatorships’, had left a giant scar on the land.    Farming that had been noble, suddenly was poverty flats.  The price of wheat in the United States, had hit barrel bottom.  No longer was there a market for wheat.  Piles of overproduced wheat and other crops were stacking up on the land and going to rot.  Many farmers were forced into bankruptcy and lost their farms. 

            The Germans that had fled Russia in the 1880’s were bitten by the Russians again, a few decades later. 

            It is amazing how interconnected, non related events can be. 

Brewed VS Instant

COFFEE  

         

          Going thru the old magazine ads of the 50’s opens many memory drawers.  A look into the not so distant past, that is kind of fuzzy.  It seems coffee has been forever, yet it is a fairly recent beverage, just a few centuries old.  Well for the old world.  With the discovery of the America’s, came the discovery of coffee.  For many in the old world, coffee did not replace tea.  Tea was so important to the English that they taxed it to any end and it resulted in a Revolutionary war. 

          With the end of the war, resources were now directed to new products.  One of them was instant coffee and a variety of ways to roast the coffee bean.  Brewed coffee was the standard and instant was the upstart.  Instant coffee had an uphill battle with satisfying the taste buds of coffee drinkers but the makers of instant pushed on.  Still today, brewed coffee is the preferred method of making a cup of coffee.

          The makers of instant coffee did not give up.  They reformulated the way they made the instant brand.  Exotic flavors were added, claims of tasting like fresh brewed were plastered across the media extolling the virtues of their instant coffee. 

          This was but one step in America wanting the instant gratification.  It took time to brew a pot of coffee.  The percolator had to be put on the stove after the right amount of water and coffee grounds were added.  Then sit there and wait for the water to boil, not letting it perk over and then turning it off at the right time.  Then to keep it warm or heat it up, took a bit of effort.  There were no nuclear ovens back then, one had to use the stove to heat things.  With all this work in making coffee is where instant coffee got some inroads into the coffee drinkers table.

         

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          Life magazine along with their counterparts, Look and the Saturday Evening Post, chronicled this emerging new American middle class.  Back in the 50’s, the news was not real slanted and the agenda of a few was not apparent.  The advertising set the tone for the changes and reflects life of the transitional decade.  Technology of the day, was the television and the Atomic Bomb, both impacted how people lived during the 50’s. 

          I will be taking ads from the magazines, along with stories and writing my impression of life back then.  I’m old enough to of been a wee lad back then and I remember a few things from way back then. 

Weight Loss

Reducing

            The battle of excess weight is never ending battle, by today’s ideals.  Prior to the 1900’s, overweight people were few and far in-between.  For the average person, having enough food to eat was an ongoing struggle and having surplus food was for the rich. 

            With the end of the Great Depression and WWII, the availability of food changed.  No longer were there the rations of the war and the poverty of the depression was over.  During the late 40’s, all types of foods became available.  The returning soldiers brought all types of different foods home with them.  The more interesting one was a thing called a pizza pie.  Snack foods became plentiful and penny candy had all but disappeared to be replaced by chocolate bars. 

            No longer was the table a place of basic sustenance, now there were snacks galore and deserts of all types.   The hard work of the fields, manual labor was now assisted by machines.  Hard work, no longer worked off the extra calories consumed at the table.  Surplus weight was attaching to people and being overweight was upon the population. 

            The enterprising entrepreneurs took up the cause of the overweight and offered weight loss diet plans.  Like today, personalities endorsed the plan or offered the weight loss program.  Were they successful, probably like today, some were and some were not.  Yet this was a new area of society that only the rich could over indulge.  With the coming of the 50’s and the growing prosperity of the America, the average person could now over indulge like the rich. 

            The depression of the 30’s was probably one of Americas’ bleakest decades.  Just to find money for food was a struggle for most.  Even having as place to live was not there for many.   Living in hovels, cars, tents, lean-2’s, was a way of life for many.  With the war, much of this disappeared and a new determination rolled across the land.  After the war, many doors of opportunity were opened and a wave of prosperity rolled out a carpet for many.  Fabric of society was changing, and new ways of life were evolving.  

The vanity of it all