Nothing could be bought any more with a penny, not even penny candy. Moreover, the cost to mint the penny had risen to more than 3 cents, a financial absurdity that doomed the coin.
Since we just changed our clocks, I thought you’d like to read this excerpt from a Jeff LaHurd article plus additional info from the Observer newspapers on the Palmer Bank Clock.
Palmer Bank, standing proudly at Five Points in downtown Sarasota, was established in the Roaring 20s by Bertha Palmer’s sons, Honoré Palmer and Potter Palmer Jr., along with Prince Michael Cantacuzene (a Russian nobleman and husband of Bertha’s niece, Julia Dent Grant).
Its iconic cornerstone clock noted the time of day for generations.
There’s history all around you. Even in the grocery aisles. Here’s one:
While most plastic bottles of Coca-Cola boast a red cap that matches their usual color scheme, in the spring you may notice bottles with yellow caps appearing on shelves. That yellow cap signifies that the drink is kosher for the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Prior to 1935, Coke wasn’t kosher at all, but that year the company swapped out beef-tallow glycerin for a vegetable counterpart that
This Day in History, March 17, 1964: Lucky the Leprechaun, the mascot of Lucky Charms cereal, was introduced in print ads and animated television commercials on St. Patrick’s Day in 1964.
Product developer John Holahan created the cereal in 1964 by combining Cheerios with chopped-up pieces of
Twenty-five years ago, in late December 1999, there was a crisis. Folks stocked up on water and food and stayed huddled at home, not daring to fly in an airplane (They’ll fall out of the sky!) or use an ATM (We’ll lose our life savings!)
The following article, by Heather Cox Richardson, reminds us of why, exactly, the world did not end on January 1, 2000. She’s a political historian and well-worth following. After all, history is politics.
January 1, 2025 (Wednesday) Twenty-five years ago today, Americans—along with the rest of the world—woke up to a new century date…and to the discovery that
Starbucks likes to claim ownership of the current “pumpkin spice” fad. Everything from pumpkin spice coffee to pumpkin spice dog snacks is declared in season for fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s such a thing as pumpkin spice pumpkin spray.
Image Courtesy Pexels
Of course, Floridians have been cooking up this autumn squash long before there was a Starbucks anywhere near our state.
Image Courtesy Florida Memory
Pumpkin spice is a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice. These spices could certainly jazz up the traditional Seminole Pumpkin Fry Bread, which is surprisingly easy to make. And it would make a surprising addition to your fall menu! Here’s the recipe:
The nickname ‘Uncle Sam’ for the United States originated during the War of 1812 when a newspaper published the story of Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who marked beef barrels for the army with ‘U.S.’ Soldiers associated the initials with ‘Uncle Sam,’ and the term became a popular moniker for the federal government.
Most of us associate the image of Uncle Sam with posters encouraging Americans to help with the finances of World War I, or with recruitment posters: “Uncle Sam Wants YOU!” is practically a real-life meme.
On summer days when it was just too hot to even run through the sprinkler, we headed for the only air-conditioned place in town. I think the first movie that made me yearn for Florida was
February 29 is a leap day, an intercalary* date added periodically to create leap years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the 60th day of a leap year in both calendars, and 306 days remain until the end of the leap year. It is also the last day of February in leap years with the exception of 1712 in Sweden.
Yada yada, Leap Day’s when women get to propose marriage, red petticoats, a dozen pairs of gloves and so on. A French newspaper that only publishes on Leap Day. Eating pigs’ feet if you’re old. Pretty boring traditions, you ask me.
Leaplings, those folks born on February 29. There’s even a League of Leaplings. Well, they don’t call it that, but they COULD.
Hey! Sadie Hawkins! Now there’s a tradition to enjoy. My high school had a Sadie Hawkins Dance. Maybe yours did too. Girls asked boys. Problem is, Sadie Hawkins Day isn’t February 29. It’s November 26, a date set by Al Capp himself.
And there’s the Anthony Texas Leap Year Festival coming up, too. Don’t ask me why it’s on March 1 and 2, 2024.
Note from your Olde Correspondent: I started this post thinking it’d be interesting and maybe even amazing. I learned otherwise. So spend your extra day doing something extra, something you normally wouldn’t. I think I’ll sleep in.
Well, first you have to understand that it started out, in the US at least, when European immigrants wanted to take note of Hedgehog Day.
But the science of “6-more-weeks-of-winter” is: While animals obviously can’t predict the weather, hibernating males traditionally emerge sometime in February to gauge if they can start waking up their female counterparts to mate.
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 