History Fun

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National Lemon Day

Either it’s August 20 or August 29, but either way… what would we do without lemons. Here’s some historical facts about lemons, with a twist. (Get it? Got it. Good.)

*The origin of the lemon is unknown, though lemons are thought to have first grown in India, northern Myanmar, or China. A genomic study of the lemon indicated it was a hybrid between bitter orange (sour orange) and citron.

*The tradition of urinating

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Tootlin’ Round the County

Have you done any of the auto tours yet? They’ve been updated by hard-working volunteers from the Friends of the History Center who love Sarasota County History. There’s 9 of them and they are well-researched and planned. If you haven’t downloaded the app or climbed into your a/c’d vehicle to see the sights… this weekend would be a great time to do so! https://friendssarasotahistorycenter.org/autotours/

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Celebrity Endorsements… through the years!

Would you use a phone card if Dean Martin asked you to? Buy Bogie’s favorite thank-you gift, a Whitman’s Sampler? Celebrity endorsements must work, and of course, the added income to a writer’s, an actor’s, a singer’s income was always welcome, we’re sure.

One does wonder, however, how Abe profited from this 1888 endorsement.

Enjoy this collection of advertisements we’ve found (You can click on each for a larger image so you can read the copy):

Of course, Abe wasn’t the only president to suggest that tobacco would be a welcome holiday gift:

Notice something? They’re all men? Well, women can endorse products as well. Here’s Lucy suggesting a paint brand:

… and best of all, Doris Day on an asphalt roller. Makes me wanna go buy one today, doesn’t it you?

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Sarasota News, 100 years ago

1923’s Sarasota. Wouldn’t you have loved to buy a lot or two?

How’s your year going so far? 2023 shaping up as interesting, is it? Here’s what you would have been thinking about 100 years ago in Sarasota.

Top Headlines for 1923

Mira Mar Apartments and Hotel

“I am not especially anxious to build a hotel in Sarasota”

Is it just me, or was this the start of something that looks a lot like what’s going on in 2023? Mr McAnsh stated

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A Day at Sea

Well, yes, red tide did cause a few coughs, but the continental breakfast buffet on our March 2023 Historic Sarasota Bay Cruise provided some soothing refreshments. Volunteers Sue Padden and Norma Kwenski made a lovely buffet table, and the Gentleman With The Legs added a little cheesecake to the menu.

On land, before boarding, board member Deb Walk (right) and City Commissioner Debbie Trice compare notes about being named after Debbie Reynolds (Joke. Maybe they were named after beloved aunts. I wasn’t eavesdropping.) We’ll be hoping Ms. Trice will become an active member!

Meanwhile, waiting for the “all aboard” call, Katie employed her VIP gift, a brilliant umbrella, to protect her not only from the sun, but also from the flock of parrots who were noisily entertaining our guests.

Deborah Walk and Jon Stone, board members of the Historical Society, are all smiles seeing the anticipation of participants in our Historic Sarasota Bay Cruise… our 39th, I believe.

And finally, what would our Cruise posting be without our beloved site manager/ board member wrangler/ yard raker Linda Garcia. She is showing off our logo on this cruise’s VIP gift.

Linda’s who you need to contact to get on the November cruise invite list. Check our sidebar here on HSoSC.com for contact info!

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Did the future turn out as expected 100 years ago?

I don’t know about you, but I remember figuring out, in grade school, how OLD I’d be in the year 2000.

I think imagining the year 2022 was beyond my capacity (then and quite possibly now.)

I never dreamed flowers would be emancipated. Or that we’d all have to wear glasses because skyscapers ruin our sight. These predictions of life 100 years hence are fascinating and believe it or not, many points are quite accurate!

Please note: OCR (optical character recognition) even now in 2022, isn’t perfect and your Esteemed Editor got tired half-way through of correcting all but the most grievous errors. Lordy, now I’m even talking 1922 style!)

From the New York herald (New York, N.Y.), May 7, 1922

By W. L. George
THERE is a good old rule which bids us never prophesy unless we know, but, all the same, when one cannot prophesy one may guess, especially if one is sure of being out of the way when the reckoning comes. Therefore it is without anxiety, that I suggest a picture of this world a hundred years hence, and venture as my first guess that the world at that time would be remarkable to one of our ghosts, not so much because it was so different as because it was so similar.

In the main the changes which we may expect must be brought about by science. It is easier to bring about a revolutionary scientific discovery such as that of the X-ray than to alter in the least degree the quality of emotion that arises between a man and a maid. There will probably be many new

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Watching history being made, Christmas-style.

Don’t you love getting those photographic Christmas cards from family and friends? To cherish the ability to watch history being made as the kids grow? Remember, history isn’t in dusty old books. Sometimes it arrives in a red envelope with a Santa postage stamp. Today we share with you a Sarasota memory…

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What’s a penny, after all?

“Your penny at work.” That’s the slogan of the campaign asking voters to approve, on Election Day 2022, a continuation of the county 1% sales tax. Many wonderful things have been financed by this income since it was first authorized in 1989, but never before has the history of our county been addressed. 

And what’s a penny after all? Pennies in the US have been around since the 18th century… although, of course just like us, a penny isn’t what it used to be. Did you know Benjamin Franklin designed the first penny, seen here? (Wasn’t he the BUSIEST man you’ve ever imagined!)

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Gonna make me some per-loo

You can’t get more Florida Pioneer than making some pilau (pronounced “per-loo”) for dinner, supper, or a get-together potluck.

So what, you might well ask, is pilau? It’s really any meat and rice dish, and here’s what some historic figures have to say about it:

In the 18th century, naturalist William Bartram wrote of eating squab “made in pilloe with rice” while he was traveling through South Carolina. Of course he hadn’t gotten to Florida yet, but I daresay there were more cooks in South Carolina than in Florida at that time. And all that good Southrn cooking found a welcome home in Florida!

“Pilaus,” wrote Florida author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in 1942, “are almost a sacred Florida dish. No Florida church supper, no large rural gathering, is without it. It is blessed among dishes for such a purpose, or for a large family, for meat goes farther in a pilau than prepared in any other way.”

Pilau is truly an international dish just as Florida is the place where all nations meet: there are Ugandan, Kenyan, Indian recipes readily available online or in your favorite cookbook. What’s so wonderful about it, besides stretching the meat as Rawlings mentioned, is that you can make it your own. Some folks call it pilaf (well, I admit I did before I got to Florida), and some folks use poultry (see Bartram’s remark above), some use beef, sausage, pork.

I can never decide so I use chicken AND sausage. Over in St. Augustine they make a Minorcan version with shrimp and datil peppers. You can even start with a rotisserie chicken from the market (although I wouldn’t.)

You can even say it in your choice of pronunciation. Or call it paella, risotto, jambalaya.

Just don’t call me late for supper!

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Hot History Part THREE!

We keep finding local history-related things for you to do. (Here’s the first installment, and Part Two…) It’s too hot to go traipsing about graveyards and boardwalks right now, but it’s always cool to learn a bit more about our local area.

Up at the top there’s gotta be a breeze!

One of our favorite supporters, Liz Coursen, is giving a talk at Gulf Gate Library on Florida Lighthouses. Info here. You probably have visited this one. If not, do! We’re sure Liz will give you directions.

Not as picturesque as some, but easy driving distance! Courtesy of Lighthouse Friends.

Learn about some cool art

Take a peek into the art collection at the Van Wezel, our on-the-bay performance venue that folks are afraid will be history soon. The best way to show your love for local history is to participate. Here’s your chance, by joining the Art and Backstage Tour. The tour features features works from the Arts Advocates’ Sarasota Colony artist collection as well as noted Florida artists, including pieces by Robert Chase, William Hartman, Eugene White, Ben Stahl, Julio de Diego, Thornton Utz, Frank Colson, and Dean Mitchell, to name a few. The backstage tour provides a peek at the dressing rooms, green room, back hallway, and the Van Wezel stage.

Tours are offered to the public August 8 and September 12 from 1:30-3:00 pm. Tours begin in the Main Lobby and cost $15 per person. Tickets can be purchased at the Box Office or by calling (941) 263-6799. More info.

Prefer music and a cool beverage?

More the outdoors, drink and hum along type? Here’s another Van Wezel event you’ll love, and it’s free. The Friday Fest. Future dates for Friday Fest are August 12 and September 16.

Help create future art history

Or maybe you’d like to help fellow Sarasotans CREATE history? After all, history is not fixed in stone; it’s made every day by folks like you. Our tradition of art is strong here, and you can build on that to make art even stronger as time marches on. For example, by participating in and supporting local artists. Your grandchildren will thank you for becoming patrons of the arts in accessible venues like Creative Liberties, Ligon Arts, ArtUptown, and of course Art Center Sarasota.

Read more in The Observer about this capitalistic venue for the arts.

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Old ladies? Huh.

A post from Facebook called “Walk down Memory Lane.”

Mergatroyd ? Do you remember that word? Would you believe the spell-checker did not recognize the word, Mergatroyd Heavens to Mergatroyd!

The other day a not so elderly (I say 75) lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy; and he looked at her quizzically and said, “What the heck is a Jalopy?” He had never heard of the word jalopy! She knew she was old …But not that old.

Well, I hope you are Hunky Dory when you read this and chuckle.

About a month ago, I illuminated some old expressions that have become obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology.

These phrases included: Don’t touch that dial; Carbon copy; You sound like a broken record; and Hung out to dry.

Back in the olden days we had a lot of moxie . We’d put on our best bib and tucker, to straighten up and fly right. Heavens to Betsy! Gee willikers! Jumping Jehoshaphat! Holy Moley!

We were in like Flynn and living the life of Riley; and even a regular guy couldn’t accuse us of being a knucklehead, a nincompoop or a pill. Not for all the tea in China!

Back in the olden days, life used to be swell, but when’s the last time anything was swell? Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the D.A.; of spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle shoes, and pedal pushers.

Oh, my aching back! Kilroy was here, but he isn’t anymore.

We wake up from what surely has been just a short nap, and before we can say, “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!” Or, “This is a fine kettle of fish!” We discover that the words we grew up with, the words that seemed omnipresent, as oxygen, have vanished with scarcely a notice from our tongues and our pens and our keyboards.

Poof, go the words of our youth, the words we’ve left behind. We blink, and they’re gone. Where have all those great phrases gone?

Long gone: Pshaw, The milkman did it. Hey! It’s your nickel. Don’t forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a grasshopper. Well, Fiddlesticks! Going like sixty. I’ll see you in the funny papers. Don’t take any wooden nickels. Wake up and smell the roses.

It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than Carter has liver pills. This can be disturbing stuff! (Carter’s Little Liver Pills are gone too!)

Leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth. See ya later, alligator! Okidoki .

You’ll notice they left out “Monkey Business”!

PS If you don’t follow the Historical Society of Sarasota County on Facebook, you’re missing a lot.

Credit for this entry to the Facebook page called Granny’s off Her Meds Again