History Adventuring

Phoenix is a wonderful place to be in the winter, I can tell you! But don't take my word for it, let's take a look at the 1930s pamphlet "The New Winter Playground". Here the sun shines practically every day of the year, with an annual rainfall of about eight inches. The pamphlet goes on to use a lot of flowery language, but I can sum it up, it's nice. Of course there are a lot of golf courses including the Phoenix Country Club (still there), the Arizona Biltmore (also still there), El Molino (sorry, that one's gone), Ingleside (now called the Arizona Country Club), San Marcos (still there) and Castle Hot Springs (it's open again but I don't know if they have a golf course - if you do, let know and I'll update this post!). Speaking for myself, and I grew up in Minnesota, I never tire of seeing palm trees, and flowers, in the winter. I don't know exactly where the picnic is, but my best guess is that it was near the Capitol Building, which peopl

Long before the Roosevelt Dam was built, in 1911, the Salt River had various dams that diverted the water of the Salt River into canals in the Phoenix, Arizona area, and the biggest one was the Arizona Dam, which is long-gone. It was built in 1885 to supply water to the brand-new Arizona Canal, which was dug under the supervision of William Murphy. The canal, which is still there, goes from east of Scottsdale, Arizona, to Peoria, not far from where I live. I like to ride along the canal, where the water flows gently, and I often see ducks. But the canals all dried up in 1905 when the Arizona Canal collapsed. And that includes the Grand Canal and the Buckeye Canal. I'd imagine that a lot of people were angry about this, and for farms that relied on the canals, like the Sahuaro Ranch, it would have been terrible. Of course there was well water, but in the desert that's not enough for large-scale farming, which had already begun. It sounds to me that this had been a good time for

The 1908 pamphlet "Salt River Valley Arizona" was designed to encourage investing in the Phoenix, Arizona area. That's Washington and 1st Street there at the top of this post, looking west. The full title of the pamphlet is "Salt River Valley Arizona Offers Productive Lands, A Healthful Climate and Rare Opportunities to the Investor and Homeseeker". Yeah, that's how they wrote titles back in those days. It was written by J.W. Crenshaw, Commissioner of Immigration for Maricopa County, by authority of the Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, and endorsed by The Phoenix and Maricopa County Board of Trade. So now you know.  Of course, investing is always a leap of faith, and no one can tell how investments work will out. This one would have been fine, although that's easy to say looking backwards in time. It was a very dry and hot place, and the supply of water was still something to worry about, because the Roosevelt Dam wasn't built until 1911. The

I was looking through a pamphlet that I have called "Health Resorts in Salt River Valley Arizona" which was printed in 1898, and my eye was caught by a description of Phoenix by the Honorable Whitelaw Reid, who spent his winters there. As you can imagine, he was very enthusiastic about Phoenix as a winter resort. He rented a house that's still there, on 7th Street and Monroe, now called the Rosson House. He seems to be someone whose opinion you could trust, and he describes Phoenix from personal observation. He goes on and on, in flowery language, but I can sum it up for you: the weather was nice, and it still is in Phoenix. If you get a chance, go enjoy the winter weather in Phoenix. You can stand on the same veranda that the Honorable Whitelaw Reid did, and if anyone asks you what you're doing, you can just say that you're soaking up the sunshine! If you like pictures of old-time Phoenix, please become a member of History Adventuring on Patreon. I share a LOT o

It's November 22nd of 2021, and as promised I'm reporting on what I'm seeing during this era which will be called the time of Covid. You know, like the Black Death, or the Spanish Flu. I like to start my mornings in a cheerful way by looking at TikTok videos, which are mostly happy people dancing, or happy dogs dancing, that sort of thing. But every once in a while there is a post about someone who has just died of Covid, and did so protesting all the while that it was just an elaborate hoax, that they would never get a vaccine, etc. It's usually done in a series of social media statements from the person, starting with memes, going through asking for prayers as they get sick, and then a statement that the person has passed away. Inevitably they leave behind spouses, children, which just makes it that much sadder, and people wonder why. But I think that many people are missing the point of why people do this, and I think that I can explain. It's all about faith. Fai

I like palm trees. To me, they have always represented paradise, wonderful places that seem to only exist in dreams. The very first thing I did when I arrived in Phoenix, at age 19, moving from Minneapolis, was to stop and touch a palm tree. I'd seen pictures of them, I'd seen them in movies and on TV, but seeing one in real life was absolutely astonishing. I still love them, and to this day they remind me that I live in an amazing place. If that's not you, if you scoff at something that exists purely for beauty, like a rose, I guess I understand. But I feel so sorry for you, because your practical world sees no benefit, nothing tangible. So if you're too busy today to go visit the oldest palm tree in Phoenix in 1899, I suppose there's nothing I can say to change your mind. I wish you would, because I'm going over there right now. Walk with me. The palm tree is on the property of Clara Evans, 234 W. Monroe, which is between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue on Monroe. T

When Ian Fleming created the character of James Bond in the 1950s he set in motion confusion about what a martini is made with that lingers to this day. This may seem confusing, especially if you've just had a few, but I'm stone cold sober right now (unlike in the photo at the top of this post) so I'll see if I can explain. I'm not really a martini person, I much prefer my gin mixed with tonic water. I really don't know why, and I've always just chalked it up to my Anglo-Saxon roots. The British drank a LOT of gin, and tonic water (as you know) has quinine, which was the best that they could do against malaria for a long time. So don't worry about me, I'm in no danger of getting malaria! But back to James Bond, whose job was to go to other countries and kill people on behalf of the British government. That is, he collected a British paycheck, but he didn't spend much time there. In the 1950s, right after World War II, he spent a lot of time in Russia

It's November of 2021, and as promised I'm reporting what I'm seeing nowadays, living through an interesting time, which as you know is a curse. And today I'm thinking of people that I describe as being "driven over the edge" by the historic events of the past few years. As a history adventurer, and time-traveler, I know that how I describe events gives you, dear reader, an insight into my point of view. If I were writing this in the early 1860s, and I was describing something that I called "the War of Northern Aggression" you would know which side of the Civil War conflict I stood on. By the way, my family fought on the Union side, for the north, just to clarify. And these days you can tell by a description whether I believe that COVID-19 is just a hoax, or if there's been widespread election fraud, and the list goes on and on. Dealing with this is enough to drive just about anyone "over the edge", if you know what I mean. But of cours

Let's time-travel back to 1898, and take the climate cure. That is, if your lungs are weak, if you have a troublesome cough, if your throat is disagreeably affected by each change of weather, and your nerves are unstrung. I'm looking through a pamphlet published in 1898 called "Health Resorts in the Salt River Valley", which promoted the Phoenix area for people who had anything from tuberculosis to an annoying sniffle from living in a cold and wet climate, and could afford to get away from there. The idea, as you can see, was to go live in a place where the air in dry, pure, warm and equitable (sounds like Phoenix!) and where proper medical attendance and nursing may be had if needed (this is also something that Phoenix has always had). Nature is the best of physicians when conditions are friendly! To be fair, this pamphlet also gives credit where credit is due, to places like Colorado, New Mexico and California. Of course, the best of the best, according to this pamp

As a graphic designer, and occasionally as an illustrator, I know the importance of marketing to the, uh, mature audience. That is, what young people would call old-timers, but if advertisers said that, they would lose sales. Still, it's important to communicate as clearly as possible, while still dancing around the concept. This ad, from the Duke "Ad Access" site, caught my eye, especially the illustration, as I tried to figure out what they were trying to show there. To put it bluntly, how old is she supposed to be? I'll tell you what I see, and you can comment (but please be kind!). Speaking for myself, my hair started to grey in my early forties, and by my fifties it had gone to salt-and-pepper. Nowadays, in my sixties, it's all grey. This is a transition that I knew nothing about in my younger days, and whenever I needed to draw someone who was, uh, "of age", I simply gave them grey hair. I did nothing to the face, no bags under the eyes, no jowls,

I just finished reading "Around the World in 80 Days", which I've read more times than I can count, and I always discover new things that make me ponder about the world that Phileas Fogg, the main character, lived in, in 1873. He is described as not only rich, but cultured and refined. He belongs to a very elegant club in London, called the Reform Club, and here is a description of what he drank there: "...sherry, his port, and his cinnamon-spiced claret; while his beverages were refreshingly cooled with ice, brought at great cost from the American lakes." My knowledge of alcoholic beverages is very limited. In a long life I've mostly drunk beer, and occasionally gin and whiskey. I'm fond of my glass of red wine (one glass - 7 ounces) every night with my cheese and crackers before bed (recommended by doctors for, ahem, people "of age" like me), but I'm going to have to Google Phileas Fogg's drinks. I'm pretty sure that they're a

Everyone I know hates the idea of "Spring Ahead" and "Fall Back". That is, having to switch your clocks to change from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time and back and forth and back and forth. And since I'm in Arizona, which doesn't do that, we remain on Standard Time, which was established in the United States in 1883 in response to the confusion caused by nobody really knowing what time it was when they needed to take a train somewhere across the country. Before Standard Time, and the establishment of Time Zones (I'm in Mountain Time, by the way, since I'm in Arizona) it really was a jumble. But most people really didn't mind back then, they simply looked at when the sun was highest, and that was noon. When it got dark, they got ready to go to bed, and when the sun came up they got up. If they traveled somewhere they would ask the locals what time it was, and then they would know. Of course, that's no way to run a modern industrialized

I'm currently re-reading "Around the World in 80 Days", which I've been reading since I was a kid. Yes, I've seen all of the movie versions, and I like them all, too. For someone like me there's a lot to like in this book, the best part seeing how the technology of the world was changing in 1872. Going around the world had always been possible, but it had never been so convenient, and all it took was a big satchel of money, which the main character, Phileas Fogg, spent effortlessly. Of course, the character was supposed to be very rich, but I've known people who have a ton of bucks who act as if they're getting a tooth pulled if they have to spend any of it. But Phileas Fogg would just hand over banknotes with a quiet dignity. Yes, I know that it's fiction, but it's cool way to spend money, and it's something that I've been working on all of my life. No, I'm not rich - far from it, but I move money around. I've always evaluated

My memories of Mankato, Minnesota, are hazy, which you should expect, as I only lived there until I was four. Well, maybe four-and-a-half, but since I attended in Kindergarten in Minneapolis, I figure that I was under five. That's me on the left on the trike. I wish that I could tell you exactly where this photo was taken, but I can't. It was a new neighborhood, built in the 1950s, and the house (the one on the right) was a big two-story. I did visit it once when I was all grown up, but that was also a long time ago, and my attempts to find it on Google maps have failed now for years. I'll keep trying! There weren't, and presumably still aren't, any sidewalks in that neighborhood. Tiny kids like me were just expected to share the road with cars. I still see old neighborhoods like that in the Phoenix area, where I live now, and I wonder about it. I suppose when the houses were built they were "way out in the country", so there weren't many cars. I'm

It's November 2021, and as usual I went for a ride in my little suburban neighborhood of Peoria, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. And even though I've been vaccinated, I still carry along a mask, and wear it into places like the grocery store. These are interesting times, which as you know, is a curse. Here in Arizona there are people who disagree vehemently with mask mandates, and see it as just another way that big government pushes the little guy around. Or there are the "faith over fear" people who are protected by their faith, and the list goes on and on on the subject of wearing a mask in public. Speaking for myself, I've had no difficulty wearing a mask, even back at the beginning of the pandemic. I started with the cheap paper ones that a friend of mine gave me, and then graduated to ones with interesting designs, like the wiener dogs one (my favorite) that I got from the Woman in my Life. It's been an interesting lesson for me on what it feels like to we

As someone who has a fascination with fitness, and plans to live forever, I'm aware of the concept of being overweight. And it's a term that requires consideration of what exactly the weight is "over". That is, what should people weigh? I mean, you can't have "overweight" without determining what's the right weight, or what's underweight, right? OK, calm down there if you think that I'm trying to do something like "fat shaming". I didn't even do that when I was a little kid in school in the 1960s when an overweight kid was so unusual that they were usually teased. As I recall, the term "water rat" was used. But I digress. There are two ways to determine if your weight is higher than normal - you can look around at people, decide what the average is, and then measure yourself against that. Or you could look at some kind of height/weight chart, like the kind your doctor uses. I recommend that if you want to remain happy

I've lived in Arizona for most of my adult life, and unless you've been there since before 1968, you've never had to "fall back" or "spring ahead". I just Googled it, and except for the Navajo Nation, Arizona doesn't do the twice-yearly time switch. I live in the Phoenix, Arizona area and like the gorgeous weather at this time of the year (it's November 2nd as I write this), it's one of the benefits of living here. So I rarely give it a thought, unless I going to be calling one of my California friends. I have a good friend who used to ride with me here in Arizona, and has since moved back to California. But we both still ride, and we talk every morning, usually about the weather. The sun rises here nowadays a little before seven, and I stop for my coffee about a half-hour later. A 7:30 call is still pretty early, but starting this Sunday I'll have to try to remember that my 7:30 is California's 6:30. And that's too early to be ca

In a long life I've seen a lot of changes, and it just occurred to me that I will live to see the end of gas stations. They will become something that old-timers talk about, like eight-track tapes, or dial telephones. The young folks will have no idea, and be amazed at old photos, while the old-timers will just take it for granted. I stopped at the QT this morning during my ride to get some coffee, and I sat at the table and watched the world go by. Cars pull in, fuel up, and go. And it's such a common thing, which I've been seeing all of my life, I wondered how I would explain it to someone who has no experience with gas stations? I'll give it a try here. First of all to all of you old-timers out there, calm down, gas stations won't be going away anytime soon. Technology requires more than an invention or two to catch on, it requires a system, and while electric cars have been around for a while, and there are more all of the time, the system isn't quite in pla

When I stumbled across this ad on the Duke "Ad Access" site (they study old advertising, and I just enjoy it), I couldn't help but notice that the man's skin appeared to be more tanned than the woman's. And it reminded me that I grew up in the era of women who wanted to be tanned, which must have seemed very strange to older generations of women. Of course, the man may have just been in a shady area in the photo, or he may have had a bit of Italian blood, like I do, but I'm inclined to think that he showed what expectations were for men, and women. Men's faces spent time in the sun, women tried to avoid it. But things changed very quickly for women, and they wanted that tan. Speaking for myself, I've been using sunscreen generously ever since I got badly burned in my early twenties while tubing in the Salt River near Phoenix, Arizona. I've never had a job that required me to be outside, but I've always enjoyed things like riding my bike, and go