No New Angles On Monday...

...just Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola: Optimism From Ted Lewis

Just Around The Corner is in my personal play list, and evidently it is well liked by other collectors, judging from the number of uploads I see on YouTube of this great song.  We haven't listened to it for many months and it is great for cheering up, so here it is.  Don't be like this guy and put your old records where someone might sit down.  I learned my lesson 45 years ago; evidently this collector has been lucky so far.

Bonus Post For All Of You

This was on the radio as I drove back to Illinois yesterday.  More, Later...

Crankin' It Up; Another Jazzy OKEH Record

Bart, Brat, and I pulled out a great OKEH record from November 1926.  Brat sat out the dance, but did flip his tail.  Bart hung around for cheek rubs.


Plantation Joys; Luis Russell's Heebie Jeebie... by TrueBlueSam

Weekend Steam: Steam Show Sights and Sounds

This scene is being repeated wherever steam shows are going on around the country.  This Keck was singing its song in 2011.  You can hear it again this weekend at Pinckneyville, Illinois.

Hercules Engine and Pump...

......at the SIAM Show, Evansville, Indiana, June 2014.  The name on the surge chamber is Hercules, made by the Barnes Mfg. Co., Mansfield, Ohio.  Very nice, active display.



We found this display especially interesting because it is the same brand of pump,(but smaller) as the pump that goes with the Novo engine that Gary Bahre bought from us. His gas engine projects keep him hopping, but one of these days you will see the Novo pumping in a display just like this Hercules.

Gun Blogger Rendezvous IX, Even More.....!

Kevin at The Smallest Minority has announced that Osage County Guns has jumped in with both feet to be a GBR sponsor and is donating a Sig Sauer 1911-22 for the fund raising raffle.  You must be present to win, so go register and make your reservations at the Silver Legacy.  Mr. Completely, Kevin, and Zeke are pulling out all the stops this year to make GBR IX a memorable reunion, so be sure to attend. 

Zeke (Engineering Johnson) has a couple more surprises up his sleeve that will be traveling to Reno along with Ruger's Mk III Hunter, so stay tuned.  Don't delay in registering and making your travel plans.  Trust me folks, you will want to be in Reno this year!

Reasons to Attend Gun Blogger Rendezvous IX

Lori (Petoski) Yunker, of Burris, formerly of Ruger has arranged for this BEE-YOOTIFUL Flattop Fastfire Sight to be one of the prizes this year at the Rendezvous.  We met Lori in 2010 when she represented Ruger at our Reno Rendezvous.  

Acquaintances you make at the Rendezvous will become lifelong friendships and you will treasure your memories of this great event.  Go sign up right away, and make your room reservations!

Pinckneyville, Illinois; August 14-17; Be There!

The annual steam and gas engine show at Pinckneyville is on, RIGHT NOW!  It is one of the premiere engine shows in the country, and you will see wonderful things there.  Here is a 50 HP Bessemer oilfield engine that you will not see traveling to any other shows.


This year you will see an extremely rare 5 HP Falk engine that was rescued in the late 1960's and hidden away in a series of barns until this year, when our friend Gary Bahre put it back in working order.

Less rare, but interesting nonetheless, Gary has also revived our 9 HP Sears Economy that we collected in Eastern Kentucky some thirty-five years ago. He has completed the restoration and will be showing it for your engine-viewing pleasure.

This 1920 vintage Sears Economy engine powered a stone bur mill on Buck's Branch near Martin, Kentucky, providing a source of corn meal for the community of families living on that creek. It also cracked a lot of malted corn that was used for making moonshine locally. The millers who ground meal for folks would keep track mentally of the malted corn they ground and take the toll out of unmalted corn when the moonshiner came to have his cornmeal made. It is all fascinating history, and the mill and engine survive to this day. We have made cornbread for years with meal ground in the old mill, which is now in Southern Illinois.

Billll's Idle Mind Has Posted The July e-Postal Scores!

Billll ran a tough contest for July, but it was a good one, and we had fun shooting it out behind the barn.  Mrs. True Blue Sam beat me for the first time in our years of shooting the e-Postal contests.  She hit three of the cotton swabs, while I touched only two.  It made the day for both of us.  Click Here, or on the target over on the left side of this page to read the results on Billll's Idle Mind.  Thank You, Billll, for devising a contest for  our worthy blog followers!

If my Sweet Wife's Mother can shoot these e-Postal contests, improving her skills in the process, you can too!  The August contest is on the left side of the page.