True Blue Sam the Travelin' Man

David aka True Blue Sam

Frank Buckles, the last veteran of The Great War passed away on February 27, 2011 at age 110.

THE LAST POST

The stars are shining bright above the camps,
The bugle calls float skyward, faintly clear;
Over the hill the mist-veiled motor lamps
Dwindle and disappear.
The notes of day's goodbye arise and blend
With the low murmurous hum from tree and sod,
And swell into that question at the end
They ask each night of God--
Whether the dead within the burial ground
Will ever overthrow their crosses grey,
And rise triumphant from each lowly mound
To greet the dawning day.
Whether the eyes which battle sealed in sleep
Will open to reveille once again,
And forms, once mangled, into rapture leap,
Forgetful of their pain.
But still the stars above the camp shine on,
Giving no answer for our sorrow's ease,
And one more day with the Last Post has gone,
Dying upon the breeze.

Vera Brittain, V.A.D. Nurse

David aka True Blue Sam

Ted Gundy's story was on Cowboy Blob, and now I see it is being posted on other blogs. This video is so moving that True Blue Sam is doing a re-post too, because you really need to watch this!

Video credit to vmcmil.

David aka True Blue Sam

Back To The Old Grind!

David aka True Blue Sam

"The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise" is a song that is stashed away in one of my record cabinets, but my record doesn't have the words. Pax41 uploaded Franklyn Baur's 1927 performance for our gratification, and now I have some incentive to look for my copy of this beautiful song.

David aka True Blue Sam

The Joyland 65 was written up in the Engineers and Engines Magazine a few years ago. This engine spent several years of its life working at the Joyland Amusement Park in Wichita, Kansas, and then just disappeared. It was discovered sitting in a warehouse, where it had rested for 45 years, and now it is back in the mainstream again for folks to see at steam shows. I ran across these videos on YouTube, and though they are not the highest quality, they are fun to watch. I have included the comments from JeffDetwiler's YouTube channel below each video.

"This is the first plowing done by the Joyland 65....possibly ever in its 86 year lifetime. It spent 45 years in a barn at Joyland Amusement Park in Wichita, KS, until Chady Atteberry discovered it in 2003 at it's former owner, Harold Ottoway's, funeral. It is documented all the way from the Case factory in '21 until the present."

"Fairview September 2010, perfect day for a plow ride, great soil, great friends... Btw~ the 65 Case was only rated for 6 to 8 plows from the factory... Needless to say they don't make things like they used to!! Shame."

David aka True Blue Sam

The Regent Club Orchestra recorded this excellent dance tune on May 16, 1925. Does it remind you of "Back Home Again In Indiana?"

David aka True Blue Sam

I noted on my last trip to Iowa that this corn crib is gone now, and the entire farmstead is slicked off for row-cropping. These drive through cribs were equipped with an elevator in the center of the building that took ear corn up into the cupola, where it was put down a chute into the bins on either side.

During the 1960's, most farmers made the switch to shelling corn in the field, and storing the shelled corn in bins equipped with a dryer. The old buildings were handy for parking wagons and other implements, but they have gradually been disappearing from the landscape. There aren't many left.

Back when cribs were still being used to store and dry corn, you could buy a Maid-Rite sandwich for 30 cents, and a cup of coffee for a dime. I remember when the proprietor of the Maid-Rite shop in Washington, Iowa raised his price to 35 cents, and everyone in town was telling him he would go out of business. They get a lot more for a Maid-Rite nowadays, and 35 cents is a dim memory. The price didn't hurt his business, but a few years later a Hardees moved in nearby, and it snagged most of the lunch crowd from the high school and the downtown area. That's what did in the Maid-Rite in Washington.