“Coldbar” Bars Cold

Posted on November 9, 2014 by kathy

Well, I hit a wall today. I challenged myself to post something every day for the month of November (but I didn’t start until Nov. 5th). Five days in and I had nothing. I searched prompt ideas, looked at photos on the computer and my phone, tried to research something I had started …. In other words, I’ve spent way too much time today trying to come up with something simple that I could do in just a few minutes! Ugh!

I opened up one of my grandmother’s scrapbooks and found that almost everything in it were holiday craft and party ideas. One loose newspaper clipping caught my eye.

This was not the item Abbie was saving for future use – on the back is an idea for a Christmas decoration. But I was more interested in this uniform today, perhaps because Veteran’s Day is this week.

A really quick google search (because I’m out of time!) turned up a few snippets of info.
1. This is a press release photo from 1952. See photos on ebay.

2. The Library of Congress Veterans History Project, has a letter from a soldier dated February 22, 1953 which contains the following:
Well, I’m back in the “CW” truck. It’s 6 pm now I’m on until 10 tonight. I’m on a “Coldbar Team”. We’re supposed to check the “Coldbar Uniform”. That’s a plastic suit guaranteed against cold weather. It’s about 3/8 inch thick. When wearing it, all a person need wear are his “T”-shirt and shorts. After I wear it for awhile, they want my opinion of it.

3. This newspaper article describes the money and research time spent to keep American military forces warm and dry during the Korean winters. The suit is described as a “foam-rubber-like petroleum derived plastic – polyvinylchloride …. made under the trade name Ensolite. ….When the body becomes over-heated through strenuous exercise the wearer merely opens various slide fasteners to allow sufficient cold air to cool the skin surface.”

Any Korean War veterans out there who observed the use of the coldbar uniform?

Sepia Saturday – Miners who Fish

Posted on November 8, 2014 by kathy

Sepia Saturday provides bloggers with an opportunity to share their history through the medium of photographs. Historical photographs of any age or kind become the launchpad for explorations of family history, local history and social history in fact or fiction, poetry or prose, words or further images.

When posting the prompt photo for this week, Alan suggested that we might consider miners or anglers with fishy tales or three men. It’s hard to tell that these men are miners when not dressed for work and no mine in sight, but the source of the photo, the Provincial Archive of Alberta reveals their identity by the photograph’s title: “Miners’ fishing trip.”

My grandfather, Thomas Hoskins, was a miner – as was his father, his wife’s father, some uncles and cousins and assorted in-laws. He left school after completing the 8th grade to work in the coal mines in Mystic, Iowa.

And he loved to fish.

Here he is as an older man, many years removed from the mines. You can see his fishing rod beside him.

Like the men in the prompt photo, Grandpa is reclining on a hillside and doesn’t appear to be actively engaged in fishing. Perhaps it’s all about the the fresh air, the sound of the water, the time just to relax above ground in the light of day – fresh fish for supper an added bonus or perhaps a necessary source of food for the family.

My uncle told me that Grandpa once took him down in a mine so that he could experience the total darkness and stifling confines and the ever-present sense of danger. My grandfather did not like working in the mines and when he found an opportunity to leave the coal mines in Mystic, he moved his family to another town where he worked in a meat processing plant.

I can imagine that fishing was a pastime enjoyed by many miners.

Lake Rathburn May 30,1971

Please wade on over to Sepia Saturday to enjoy some other fine fish tales.

Family Recipe Friday – Mom’s Pumpkin Bread

Posted on November 7, 2014 by kathy

Here’s my sweet mama showing off some baked goods in the newspaper. Mmm-mm, she was a goooodd baker!

I love that cookie jar! It still sits on the refrigerator in Mom’s and Dad’s kitchen. It’s at least as old as I am – guess that’s why I like it so much. Of course, this old newspaper photo doesn’t do it justice.

We had recently moved to Joplin when this article appeared in the paper. I don’t know how it came to be. Guess I need to ask Dad if he remembers. Being a small city, I suppose it was pretty common to have news about the movers and shakers in the community – like the new assistant manager of the Sears store and his wife – featured in the paper. lol

I’m not going to post the whole article as there is just a little too much personal info that I don’t have permission to share, but here’s the headline.
Mom shared two recipes – Pumpkin Bread and Maple Butter Twists. I don’t know what the third thing is on the counter, but it could be a second Maple Butter Twist with a slice cut out and shared with the newspaper person.

In our ESL class the day before Halloween, we had a discussion about the different ways pumpkin is prepared around the world. When I mentioned that I make pumpkin bread, one of the students asked if I would share the recipe. I’m going to share it on our group Facebook page today in hopes that some students will follow my lead and share some of the dishes they talked about in class – pumpkin curry; a pumpkin dessert made with fruit, cinnamon and milk; honeyed pumpkin seeds …. I hope they will!

Once Mom found this recipe, she made it every year – mostly in the fall and at Christmas. She liked to frost her pumpkin bread with buttercream icing. At Christmas time, she would add a few sliced candied red and green cherries on top to decorate. Many loaves of decorated pumpkin bread were given as gifts at Christmas.

I make it every year too. It’s just so good and must be made. But I usually don’t frost it. It’s fine just the way it is.

One thing I notice her recipe doesn’t say is to grease the pan. I usually line the bottom with waxed paper or parchment paper too, so that it pops right out.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon each of cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon
1 cup salad oil
1 cup water
2 cups mashed pumpkin
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Method:
Add ingredients, one at a time, in mixing bowl and blend well with an electric mixer. Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees in a loaf pan, 9 by 5 by 2 3/4 inches. Turn out of pan at once. Frost with powdered sugar icing flavored with almond extract.

I usually use canned pumpkin – the slight difference in measurement doesn’t make a difference. Mom and Dad would often cook and freeze fresh pumpkin to use for pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie.

I’ll share the recipe for Maple Butter Twists another day.

What is your favorite pumpkin recipe?
Family – let’s hear every story you can think of concerning pumpkin and pumpkin bread!

Abbie and Eveline

Monthly Archives: November 2014

“Coldbar” Bars Cold

Sepia Saturday – Miners who Fish

Family Recipe Friday – Mom’s Pumpkin Bread