The Anti-Waiter Sentiment That Made Automat Restaurants Go Mainstream

It all sounds so futuristic: a restaurant without waiters, without workers behind the counter, without any visible employees whatsoever, where you simply feed your money into a glass-enclosed kiosk, remove a steaming plate of freshly made food, and carry it to your table. Forward into the past, specifically the early 20th century, to a time when automats served hundreds of thousands of urban customers every day.

This week, a look at the anti-waiter aentiment that made Automat restaurants go mainstream.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it." - Lyndon B. Johnson (36th president of US, 1908 - 1973)

   The Anti-Waiter Sentiment That Made Automat Restaurants Go Mainstream by fredwine on Scribd

Touring the Abandoned Atlantic City Sites That Inspired the Monopoly Board

Monopoly. It seems like a wonderful idea when it is first brought out of storage, but inevitably the game it wearily packed back into the box with little enthusiasm. It can be plodding, tedious and argument-inducing. It is simplistic, dull and far too reliant on chance. While we know the locations on the board, what we hardly ever consider when playing the game is that it is based on an Atlantic City that no longer exists.

This week, we take a tour of the abandoned Atlantic City sites that inspired the Monopoly Board.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Sometimes old things need to go away. That way, we have room for the new things that come into our lives." - Randy K. Milholland (Something Positive webcomic, 1975 - )

   Touring the Abandoned Atlantic City Sites That Inspired the Monopoly Board by fredwine on Scribd

Why Do We Sleep Under The Blankets?

Linus van Pelt had it right. Blankets are a security thing.

This week, a look at why we sleep under the blankets.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Actions have consequences...first rule of life. And the second rule is this - you are the only one responsible for your own actions." - Holly Lisle (American writer of fantasy, science fiction, paranormal romance and romantic suspense novels, 1960 - )

Why Do We Sleep Under the B... by on Scribd

Science of Handwashing

In 1846, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis worked in a hospital in Vienna where maternity patients were dying at an alarming rate. He compared the statistics between the hospital and a clinic staffed only by midwives and found the hospital had five times as many deaths in their maternity ward. Using the scientific method, he eliminated variables one at a time and eventually discovered those dying had been treated by student physicians who worked on cadavers during an anatomy class before beginning their rounds in the maternity ward.

Handwashing was an unrecognized hygienic practice at the time and pathogenic bacteria from the cadavers regularly were transmitted to the mothers via the students' hands. In an experiment considered quaint at best by his colleagues, Semmelweis insisted that his students wash their hands before treating the mothers; deaths on the maternity ward fell five-fold.

Unfortunately, Semmelweis’s ideas were not accepted by all of his colleagues. Indeed, many were outraged at the suggestion that they were the cause of their patients’ miserable deaths. Consequently, Semmelweis met with enormous resistance and criticism. It was decades before the medical profession was ready to accept his discovery.

This week, a look at the science of handwashing.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "They say dreams are the windows of the soul – take a peek and you can see the inner workings, the nuts and bolts." - Henry Bromel, Northern Exposure, The Big Kiss, 1991

   Science of Handwashing by fredwine on Scribd

Are You There God? I’d Like to Sue You

We are a litigious society. See below if you doubt that statement.

 

This week, a look at those who have tried to sue God.

 

TTFN, Fred.

 

Quote of the week: "They say that blood is thicker than water. Maybe that's why we battle our own with more energy and gusto than we would ever expend on strangers." - David Assael, Northern Exposure, Family Feud, 1993

Are You There God? I’d Like to Sue You by fredwine on Scribd

The Back of the Napkin

My family ate dinner together at the dining room table every single night growing up, even when my sister and I were in high school. The table was always set before the food was put down, with a folded paper napkin, a fork and a knife. The napkins were paper because, well, that's what we used. In the house, at the patio table during barbeques, at the annual Italian Picnic at Manning Park, napkins were paper. I don't remember the first time I encountered a cloth napkin, but I'm sure I was confused as to why anyone would use that and then throw them away.

Cloth napkins are the norm in our house now, with several different kinds just to mix it up. I still linger in the supermarket and look at the multitude of paper napkins and their various designs, wondering which my mother would pick out to grace her table. While the only constant is in the universe is change, a good paper napkin can take me back 50 or so years, hanging on a cart in a grocery store that no longer exists, watcing her survey the choices and picking the one that was just right.

This week, a look at the origins of the napkin.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark." - Barbara Hall, Northern Exposure, Rosebud, 1993

   The Back of the Napkin by fredwine on Scribd

How Pumpkin Pie Sparked a 19th-Century Culture War

Pumpkin pie is a dessert pie with a spiced, pumpkin-based custard filling. The pumpkin is a symbol of harvest time, and pumpkin pie is often eaten during the fall and early winter. In the United States and Canada, it is featured on Thanksgiving.

This week, a look at pumpkin pie and a 19th century culture war.

TTFN, Fred. 

Quote of the week: "Talking perceptions, people. Do we really see each other for what we really are, or do we just see what we want to see, the image distorted by our own personal lenses? I lost someone today and the funny thing is, I don't even know who she was." - Jeff Melvoin, Northern Exposure, Lovers and Madmen, 1994 

How Pumpkin Pie Sparked a 19th-Century Culture War by fredwine on Scribd