DT
Yet Another Day Of Celebration
Yes folks, on this date in 1853, Gail Borden patented his process for creating condensed milk. The product was successful enough that the "Gail Borden Jr., and Company" was founded in Connecticut in 1857. Gail Borden had the same business sense I have but investors saved the company in 1858 and changed the name to the "New York Condensed Milk Company".
Sounds downright "homey", doesn't it?
The company prospered selling condensed milk to the Union Army - samples from 1863 are shown below.
Anyone up to popping a top bottom and sampling the contents?
No? Oh well...
The company started using glass bottles in 1885, evaporated milk in 1892, and changed the name to "Borden's Condensed Milk Company" in 1899, changed again to the "Borden Company" in 1919.
The company reorganized as a holding company in 1929 for Borden's Food Products, Borden's Dairy Products, Borden's Ice Cream and Milk, and Borden's Cheese & Produce.
Borden created the forerunner of Key Lime Pie with its Magic Lemon Cream Pie in 1931.
The company reorganized again as a unified company in 1936, combining the four separate companies, and introduced Elsie the Cow.
Further expansion came about in WWII when the company sold non-dairy creamer, instant coffee, and powdered food.
Yum, yum!
Borden started acquiring smaller companies in the 1950s - Cracker Jack among them - and expanded into inks, fertilizers, and plastics in 1953; they were so successful, the company reorganized again to create a chemical and petroleum division.
It went on another expansion in the 1980s (including the purchase of Meadow Gold), but suffered losses in the early '90s blamed on mismanagement, excessive debt, and too many restructurings (remember the nation-wide craze of mergers and acquisitions of the 1980s?)
The company was bought out in 1995 and shattered into many scattered pieces; the final portion sold to Kraft in 2001. One of the purchasing companies revitalized the name in 2009 but filed for bankruptcy in 2020. The assets were put up for auction, purchased, and continued to operate as "Borden Dairy Company"
The Borden name and Elsie still live on.
Now, isn't that far more than you wanted to know about Borden?
All because I had this photo of old condensed milk cans and found that May 14 is the day Borden filed for his patent.
“Want To Take You Higher”
Tunes For Tuesday – Ultimate Spinach “Mind Flowers”
A sample of some obscure – and some maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today’s selection: Ultimate Spinach "Mind Flowers" 1971
Let's delve deep into hippiedom, circa 1968. (it won't be the last time ...)
A Boston band marketed as an alternative to the "San Francisco Sound".
"marketed" pretty describes the end of the short-lived hippie era.
"One day, in 1967, I was in my room, tripping on some really pure LSD. I started looking at myself in the mirror and my face was doing funny things. I had a bunch of colored markers I used to draw with. I grabbed a green one and started drawing all these psychedelic designs on my face. When I was done, I looked at myself and said 'Whoa! I am ultimate spinach. Ultimate spinach is me!'"
The band did tour with bands such as "Big Brother & The Holding Co" (Janis Joplin) and the "Youngbloods" and released three albums, each fading away a bit more - the third did not make the charts; but the first is still listed as a "psychedelic classic".
"The Spinach's self-titled debut album is now considered a psychedelic classic, but it's the group's second record, Behold and See, that is perhaps their finest achievement."
This cut is off the second LP, "Behold and See", which was re-released on a heavily edited CD in 1995 but is now available in the original format on vinyl for $25.
"Obviously the hit from this album is “Mind Flowers” by the wasted Ultimate Spinach, a drug bathed band from Boston who came into being in 1967, at the apex of the psychedelic musical experience." Dec 2020
Turn on your lava light and drop a hit.
Continue reading →Missed
Mother’s Day
Yes, I know it's Mother's Day - I'm ignoring it beyond this post; I hope you aren't.
No, she's not alive - it's been a while now.
No, I did not have a "bad" mother nor a bad childhood.
Both her homes are gone, my old home is gone, the town I grew up in is "gone" - buried in suburbia.
It's all a long way away both in distance and time.
It's just another Sunday ...
Weeds
May 10, 1863
The Confederacy lost one of - if not the best - general on this date ... and perhaps the war itself. With the possible exception of Robert E Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson spent his part of the war confounding Yankees. Accidentally shot by one of his own men (with a .67 caliber bullet) on May 2 while returning from a night patrol during the battle of Chancellorsville, he died in this building at Guinea Station, VA on May 10. He was 39yo.
"He was martial and stern in attitude and profoundly religious, a deacon in the Presbyterian Church."
"Presently a smile of ineffable sweetness spread itself over his pale face, and he said quietly, and with an expression, as if of relief, 'Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.'"
Harper's Weekly reported his death:
"General "Stonewall" Jackson was badly wounded in the arm at the battles of Chancellorsville, and had his arm amputated. Jackson initially appeared to be healing, but he died from pneumonia on May 10, 1863."
Nothing is left of Guinea Station except the railroad, nor anything of the plantation except this outbuilding and marker where Jackson was cared for and died.
Continue reading →Arches
One of my favorite parks - just outside Moab, UT. One can avoid the crowded entry if one knows the back way in.
There will be more pics and tales of Arches to come.
Continue reading →Buffalo
Tourists at Yellowstone (and other areas) seem to love getting close to fluffy buffalo. Traffic jams are regular occurrences; buffalo go where they want ... and stop where they want - often in the middle of the road. And tourists turn into looky-loos.
Then get the idea that a selfie is a good idea.
Even Griz stands back for fluffy buffalo.
"According to the National Park Service, a Cape Coral, Florida man was attacked after getting too close to the large animal in the Lake Village area of the park. Medics treated the man for minor injuries, park officials said."
He was lucky. Bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other animal; they are unpredictable and can run three times faster than humans. They will kill you - intentionally.
So one day, I'm wandering not far off road in Yellowstone one day - edge of the woods but clear visibility. No serious wildlife nearby, nice day ... so there I sit, enjoying the view and sunshine.
Then this guy comes wandering by. Wa-a-ay too close - within 20 ft (what I get for not paying attention. Dozed off a bit) - but there I was; there he was. Best thing to do? Stay put, stay calm, no sudden moves - let him do his thing. (While I kind of slo-o-owly scoot over to the other side of the truck). He was aware of me but pretty much ignored me.
I didn't have a telephoto lens on when I got this shot.
He wandered on by, found himself a sunny place in a field maybe 100' away, then settled in to do the same thing I was doing (I emphasize "was") as I decided there was a different spot where I'd be more comfortable.
Continue reading →