Live 1880, the best time in American history. (buildings, area, Mobile)
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He's right. Spotting it as a teen or younger is easy if you haven't been indoctrinated since early childhood which may be what happened to you. Most American children were not indoctrinated since pre-K in the 1960s. Now they are.
My first encounter was with one particular HS teacher in 1970. It was a no-brainer to support her views in my work to get the A and get out of there. It was good prep for what was coming when I entered college in 1972.
I was in school several years later than you, but it was very apparent by that time. My Grandfather was a highly educated man who valued education, having been educated before the dumbing down that took place after the 40's. He was from a time when Latin was a basic part of the curriculum, as was higher level mathematics, calculus and physics and they sciences in his high school. He had beautiful penmanship, his writings are works of art in discussing law and business. He didn't need to go to college to have the tools to advance. My parent's worked hard to get me reading materials and expose me to higher level thinking right from day one, and with my grandfather's tutoring, by the time I hit high school, I could easily identify the progressive/communist/statist/stalinist teachers.
I also learned from experience that if you wanted to pass those classes, real independent thoughts were not welcomed.
Instead of debating and trying to get anything meaningful from the class, you quickly learned to just feed them back their propaganda and pass on to classes where you could actually learn something.
I regret that I had to carry that lesson on to college where the situation was worse.
I spent the time and money to purchase my degree, but I really don't believe I received much of any learning with practical value for my money.
I did learn to game the system though, maybe that was what they were really trying to teach...?
I don't know. I think there were plenty of old timers who would have told you living in the 'good ole days" wasn't that good. Especially those who later in life got a taste of some of the advancements in the early 20th century. I suspect for most people daily life wasn't easy.
I don't know. I think there were plenty of old timers who would have told you living in the 'good ole days" wasn't that good. Especially those who later in life got a taste of some of the advancements in the early 20th century. I suspect for most people daily life wasn't easy.
Don't you know - we have a few "highly educated" individuals here who have survived unscathed (due to their own high intelligence, of course) the indoctrination camps that are the American schools and now they are here to tell us the non-revisionist version of history - the one that makes the 1880s sound like paradise. The one where there was no disease, racism, gender inequality, where there was no violence, labor laws, pesky environmental laws and finally, where there was no conflict of interest when the school teacher was paid by the parents and lived on their land too, at the same time (no revisionism there, the teacher was totally independent 'cause, don't you know - 1880s people were ALL HONEST and just because you live on their land and get paid by them, doesn't mean you can't teach this thing called evolution, for example).
I went to an architectural salvage yard today but didn't find any fancy bathroom fixtures.
But, a Victorian wood burning ceramic tile stove caught my eye. This is a piece of it.
Fully assembled it would look something like this
Quote:
A masonry heater (or masonry stove, ceramic stove, tile stove) is a device for warming an interior space through radiant heating, by capturing the heat from periodic burning of fuel (usually wood), and then radiating the heat at a fairly constant temperature for a long period .
Quote:
Masonry takes longer to heat than metal; but once warm, the heater will radiate this heat over a much longer period of time and at a much lower temperature than a metal stove would use (the metal is hot only when there is a fire burning inside the stove and for a short time thereafter). A masonry heater is warmed by fires that burn for a short time; it is mostly the heat stored by the heater's mass that heats the living space
By Jove, you've done it again. Do you have any more information on ceramic stoves of the eighties or thereabouts? I can imagine one of these in either the town or country home.
The aesthetics of the modern ones are ghastly, but the old one in your illustration is stellar. I can't find anything on the older stoves or their evolution, however.
We can hardly discuss bathroom fixtures in mixed company, but the stoves would offend no lady's ear.
Combining aesthetics with a more efficient heating method appeals to me. I don't think ceramic tile stoves were very popular in the US, possibly due to an abundance of trees and milder temps in many parts than in Northern Europe.
I don't know how efficient the example above is compared to the larger ceramic systems shown here Tiled stoves and stove rooms, winter warmth in Northern Europe ? Home Things Past The idea of one fire producing radiant heat for up to 24 hours sounds great. My house has fireplaces but they aren't very efficient. It was built during a time when a fireplace was installed in every room. Only 4 remain; some were removed entirely and some were walled off by a previous owner.
Wouldn't you like to be one of the folks staying at this hostelry?
This reminded me of The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA.
The original 18 room inn was built in 1764. It was named in honor of the homesteaders who built the structure and bathhouses. Twenty-two presidents have stayed there.
We had the Winchester collectors' show here this past weekend. There were, of course, outstanding Winchesters, but there was much more besides. It's the sort of show that draws great guns of all types save the most modern. There's no rule against tacticool; it just isn't found there.
I found a very attractive Model 1873 Springfield carbine. It was made in 1886 so it never saw use in the Indian Wars but it is the same gun. The barrel is 22'' as opposed to 32'' as found in the rifle. I believe tha I can learn to post pictures on this site so I'll try to get to it soon. I have two choices. I can either clean it thoroughly, anoint it with Renaissance Wax, and place it in an honored spot in my collection, or I can do some shooting with it. I've decided to do the latter.
The standard military load for the rifle was seventy grains of compressed black powder with a 405 grain bullet. To reduce recoil the carbine load was a 350 grain bullet atop 55 grains. The sights on my gun are regulated for the 350 gr. bullet.
There will be no problem in finding what I need to load it. Dies and moulds as well as brass are available. The .45-70 brass isn't even expensive. Since I'll only be neck sizing the brass the old style tong tool will be quite fitting. I actually began handloading with the now venerable Lyman 310 for a revolver in .32 S&W long. Sadly, period tools are only found, as far as I know, in nickel-plated iron. Blued tools seem to be all much later. Still, the latest Lyman tool introduced in 1947 will be remniscent of what an 1880 handloader did.
I have some research to do. That should be most enjoyable. Perhaps I'll have the gun shooting before the end of summer. There's an extraorddinary variety of cartridges that have been made in .45-70. I have no interest in modern high pressure loads for this round, but I'll find plenty of suitable ideas. I am interested in shell cartridges, those made with a hollow point filled with an explosive mixture. W.W. Greener discussed these.
I am interested in shell cartridges, those made with a hollow point filled with an explosive mixture. W.W. Greener discussed these.
Sounds like a show I would have loved to see.
I saw some reference to the exploding points in old buffalo hunter journals and interviews. One load I heard about was using the same material as used inside the primer, however it needed something hard to set it off.
I won't go into detail on an open website like this, but the information isn't hard to find.
I will say that the references I saw noted a lot of cratering where the bullet hits, but explodes and doesn't penetrate the vitals, just leaves a large open wound.
Something like this would need kind of a delayed action to actually work as intended.
Could be fun to research though.
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Do you have any more information on ceramic stoves of the eighties or thereabouts? I can imagine one of these in either the town or country home.
so I'll try to get to it soon. I have two choices. I can either clean it thoroughly, anoint it with Renaissance Wax, and place it in an honored spot in my collection, or I can do some shooting with it. I've decided to do the latter.
