The Fish Letters #4

December 5, 1933

My Dear Miss Fox:

Yesterday afternoon we shipped your entire order of remedies, accessories and three pair of Zebras. The weather is quite favorable for shipping tropical fish at the present time and we sincerely hope that they reached you in good condition. We included an extra pair of Zebras on the order as a replacement for the one which you lost on the previous order.

The small transparent creatures which you discovered in your aquarium are possibly Fresh Water Shrimp. They are not harmful to the fish or aquarium. Ordinarily fish will destroy them.

Bettas are usually very fond of live food and it is possible that they may attack the snails for that purpose. If they continue to bother the snails it might be advisable to transfer the latter to a small bowl with a couple of plants and a leaf of lettuce, temporarily.
The Edison Heater should not be immersed below the point where the rubber connects to the tubing, although it is water tight it is not advisable. You could, however, put it about a half inch above the rubber lining. The heat will be well distributed as the heating elements are clear down at the bottom, therefore by immersing it a half inch or so more it will not change the temperature very much. We sincerely hope that you enjoy the aquarium and collection of plants and fish thoroughly and it will be our pleasure to have the opportunity to serve you again.

We are sending Mrs., Schroder, of Iowa City a copy of our catalogue which we are sure will be of interest to her.

Yours very truly,

WILLIAM TRICKER INC.
J.T. Charleson (signature)
Manager
JTC :JB

Look At Someone Else's House 2009 Edition

It's time for my annual appeal to attend Friends of Historic Preservation's 3rd annual Parade of Historic Homes on Sunday May 17th from 1-5 PM.

This year will again feature homes that have been restored using materials from FHP's salvage barn.

Here are a glimpses of the properties:

(1029 Bowery St.) an excellent example of adaptive re-use

(614 Clark St.) a residence that formerly was a church

(416 S. Summit St.) an example of a rental house returned to a family home


(519 S. Summit St.) shows off how an historic house can be updated

But probably most impressive:

(1208 Marcy) Plum Grove Inn, this house is a unique project combining the vision of architect Thomas McInerney with the passion and drive of Shelley Slaubaugh to have an historic Bed & Breakfast.

In the Spring of 2006, Friends of Historic Preservation had salvaged the interior of what was commonly called the “the old castle house” in Belle Plaine, Iowa. This was no ordinary house. Inside the dining room there was solid walnut wainscoting with a triple plate rail, sideboard, china cabinet, butler and pocket doors, as well as a coved press tin ceiling all in one room. Treasures like leaded glass windows, a walnut library, quarter sawn oak stairs, beveled glass doors, a skirted tub, pedestal sink and rooms of walnut and oak baseboards and molding were saved.

As Thomas McInerney recalled, “While going to the city landfill, one usually does not expect to find timeless treasures there. I noticed the Salvage Barn there and was curious if I could find inspiration to define the interior character of the house I was designing. I was not disappointed. Friends of Historic Preservation had recently salvaged a collection of stunning walnut cabinetry and trim from a demolished house in Belle Plaine, Iowa. Shelley is a fan of walnut furnishings and I thought she would enjoy seeing this incredible selection. After calling her, I figured we would chat about it later that night. To my complete surprise that night, she informed me that she agreed to buy the complete Belle Plaine house’s door, cabinetry and wood trim package. I knew she was serious about the Bed & Breakfast now!”

As an architect, Thomas McInerney understands how things are built and was able to envision and adapt the use of the salvaged materials for the interior of the new house he was building. As the house took shape, it was difficult to find contractors who shared this same vision. McInerney commented, “Incorporating this understanding onto construction documents for contractors is very time consuming and required an intimate knowledge of the millwork. It soon became evident that with the amount of millwork we had on hand, a contractor hired to reinstall the trim would greatly exceed our budget and schedule.” Consequently, McInerney and Slaubaugh invested their time and skills to complete the carpentry work on the house. As McInerney noted “With full-time careers grabbing our attention throughout it, we experienced work hours from sun-up to after sundown to the point of exhaustion.” The results are stunning and visitors to Plum Grove Inn may never realize that they have spent the night in a new old house.

I worked to salvage at Belle Plaine, and have seen the results, I was so happy to see such beautiful historic house parts go to such spectacular use!

4.5 Tons of Salvaged Goodness

Pete and I moved 4.5 tons of salvaged material today. The house we worked on with other members of Friends of Historic Preservation, will be taken down for a new elmentary school.

Here is a photo of the house from the county assessor's site:



Pete and I took the six porch pillars and the blocks below them. The pillars are made of cement and with three courses of blocks, and a two piece cement cap below come to a toal of eight feet in height. My plan is to take these and make a pergola in our back yard.

I was really worried about how heavy the pillars would be. We had my brother's dump truck to haul them, and I had made 5 T- shaped support posts by screwing together 8 foot 2x4's to put in as we took the pillars out. We used a John's bottle jack and worked like we did last summer in taking down the pillars on the back porch.

First we used the jack to raise the porch roof next to a pillar. When there was a visible gap we would wiggle the pillar toward the inside until we could get it clear of the cap at the top of the pillar. Then we would tip in down and support the end on the bottom cap. After re-adjusting we would move the pillar to the porch floor. We would take the T support post and get it into place then lower the jack to take the porch roof down to the temporary post. The two piece cap was also cement, we would wiggle them off. The take out the cement blocks. These were made with a mold so that the outer face looks like cut stone.

We got the six pillars out in about an hour and a half. We then loaded them along with two of the base caps and 8 blocks into the truck. We stopped at the landfill to get a total weight. Truck and all came to 4.9 tons. I called my brother and left a message asking how much the truck weighed.

We unloaded all that and went back for the other blocks and caps. I'll need a total of 36 for the six pillars, but since they were built below the porch floor on the house I was able to get an additional 12 blocks. I have another idea for those. We loaded 40 blocks and 4 caps into the second load.

While unloading the second time, Pete asked how much I thought the blocks weighed, I guessed 30 pounds each. We were stacking three onto my dolly and wheeling them into the yard to pile up. My daughter came out with the bathroom scale and we discovered they were really 60 pounds each. That made our second load somewhere in the neighborhood of 2400 pounds for the blocks and probably 800 more for the caps. for a total of 1.5 tons.

When we talked to my brother he said the truck weighed 2 tons empty, so the first load was 2.9 tons. With 1.5 in the second we came in at 4.5 for a total.

I'm tired tonight!

Besides the porch pillars FHP salvaged: 2.25 inch wide pine flooring, 5.25 inch wide pine flooring, window and door headers, a pine collonade, newel posts, window and door casing, leaded glass windows, exterior doors with leaded glass, and five panel interior doors

The Fish Letters #3

November 25, 1933

My dear Miss Fox:

Your aquarium and stand with all the other accessories, plants and heater were shipped on Wednesday November 22nd. We could have shipped the fish now but owing to the fact that they may have been stranded over the weekend we decided to postpone the shipment until Monday November 27th. We shall rush them to you in an insulated thermos jug.

We trust that the aquarium and other accessories reached you in good condition and also that you will have the aquarium set and planted, having the proper temperature so that the fish may be placed in the aquarium when they arrive.

If the temperature of the water in the jug should be low, increase it gradually to 75 degrees before the fish are placed in the aquarium prior to putting the fish in. We would also suggest that you add 2 or three tablespoonfuls of Turk’s Island Sea Salt.

Yours very truly,

WILLIAM TRICKER INC.
J T Charleson (signature)
Manager.

JTC:JB

Controversy Rages!

According to the screaming headlines of our local paper:

Proposed University Heights Development Controversial

Here is a view of the proposed commercial building at the front of the site:



Here is the condominium tower to the back of the site:



Here is an arial view of the property with the adjustment made to Sunset Street:



I went to the third and final open meeting that the developer had scheduled to tell community residents about the plan and solicit feedback. I wrote about the first one here: A Grocery Store! This one had about the same number of people as the first, it sounds like the second one was similar.

Lots of people are dead set against this. They do not want the community to change. I guess as a relatively new resident of the community, and someone with young children, I view it a little differently. I think in general the proposal is a good one. I think the commercial development is very good, and understand that to make it profitable and viable the upscale condominium has to be there too.

Just a few quick ideas

* Shouting at a developer, and interrupting a presentation at a voluntary meeting to share information is just plain stupid and rude. I don't care if you are a doctor or lawyer (as two of the worst offenders were, I kept looking around for an Indian Chief to join in with them) The time to engage in those tactics will be at Planning and Zoning Comission and City Council.

*The inital proposal for the residential tower was 9 stories in the middle, stair-stepped down to 6 on the wings. Their presentation at the final meeting was 7 stories stair-stepped down to 5. People are going crazy over how this will stick out. But Kinnick Stadium's new pressbox on the eastern border of University Heights is taller than the 9 story tower. I haven't heard people complain about that.

*I suggest that if this gets approved the first thing the city council does with increased tax revenue is create a fund for the purchase of the woodland on the north edge of town to create a permanent green space there.

Cilla: Siberian Squill

Our cilla is blooming all over the yard again. The crocuses and snowballs are all in full force too. The irises and tulips have begun to poke up out of the ground.

Today we're supposed to get up to 6" of snow...

I was able to work outside quite a bit yesterday. I have put up a new section of fence in the garden to accommodate more heirloom peas this summer. I kicked around some dirt and hope to plant potatoes and peas next Friday if all goes well.

Other recent yard work has included spreading a little over a ton (1500 lb load two weeks ago, 800 lbs last week) of wood chip mulch in the flower beds. The far back yard and near back yard are covered. We still need to do both sides of the house and the flower beds in front and on the hill. The first load was easiest. My brother and I took his dump truck out to the Iowa City landfill and they load you up FREE. Having the dump box meant we unloaded in about two minutes at home onto a tarp in the driveway. Last week I got more free wood chips from the landfill in Pete's pickup truck. That I have to shovel out of the bed and it takes quite a bit longer. In total we have dumped 75 wheelbarrow loads.

I got a load for myself and then went back to fill Pete's truck again to bring a load to him in exchange for the use of the truck. I put his cover on the back and left it at his place. His daughter, not knowing the back was full, took the truck back to college. I talked to Pete yesterday and he said his well travelled mulch came back home Friday night and he had unloaded it yesterday.

So in case we do get all that snow, I'll just look at this blog instead of my own yard. (His pictures and descriptions are way better anyway)


An Iowa Garden

The Fish Letters #2

November 20, 1933
Miss Helen Fox
315 Golfview
Iowa City, Iowa

My dear Miss Fox:-
Your letter of November the 15th and valued order was received for which please accept our thanks.
We shall comply with your request by sending the aquarium, the stand, plants and the accessories a couple of days ahead of the fish. The fish you have ordered will live peaceably with one another. We have a nice supply of Black Hybrids this Fall and are including a pair with your order free of charge.

An aquarium, in which tropical fish are harbored, should be covered so we are sending you a glass cover to use on the top of your aquarium, the price of which is 65¢. We shall refund you the $2.35 as soon as the jug is returned.

On our heaters, we have changed from the original Watchman Model and are using a thermostat heater made by Edison Electric. We find it much more satisfactory and although this heater sells at $8.25, we are including this with your order. I am sure that you will like it very much and if you are well pleased with it, we wonder if you would wish to pay the difference. Our aim is to please you and we would appreciated the opportunity of hear from you at your earliest convenience.
Very truly yours,

WILLIAM TRICKER INC

JT Charleson (signature)
Manager

Jtc/ac

---

Sold To
Miss Helen Fox
315 Golfview
Iowa City, Iowa
INVOICE AND NOTICE OF SHIPMENT
Your Order Was Shipped Today By Express NOV 28 1933


1 #120 Eureka aquarium with Imperial stand 24.00
1 1 ½ gal. handy aquarium 1.25
1 Coll#34 E 3.15
1 Watchman Model heater 6.00
1 Four inch net (Tropical) .35
1 Spirit four inch floating bulb thermometer .35
1 Lb. dried shrimp .75
1 Tin Fish Vim .20
1 Tin Tonic .25
1 Tin dried Daphniae .20
1 Tin Hygiene .25
1 Pint Turk’s sea salt .35
1 Pint German fungus cure .35
1 Ounce bottle C.D.T. .40
1 Each of pink and blue chemical shells .20
1 Pair dwarf Gourami 2.00
1 Pair Angel fish 2.50
1 Pair Zebras 1.00
1 Pair Silver Barbs 1.25
1 Pair Mex. Swordtails 1.25
1 Pair Betta Trickeri 3.00
1 Pair B. Cambodia 2.50
1 Pair Betta Cyana 5.00
1 Pair Black Hybrids n/c
DEPOSIT ON INSULATED CAN 2.35
$59.55
1 Glass cover .65¢.

50 Years Ago Today at Foxcroft

Bess' Diary:

Thursday March 26, 1959

34

Usual jobs- did ironing + baked 3 loaves of bread - rainy almost sleet - M to Cedar Rapids for nothing but the ride! as he and the carmel corn man couldn't agree

The Fish Letters #1

In honor of what would have been Helen's 98th birthday today here is #1 in an occasional series I'll refer as the "Fish Letters." Helen and her mother dug a fishpond in their back yard in 1933. Last spring I found where it was and started to excavate it back out. It had been filled in for over 40 years.

Since the upstairs attic was their archive, (with 1200 sq ft of space nothing was ever thrown away) I found among all the papers a series of letters dealing with fish for the pond. Here is the first one:

October 21, 19933

My Dear Miss Fox,

We do not ordinarily advise that the goldfish or fancy goldfish be placed in the same aquarium with the tropicals. Goldfish require a cooler water temperature than tropical fish and also more water per fish.

Tropical fish, which have asterisks in front of their names, are not scrappy and will live peaceably with others, providing that the temperature of the water is maintained at 72 to 75 degrees. We therefore, do not recommend that you keep the two varieties together. Keep them separate.

At present, you could obtain an excellent pair of Calico Veiltails at $3.00 per pair, Japanese Veiltails at $3.00 per pair, Veiltail Moors, Medium at $3.00 per pair, Veiltail Moors, Large at $5.00 per pair and Lionheads at $2.00 and $5.00 per pair.

We trust that you will be in the market for some of these beautiful fish and may we have the opportunity to serve you.

Very truly yours,

WILLIAM TRICKER INC
J T Charleson (Signature)
Manager

jtc/ac


And like so many other companies I've looked for in the history of Foxcroft William Tricker, Inc. is still in business! The patch I put in the bottom of the pond last fall seems to be holding, maybe I'll order some plants from them. We did put in two goldfish from the local pet store, one survived the summer, but I haven't seen him lately in the tank in the basement...

A Grocery Store!

Well that's what I heard when I went to a public meeting to listen to a development proposal being made for the St. Andrew's church site two blocks from us.

Here is the media's write up complete with snarky comments that so drearily seem to define our dialogues:

Residents discuss condo idea

A little backgrond: University Heights (our fair city) is 1000 souls surrounded by Iowa City. Immediately to our east outside city limits is the UI football stadium:

and the largest teaching hospital in the known universe:

(I am not exaggerating either)The picture above is a tiny bit of the original structure which is now nearly invisible due to building around it:

At our far western border was a private club named "The University Athletic Club" which was created 50 years ago, in an era of restricted alcohol sales, some would say as a way for wealthy alumni to have a stiff belt before/during/after football.

The "Athletic Club" has been University Heights ONLY major commercial entity since it's inception. Last fall the University of Iowa BOUGHT said private club in order to have a catering/banquet hall facility to replace the flooded Iowa Memorial Union. This will likely reduce our city budget by at least 10% due to the loss of commercial property tax revenue since the UI is tax exempt.

Connecting the hospital and the Athletic club to areas to the west and east is Melrose Ave, which is four lanes wide from I-380 up to the University Heights city limit where it narrows to two lanes, and then immediately after crossing the railroad bridge back into Iowa City again goes to four lanes. This road neatly splits our small community in two. It is a major arterial road for the greater metropolitan area.

Prior to UI's purchase of the athletic club quiet negotiations were underway for a developer to buy St. Andrew's Church which is adjacent to the Athletic Club. UI had a right of first refusal and passed, in 2007, on the property for 4.3 million, according to the developer. The congregation has now bought land for a new church and the developer has made preliminary plans for this project. Lots of things need to happen including changing Sunset/Melrose intersection by filling in a steep ravine and re-routing Sunset.

I give the developer credit for having public meetings, I am delighted at the thought of a walkable grocery store, that is the thing we gave up in moving here that I miss the most. Here is our old grocery store, which was half a block away through the back alley from our previous house:

Go HERE: Dirty John's to read about this Iowa City institution

Here is the developer's proposal(a bad PDF)Of course what is driving many people crazy is that there will be 36 condo units above the commercial property to the front of the lot and the NINE STORY residential condo building to the rear. It must be said that this developer was part of a plan to build a similar residential structure on the Athletic Club property 3 years ago which was defeated by community opposition. So those folks were out again in full force last night. I'm not opposed to the project.

I think the project as a whole would be beneficial to the community, and I'm guessing that if developed to the scale proposed, it would likely double our city property tax revenue. My suggestion would be to take whatever increase we get in revenues and put it into a fund to buy the wooded ravine to the north of town and get us some protected green park space. If projects like this would stop further regional sprawl by building denser near the center of the greater metropolitan area I say more power to them.

The kicker in all this is that the congregation has yet to vote on moving, and at even the most optimistic scenario, phase I, moving the road, wouldn't begin until fall 2010, with construction perhaps not starting until 2012.

The Only Thing We Have to Fear...

Bess' Diary March 4, 1933:

Sat
40

Heard Roosevelt Inaugural all day - Crochet - H got Muscatine warrant for $30.00 All banks in U.S. closed for a few days - Heard Iowa 16 Ill 44 - a terrible mess of a game.



Comments: 1932 was the first election in which Helen was eligible to vote. She told me her plan was to go and vote for William Z. Foster (communist party candidate) but at the last minute she chickened out and voted, as her mother Bess did, for former Iowan Herbert Hoover. Bess' diary for Nov. 8, 1932 says she was glad Roosevelt won.

I'm also amused by Bess being more upset about the University of Iowa Hawkeyes' basketball loss to the Fighin' Illini of U. of Illinois than she was about the bank holiday.

75 Years Ago at Foxcroft- March 2, 1934

Bess' Diary:

March 2, 1934
40
"Lump Sum" came. Paul McN 38.00 - Bertha 70 - Helen 77 - 1/2 farm tax 106 - office tax 6.60 - 1/2 Iowa City tax 24.29 - got new battery for car 7.40. Paid OES, DAR + Shrine dues - Mrs. Eastman here for dinner- Helen took us both to see Laurel and Hardy in Fra Diavolo

Comments:

The "lump sum" may have been payment by her tenant of farm rent? I know from my own family history that farm leases typically began March 1. (Hence many February weddings among my ancestors) Bess still owned farm land back in Waucoma.

Bess' payments above totaled $329.29 plus dues to her clubs.

The "Iowa City tax" is interesting, at that time University Heights was still unincorporated Johnson County. It has never been a part of Iowa City, incorporating on July 10, 1935 as its own municipality. Postal service has always been via Iowa City however.

Fra Diavolo from www.laurelandhardycentral.com

STORY: Laurel and Hardy's first period operetta. In the early 18th century, northern Italy is terrorized by a notorious gang of thieves led by Fra Diavolo, "The Devil's Brother." Wanderers Stanlio and Ollio are held up by a band of Diavolo's men, and lose their hard-earned life savings. They determine that they too will lead a life of crime, and proceed to bungle a series of robbery attempts with Ollio posing as the dreaded Diavolo. They make the mistake of holding up the real Diavolo; he in turn threatens their lives, but spares them and makes them his personal servants. Diavolo is enamored with the charms of the lovely Lady Rocberg and the 500,000 francs she has hidden in her petticoat. The Boys help to expose Diavolo, and all escape unharmed.

There's a Hole In the Bucket!

I knew if I posted about the sink's cold water stem no longer leaking from the wall it would start again. So yesterday I took the entire assembly off AGAIN. I wrapped teflon tape around the cold stem AGAIN, I reassembled the whole faucet AGAIN. I was happy. Then as I was sitting at the breakfast nook table working on taxes, I noticed that the faucet was DRIPPING. Arrgh. I was right back to where I started a month ago. My thought was that sediment from the pipes had gotten into the stem and were keeping it from shutting tightly. So I spent the afternoon getting up and turning the water on and off every 20 minutes or so. When I got up this morning the sink was dry. But I'M NOT SAYING IT'S FIXED! For the record this is the 5th faucet I've installed in this sink in 4 years, but in my defense several were salvaged ones that I had to put on in a pinch...

The good news is that while I had the faucet off I was able to remove the plug for the third hole in the sink. The better news was that no water came spraying out of the pipe, but I was pretty confident since I knew that pipe ran down to the basement and was not connected to anything. Now I can jerry-rig something together for a soap dish.

So here's a little trip down memory lane of posts about the sink:

kitchen faucet

Holiday Plumbing

Still Do Any Work Around Here?

To answer a persistent question, yes.

Here's an update on a project that actually has been completed. The issue that led to my recent rant regarding the kitchen faucet has been resolved. The not-repaired stem was inserted back into the faucet and failed completely a week later. I then paid a visit to my brother-in-law at the plumbing supply store to get a better quality faucet.

There was a Chicago brand faucet in stock, and after being satisfied that this would be the last faucet I installed for some time I bought it. My specific questions were:

• Do the stems have rubber washers or ceramic?
  
• Are the washers replacable?
  
• Can I order new washers?
  
• Can I get new stems?
  

Jim's answers were:

• Both rubber and ceramic fit this model. If the rubber go bad quickly due to heavy use, replace with ceramic
  
• Yes
  
• Yes
  
• Yes
  

This answers made me very happy. Here is the faucet installed:


One week after I installed it I noticed rust stains from a drip at the cold tap:

I was of course fearing the worst as the supplies barely come up to the openings in the sink. But thankfully it was the connection between the adapter that fit onto the supply and the faucet itself that was not tight so I DID NOT have to disassemble the entire unit. I cleaned up the rust and it seems OK. (knock wood)

My only regret with this model doesn't have a built in post to add a soap dish. However I think that perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone here. In noticing the THIRD hole in the sink, there was a pipe for a cistern line originally. I can state with complete confidence that there NEVER was a cistern, as it isn't mentioned in the original contract, blueprints, or show anywhere in pictures. I do have original kitchen photos with a third faucet but it was likely just a dummy. There is no pipe coming down the back of the sink, nor is there any hole in the original floor for a pipe to go to the basement. I think if I can work the plug off and there is some little bit of pipe there I might be able to fashion some adapter and mount the soap dish from the previous faucet...

Bess' Diary Feb 6-7, 1933

Monday Feb. 6, 1933
40 down to 0

Ralph Wagner set up our jig saw. H over town for blades. Made freezer orange souffle, angel food, and salad. H cut out most of one puzzle + plugged.
Iowa 42 Chicago 12. Wind


Tuesday Feb,. 7, 1933
-5

Blizzard. Over town at 10 to mail Grandma's birthday present. drained Prestone
H worked on jigsaw puzzle- broke 3 blades- Cards Carroms

Stereo View Diaries Feb. 2, 1933

I'm consolidating materials and now have both sets of diaries in the same room. Apparently Bess and Helen wanted to make jigsaw puzzles, hence the interest in a jig saw...


Bess' Diary Feb, 2, 1933

40 degrees Thursday
Assessor here. Fran phoned at 10 as we were getting up. Over town at 1:15 + looked at jig saws. H had lower twisted wisdom tooth out. I to Grace's for supper but H stayed home a tiny bit sick

Helen's Diary Feb. 2, 1933

Thursday
Up at 10. Went over town about noon, Looked at saws, had lower left wisdom tooth out- all screwy! M. went to Grace's for dinner. I stayed home + finished pillow cases.


This might get interesting as I coordinate!

On Presidents and Plumbing

With Barack Obama’s inauguration today comes the intersection of 1928 and 2008 at Foxcroft. I have mentioned Obama here several times as he came into the sphere of our daily living, notably the first time I heard him speak. That was before he officially announced his candidacy, here:
Take A Look at This!

A slightly tongue in cheek rant about the pre-caucus attention Iowans were getting here:
I like Hillary Well Enough...

Our precinct caucus here:
Caucus Report

Perhaps the only political group I’ve been really excited about for quite some time (Banjos for Barack?) here:
And Now a Word From Ralph Stanley

Now for the 1928 part. That was the year Foxcroft was built. Undoubtedly Bess voted in that election, presumably for Herbert Hoover, a native Iowan and generally recognized hero at the time. If you’re not familiar with his legacy prior to the White House, he was regarded as the man who nearly single handedly saved our allies Belgium, France, and Russia, and later our enemy, Germany, from starving to death during and after World War I. Hoover’s life is really interesting.

The girls and I visited the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, ten miles away, last Friday. We went to see the “Rooster Flour Sack” an amazingly embroidered 100 lb. food relief sack that was part of the thank you gifts sent to Hoover from grateful, but still extremely poor, Belgians.



This sack has not been on exhibit for over 15 years. The photo does not even begin to do it justice.

The visit to the museum was my first in quite a while. I was NOT familiar with his time as secretary of commerce in the Harding/Coolidge administration. Hoover was the person who created the system of radio band frequency rights, was the subject of the first television broadcast in the U.S. and was tireless in his drive to improve the lives of common Americans, including the standardization of all industrial machinery parts.

Here’s where the plumbing comes in. On Saturday morning our kitchen hot water faucet gave out. This is in our original wall mount sink. I took out the stem and figured it was probably a washer. I completely stripped the set screw trying to remove it from the bottom of the stem to take the washer out. I bundled up and went to 3 hardware stores and our local plumbing supply store only to find that not only did none of them have a stem that would be a suitable replacement, no one even carried washers any more. I drove home dreaming of Hoover’s goal of standardized, interchangeable parts.

To add insult to injury when I looked up the online plumbing place I’d gotten the faucet from, they didn’t even carry that model any more.

Here's to greater regulation in the future! Mr. President, once the banking thing is straightened out, let's go for plumbing!

Central Calling

A small thing accomplished over break was to hang a new phone in the upstairs sitting room. We've had an old princess style phone up there. Does anyone under 45 even know what a princess phone is? Boy that makes me feel old. This one had been Lisa's that she brought when we were married. I'd never seen a BROWN princess phone, but I digress.

While cleaning in the basement I found an old phone that had been in my childhood home. My parents had bought it in the early '70's or so and had a digital keypad added to it.

The phone's original bells still ring when the crank (not visible on the right side of the picture) is turned, but for incoming calls a second set of bells installed inside the box are what you actually hear.

When my folks moved in 1988 they took the phone with them, but never found a good place to install it. When they moved into their apartment in 2005 the phone came to Foxcroft, and since that was right when we were moving in, it went into a pile in the basement.

Wiring it back up wasn't too hard, but a little more complex than I had originally thought it would be, since apparently my father CUT the line out of the phone, so I had to splice it together. Perhaps I need to do a little more work on it, as it won't dial out, but will take incoming calls.

Here is a shot of it in the sitting room, next to my great-great grandfather's cupboard:


I really like sitting in the chair below the phone and talking. The heft of the receiver surprises the girls, but feels very comfortable to me.

My next great plan is to put a candlestick back into the phone niche in the dining room, then we'd really be set!

A Few Other Local Bloggers

There are LOTS of blogs in Iowa City, most are started by students, and fizzle out pretty quickly. I don't search a great deal for other local bloggers, but here are three local blogs that I really do like. One has barely started, one is VERY prolific, and one falls in between.


Barely started is "The Old Mellicker Place", I happen to know the author, as is evidenced by the link to me, but I hadn't known he'd started bloggging. I really hope Mike continues with the project, His writing and insights will be excellent, and he's a nice guy to boot.


Prolific is "The Prairie Urbanist". Donald is a fellow University Heights resident, and writes his blog through our local Iowa City paper, The Iowa City Press Citizen Donald writes on politics, biking, and numerous local and national issues. His recent post, Does University Heights Have a Future echoes what I've been thinking about ever since the University of Iowa announced they would acquire our largest commerical property in town, thereby taking off our tax roles. If his predicition of our eventual annexation by Iowa City comes true, perhaps he can be an ally in the creation of local historic districts within town. If you run across this, Donald, you'd probably like to read my post on University Height history, and our original town slogan: The Coral Gables Subdivision of Iowa City.


In between is the blog I've been aware of the longest. Flossie was the first local person to contact me via Foxcroft. Here is her blog: "Flossie At Home" She and her husband also live in a wonderful older home, not far from the Mellecker place. A self described "graduate student, editor, and homebody" Her blog is a great reason why Iowa City was declared a City of Literature by UNESCO.

So here's a little waves a greeting to some special neighbors.

Weather Geek

As an avid weather geek I was not surprised to read that the state climatologist reported 2008 was the fourth wettest year on record in Iowa.

I read the almanac section of the daily paper religiously. That section gives highs and lows for the previous day, notes record highs and lows for the current date, and gives total precipitation for the current month and current year compared to averages totals. There is also a listing of the inflow of the Iowa River to Coralville Resevoir, outflow from the dam spillway and river gauges at the stages of Iowa City, Lone Tree, Marengo, and Wapello. I love all that stuff.

For the Iowa City region we were just short of 20 inches over normal precipitation in 2008. Average mean is 37.90" we totaled 56.49".

With the recent warm weather melting all the snow river flow has been way up too. Inflow is 4,050 cubic feet per second, outflow is 4,375 cfs. Normally this time of year that runs somewhere around 1200 cfs. During the flood last summer flow in Iowa City reached 42,000 cfs. At that point we had a record flood gage height in Iowa City of 31.5 feet (flood stage is 22 ft)

Here's to a normal 2009