JOKE: A Russian and a Czech bear scientists came to the Rocky Mountains to study bears; they chose the mating season, a bad time for bear encounters. They were warned about the dangers but headed off into the woods anyway. After four days with no word from them, the rangers followed their tracks. They found a female Grizzly bear; shot her and opened her up and sure enough, inside was the Russian guy. So, said one ranger to the other….. ARE YOU READY?  “The Czech must be in the male.”  

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This from a newspaper clipping of which I did not note the paper nor the date, sorry:  “Denver, Colo. March 6 —  “Here is a dead man,” was the comment made by a parcel post clerk here as he held up to the view of his fellow clerks a package nine inches square and weighing seven pounds.

The package contained the ashes of Edward E. Knotts of California, who died here a few days ago following an attack of appendicitis. The package was addressed to the widow, Mrs. Ada Knotts, San Francisco. It cost 51cents and bore a ten-cent insurance stamp.”

Just for fun, I did a bit of research to learn more about Edward and Ada Knotts but found nothing. If it’s your family, do go for it!

Thanks to an article in The Spokesman Review last April, I learned about a tiny town in the southeastern corner of Adams county that has a great big heart. 

Folks are trying their best to save their piece of Washington history, the Bassett Hardware building, which is 125 years old, according to the folks at the Washtucna Heritage Museum and Community Center. Michelle Plumb, officer in that society, shared “I don’t know how many things in this area are that old. It would just break our heart to lose this building.”

Built in the town’s center in 1901 by George W. Bassett, the building has survived through “boom and bust, storm and sunshine” and remains a fixture of the town’s frontier past. “The upper part of the building was always some sort of community space,” Plum said. Several fraternal organizations held their meetings there over the decades. In the 1910s and 1920s, plays and movies were shown there. 

Fear not, lovers of old historic buildings. This building has been placed on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of Most Endangered Places which hopefully will guarantee its future.

Why the spotlight today on an old building in a nobody-knows-where town? Because the people who built the place, used the place and loved the place are collectively all our ancestors. That’s why. 

Website www.FindAGrave.com has this photo of GWB and information on his family. He was a pioneer for many. He and his wife Alice were parents of seven children. 

This was an ad in The Spokesman Review from days long, long ago. If you cannot read it, here goes:

First Showing of Bathing Suits

Tomorrow we place on sale our new line of ladies’ misses’ and children’s bathing suits. The line includes many new styles never shown before. Come in mohairs, brilliantines and the new jersey goods that is all the rage this season. Suits have the new collars and staple sailor collars and the new vestee effects. Come in tans, browns, red, black and blues, trimmed with braid. 

Prices for ladies’ suits…. $6.60 to $2.75

Misses’ and children’s………. $4.00 to $2.50

Children’s One Piece Suits….. All sizes from 2 to 6, in blue, at…. $1.50

Bathing caps… $1.00 to 25cents

Bathing shoes…. 50 cents

Aren’t you shaking your head and saying good grief?? Can you imagine “bathing”…… which really meant wading in perhaps to your waist, never jumping in……. wearing a woolen dress and SHOES? And of course black stockings, heaven forbid bare legs would be viewed. Did you catch that they’re not called “swimming suits?” 

This is a photo of my great-grandmother, Viola Belle Evans Gurney, 1872-1962, and was labeled “her school outing.” She’s the fourth from left, dark hair with braid-bun. 

No wonder they didn’t jump in and swim around! They’d surly have drowned in those heavy “bathing suits.” 

Would you have guessed that General George Washington had his own personal flag? Well, he surely did.

His flag, known as the Commander-in-Chief Standard, marked his location on the battlefield and at his headquarters. The flag features 13 white, six-pointed stars representing the original colonies arranged on a faded blue silk background.

One of his original flags still survives. It measures roughly 27-inches by 35-inches; the six-pointed stars (unlike the five-pointed stars on our U.S. flag) mimics the English heraldic designs found on Washington’s military epaulets. The blue background was chosen because it was the same color he used for the sash and ribbons that designated his rank. 

If you would like to see the original of General George Washington’s flag, you will have to visit the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Here is what it now looks like, faded with time:

Thanks to the Flag Museum in Spokane and Google for the information and images.