WAMU Theater

I’ve thought it funny for a long time that the WaMu theater at Lumen Field still goes by that name. I believe it was originally set up as a paid for name by Washington Mutual and used their WaMu logo in the title.

Washington Mutual Logo

I regularly get email about upcoming musical performances held in the venue and it’s the first time that I recognized the WaMu has been changed while still staying in place.

Washington Music Theater Logo

I wonder if this is because of the length of time that was originally paid for, even though Washington Mutual went out of business in 2008, or if there’s some other reason it’s still called WAMU Theater.

US Travel circa 1966

I’ve heard about a trip my parents took around the US before I was born. I have seen pictures from the trip, and heard stories of things that happened. My father died in 2016 and my mother died in 2019. As my sister and I have gone through things, we come across items that bring up questions. This map is one I wish I’d been able to have conversations over.

Western United States

Central United States

One of the fascinating things with the map is that it is from 1964. The US Interstate Highway system was not complete at the time.

The Interstate System

1970s Rain Jet Sprinkler Install Guide

Recently going through my parents old house documentation we came across this lawn sprinkler installation guide. I especially like the illustrations with Mr. Rain “Chet”.

This was all in a folder labeled Permanent Home Improvements Carrolton Texas. We moved out of this house in 1976. I’m quite happy that so much of my hording of history is purely digital, though it’s not filed as well as my parents paper files.

There was also a full color glossy brochure for Buckner 1972 Lawn and Garden Sprinkler Equipment

My First Personalized Luggage

I have been purging things recently and after getting rid of my Samsonite luggage, it was time to get rid of my Skyway luggage as well. While I think of the Samsonite as my first luggage, it was originally my mothers, while this Skyway was purchased for me.

Full Case Side View

Handle with personalization.

The last time I used this luggage for flying was obviously on a trip to Zurich. It’s also interesting that it has GVA inspection stickers on the slide locks, for when it went through Geneva Switzerland.

Handle with flight tag for Zurich

Slide lock with Geneva Inspection Sticker

Bottom showing missing wheel

Straight and Missing wheel

Wheels that turn

Open Showing clamshell design

Skyway Label

Slidelock and Frame

This was very nice luggage that I was probably given as I went off to university in 1985. It was the first generation with four wheels that you pulled behind you instead of the two wheel style of the earlier Samsonite. Two wheels rotate, while two wheels stay straight. It had a leash that connected to a hook on one end and could be snapped to the top for storage, or as was generally recommended, disconnected entirely so it wouldn’t get pulled loose in transit.

This design was not a hardside like the Samsonite, but had a sturdy outer fabric. It wasn’t as moisture resistant, but was generally nicer. It had a stiff outer frame, and the sides were softer and somewhat flexible.

I carried this luggage back and forth to Europe with me many times in the early 1990s. A nice feature of this design is the ability to open it on a luggage rack and rummage through the contents. The style of the Samsonite required double the space to open it.  Both of these were before the modern habit of luggage that’s designed to be carried on in the passenger compartment. When I was flying with this I could also carry on a garment bag and have it hung in the closet in the airplane.

The heavy use of this bag over the years has obviously bent the frame around the wheels, causing one to come off entirely, and the others not to sit straight.  Having a combination lock was nice because it could be secured without worrying about having the right key to open it. This was all in the days before TSA. Back then, the only time your bag would be opened for inspection would be in your presence, usually as you were going through international customs.

Time to get rid of old Samsonite

It’s finally time to get rid of the oldest suitcase that I’ve been keeping around. I’ve had a stack of suitcases in my storage unit for the past several years, and I occasionally pull one out if I’m traveling and need more than an overnight bag can easily carry.

This one is kind of interesting, and the stickers on it are nostalgic for me. It still has the manufacturer sticker proclaiming that it has WHEELS!

Samsonite with handle extended

Samsonite with handle secured

This was the first generation suitcase with wheels, and it really was a big deal. Mom bought this suitcase, but it became the suitcase that I carried most often. I know that the suitcase was purchased in 1981 or earlier, because the cruise stickers were from Christmas of 1981. This is the style case cruise ships still recommend, because it opens in the middle, lies flat, and can slide under most beds. You can see that the plastic feet for the suitcase have broken off in recent years.

We lived in Australia from 1981 to 1983. I really liked the Advance Australia logo, and anyone who’s checked luggage a lot knows that making your luggage recognizable is important.

P&O Luggage Sticker

P&O and TAA Transfer Sticker

P&O was the Pacific and Orient Cruise Line, which became famous running Princess Cruises, and we went out on the Sea Princess. The Sea Princess was the sister ship to the Pacific Princess, which was the ship used for the TV Series The Love Boat.

Inside Airline Tag with our Australia address and phone number

This was the suitcase I took with me when I went off to university, with everything I needed for the first semester if school inside. When I graduated a few years later, I had a 5’x10′ storage unit full of stuff.

This suitcase has carried a lot of memories for me. Now it’s taking space in a storage unit that needs to be made available for other items.

Lily Pond

Lily Pond, Washington Park, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.

This is the last of the stereograph pictures I had to scan, and the only one in color. It’s interesting how only the green color remains.

I don’t know if a color photography system was originally used and the colors other than green have faded, or if the color was added later. I suspect the former.

Spanish Torpedo

Spanish Torpedo Taken from Harbor of Santiago.

In modern warfare explosives are coming more and more into use. Streets and thoroughfares as well as rivers, straights and harbors over which it is thought the enemy may pass, are mined with deadly explosives sufficiently powerful to wreck the mightiest battleship or overwhelm a large land force. Torpedoes are usually made in forms similar to a cigar, so that they may be projected under water, the sharp end going forward. As is well known, they can be arranged to explode by contact, a time fuse, or an electric wire. The sample death dealing instrument shown in this view provided with contact arms which, when struck, thrust a spike into the interior as shown, causing explosion by percussion. Doubtless it was some such contrivance as one of those described above, which, on Feb. 15th, 1898, tore into shred and sent to the bottom of Havana Harbor, our proud battleship “Maine,” together with nearly her entire crew.

Royal Gorge

Royal Gorge (Grand Canyon of the Arkansas), Colorado, U. S. A.

“Oh! the power that piled these wonders
As the mountains took their stations;
As a great red belt rose upward in a glittering zone of fire.” — Ferguson.

The crowning wonder of Colorado is the world famed Royal Gorge. Its rock piled crags tower above the river at this point 2,600 feet. The narrow and broad gauge railroad running through the canon is one of the greatest pieces of railroad engineering ever accomplished.

Ram-headed Sphinxes

This is an interesting demonstration of picking different parts of the picture to align. On the left I picked an object in the distance, a dome that seemed fairly centered. On the right I picked the seated man. in the foreground. I think the right picture works much better.

Ram-headed Sphinxes, Karnak, Egypt.

Hardanger Fjord, Adde, Norway

Hardanger Fjord, Adde, Norway.