Upstairs, Downstairs

Our house was built in 1908.  Not old from the standpoint of our community, which got going in the 1840's, but it does represent an interesting moment in time.  The Lumber Baron era was just over.  The modern age - indoor plumbing, electricity, telephone lines - had arrived.

It was also a time of class distinctions.  Oh, not so much as in England, but there was a definite expectation that people of quality lived on the top of the hill, while smaller houses full of working class folks were further down the slope.  

I should really know the story better, but evidently our house was built by a guy who worked in a bank during the lumbering era.  His daughter lived there after he passed.

It's a nice enough house.  But today's focus is on the Upstairs-Downstairs world of early 20th century servants.

They were mostly women, mostly recent immigrants.  Usually from Scandinavia or perhaps Germany.  They were probably some combination of maid, cook, nanny.  I don't know a lot about the woman who lived here as a servant.  I've seen her name on a census.  My "office" a small room where I am allowed to set up computer, files, random junk, used to be her bedroom.  When we were new in the house it still had a sink.  This was pretty handy when we made it the nursery for our three kids.

Downstairs there is one room that was a bit fancy.  A dining room with decent woodwork.  On the floor there is a metal plate that used to have a button.  When the Man of the House, or perhaps the Woman of same, pushed a button with a toe there'd be a buzzer or bell that would sound.  I think we found a few remnants of this system's wiring during an early remodel.

And going from the kitchen to the Dining Room there was a swinging door.  You certainly would not expect people of quality to see pots, pans and dishes!  The door swung on a hinge.  Specifically, here:

I did say it was not all that Grand.  But lets focus on a little area down at the bottom of the doorway.....

There is a little square of wood there that does not quite fit with the rest of the flooring.  There used to be something else there, something that could be removed. leaving a gap between first floor and basement.  Small people used to like to yell things and drop messages down from above.

What used to be there was a very fancy hinge, the sort of thing that would articulate a nice door.  I could see the Servant Girl gently pushing it open while carrying in platters full of whatever upper middle class folks dined on back in the day.

And as it happens, I still have that hinge.  It's more interesting than most bits of 126 year old hardware...

OK, that's only mildly interesting.  Let's flip it over to read:

BOMMER FLOOR HINGE  PAT. DEC 25 1900

I've seen other things patented on Christmas Day.  It must have been a thing back then.  Certainly the Patent Office would not have been open on December 25th, so they must have had some sort of paperwork gimmick to make this the patent date.*

The Bommer Company is, remarkably still around.  HERE'S their story.

Alas, on a closer read of their website it appears that in the summer of 2025 they decided to wrap up the business, no doubt in the face of overseas competition, and it looks as if they are selling off remaining stock.  😔

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* The most famous patent date of this sort is on the "Christmas Coke" bottles that are the classic shape for CocaCola when it came in glass.

Lumberjacks (and Jills)

Timber Sports.  Now there's a phrase you probably have never heard.  It's basically modern people competing in lumberjack activities.  To some extent using modern tools like chain saws.  And there are Lumber Jills as well as Lumber Jacks.

Hayward Wisconsin, near where our up north cabin is, has quite the center of Timber Sportsdom.  In fact they have the Lumberjack World Championship competition there.  Really talented people chopping, sawing, log rolling, climbing poles, that sort of thing.  

There is also a regular "show" for entertaining tourists.  Not quite World Champs level stuff but with lots of banter, and still many amazing things to be seen.  We had some out of town visitors with us recently and they went to see the show.

Afterwards I got them to split a season's worth of kindling.  Happily with no mishaps.

Tree Shaped Tombstone - Between Luck and Frederick (Wisconsin)

Like the example the other day from McKinley Wisconsin, this tree shaped tombstone was encountered on a little road trip.  Baseball tournament destination.  Prior to setting out I usually go to Google Maps and scan for small town cemeteries.  Sometimes you see interesting things, sometimes not.  A few are not even "on the map".  This little place - St. Peter's Cemetery - did not look like much, but I pulled in anyway.  And found another "one off" tree.  It is also another late one, and has an unusual inscription.  Perhaps related in some way to the one in McKinley?

Some purists might not count these "rugged cross" variants, but I rather like them.  The horizontal elements often have interesting features.  Like this "dying dove".

And another cryptic inscription.  This time Google helped out.  It seems to be Norwegian and say "Dedicated to your Memory".  

Lolling About

It's summer time.  And my dog alternates manic energy and exhausted sloth.  In the latter state he is often "lolling around".  For some reason I've always associated this particular phrase with dogs.  And with dog's tongues.  Turns out I was mostly right...

Like many of the best descriptive words it has obscure origins.  Possible Middle Dutch in the form of "lollen" meaing to doze or mumble.  By the mid 1300's it had changed a bit and now meant to lounge idly or to hang loosely.  You can see how, by the early 1600's, it picked up the connotation of a tongue hanging out.  And a century later being a generic term for lazy inaction.

Lollypop turns up in the late 1700's.  Although they originally did not seem to have a stick, it was certainly something you would pop into your mouth.  Lollygag is a later word, well into the 19th century.  It implies a more deceptive inaction rather than just being worn out.  Lolly, as above, plus gag, meaning a joke.

Lounging about is by the way much different from lolling about.  At least by the complexity of its etymology it seems like much more work

Tree Shaped Tombstone - McKinley Wisconsin

Oh, my.  The tree shaped tombstone in this photo is really the less impressive part...

Welcome to McKinley Wisconsin.  It's just a wide spot in the road really.  But it has a cemetery.  And next to it a church.

As you can see, the church has taken a big hit.  A lightning strike in the summer of 2025 started a fire.

At this point the building had been repurposed into a home, and the family was just barely able to escape unharmed.

Almost a year later there do not appear to be ongoing repair efforts.  

Now, on to that tombstone.  It is unusual in several respects.  For one thing, it is the only one in the cemetery.  My rule of thumb is that when you see one you will almost always see another.  Not here.  And it has some other unusual features.  It is a really, really late example.

As is common, its a husband and wife.  He died in 1918.  She in 1937.  Monuments of this sort were becoming uncommon as the 1920's approached.  Perhaps they were the kind of people who really planned ahead and bought this earlier?

Something else odd here, and this one really bothers me.  The inscription at the bottom is in some language that I can't make out.  I've run what I can see through Google Translate and come up empty.  Of course my policy is that I never scrub at such things, I keep my hands off.  But what is this?   (Note, based on another example from a few miles away I'm thinking it is Norwegian)

June Wild Life

Seen on a morning walk.  Pretty lame camo, bro.

Seen hiding in the side yard bushes.  I guess this is the time of year when fledglings get ornery and hop out of the nest a few days before they are actually able to, you know, fly.  Momma bird seen in the days that followed.  Checking several days later, no adolescent punk bird.  No sad pile of feathers.  So probably OK.

Seen on a "butterfly weed" next to the compost bin.  Tubby little guy, with a slightly smaller sidekick 'piller.

Hunting Land Update

Good thing I got my working sessions up north in before I went overseas.  Now that we are well into the hot weather season it would be much less fun.

Some things have not worked out.  I've written on several occasions on The Bean Project, whereby I'd take pounds of surplus Navy, Black and Pinto beans and turn them into huge feed lots for the plumpification of next year's venison harvest.

The results were underwhelming.  I planted hundreds of them in shallow scrapes and just tossed handfuls off into open areas.  Most just vanished.  Although in one area where we had turned the soil over well last year they are fighting it out with the thistles....

Also, I had plans to put in a rudimentary "facility".  Well, an outhouse if you must know.  As mostly guy users there is no problem with stepping outside and watering the nearest tree, but on infrequent occasions more dedicated facilities could be useful.  Staying over night in the one humble structure already on the site could make those evening and sunrise hunts much easier.

Alas, there are pesky rules and regulations on such matters.  Specifications.  Soil inspections.  Fees to pay.  A permit.  Sigh.

Such are the puny efforts of man.  Or at least of this man.  But nature continues on without much notice of said efforts.  It was a mild winter and game populations seem to be robust.  A couple of recent trail cam pictures....

Awww....

And, oh my....