Reaching Back To Older Hero's

 Had a long week. Returned to my hometown of Schodack N.Y. to attend a funeral. My cousins husband. A simple funeral , at his request he was buried with a pack of cigarettes {that's hard core} and little talk of God at the funeral , also at his request. If he was one thing he was consistent. But he left me something. He knew of my interest in history and archaeology. He left me an odd piece from the past. A plague from the late forties or early 50's. On it was something called The Lone Ranger Creed. A cereal box prize. I guess he wanted to leave me something of how he actually thought. I will not bore you with it's substance , if you want you can Google it. But this must have meant something to him. The Lone Ranger was a hero of old time radio and for the most part the black & white TV era. He was a good 20 yrs older than me so I suspect this was from the radio days. So , later as I drove back home to 11509 a bit weary  I thought about this keep sake he left me to ponder. He knew I like playing detective with objects and artifacts I find along the way. Well......as of late we have detoured a bit in society towards some of the older style of hero's. The revival of Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey and Jude Law. Johnny Depp is currently filming a remake of the Lone Ranger for Disney. After that Depp is scheduled to play the detective hero of the 30's and 40's The Thin Man. Yes Nick and Nora Charles will be back on screen in a couple of short yrs. The latest 007 flick is being filmed  as I write this. A friend of my daughter told her of seeing some of the filming in London. Bond started out in the early 50's.  Of course a personal favorite The Saint is in the process of being revived for a new TV series and or movie. Personal favorite because the author Leslie Charteris knew my aunt socially in Ocala Florida. The Saint goes back to 1928 the rest  , the 1930's or for Holmes 1890's. So , some hero's are hard to kill , there was even a Green Hornet movie last year though not well received. The Hornet goes back to the 30's.  So does this piece of cereal box history mean something other than an e-bay item for the collector. Well.....?  Well considering that old geezers are not the demographic movie makers are going for maybe it says that these characters are the cultural template from which we all have sprung. Some may feel at home or easy with this template. It may also simply say a good story is still a good story no matter how distant the cultural references may be. But what ever this trend may or may not mean.......I will be taking my older Grand kids to see the Lone Ranger , will attend for over the 20th time a James Bond opening night this November. Drag the long suffering wife to see the The Thin Man because she is all to well aware of my enjoyment for that genre of detective flick and await the return of a man known for a halo over his not all ways honest head. The gift is now in my file cabinet among some of my other collections of  various artifacts. It will be there for some time to come.

Amsler's Ice House Castleton N.Y. 12033

 One of the problems one can come up against when researching various history topics is you run out of time. All the people that remember ice houses as a going concern are long gone. People that even remember where such shells were located  have declined greatly as well.  Such is the case with Amsler's Ice House located off Ransom Avenue in my hometown of Castleton N.Y. So with what I know from brief interviews and personal observation this is what I know. Amler's Ice house was located off Ransom Avenue next to the land bought for the Castleton Union School , now the Castleton Elementary  School. It was a smaller ice house and served the uptown section of Castleton above the Hudson River area. It was built inside of a hill which gave it a sunken appearance.  The Amsler family had a small store across the street from the ice house. It had 2 doors one facing Ransom Avenue the other a side entrance. As a kid we hung around the old barn looking structure , as remembered by various people inside were collapsed old pallet type structures. The earth inside had a dusky chalk type feel , probably from old saw dust used as a basic form of insulation for the ice. It was torn down in the late 60's or early 70's because it was considered by the Town Fathers to not only be a danger from collapse but rather ugly. As old barn type structures built from that era it was not easily wrecked. Once down it provided more room for the phone company bld  expansion which was located directly in back of that piece of property. It is now a landscaped piece if property where one would not guess an ice house once stood. The Ransom Avenue  school driveway runs next to where it was. Families like the Amsler's and the Hudson's made a good living from this piece of old technology. General Electric's first refrigerator was built circa 1911. Ice slowly lost it's hold on kitchens across America and as well memories of Ice Men making deliveries from these old structures.My thanks to Beverly Ingalls of Clifton Park and Checker Block of Schodack Landing N.Y. for their memories.

Hai Karate: A Visit With The Past

 When one does a blog which often concerns itself with the past I have sometimes been given suggestions or various items which people think might make an interesting topic. These range from an interesting looking rock that looks like a duck to a recent gift from my cousin , a bottle of old Hai Karate aftershave { pronounced High Karate} discovered in a discard box in her garage. Yes this icon from youthful memory. This aftershave was made from appx the late 60's to early 80's. Made by as it says on the bottle , the Leeming Division of Pfizer Corporation zip code 10017. Yes the same people that brought us Viagra brought us this green liquid. Most likely some that used this aftershave back then use Viagra now.It's that old.  Anyway I have not yet opened it , so that is what I am going to do now.  Be right back................still holding.............................................................BLAU...............OK , what to say? I did not like it for one. A base tone of aluminum with some citrus is how I best can describe it.  It is quite possible that the age of this aftershave has altered the experience , circa late 60's bottle after all according to my cousin. The question also arises , did I once smell like this. Yes , I received a bottle for Christmas in 1969. Memories have come flooding back. My last High School Christmas in my hometown , the 60's ending , a wedding attended in March of 1970 which I had no memory of until just now.  High School graduation has just come to mind and an old high school flame as well as Donna Blasch my college sweet heart . This budget aftershave bought by my parents probably in a drug store in or near Castleton NY has stirred a few memories. It also reminded me of my mother who hated the 60's and could not wait for them to be over and for her son to get a hair cut.  One of her self improvement gifts this no doubt was. At least , I did not smell like Old Spice I remember was one of my reactions. Yet for some , this is probably an Icon from the past. I imagine Brut or Jade East is the closest hangovers from that era if you wish to indulge in memories induced by smell. As for this bottle , it is being donated to an animal league in the 11509 zip area that deals with the feral cat problem in our area. They have an ebay account that they use to fund their activities and have told me they welcome this gift that really sells well on ebay. Amazing!  If you wish to indulge further you can Google the name and see some of the old commercials. But to those that might obtain this or another bottle I can only repeat the words of the commercial..........Hai Karate.......Be Careful How You Use It.

Collecting Tidbits Along The Moordener Kill

I have been attempting to take advantage of the warmer late fall early winter weather. This has been extremely above average in temps and weather. So recently I was exploring along The Erie Canal near Canastoda NY and The Moordener Kill George in Castleton NY area. I managed to fall into both. Sometimes I fear that I am becoming somewhat of what Kurt Vonnegut remarked about himself in Slaughter House 5......"an old fart with his memories and his cigarettes." Anyway , did not find much this time out except junk. Discard from past lives . Even though archaeology thrives on left over stuff left behind to tell what was I spent much of my time picking up discard. An old stereo speaker circa late 80's early 90's. An old tire , glass beer bottles perhaps left by a careless fisherman , a busted cell phone and an old  Stetson aftershave bottle as well as an old fishing reel  as examples. Some of this stuff may well have come down from when Irene came thundering through last summer and caused ample flooding. So , my clean up of the gorge made a decent sized pile. I built a small fire along the rocky river bed  shore to warm myself. No one was around so I enjoyed the peace and quiet as I set on a log. Because my wife Beth was over 140 miles away I sneaked a smoke. Ah. Anyway , nothing remarkable about what I had in front of me. The beer reflected modern trends , Coors Light , Sam Adams Cherry Wheat ,  Newcastle Brown Ale.  The cell phone , a flip phone , large buttons pre -app type. Been here for a while. It is amazing how fast technology changes. The phone 10 to 12 yrs ago was state of the art the stereo speaker , appx three ft  tall by one foot wide could once hold a multi watt signal. Now Bose can make a speaker one tenth the size with better fidelity. These tidbits do tell a tale. A need to get rid of junk , fast moving technology,  careless discarding. But they don't belong in this beautiful gorge. I fed  my last starter stick into my flames. Took some notes of some possible sites above the gorge for future exploration as I enjoy this area. My basic archaeology hobby is often being a collector of as I call them Tidbits. Small little items that serve as an evidence trail of where I and others have come from. You as well.  So anyway I ended up trucking this stuff  out of the gorge , into my car , and stopped by the dumpster at the back of Maple Hill High School. Sorry tax payers you footed the disposal fee. Soon I will be off on another project. Be seeing you.

Hudson Daniel Bader

 Born on January 4 , 2012 my third grandchild. , that's right his first name is Hudson. The same as a favorite blogger I know. All 8 pounds 9 ounces arrived yesterday at around 2:00 pm in Crouse Memorial in Syracuse NY. Anyway , Hudson you have arrived here in the USA at a rather angry time. We are a nation politically split and I must admit I wanted a better world for you to come into. Kinder , gentler as former President Bush once remarked. But you have alot going for you  , good parents that really wanted you , proud family surrounding you and of course your long background. You are descended from English , Dutch , Irish , Slovak and German peoples. Just remember if you ever read this that you had people survive hundreds of years ago to help create the you of today. So take it and run with it. Use those talents all of my grandchildren I am sure possess. Oh and by the way.....Happiness is not over rated , so keep some of that in your life.

Original Casino Royale Soundtrack Album Found Circa 1967 Vintage

 Just got back from the Post Office sending out a find of mine. Yes , another Garage Sale special. The original Casino Royale  soundtrack album. Let me try and explain. There are people who one could call audiophiles. They love sound from their audio equipment. Exotic tube amps , turntables  , thousand dollar plus speakers adorn their homes. My Bose system on my computer they might well label as simply adequate.. I know a couple. Putting better speakers in my current Chevy for when I listen to jazz doesn't make it for these people. They can sometimes be obsessed purists. The unopened record I discovered in a pile of old 60's and 70's records was for some a true find. Again let me try and explain. The original Casino Royale movie was a comedy. It starred Woody Allen , Orson Wells , David Niven and of course Peter Sellers. If you ever see it one can  quickly notice that it is a movie made to try and fit the 60's era. The attempt by older artists attempting to be relevant to the younger crowd was a bomb. Some critics  found a deeper meaning to it all but not to a larger audience. The film score was by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It produced a low level hit by Herb Alpert  with the Casino Royale theme. But buried in it was a soulful tune called The Look Of love. It was sung by Dusty Springfield then at the height of her career. At her death a few years ago Elton John said he felt she was the best white soul singer of the  latter half of the 20th century. Now the secret of this album.....she re-recorded this song a couple of months later and that version is the one most have heard.  According to some the superior version is on vinyl on this album. It has been described as more breathy etc etc. So a treasured oddity this recording has become for a few  obsessed audiophiles. I sold it sight unseen , as is. Though unopened one can never be sure what conditions this album has endured. After all it has to be over 40 yrs old. But it seemed flat as a pancake and the cover was well preserved , a psychodelic artist drawing of a Bond girl. You can Google it. I will let  John open it himself , examine the grooves  and receive his full exotic pleasure from it all. He plans to play it for his long suffering wife on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas.

Hudson Hawk's Sangria

OK ,  by request my sangria receipt. The first concept  to remember  is there are tons of receipts for sangria most quite good. don't shy away from an experiment or two. Secondly sangria has been used for centuries to make cheap wine tolerable. So , my advice is to not get hung up on an expensive vintage.I often use The Naked Grape variety or  a red from Gallo....that's right Gallo. I don't buy a $ 25.00 bottle to throw in , I leave that for wine snobs.  Third is to remember that aging helps taste. 3  hrs of aging   your pitcher full in the fridge makes a real difference.

1. 2 bottles of red wine

2.  half cup of brandy

3. One quarter cup triple sec

4. One  cup orange juice

5. One and a half cups ginger ale

6. Half cup of sugar {optional}

7. Couple of pineapple slices cut up

8. One orange cut up peels and all

9. One apple cut up skins and all

10. Six to eight marachino cheery and pour a little juice from the bottle in as well

11. I drop a cinnamon stick in and let it set in the mixture for a couple of minutes , then remove.

12. Let sit for a few minutes  then stir slightly and refrigerate. Stir again before serving.

 Of course you can add other fruits like seedless grapes but don't go overboard , the wine is the most important part. If you try it I hope you enjoy.