A true panhandler as there ever was died yesterday. He was a farmer, an avid fisherman, a loving grandfather, and a true fan of Johnny Cash.
He is survived by three children, eight unruly grandchildren, a gaggle of brothers and sisters, and one love of his life. He will be missed.
The two iron banks I bought: "Mammy" and "Uncle Mose"
I went to the Suwannee County Christmas on the Square event yesterday, and among the locally made Christmas gifts, knick-knacks, furniture, luxury sheets (two competing booths, by the way) there was a covered tent selling antiques.
Among the rusted horseshoes and dented wind vanes I spotted a set of old rusted banks, each weighing a few pounds and standing a little over 10 inches tall. One was shaped like the iconic “Mammy” or “Aunt Jemima” figure, the other like an “Uncle Mose” figure.
When I asked the seller where he got these and what they were, he answered “They’re banks. And I pick them up wherever, mostly in the South or on eBay, people don’t really know how much they’re worth.”
This really got me thinking: how much are these worth, and to whom? Who originally made these, and who was the intended purchaser? And what does it mean for me to now own them? If I put these out on my kitchen counter, what would people say? According to this article on identifying real versus fake “Mammy” banks, I’m fairly confident this is not a recent reproduction – but I do not know how old it is. Could be from the 1980s, could be from the 1880s, I’m really not sure. I might check out the book “Mammy and Uncle Mose: Black Collectibles and American Stereotyping”, and I read this academic article on “Stereotypes of History: Reconstructing Truth and the Black Mammy”.
That’s the purpose of this post: to see what people would say, what you would say these objects mean now, and what they meant when they were produced? I found some initial responses on the Straight Dope message board, but I’m curious what our readers think.
No less paper than the New York Times mentions a natural kayak trip near Apalachicola
TI and JT
I was listening to the new chart-topping song “Dead and Gone” by rapper T.I. and pop-star Justin Timberlake, and noticed an odd omission. Near the end of the song, there is a set of verses with each line beginning with one of the cardinal directions – but not all of them:
“I turn my head to the east… I don’t see nobody by my side
I turn my head to the west… still nobody in sight
So I turn my head to the north, swallow that pill that they call pride
The old me is dead and gone, but the new me will be alright”
Leaving out the South is especially surprising since T.I. is from Atlanta, Georgia and Justin Timberlake is from Tennessee near Memphis. To add to the mystery, T.I. is the self-proclaimed “King of the South.”
One theory to explain this discrepancy comes from the BBC radio blog:
“The handy thing with this song, though, is that half way through Justin clarifies his geographical position (metaphorical or otherwise) by, according to the lyrics, turning his head every direction except South. So hopefully, that’s where he is . . .”
I’m not convinced that this explains the cold-shoulder to the South, but it is at least an ego-soothing explanation. You can listen to the song here:
http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Dead_And_Gone/21198567
While much of the country was trying to find, foster, or avoid love during Valentine’s Day, President Obama’s Stimulus Package (or more formally the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) looked to be on its way to passing, and it seemed appropriate to pass along a little information on how this will directly affect the South.
A Wall Street Journal article breaks down an earlier version of the stimulus bill to see how each state fares – and Florida was not at the top. But, on an unusual note, Alabama and Georgia are both doing better for per-capita spending compared to New York and Massachusettes.
WSJ Stimulus Map
Actual (if less than factual) Postcard from Friend
I came across this article as I continued to procrastinate on my dissertation. It talks about a random survey that apparently proves that tourists are unwilling to pay a premium to travel environmentally friendly.
They interview someone called a “town evangelist” from a tourist town near Panama City (a “town” that I had never heard of) called Alys Beach *note, the webpage breaks the first cardinal rule of webpages–playing music is the default setting of the homepage*
One of the many slides of Alys Beach. Trust me, our tourists are not this young and sober simultaneously
So recently, I have become addicted to the entire “Life Series” by David Attenborough (e.g. The Life of Birds, The Life of Mammals, The Living Planet, Planet Earth, etc.). While watching this whole series I’ve had many revelations about the nature of life on Earth (this is truly a transformational experience for those who take the long journey of watching the whole series). One such thought, however, struck me when considering mammals…
Human Evolution
It is generally believed that mammals use 80-90% of the food they eat in maintaining their body temperature. This is indeed a costly adaptation, but one which makes us (and birds) always ready to get our bodies moving when danger, or mates, or food comes around. However, I thought to myself, what effect must air conditioning have on mammals? Or, more importantly, could the greater prevalence of air conditioning in the South, be making Southerners especially fat?
Well, a little digging on the internet shows that I’m not the first first person to think of this. Researchers at the University of Alabama Birmingham have considered the same possibility. They do not offer much in the way of evidence, beyond the suggestive comment that the South has seen both the highest rise in air-conditioned homes and also in obesity rates. But given how much of our energy is expended in maintaining our temperature, it seems likely that the temperateness of Southern homes and buildings must be playing some part in their not burning as much fat.
Interestingly, they also suggest another alternative factor which may be influencing Southerners’ obesity: the decrease in smoking rates (because people coming off of smoking often want to compensate for the loss of stimulation by eating food). With higher rates of smoking in the South, it wouldn’t be surprising if a greater number of people coming off of smoking would find comfort in food. This would probably still hold, even though rates of smoking have decreased less in the South than elsewhere; because of the much greater number of total smokers living in the South.
A fellow southerner sent me this Washington Post article about how southerners view the Presidency of Barack Obama.
While he was jokingly incredulous about the actual existence of the article’s main protagonist, it roughly encapsulates the feelings of the white south. A range of emotions, from blaming general (but not specific) racism, to a general belief that Obama doesn’t “understand” the south.
Ever wonder what the Panhandle looks like? Well why not take a quick spin through Baker, FL — home of my grandparents Sylvia and Jesse Lundy?
Click on each picture below to see some interesting insights about each picture.
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