RattleBag and Rhubarb

The Sun Like a Force-Ripe Orange

The sun shining … just there in the sky like a force-ripe orange That striking image is from Samuel Selvon’s novel The Lonely Londoners. Henry Oliver, who earns the nickname Sir Galahad for his bravado, has just arrived from Trinidad. Here he is on that first morning in the big city – in Westbourne Grove – suddenly realizing he is…

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Poetry, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Thank You, Fog

There’s the fog of war and there’s the poetry of fog. A recent heavy mist  in my patch of the mid-Hudson valley brought fog and poetry to mind. Not the yellow fog of an old-time London peasouper particular but rather the mysterious wreathing whiteness of an English mist in a damp December countryside – the unsullied sister of smog. And…

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Art, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Images for Winter and a Winter Robin

I found this on the London Library Advent calendar. Just the perfect image for anything a little Christmassy with a touch of vintage thrown in. This robin was for day 10.   It was the perfect pic for the home-made greeting card. All of the images were interesting and here are a few more that caught my eye. Day 11:…

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Art, RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW1

Holiday Greetings from 1917

Time for some seasonal greetings from the front. The traditional Christmas message of charity, reconciliation, and peace on earth now ensured through violence and exploding Christmas puddings. These first are from Fergus Mackain – an advertising illustrator who grew up in Canada and the USA. In 1915 – leaving his wife and children – he worked his passage across the Atlantic…

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Poetry, Politics, RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW1

Treasons Greetings: The Ghosts of Happy Holidays Past

It’s politically incorrect to say Happy Holidays these days. We must all say Merry Christmas. No word on the acceptability of Treasons Greetings so I’ll play it safe and stick to Christmas. Religious freedom – it’s a wonderful thing. Just like freedom from religion. Part of making America great again is that we don’t have to worry about other people’s…

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Art, Poetry, RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW1

1915 and The Midnight of the Nations

On Christmas Day 1915 David Lloyd George the former radical liberal,then Minister of Munitions and soon to be Prime Minister addressed a crowd of restless shop stewards and trade unionists in St. Andrew’s Hall, Glasgow. He was there to try and forestall strikes in an area where labor relations were contentious and complicated. He also needed to make the case…

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RattleBag and Rhubarb, WW1

The Christmas Truce: “A Day of Perfect Peace”

This well outfitted German trench has a lighted Christmas tree and soldiers celebrating with music and sausages! It’s true – there was a truce in parts of the line along the western front in 1914. The official diarist of the 3rd Battalion Rifle Brigade reported: “Christmas in the trenches will always be remembered by the Battalion as a day of…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Tradition and change

From the Poughkeepsie New Yorker (Over 78,000 Read-Round-the-Clock 35 Cents Weekly) December 1941 came this news item about Poughkeepsie Day School. It was the annual Christmas Festival “with many of the school’s alumni present, as well as parents and friends.” It was a community event. There were student made decorations including a clay figures and ornaments that were donated to…

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