Walking the Red Brick Road

A photographer's journal and life in rural America

Posts Tagged abilene

I like Ike

Oct 29

Posted by Roxie in American history, history, kansas, travel | No Comments

A person just cannot visit Abilene, Kan., without visiting the Eisenhower Museum and Library. Since we’ve seen it before, we didn’t go in this time, but we visited park surrounding it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower's statue on the grounds of his library and museum in Abilene, Kan.

Dwight D. Eisenhower's statue on the grounds of his library and museum in Abilene, Kan.

His statue, in his Army uniform, dominates the grounds. When we toured the museum, we thought it focused more on his generalship than his presidency. And Eisenhower somehow didn’t seem quite real. In President Harry S. Truman’s library, the visitor meets the man. Truman seems human. Ike, on the other hand, seems a monument. Getting at the real person behind that famous grin is difficult.

Ike, his wife Mamie and their son Doud Dwight, nicknamed Icky, are interred in the Place of Meditation on the museum’s grounds.

Place of Meditation bell tower

Place of Meditation bell tower

I am not at all fond of the International Style of architecture, finding it hopelessly bland and uninteresting, but I absolutely cannot resist a pattern. Ironically, Abilene is full of wonderful Victorian architecture, but its two most prominent structures, the Eisenhower Museum and Library and the Dickinson County Courthouse, were both built in that dreadful, boxy, soulless style.

fence between foyer and burial site in Place of Meditation

fence between foyer and burial site in Place of Meditation

A fence separates the foyer from the Eisenhowers’ gravesite.

copper leaf fountain

copper leaf fountain

A fountain made from copper leaves falls into a small pool. The sound is very soothing and, as probably intended, acts as an aid to quiet contemplation.

Hubby looks at Ike, Mamie and Icky's graves

Hubby looks at Ike, Mamie and Icky's graves

We paid our respects to the Eisenhowers, then visited the chapel attached to the grave site.

sunburst through stained glass window in Place of Meditation

A low marble wall divides the grave site from the small chapel, fitted with stained-glass windows designed and installed by Kansas native Odell Prather. I really prefer windows that are a picture of something, but these were beautiful, as was the light they cast. It seemed a good place to rest and meditate, but closing time was drawing near.

Even though Ike himself seems elusive, his life’s work is truly monumental.

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Hello, how are you?

Oct 28

Posted by Roxie in American history, history, music, travel | No Comments

When we toured the Museum of Independent Telephony, Abilene, Kan., ELO’s song Telephone Line kept running through my head. Song starts out with the singer having a conversation with the telephone operator.

I thought, “When was the last time I’ve talked to an operator?”

vintage switchboard

vintage switchboard

Back when telephone service started, subscribers had no way to avoid the operator.

“Central” could listen in to any conversation and she often did. Before 911 arrived, Central was the person to call when trouble came.

mouthpiece

mouthpiece

This looks very non-ergonomic. The operator would have had to lean very far forward to talk into this mouthpiece. How well could she be heard through it?

Later, women sat on stools connecting and disconnecting phone calls. Phone companies tried employing men and boys at first, but they were rude and cut up. Girls and women were much better to customers. That opened another job to women beyond teaching and nursing.

detail of vintage pay phone

detail of vintage pay phone

I used to keep a dime, then a quarter, in a little niche in my car’s dashboard, ensuring that I could always call for help if I got into some trouble.

When’s the last time you saw a pay phone? Who needs a pay phone any more?

dial on Eisenhower's telephone at his Gettysburg, Pa., house

dial on Eisenhower's telephone at his Gettysburg, Pa., house

This switchboard was installed in President Eisenhower’s Gettysburg, Pa., milk house after he had a heart attack. Can you imagine the President of the United States having no phone in his house, even a getaway house?

I was tempted to change the phone number to 867-5309, but I couldn’t bring myself to cover up those original numbers. They illustrate another change point: Who has a phone number starting with letters any more?

Besides God, change is the world’s only constant. Isn’t that ironic?

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Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth

Oct 27

Posted by Roxie in travel | No Comments

Just as a horse wasn’t supposed to be ridden hard and put away wet, a proverb advises the recipient of a gift horse not to look in its mouth. A horse’s teeth says much about its age and a gift is not to be examined too carefully.

Since no one was about to give me this horse from the C.W. Parker Carousel at Heritage Center of Dickinson County, Abilene, Kan., I could not only look it in the mouth but also photograph that mouth.

His breath wasn’t too bad, either.

carousel horse eye

carousel horse eye

I’m not sure what this gaze means. Is the horse protesting my invasion of his space or is he grateful for the attention? Who knows. He doesn’t say much with that big mouth of his.

Where’s Mr. Ed when you want him?

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Ridden hard and put away wet

Oct 26

Posted by Roxie in travel | No Comments

Poor Patches, the carousel horse

Poor Patches, the carousel horse

A horse should never be ridden to the point of exhaustion, then put inside when he’s still soaking wet with sweat. Horse should be left outside long enough to dry.

So with a carousel horse. When the poor thing is cracked and broken, the last thing it needs is to have some strip of metal wrapped around the injured part and affixed with nails and screws. Wood has rotted around the nails and screws, leaving Patches in bad condition.

He was ridden hard and put away wet.

More strips on poor Patches

More strips on poor Patches

Instead of these awful metal strips, Patches should have been repaired with dowels and glue. But his owner probably was in a hurry to get him back into service.

Patches is in the Dickinson County Museum, Abilene, Kan. Before he can be restored, new eyes, tail, ears and stirrups must be made and reattached. He still has a little paint affixed to him, so museum staff is attempting to match that paint.

Hopefully someday Patches will be restored to his former glory.

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Insulators

Oct 13

Posted by Roxie in American history, history, photos, travel | No Comments

We visited the Museum of Independent Telephony while we were in Abilene.

insulators from below

insulators from below

I was immediately drawn to this lighted display case full of insulators. They were used to protect wires from shorting out, especially in the rain. I love their shapes and colors. Of course, I just had to see what they looked like from underneath.

blue insulator

blue insulator

The little bumps on the skirt bottom helped rain drip away from the wires inside.

brown saddle insulator

brown saddle insulator

My friend Esther contacted a friend of hers who collects insulators. He said, “The brown insulator and the ones in the background with the large top groove were possibly used in mines to carry large wires for longer distances back in the mines. This would be for electrical use.”

green glass insulator with bow-shaped top

green glass insulator with bow-shaped top

Here’s another strange shape, this one from Hemingray.

Hemingray green insulator

Hemingray green insulator

This one’s also from Hemingray, in a style known as the “Doorknob”.

purple insulator

purple insulator

Ironically, purple insulators originate in a decolorizing process that removes the aqua or green coloration from glass. Manganese is added to take out the greenish colors. Under radiation, solar or artificial, the manganese turns purple. The more manganese in the glass, the deeper the purple.

orange insulator

orange insulator

I tried to find out what makes glass orange, but failed. I didn’t want to squeeze orange juice or make a bong, but those were among the results that appeared. Whatever.

The next time you look at a telephone pole, remember the hidden beauty of the insulators.

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Candy Land

Oct 12

Posted by Roxie in photos, travel | No Comments

Hubby with the bear outside the Russell Stover Candies factory outlet

Hubby with the bear outside the Russell Stover Candies factory outlet

We went on a trip in Central Kansas last weekend. Hubby is standing in front of the Russell Stover Candies factory outlet outside of Abilene, Kan., a chocolate-lovers’ paradise. It’s not just for chocoholics, either. Every kind of candy seems to be represented, plus it has a wonderful ice cream bar.

traditional chocolate Valentine's Day heart packages

traditional chocolate Valentine's Day heart packages

Valentine’s Day is obviously the number-one chocolate-giving holiday. The store had numerous displays of leftover candy from that holiday.

chocolate Elvis jacket heart packaging

chocolate Elvis jacket heart packaging

Some of the packaging was quite creative. I laughed out loud at this Elvis tribute. No wonder Elvis still rakes in money after his death. I do not understand people’s fascination with Elvis; apparently I’m just a bit too young for that.

ghost costume decoration

ghost costume decoration

Halloween was well represented also, including fun decorations like this one.

jelly bean bins

jelly bean bins

This is truly Temptation Island for me. I love jelly beans! But I didn’t eat a single one. We made up for it in other places, though.

jelly bean hopper from below

jelly bean hopper from below

If you’ve ever wondered what one of these hoppers looks like underneath, here’s a picture. I could not have shot this image without autofocus. I certainly couldn’t see underneath. I don’t twist that well!

fudge chunks

fudge chunks

Here’s another Temptation Island I avoided. I love maple fudge, but didn’t eat any.

candy Bloopers box

candy Bloopers box

Of course, no outlet store is complete without merchandise that didn’t make the grade. Russell Stover’s seconds are called “Bloopers” and those boxes were stacked shoulder high. We didn’t get any of those, either.

What we did buy were wonderful bags of gourmet chocolate with coconut and vanilla beans as filling. Yum, yum. We also shared a lemon custard ice cream cone. Very delicious and refreshing.

By the way, you’ve just exceeded today’s recommended caloric intake just by reading this blog post. Happy eating!

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