I posted this on Facebook and daughter Valerie (aka “murisopsis”) and a Facebook church friend helped me solve the mystery. Here’s the information about him and the portrait the glass worker may have used to design the frosted image in the pressed glass paperweight……which is not a “sulphide weight” after all. I was mistaken thinking it was called that. In sulphide weights the objects are white and appear to be solid inside the glass.

If you guessed President James Garfield, you were right. He was called “the last of the log cabin presidents.” My elementary school was named for him. After his assasination in 1881, commemorative objects were designed like my paperweight and glass plates, etc. He had only been in office for four months when he was shot by Charles Julius Guiteau, an attorney. Below are photos about this president born in a log cabin in 1831 in Moreland Hills,  Ohio. I think my friend or her neighbor were mistaken about how or when or where this weight was obtained….of course it is possible they were given as souveniers to those who attended the next political convention after Garfield’s death September 19, 1881.

 

I

I need help!!! I’ve had this paperweight for about 40 years….a gift of fellow teacher at Eaton Elementary School. She said it was a commemorative or souvenier weight of one of the U.S. presidents…..but she couldn’t remember which one; and I’ve never been able to identify him for certain either. I’d sure like to know which president is in this.

Take a look at him and see what YOU think! Do any of you know just who he is? Maybe President Grant? Garfield? Hayes?

I’m also adding a photo showing a lot of my paperweight collection. Most of these are glass. The older ones are VERY heavy since there is more lead in the glass used to make them. Many of the newer weights are St. Clair weights made in Elwood, IN which is not far from here.

Grandpa Jim was a glass worker, and all the grandkids were fascintated with his paperweight. Eldest cousin, Marvin, broke it, so Grandma Bessie glued it back together. The rest of us dropped it too, since it always broke in the same place she’d just glue it back together again. All of us were fascinated with the colors and reflections of light. It’s the one on the left on the bottom shelf…and it still fascinates me! 

        

 

 

   Ann Miller taught second grade and told me more dirty jokes during coffee break/recess time than anyone I’d ever known. She also told me I was the “greenest 36 year old woman” she’d ever known and gave me a paperback book by Sidney Sheldon (I think that was the author) to read over summer vacation. I couldn’t get past the first chapter and put it in my annual summer rummage sale since Ann didn’t want it back, and I was afraid one of my innocent, precious and precocious young daughters might find and read it! If I remember correctly, I sold it for five or ten cents but would have gladly given it away or even would have paid someone to take it away!

Ann was a very interesting and generous lady and once, upon hearing I collected paperweights, gave me a unique antique sulphide one with the likeness of Pres. Garfield or perhaps it was Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes….one of our bearded presidents anyway. I’m sure it was a president, for Ann said it had been given to her mother by a neighbor whose father had been a delegate to the convention that nominated said president. Sadly she couldn’t remember which president and we sure couldn’t tell by just looking at it. (Someday I may take a photo of it and post it for others to try and identify which president’s likeness is in that glass weight for posterity!.)

Ann and her husband lived on a farm on which they raised some interesting animals including some peacocks….noisy birds that perched on the rooftop of their home and announcced, with their scary loud voices, everyone who visited. One summer day I took the girls out to see her farm, with its fish pond and all the different animals. Ann invited them to gather and keep all the peacock feathers they could find, and the three of them found enough to fill a very large crock! They were a beautiful addition to our living room for a long time! 

After four moves and dozens of years, those feathers finally disappeard. I missed them so was delighted when last fall there was a fellow selling peacock feathers at the local Living Lightly Fair where my AAUW branch had a booth. I couldn’t resist buying some of them and now have a vase of them in the living room next to the picture of my beautiful mother when she was eighteen years old. 

 

 

 

Dave Barry’s Colonoscopy Journal has one of the funniest takes on this serious subject I’ve ever read; and since I’m going in for my third one in 9 years in just a few days, I thought I’d better review it.Youngest daughter reminded me I’d sent it to her a few years ago. Barry is one of the most talented humor writers in America. He writes for the Miami Herald and his columns have appeared in many of our nation’s newspapers. March is “Colonoscopy Awareness Month” so it’s not too early to schedule one….especially if you are over 50 years old. My mother had colon cancer…along with other health problems and died at age 74. She’d never had a colonoscopy even though she’d been diagnosed with diverticulitis years before her death, so I am motivated to get this procedure done regularly. I have my box of MoviPrep ready and have been on a low residue diet for a couple of days before going on the all liquid one. It helps to drink that nuclear laxative liquid cold and with a straw….not looking forward to that! Anyway, in case you missed it a few years ago here’s excerpts of Dave Barry’s account of his experience………….

 

Colonoscopy Journal:

 

I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.

 A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis. Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.

  

 I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn’t really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, ‘HE’S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!’

 

I left Andy’s office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called ‘MoviPrep,’ which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven.  I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of  America’s enemies.

 

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation.  In accordance with my instructions, I didn’t eat any solid food that day; all I had was chickenbroth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.

 

Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep.  You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug.  This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes – and here I am being kind – like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

 

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, ‘a loose, watery bowel movement may result.’ This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

 

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don’t want to be too graphic, here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch?  This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience,with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt.  You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently.  You eliminate everything.  And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

 

After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.

 

The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous.  Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage.  I was thinking, ‘What if I spurt on Andy?’  How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

 

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked.

 

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand.  Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down.  Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn’t thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode.  You would have no choice but to burn your house.

 

When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist.  I did not see the17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere..  I was seriously nervous at this point.  Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.

 

There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA.  I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, ‘Dancing Queen’ had to be the least appropriate.

 

‘You want me to turn it up?’ said Andy, from somewhere behind me.

 

‘Ha ha,’ I said.  And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade.  If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

 

I have no idea. Really.  I slept through it.  One moment, ABBA was yelling ‘Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,’ and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.

  

Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt.  I felt excellent.  I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that IT was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

 

On the subject of Colonoscopies:

 

Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous….. A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:

 

1. ‘Take it easy, Doc. You’re boldly going where no man has gone before!’

2. ‘Find Amelia Earhart yet?’

3. ‘Can you hear me NOW?’

4. ‘Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?’

5. ‘You know, in Arkansas , we’re now legally married.’

6. ‘Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?’

7. ‘You put your left hand in, you take your left handout…’

8. ‘Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!’

9. ‘If your hand doesn’t fit, you must quit!’

10. ‘Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.’

11. ‘You used to be an executive at Enron, didn’t you?’

           And the best one of all:

12. ‘Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?’

 

[Note: It took me a long time before I could tolerate any lemon flavored food or drinks.]

                     

 Daughter Val (aka “Murisopsis” the mouse) comes from a long line of women who love hats. One of my fondest memories is of my grandma Bessie’s spring and fall ritual of redecorating her hats for the coming season. She’d change the flowers and ribbons on her spring and summer straw hats or the feathers and darker ribbons for fall felt ones….and if I was good (which was most of the time), she’d let me try them on or serve as her hat stand while trying out the various decorations on the hats I modeled.

Grandma used to crochet hats and mittens for me, and when I was 11 years old and recovering from the measles, she taught me to crochet….the basic chain stitch and then told me to just figure the rest out myself. I did….many years later when recuperating after surgery and desiring to shake the nicotine habit. Keeping hands busy helps when doing that, so I took the hook and yarn and “figured out the rest for myself.” Husband Leonard laughed at the first thing I did (I was just experimenting in adding stitches, etc.) telling me it looked like a jock strap if I would just attach some straps to it it.

To cut to the chase…..I crochet hats (and scarves to match most of the time plus a few other kinds of things like mittens and lap robes or afghans). I have done hundreds of hats and scarves. My AAUW chapter sells them at our silent auctions in December to raise money for our scholarship fund for non traditional students. And I’ve given a lot of them to the “Little Red Door” cancer help center for chemo therapy patients needing caps or hats and some to friends undergoing chemo. They’re fun to make and no two are alike. So here are some of my hats….not as whimsical or as much fun as daughter Val’s, but still fun.The fur hat is from an old collar neighbor Mrs. Mullins gave my mother back in 1948. It was from a coat she’d worn in the 1920′s and is European skunk. I crocheted a crown or top for it and used to wear it in the winter when I had playground duty. It’s still nice and warm in the winter. The cowboy hat is one I got in Arizona a couple of years ago…cost so much I had to include it. It IS waterproof even tho’ Arizona doesn’t get much rain….but is handy for Indiana weather. Granddaughters Meredith and Colleen are the other models wearing some of these.

 

  The German heritage in me loves order and is sometimes at odds with the Irish in me which tolerates or at least doesn’t mind a wee  bit of chaos…or even a fairly generous dose of it at times. However, the German in me won this last week so spent the past few days organizing my sewing materials and my kitchen pantry for storing containers, etc. and storing the Christmas decorations in closets and red and green plastic totes made just for Christmas decor. I should make and tape photos of the “after” results of my efforts inside the drawers and doors to help me when putting things away! However, I DO fear my inner leprechauns are probably planning to sabotage the whole thing shortly, and the neatness soon will be a lovely memory…..Damn those mischievous little *&!@+?$!!!

 

         I got to decorate the house this past Christmas for the first time in about 3 years. In the years since Leonard died, I’d taken a plane to either Atlanta or Philadelphia to celebrate the holiday with daughters’ families. But this year the girls’ families decided to visit ME! I had a good time getting the decorations out and many brought memories of good times past.

  Grandma Joyce’s kitchen is a bit too sweet for some….but I’ve always loved fairy tales and antiques and my mother’s handpainted china plate collection so put some of them above the window.      

My kitchen decorations this year for Christmas were kind of fun. The little tree in the window was decorated with all the homemade ornaments from daughters and ones of Christian symbols Leonard made in counted cross stitch and photo ornaments of the grandchildren when they were little. I’d kind of like to keep this little memory tree up all year long!

 

It’s always good to see what’s going on with a cool eye! These European journalists DO just that. A friend sent this so wanted to share it with my friends also.

Her feelings (which I share) were expressed in this comment: “I’m not sure whether to laugh, cry, hope, or despair, but at least this view from the outside is refreshingly clear-sighted.”

This is from the “Occupy Washington, D.C.” It is their 99% deficit proposal….pretty lengthy but very interesting especially the part in it about that special “Super Committee”…… If you have time read it or at least the part about the money members of this committee has received..

The Lessons of the Super Committee: Corruption Rules Dysfunctional Government

The proposals in this report show that it would not be difficult for the so-called “Super Committee” to achieve the requirement of at least $1.2 trillion in savings over the next decade. And, that it can be done in a way that corrects wealth disparity and re-starts the economy. But, in many ways, the super committee is “occupied” by corporate interests and cannot act for the people. The make-up of the committee and the tens of millions of dollars members have received from entrenched corporate interests ensure that the committee will exemplify the corruption in Congress – which is why people are occupying public spaces across the country.

The Occupation of Washington, DC at Freedom Plaza expects the commission’s recommendations, if they are able to make recommendations, to reflect the interests of their donors. We urge the public and the media to review their recommendations with these political donations in mind.

The twelve Members of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction have received $41 million from the financial sector during their time in Congress, according to a report by Public Campaign and National People’s Action, “Wall Street and the Supercommittee: The $41 Million Question.” At least 27 current or former aides for the “super committee” members have lobbied on behalf of financial firms.

• The 12 members of the super committee have received at least $41 million from the finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE) sector during their time in Congress.
• They have received nearly $900,000 from three of the top U.S. banks—JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo
• Since 2000, the industry has spent over $4 billion lobbying elected officials.
• Nearly 30 former aides to the 12 members work as lobbyists for financial industry interests.

The ten biggest contributors to the super committee members include:

Club for Growth $990,066
Microsoft Corp. $810,100
University of California $629,495
Goldman Sachs $592,684
EMILY’s List $586,835
Citigroup Inc. $561,081
JPMorgan Chase & Co. $494,316
Bank of America $349,566
Skadden, Arps, et al. $347,356
General Electric $340,935

The largest donor, the Club for Growth, opposes any new taxes on the wealthiest in the United States. As a result, despite the abhorrent wealth divide, the committee is unlikely to recommend the obvious, fair taxes on the wealthiest people who fund their campaigns.

The members of the committee received more than $3 million total during the past five years in donations from political committees with ties to weapons contractors, health care providers and labor unions. They received more than $1 million overall in contributions from the health care industry and at least $700,000 from weapons companies. This presents a problem for the super committee because if they fail to find $1.2 trillion in savings over the next decade it will result to mandatory cuts that will impact health care and weapons makers. This means the committee is likely to make a bad deal for the United States, in order to avoid cuts to their major donors.

Throughout the time when the committee has been meeting they have been holding fundraisers across the country. This open money-taking while making decisions that affect those who are giving money is the kind of open corruption that has led to a loss of faith in government.

It is not only donations that will impact the committee, but a major lobbying onslaught by 400 groups who report lobbying the Super Committee. About 30% of these organizations — 118 groups in total – were from the health sector. The finance insurance and real estate sector ranked third, with 40 companies within that sector reporting lobbying activity during the third quarter that targeted the super committee. And 39 groups in the energy sector reported lobbying the super committee. Both the communications and electronics sector and the general business sector saw 26 companies and organizations explicitly mention the super committee in their third-quarter lobbying reports. These are many of the same concentrated corporate interests that have funded the campaigns of super committee members.

Conclusion: Revolt against Economics for the 1%

Once again, the people of the United States will see corruption reign supreme. Despite evident solutions to the deficit and the economic collapse, the Congress will show its corruption and dysfunction and be unable to put forward real solutions.

We issue this report to alert everyone – the political system is broken. It is corrupted by the power of concentrated wealth, campaign donations and corporate power. The job of the occupations across the country is to build an independent nonviolent movement that replaces this corrupt system with one in which the people rule. The battle between concentrated wealth and participatory democracy will be heightened by the evident corruption of the Super Committee which will not challenge the unfair policies of the 1% while requiring austerity for the 99%.

The economic and political elite should expect protests to grow. We are at the beginning of what will be seen as a historic revolt against status quo elites that will transform this economy as well as how the United States is governed.