HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1956-11-28, Page 6110
Making 'Antiques" Not So Easy Modern Germany 1 Absent-Minded
A wealthy businessman in.
Milan telephoned from his hotel
for a taxi, to take him and his,
three suitcases to a resort fifty
miles away where he was plan-
ning to spend three weeks' boll,
day, The taxi rolled up outside
the hotel and the driver loaded it
with the suitcases while the busi,
nessman was saying good-bye to
some friends on the pavement,
Suddenly the taxi driver got
into his seat, peered through his
reflector to see that the road
was clear and started off on the
journey, leaving his passenger
behind, Only when, the taxi
reached its destination did the
driver discOver what had hap-
pened, Meanwhile, the business-
man, thinking he had been rob,
bed of his luggage, told the po-
lice who traced the forgetful taxi
driver two hours„later,
"I was thinking about my girl
friend and didn't notice that the
passenger wasn't with me," was
his explanation.
Absent - mindedness appears, to
be on the increase. A pretty girl
at a church service suddenly be-
gan to take off her stockings net
long ago. When a shocked mem-
ber of the congregation remon-
strated she explained that she
had been so deep in thought that
she had 'imagined she was about
to go to bed!
Equally absent-minded was a
*nth coast clergyman who punc-
tually arrived at church for a
wedding, only to find that the
bride was late. At last she ar-
rived and the service was hurt.,
tied, through.
When it was over, the clergy?
man turned to the happy bride
and said reproachfully: "You
were late — very late. Please
remember next' time to be more
punctual!"
Incidentally, a survey some
time ago showed that men are
twice as absent - minded as
women.
CATAIIN.V.ING-F•This" poOr bird is sitting pretty for pounc-
ingi,,pys,sy;aPOirner r'X'Peclerson, a rancher snapped the picture
as the cat leaped, yion.,a $50 prize in "Popular Photography"
Maga4pOjnternatirinol picture contest.
over the East people are pride,.
ful of their antique hootjacks
found on a peg in an old Maine
farnMOUSe•
One thing I know to be true,
that modern-Made antiques are
often better than real ones, The
truth is that a lot of come-down
furniture has only age to show
for it, I learned 'that as a boy,
Mother had a Parlor set that
was "handed down" to her—a
love seat and two chairs, They
were up in the pigeon loft of
the barn and had been there
for years accumulating antiquity.
Father Went up one day and
handed them down to her. The
upholstery was faded, clear
back to the woodwork, but the
woodwork was black walnut,
scrolled and filligreed to a turn,
and they decided to have the
set redone, But after they came
back with their new upholstery,
we found they were anything
but comfortable, I would rather
sit on a nail keg.
I made a lovely baroque, or
Restoration, table once, "using a
hackrnatack stump. I cut is off
so the roots formed the pedestal,
and the trunk supported the
ornately carved top. I don't
carve too well, but with, a sharp
axe I can make anything look
as if a lot of work was lavished
on it. This table has attracted
a lot of attention as an antique,
and may be seen at thq Reuben
Brainerd, homestead, where it
sits in the shed. They got burned
out and all the neighbors con-
tributed furniture, and I took
the table over with my load:
The rings on the tree trunk
prove it is over 150 years old.
Now, I didn't just buy a
ready-made kit and start in. I
had to learn the business step
by step, trial and error, until I
mastered the intricacies. It took
years of patient application. It
isn't a matter of hitting a board
with a hammer—you have to
know where to hit it, and which
hammer to use. Many a good
antique has, been spoiled in the
making by, injudicious enthu-
siasm. It takes restraint to be
authentic. Too much pickle juice,
and poof! You've lost the spirit
of the thing:
I think it will be better in
the long run to leave the making
of antiques to those who spec-
ialize in it. Let people cut their
own hair, paner their own
homes, and make model ships
A gentleman with mercenary
motives and a lack of finer dis-
cernment is advertising a make-
your-owe antiques kit, complete
with printed instructions and
nail boles indicated.
This should be deplored. It is
not as easy as that to Make ant-
iques, To postulate that every
Torn, Dick and Harry can turn,
out top-grade early artifacts the
same as he'd glue airplanes and
stage coaches together is absurd,
It would glut the market with
spurious items, the, work of
amateurs, easily detected oat a
glance, and have an effect on
the value of true antiques tur-
ned out lovingly by a master of
the craft.
It takes love of line and de-
sign, an understanding of art
and artistry, and a fine sense of
balance to make a really good
antique,
I've made .a good many of
them• in my time, and still, am,
not really good at it. But the
small things I have done satisfy
me sufficiently so I feel qualified
to speak. I got my start through
a bargain in boots. I was in a
country store up state and the
man showed me a pair of cow-
hide boots pegged in his grand-
father's time. They were in
reasonable condition, needing
some neatsfoot oil, and I made
him a small offer which he ac-
cepted.
I wore them one day around
the farm, and, at, night. I couldn't
get them off. Cowhide boots
were like that. Friends and re-
lativeS gathered to straddle my
foot, while I pushed, with, the
other from behind, but nothing
happened. I had, to- make a
bootjack in, order, to, go to bed.
We used to have a bootjack on
the farm• here years ago and
remembered what it looked like,
writes John Gould in The Chris-
tian Science ,Monitor..
After got airy booth off I
bored, a hole;in'the ,bootjack and
hung it on a peg in „the shed,
where„a visiting transient„,saw it
the ne*t•summer and offered me
a dollar for it: a sum 'I accepted
with alacrity, and he took it
home to be 'a doorstop 'hi New
Jersey,' leaving .the in -the boot-
jack business. I've made doaens
of them since then, and now I
get $2.5g for,„them. It is plea-
sant to refleeflhat I have made
so many hIppY, and that all
Want F rorief.-af-the ,oldest - and. teaaponfyl of cranberry, sauce.
Material prosperity breeds, in-
evitably, a new sense of might,
Nearly all the old. Nazis are back
in power. They have dug up
their gold, diamonds, silver plate
and other valuables salted away
in their gardens — they foresaw
Germany'.s collapse quite .clearly
and their own temporary dis,
grace no legs clearly. But with,
these considerable resources they
have built up new businesses,
and climbed back into beaurau,
eratic positions of authority.
At the universities, many
student groups have revived
their duelling clubs, At least
0,000 young men consider it man-
ly to display freshly scarred
cheeks, Such scars symbolize
fanaticism, which settles argu-
ments by the sword or its
modern equivalent.
Germany today is behaving
again in a very unfriendly way
to displaced persons and aliens
unlucky enough to be still living
within her frontiers. Her smart-
ly uniformed policemen, all
armed, far from being friendly
in diSposition, are " often little
autocrats, tinpot gods, wielding
a harsjp and humourless au-
thority.
In German jails prisoners are
sometimes savagely manhandled
by men who were formerly con-
centration camp guards, the very
men who committed such un-
speakable atrocities in the name
of the master race.
I spent one day visiting a
South German prison, housing
720 convicts, forty-four of whom
were alien nationals, including
some deserters from the Red
army. I was allowed to talk
freely a n d unsupervised to
several of these men. And I
found that even in the prison
service German_ racial, antag-
onisms persist. But the foreign
convicts had one gala day this
year, the day when England's
football team defeated Germany
in Berlin by 3-1.
"We watched the game on tele-
vision," said one prisoner. "And
how we cheered when the Eng-
lishmen slammed in their goals."
There is no doubt in my mind
that month by month Germany's
natural arrogance will mount.
Her newspapers and periodicals
do all they can to belittle other,
nations. Simple incidents are
magnified as illustrations of
"sub-human" behaviour. "Scan• -
dals" of the Allied occupation
are dug up and retailed with a
wealth of imaginative detail.
Yet that loathsome, evil and
fearful record of concentration
camp atrocities—the foulest blot
surely on contemporary civiliza-
tion — is already long forgotten.
Traces of those infamous
camps, together with memorials
to their millions of victims, are
either being allowed to rot away
to nothingness, or they have
been deliberately erased. Ger-
many is whitewashing her past
with typical thoroughness.
Of course, there are decent
Germans, good men and women
whose love for humanity is
genuine and standards beyond
praise. But this fanatically ener-
getic, readily disciplined, strong
and inventive race, should any
new Fuhrer arise, may well
burst out into some new flood
of barbarism,
What was said hundreds of
years ago remains true: "The.
German is either grovelling at
your feet or flying at your,
throat." And today, my strong-
est impression after a six-weeks'
visit is that the German is look-
ing upwards again.
Pick up Corresponding corner
of each triangular section and
fold over centre filling. Press
gently in• centre to hold 4 points
together. Place' a whole, cooked
cranberry in the centre on top
of points. Bake in hot oven
(400°F.) for 8 to 10 minutes.
* *
CHRISTMAS JEWELS
(Makes 31/2 Dozen)
% cup butter
% cup brwon sugar
%•cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sitted all-purpose
flour'
% teaspoon baking powder
teaspodn soda
% teaspoon-salt
1% cups rolled oats
% cup gumdrops (20 to 25
finely cut)
1 cup shredded coconut
Cream butter with brown and
granulated sugar until fluffy.
Add one egg, water and vanilla.
Beat until well blended and
smooth. Sift together flour, bak-
ing powder, soda and, salt. Then
add dry ingredients to butter
mixture. Mix thoroughly. Fold
in rolled oats, and gumdrops and
combine. Chill for 1 hour. When,
cool, shape dough in hands to
make small balls. Roll in coco-
nut. Bake on a buttered baking
sheet in a moderate oven (350°
F.) for 15 to 20 minutes.
An English View Of
Twice, in the lifetime of many
,senders, Germany's arrogant
ambition has plunged the world.
Into a disastrous blood bath.
Each time her material might
has collapsed, 1Viagnanimously,
t h e victorious nations have
rallied to enable her to recon-
eruct her shattered fortunes.
Noll, rebuilt for the second
time, Germany Is feeling again
that awful urge to dominate,
And even if she only pursues
It peacefully, her conquests
soon be world-Wide.
A middle-aged Englishman
whose hoby is mountaineering,
bad just pulled himself up a
stiffish peak in the Bavarian
Alps. Resting on the brink, he
suddenly felt a vitious jab in
his ribs,
Glancing down, he saw that
the blow had come from a young
German, aged twenty, who was
just gaining the summit and
desired to remove the final ob-
struction.
Happily, this Englishman re-
fused to be shoved out of the
way. Speaking, fluent German
he gave the youth a bit of ad-
vice: "If you come a centimetre
nearer, I will knock you down!"
He meant it. And his com-
panion, a well-built Scot, was
already flexing his muscles.
Rather surprisingly, the Ger-
man and his two companions
climbed no higher, but went
back, muttering angrily.
I say "rather surprisingly" be-
cause, after six weeks in this
feverishly reconstructed and now
fantastically prosperous country,
I find again ample evidence of
that crazy nationalistic spirit
that launched Hitler on his
totalitarian road to ruin, and
earlier gave the. Kaiser an army
which he thought could lick the•
world, writes A. J. Forrest 'in
"Tit-Bits".
No nation's character changes,
in a generation. We delude our-
selves if we imagine that the
Germans, after a second catastro-
phic defeat,,will never again risk
an equally immense, disaster.
Their old urge to dominate is
Working afresh today, especially
in economic channels. It's as if
Hitler's" ghbat had returned. to
lead their goosestep to• power.
German' exports, as the Board
Of Trade's special inquiry team
reveals, jumped in volume by
forty-two per cent during 1953-
1955. Our own, in comparison,
have registered a net•of merely
twelve per cent. In many
markets, the Germans have
knocked us flat. Hence today
the Deutschemark is the strong-
est currency in Europe, and
German gold and dollar reserves
exceed. :our own!
Western Germany today, with
a population of 57,000,000, has
not only absorbed 10,000,000
refugees from the East, but is
now recruiting, as fast as she
can, workers from Northern
Italy to man her heavy in-
dustries. "Colossal" alone de-
scribes the nation's recuperative
energy. And with it merges the
old lust for power.
It shows itself in a thousand
ways. On the roads, for example,
the manners of German motor-
ists are frankly hoggish. They
show little consideration for a
fellow driver, and none what-
ever for a pedestrian. In all my
travels, from Bremen in the
north to Munich in Bavaria, only
one motorist stopped to let me
cross a street. She was a woman.
I felt tempted to ask her why
she was behaving so oddly.
*
QUICK CHOCOLATE DROPS
(Makes 3 Dozen)
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 cups white sugar
2/2 cup butter
% cup milk
% teaspoon vanilla
Combine rolled oats, coconut
and cocoa in a large bowl. Mix
thoroughly, Place sugar, butter
and milk in saucepan and heat
almost to boiling point, (do not
boil). Then pour over dry mix-
ture. Stir well, and drop by
spoonsfuls on buttered wax
paper. Chill until firm.
NO SURRENDER
A Scotsman surprised his
friend by turning up at a fancy
dress ball in the guise of Napo-
leon.
"Why on earth should a Scots-
man assume the character of Na-
poleon?" asked the friend.
"Well, for one thing, you can
keep your hand on your wallet
all the time," said the Scot.
MORE SAFETY — Capt. Richard Ogg, right, who successfully
ditched his Strotocruiser in mid-Pacific, took a second vital
precaution upon arrival at his home. He had his entire family
line up for Salk anti-polio shots. Above, family physician Dr.
Robert O'Neill, left, prepares to inoculate Ogg's wife, Blanche,
and their daughter, six-year-old Marilyn. Son Randy, 10, had
had his shot earlier.
most, enjoyable ways of - saying
"Merry Christmas"? Then move
alorig into your kitchen for the
preParatory work of making
rich, holiday • butter cookies. The
, "getting ready to give" will be
as much fun for you, as the
gifts from your kitchen will be
for your lucky recipients. In
these .last-few -days of hectic
Christmas gift-buying, you'll
find that a few boars in your
own kitchen will produce some
handsome gifts for the "specials"
on your list, *.And" what a wel-
come change to be' able to make
gifts right in your own home
. . . as a,sentrast to the .pushing
and jostling .ao much a part of
holiday shopping in overcrow-
ded stores. And of course, since
time immemorial, the words of
the. poet have.. been 'meaningful
. . . "it is when you give of
yourself that you truly give".
Friends 'WhO receive gifts of
your cOokie
know that they represent your
labor and love every bit as much
as they are .a symbol of your
craftsmanship a la cruisine.
* * *
When the butter-rich batches
have come from the oven and
are cooled, it's a simple trick
to pack them off in gay Yule-
tide containers . to carry your
best wishes 'mingling sweetly
with their wonderful aroma.
Don't froget the wide assortment
of plastic dishes , . refriger-
ator and otherwise . . . that can
double 'as Christmas carriers, and
later serve usefully in ' some-
body's kitchen. Or what about
those empty 'round cereal tubes
—so plentiful if you've a baby
in' your house—or mailing tubes
which are dandy cookie-carters.
Gala tin boxes, round, square
or oblong, will nicely fill the
bill too, and come in for cookie-
storing long after your gifts
have disappeared. For mailing,
take a few percautions so your
gift won't be a crumbly memory
of "what might have been".
Use a heavy box with wax
paper lining, and plenty of filler
(crumpled tissue paper, or even
freshly popped corn). When
you're ready to put the lid on,
might dress it up with a gay,
vpaper" doilies, and your Christ-
mas encloseure card.
Then wrap it securely in
heavy mailing paper . . . and
be certain to mark the box
"Perishable'.
*
And in your desire to please
many with gifts' of yOur own
exquisite butter cookies, don't
neglect the members of Your
own family. Let it be Christmas
for them, before and after the
day: Let them enjoy the match,
less flavor of that dairy food,
butter, in Cookies the year
round by giving the "just be-
cause" gifts from your own kit-
chen.
POINSETTIAS
(Makes About 5 dozen)
IA cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons thick cream'
1 teaspoon Vanilla
31/1 cups Sifted all -purpose
flthir
teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
dratiberrY sauce
Cream butter until airitioth.
Gradually add sugar, then eggs.
Blend until flity. Stir in cream
and vanilla. Sift together flour,
soda and Salt, Add to butter
mixture and mix thoroughly.
Chill dough for several
Roll chilled dough Vs inch thick
on a lightly itoured board. Cut
in 3 frith spuaress. Place sqUareS
on lightly buttered cookie Sheet.
Cut with sharp knife froin cot-
ners ofeach square to. Within
ti inch of the 'Centre (making.
4 triangular,sections in 'each
Stinafd)., in te 'Centre place
Mystery Bird
Princess Margaret's visit to
Mauritius, the island home of the
dodo, during her five-week's East
African tour, has spotlighted once
more the mystery of an amazing
bird that became extinct about
275 years ago.
The dodo was last seen alive
in 1681, in Mauritius, which lies
in the Indian Ocean 1,500 miles
from the coast of East Africa.
The name "dodo" comes from the
Portuguese word meaning a
simpleton, and, when we say
"dead as the dodo" it indicates
anything that has gone absolute-
ly out of existence.
There's a woman in South Af-
rica who claims to possess the
only dodo egg in the world —
and she means to keep it. It
came from Mauritius and looks
like an ostrich egg, but the
owner is quite satisfied that it
Is genuine and originally belong-
ed to a shipwrecked sailor, one
of the sailors responsible for the
extermination of the dodo which
began in 1507 when dogs and '
pigs were used to hunt the bird.
Dodos could not fly, were
plump and weighed about 50 lb.
They looked rather ridiculous and
had sad-looking eyes.
Scientists have been discussing
the dodo for centuries. It was
nearly as big as a swan, but its
useless wings were no bigger than
a pigeon's' and its tail was noth-
ing but a silly-looking tuft.
An early explorer said that he
found the dodo so fleshy "that
one of these strange birds will
dine nearly thirty men."
He said the head was large and
it had a long, thick bill, pale blue
in colour. The legs were so short
that the bird's stomach nearly
reached the ground,
Parallel Lives
How's this for coincidence?
South.Africans Aubrey Good-
will and Robert Wyngaardt met
for the first time when they
joined the same regiment during
the war on the same day. They
Were both posted to the Natal
Mounted Rifles on the same day,
and at the war's end both return-
ed to their hornes — Wyngaardt
in the Transvaal and Goodwill in
the Cape in the same 'plane.
Four years later they met by
pure chance in a Durban hotel
and discovered that they had
both been married on the same
day, More than that, their wives
were named Madge and each had
had a brideStriaid tiatried
They had else' booked honeymoon
reservations in the saute hotel.
Talking together in Mitten,
the' tWO men discovered that each
of their fathers Was named Witt
and that each had a brother
named. Colin. Alter fifteen
Months the Men distovered that
each now had a daughter
named Barbara.
Wyngaardt and Goodwill' Part,
Ed company agairi and did Of
Meet Until recently when Ocied ,
Will bought Whouse hi Durban. A
month or so later the acljeirfitit
house WaS taken ,w.- by the V,TYri4
,geardtai
.44
t1NE FORMS' At .14it tkei* .diveieles, to he ii.uick feSpoiiS& to lield4Oriteti Sib*
Oh this 'APO. fi gures are waiting. tdi be dressed': tor the
iteriii 'Opening-,
TWO'-FACED' Named after Janus, two-faced Ronicin dod of
gates and doort; ,this new German fo ur seated Midget car fee-
Sures doors in trent and in back. Passengers sit back-to-back.
Made by tr iiiiOttifeyele manufacturer, the janut' Was unveiled
et the recent Brcycle and Motorcycle EidlibitrOa In Frankfurt.