The Yarn Spinner

  Kate Smith – God Bless America In the U.S, the last Monday in May,   Memorial Day, is set aside for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Two other days celebrate those who have served or are serving in the U.S. military: Armed Forces Day (May 18 th ) an unofficial U.S. holiday for honoring those currently serving in the armed forces, and Veterans Day (on November 11th), which honors all those who have served in the United States Armed Forces. When the United States entered World War II after the 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor, men shipped overseas by the millions to serve in the war. This left many of the civilian and military jobs on the home front unfilled—and that's when women stepped in. A U.S. government ad campaign to encourage women to enter the workforce featured a fictional icon "Rosie the Riveter," with the words, "We Can Do It!&quo

  The Striking Facts       “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door- Only this, and nothing more, or maybe it was the guy on the typewriter next door?”   It was called the "Sholes & Glidden Typewriter," and gunmakers E. Remington & Sons in Ilion, NY made it. It was not a big seller at first, but it sure made office work less boring, and it all started in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Christopher Sholes liked to tinker, and he envisioned a machine that would automatically number the pages in books he published. One of his friends suggested he might shoot higher and challenged him to produce a machine to print the entire alphabet. Sholes made a simple device:   a piece of printer's

                                                                          No Chalk for a Cat Y ou took small jobs if you could find them – any job and   you never stayed in one place for long.” The was The Great Depression (1929–1939) -   a time where “Knight Membership” was at its peak, because it   forced an estimated 4,000,000 adults to leave their homes in search of food and a place to live. Of those, 250,000 were said to be teenagers and Sam was one of them— the economic collapse had destroyed everything in his   life. With no work and no prospects at home, my uncle decided to hit the road - travel for free by freight train and try his luck elsewhere. Sam   crisscrossed the country,   by   train, jumping into boxcars as trains pulled away from their stops or slowed at bends in the track. Sometimes he said, he   would help kids walking the tracks– boys mostly – load clumps of coal onto coaster wagons. The coal had fallen off hop

  And That’s How We Write                                                                                     A folktale is a story passed  from one person to another, by word of mouth over a period of time. Sometimes it  seeks to explain the world around us. Sometimes it tells the whole story about real people and events. Sometimes – but not always. Once upon a time long ago   (16th century) a fierce thunderstorm unearthed a small forest of trees   in Borrowdale (England)   After the storm ended, large deposits of a blackish material were found where the trees were uprooted. Someone said, “Hey, it looks like it’s lead” and everyone agreed that it did, so that’s what they called it. That’s the lead in your pencil .   Is this a true story? We will check back later but now that   we “got the lead” out, let’s get to the point. This post is about pencils. Writing is a cornerstone of human civilization, allowing us to convey knowledge, express our ideas and emotions, and help pres