Echoes from the Past

On November 20^th, 1678, just seventy years after John Smith first explored the Potomac River and laid eyes on the shores of the future home of Alexandria, Virginia Governor Herbert Jefffrey’s, Esquire, granted a 627-acre tract of land to John Carr and John Simpson for the “transportation of 13 persons into the colony” (Archaeological Excavations).  According to the Archaeological Testing Report undertaken by the Virginia Threatened Sites Program Grant, existing physical landmarks marked the boundaries of this grant:

“Beginning at a marked red Oak standing near a Beaver Dam and running down the Creek according to the several courses thereof two hundred and eight poles, thence into the woods North West six hundred and forty poles; thence South West one hundred and eighty poles; thence South East five hundred and forty poles to the aforesaid mentioned Oak.”

 Beginning in 1681, the land was divided up among various landowners including John West, a Stafford county planter, who bought a portion of the land from John Simpson in the late 17^th century (Excavations). In 1750 his grandson Hugh West bought all of the tracts of land, reuniting the land grant once again.  Hugh was a major landowner in Alexandria, and one of the town’s first trustees and a member of the upper class. According to the Data Recovery Report of the West Family Cemetery, Hugh West owned a tobacco warehouse in Alexandria, which became a town landmark and was thus documented for posterity. He was also a planter—an inventory of his personal possessions included eight slaves who worked on his plantation. Therefore, it is likely that a large portion of his land was planted with tobacco. 

By 1782, Census Data for Fairfax County lists Thomas West, grandson of Hugh, as the head of his father’s household. By this time Thomas had inherited the 627 acre tract of land that had been planted by his father and grandfather before him. Thomas West was also a planter and likely continued the tradition of planting tobacco on the family land. Unlike his forbearers, however, Thomas’s financial affairs were not well managed and he began to sell off large tracts of land to cover his debts (Data Recovery Report).

In 1784, he sold a half-acre lot on the north side of Queen Street to five members of the Society of Friends (Wm. Hartshorne, John Butcher, John Saunders, John Sutton, and Aaron Hewes) for 5 shillings to be used as a Quaker burial ground. This burying ground is documented in many early maps of Alexandria and is shown to be on Queen Street between Washington Street and Columbus Street (The Fireside Sentinal). 

Marker on the East side of the property at 717 Queen Street, in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

According to the Alexandria Gazette, on July 23, 1860, the cemetery was the site of a tragedy when a young girl attempted to open the gate to the cemetery—she was crushed to death when the gate fell on her.

The Society of Friends kept a record of minutes from many of their meetings and from these records emerges an interesting account of the use of the cemetery for activities other than burial during the early 20^th century.  On July 13^th, 1918, Friend Albert Stabler “presented a request from the Audubon Society of Alexandria that it be permitted to equip the cemetery in Alexandria as a bird refuge”.  The meeting approved of this proposal and allocated funds in the amount of $15 for improvements to the cemetery, but minutes from a December 1919 meeting shows that the Audubon Society never used the funds and thus the approval for this venture was retracted.

In 1921, the irrepressible Mr. Stabler again presented a request for a multi-purpose use of the burial grounds, this time as a “playground for small children”. The meeting approved this proposal after gaining permission from the relatives of all those who were interred in the cemetery, and the treasurer allocated $25 “to cover the expense of cleaning up” the property (Further Reflections).

In 1937, the Society of Friends verbally agreed to lease the burying ground to the city of Alexandria for a period of 99 years as the site of the new Alexandria Public Library. Records indicate that two of the original members of the Alexandria Library Company, Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick and Edward Stabler were buried there at one time. The Society of Friends stipulated that the graves in the cemetery not be disturbed by the construction of the library, which was accomplished due to “limiting the depths of the foundation to 30 inches” (Virginia Department of Historic Resources). 

Stone marker on the West side of the property at 717 Queen Street in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

 As of 2002, the legal owners of the property, site of the Kate Waller Barrett Branch of the Alexandria Library, were listed as the Alexandria Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, approved by Philip Sunderland, City Manager of Alexandria.

Several stones in the front yard of the library mark the land as an historic burial ground of the Society of Friends and a memorial marking the grave of Dr. Elisha Dick are the only visible remnants of land’s rich and varied use over the past three centuries.  Library employees insist that there are other reminders of a less physical nature—quiet footsteps heard in an empty room and unexplained movement from books and computers are among the tales.  In these whispered stories, the heritage of the land lives on, passed along from person to person until one day they are spoken aloud to a person who looks, wonders,  asks, and finally writes about this land.

 Sources:

Archaeological Investigations at 1400 Janney’s Lane.  Alexandria, Virginia, 2003.

Archaeological Testing at 108 N. Quaker Lane, Smucker Property. Virginia Threatened Sites Program Grant.          Alexandria, Virginia, 2006.

Excavations at the West Family Cemetery, Alexandria Archaeology.  Alexandria, Virginia, 1999.

Goodwin, Christopher. Final Report: Data Recovery at the West Family Cemetery, Block 2 Hoffman Properties, Alexandria, Virginia, 2004.

Miller, Michael T. Further Reflections on the Friends Cemetery at 717 Queen Street.  Alexandria, Virginia, 1994.

Sorenson, J.H. Will of John West of Stafford County. Falls Church, Virginia.

The Fireside Sentinel: An Historic Journal about Alexandria. The Lloyd House, Alexandria Library, 1987.

Will of Sybil West. Lloyd House, Alexandria Library, Alexandria, Virginia.

Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Preliminary Information Form, individual Property, Alexandria, Virginia, 2002.

All Paths Lead

A public library is a connection and a reminder of where our society has been and where it is now.  A combination of the tangible and intangible, even the most solitary of people becomes connected within its four walls. Every book on the shelves of the library serves as a connection between author and reader. Where books may not provide enough information, the library provides a free wireless internet connection, linking each user between the "here" and the "there".  The building itself has seen change and unrest but it remains, a link to the present, emblazoned with dates in history that will not be forgotten. As books travel from the public realm to the private realm, they spread the message of connection throughout the community, creating a footprint and a path for the discerning eye to see.

Dates Engraved on Buildings

1921: National Association of Retired and Federal Employees

1850: Lee-Fendall House

1961: Wellls Fargo

1962: The 300 Building

1794: Alexandria Public Library Kate Waller Barrett Memorial Building

1797: Lloyd House

1800: Lord Fairfax House

1929: Alexandria Post No. 24 American Legion

1763: Replica of Washington’s Town House

1804: Alexandria’s First Sugar Refinery

1896: Alexandria Shoe Repair

1949: Alleyne A.M.E. Zion Church

1984: Washington Engineering Center

1986: American Vocational Association Headquarters

1897: Hard Times Café

1950: Practice of Dr. Bernard Stier

1953: Educational Building Washington Street Methodist Church

1950: Beulah Baptist Church

1839: The Lyceum

1785: Washington School Compound

Public Wireless

Old Towne Motel

Travelodge

Starbucks

Alexandria Public Library

Kimpton Hotel

ESP Coffee

Firehook Coffee

Lending/Rental Services

PNC Bank

The Business Bank

Bank of America

“For Lease” Cushman and Wakefield

“For Lease” Offices Tom or Charles Hulfish

Wells Fargo

Alexandria Public Library

“For Rent” 1523 King Street

Capitol Bikeshare

“For Lease” 815 King Street

Citibank

TD Bank

United Bank

“For Lease” 321 Washington Street

Capitol One

“For Lease” 428 Washington Street

“For Sale or Lease” 400 S. Washington Street

“For Leas” 312 S. Washington Street

BB&T

Sights of the Round Table

On the second floor, beneath a large skylight, four light gray armchairs surround a small, white and brown table. The chairs are comfortable enough that they are rarely empty. The table is their connecter and is as busy as the chairs. It's day begins when the library opens, and is busy until the doors close at 7:00 PM.

10:00.  The table begins the day as an empty canvas, waiting and ready for visitors. 

10:30.  First, one pair of Converse tennis shoes, grayish white, laces frayed but double-knotted are propped up, the feet that are wearing them are crossed and light blue-jeans rest on the table. Keeping them company is a pair of expensive looking Bose headphones, large, squishy and black, with a hard plastic connector creating the requisite headphone shape.

11:00.  The feet are gone, replaced by the October edition of Men’s Health magazine. (Get Back in Shape! Kill Zombies!) Next to it is a gray ball-point paper mate pen, cap off.

11:30.  A Men’s Health magazine subscription card has replaced the actual magazine. Sitting next to it is a half-full bottle of Multi-V Vitamin Water, Lemonade flavor (“Vitamin A to Zinc!”)

12:00. The Men’s Heath subscription card is still here, now accompanied by a lime-green faux leather bound journal, weathered and dirty. Careful observation reveals that it is actually a case for a small black kindle.

12.30. Empty except for the subscription card.

1:00. Several books— Aligned, Relaxed, Resilient: The Physical Foundation of Mindfulness by Will Johnson. The soft cover is pale blue and white, looks to be about several hundred pages.  Next to it is The Adventures of Tin Tin: Volume Seven.  This book is thin and bright red, with a hard cover.  The subscription card is gone.

1:30.  Aligned, Relaxed, Resilient: The Physical Foundation of Mindfulness and The Adventures of Tin Tin have been joined by another hard-cover book with an image of a man’s face on the front: Serial Killers: Profiles of Today’s Most Terrifying Criminals by the Editor’s of Time Life. Serial Killers sits on top of another hardcover book, brick red. Some sort of encyclopedia?

2:00. A librarian has cleared the pile of books from the table and put them on a re-shelving cart. Upon inspection of the cart I was able to discern the full title of the brick-red book: Encyclopedia of the Vatican and Papacy edited by Frank J. Coppa.

2:30. A Silver laptop has appeared, with the familiar apple logo emblazoned on top. A soft, camel-colored purse lays open next to the laptop. A phone peeks out of the top—it keeps vibrating, unnoticed by anyone other than myself.  On the other half of the table, several new books: How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok. The author is Glenn Greenwold. The statue of liberty stares up at the ceiling from the taupe-colored hard cover. Next to this is another book: World War II: A Visual Encyclopedia by John Keegan.

3:00. The laptop is no longer on the table, but a battery-pack is now in its place, along with a cord that runs off and down the side of the table. The purse also remains, as do the patriotic books. An i-pod has joined the mix, taken from inside the purse. It is small and thin, lime-green—it looks like a Nano. Its thin black cord trails along the table.

3:30. The purse and electronics are gone. The patriotic books remain on the table, but they have been joined by something more colorful—The Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over Again. A brunette woman beams from the cover, surrounded by flowers and vegetables. She wields a large knife.

4:00. A librarian has emptied the table again. All the books have been carefully placed on the flat gray re-shelving rack with wheels that slowly makes its way around the second floor until it is parked in front of the circulation desk.

4:30. Three new books are on the table,  two soft-covers and one hardcover. The first: The Complete Guide to Working for Yourself: Everything the SELF-EMPLOYED Need to Know About TAXES, RECORDKEEPING, and Other LAWS.  Co-authored by Beth Williams and Dr. Jean Murray.  The book is decorated with pictures of smiling and prosperous self-employed men and women. Apparently a CD-ROM, advertised in the corner of the cover, accompanies the book. The next book is black and yellow, Home-Based Business for DUMMIES . Second Edition. (The fun and easy way to start a successful business in your own home.  A Reference for the Rest of Us!) By Paul Edwards and Sarah Edwards, Authors of The Best Home Businesses for the 21^st Century.  The third book is hard cover and is sparsely decorated. Its title: How to Sue in Virginia Small Claims Court: A Complete Guide to Taking Your Case to the “People’s Court” by J.D.R. M. Goolrick.

5:00. The three books from 4:30 are still on the table, accompanied now by a black, soft cover laptop bag.

5:30.  No change.

6:00.  The books are gone. In their place is a glossy magazine—The November edition of Vogue magazine. Rihanna glares out at the world from the cover, crouching in some sort of wheat field, clothed in bright, angry red. (Red-Hot Rihanna—“I Love to Have Fun”) Also in this issue: Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and the Funny Business of Politics.

6:30. Vogue is still on the table, now sitting next to an i-phone. Over the loudspeaker, an announcement proclaims thirty minutes until closing.

7:00.  As I leave, I look behind me for once last glimpse of the table. The i-phone is gone,  but Rihanna remains.

Shedding Some Light

There are some things we don’t think too much about unless they are done poorly. People who are always on time are an excellent example. Generally you don’t hear about so-and-so, who is awesome because he is so punctual, but it doesn't go both directions. If you are always behind schedule, chances are people have noticed. It could be subtler than punctuality—maybe you are at a new grocery store and something just feels…off, but you can’t put your finger on it.  Bad lighting is one of those things. 

Lighting has come a long way since someone discovered the advantages to cutting a hole in the side of a wall, but despite the modern technology that allows for halogen, fluorescent, or LED bulbs, natural lighting is still on top. A basic window beats a light fixture even on its worst day. These days, architects have their pick of a plethora of window types when designing a building. There is the fixed window, the double-hung sash, the single-hung sash, the horizontal sliding sash, a casement, or the better known bay, skylight or thermal windows. Everyone likes a different kind, but most people would prefer some range of natural lighting to a dark, windowless cave.

The word “window” comes from the Old Norse word “vindauga”, a combination of the word “vind” meaning wind and “auga” meaning eye. Back them, windows lacked glass, and they allowed in not only the light but the wind as well. Modern windows in the Unites States tend to have glass panels, but the idea behind a “wind-eye” is still relevant today.  At schools, notorious for their fluorescent lighting, cheery windows shine helpful rays on the pages of books held by young readers. In the workplace, a window office is coveted and the hierarchy of the office is easily discovered by checking to see who has the best window/wall ratio.

At the brick solid public library on Queen Street, the windows play a particularly important role in the purpose of the building.  On approaching the front entrance, two rows of large windows mirror each other on either side of the front doors, pleasing in their symmetry and bold size. The front doors are large panes of glass, unbroken by grills, and held together only by their white casings, to allow for maximum possible light penetration. Above the doors, a window in the shape of a half circle dominates the viewers’ attention, and the grills on this window radiate from the center outward, mimicking the rays of the sun.  Upon entering the library, one immediately notices the skylights, which pierce through the ceiling, adding another layer of light to a space already bathed in it. The reading areas—some desks, some squishy chairs—are spaced out along the edges of the walls by the windows, or clumped together under the skylights.  Libraries are rarely open late, and this one is no exception. There is rarely a need for additional lightning in the main sections of the library (the exception being the genealogical reference room, which tends to be a lonely space)—the library is open during the daylight hours, when avid readers can take advantage of the best possible light by which to read. 

Upper library windows shed light on their bookshelves at St. John's College. (http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/asset73640_1169-.html)

 Without the books, however, the windows would useless. The thousands of books housed in the public library need to be seen to be experienced. The “wind-eye” serves the human eye in this purpose and they are dependent on one another. A person would be hard pressed to find a library lacking the combination package of books and windows.

And finally, as much as books need light to serve their purpose (for they are not only read by but also written by the stuff)—they also need a proper home. It would never do to just throw them in piles upon the floor, how would a person ever find anything?

Which brings us to the fascinating story of the history of the bookcase. The tale dates back to a time when books were becoming more available to the common person. When they were still written by hand and very rare, books were tenderly stored in small boxes that could safeguard them against the elements. Religious figures such as priests or rabbis kept them safe in churches and temples, but as the volume of books increased in the world, it became less practical to store them in chests. It was especially the advent of the Gutenberg printing press in the 15^th century that created the need for the storage of larger quantities of books. In monasteries, monks began to run out of space in their carrels and began piling them up and up until the need to reorganize them became dire. Many times books were chained to their shelves to keep over-zealous book lovers from running off with them without permission. Traditionally, books were piled one on top of the other, spines facing in on shelves that grew vertically from floor to ceiling. To identify books with spines facing inward, pictures or words were sometimes written on the thick of the pages which faced outward. Later on, if the books were old or valuable, there might have been transparent glass casing enclosing the shelves. 

Painted books with spines facing inward from the collection of Odorico Pillone. (http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/02/08/shelf-conscious/)

 Early bookcases were frequently made with wood such as oak, and were carefully carved into objects of beauty. Modern day bookshelves have little in common appearance-wise with their distant cousins of the 15^th century. Today libraries house thousands, sometimes millions of books that must be properly catalogs and shelved. Mobile aisle shelving isn’t much to look at, but the system doesn’t waste any space either. The bookcases can roll apart from one another, eliminating the need for large, static shelves that take up copious amounts of room. 

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Like the books and the windows, the humble bookcase is an invaluable and often overlooked aspect of a public library. Working together, books, their bookcases, and the windows that light them create a public space for the entertainment and education of people everywhere.

 

More Than Just a Fence

Anyone who has checked out a stack of books at the library or purchased some new reads at the bookstore knows the wide range of feelings that manifest themselves at the checkout counter. On a good day, it is smug pride; that nice big pile of classics on the counter showcases good taste and mature thinking. On other days, it is defensive embarrassment—yes I am about to turn twenty-seven, yes, I am buying another Harry Potter book, and yes it is for myself. Sound familiar?

The books we read sometimes feel like extensions of who we are; after all, they reflect our interests, passions, and the occasional guilty pleasure.  It seems like a violation of privacy to have to share your secret love of Stephanie Meyer with the women swiping your library card and giving you a “due by” date.  The firm walls of the counter that do such a good job of defining the boundary between customer and employee do nothing at all to save you from the embarrassment caused by the violation of an emotional boundary that you have would rather kept under lock and key.

Boundaries can be considered in two ways. The first is physical boundary, which is a real or imagined line that defines the farthest limit of an area. The second is personal boundaries, which are guidelines a person establishes to identify permissible ways for other people to behave around her and how she will respond when people move outside of those limits.  These two types of boundaries are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, they are too deeply interrelated to be separated. An individual’s personal boundaries may include boundaries of both their physical and emotional self. Similarly, a collective entity, such as a country, may define an international border by a river, mountain range, or some imagined line, but the boundaries of a country also include less tangible boundaries such as those of personal liberties and freedoms.

Both definitions can be applied when considering boundaries in a public library setting, as a library is an extension of both the individual and the community to which he or she belongs. Books contain the personal boundaries, or identities, of those who write them. According to authors G. B. and J. S. Lundberg in their book I don’t Have to Make Everything All Better, personal boundaries help to “define you as an individual, outlining your likes and dislikes, and setting the distances you allow others to approach”.

Physical boundaries can vary from the most basic (the fence surrounding a residence) to the very complex (an international boundary that differentiates one country from another). The river and fencing dividing the United States from Mexico are more than physical features of the landscape, although in many instances the Rio Grande or the guard towers are powerful physical reminders of the tensions between the two countries.  The fact that the border is guarded so heavily indicates a different set of boundaries, those legal boundaries that each State defines for its citizens and industries.  Industries from the United States establish factories on the Southern side of the border, where relaxed labor and environmental laws decrease overhead costs and increase company profits. And every year, thousands of individuals risk their lives by crossing the border illegally, hoping for a chance at a better life, one that allows individuals the freedoms of speech and press and assembly.

The border between the Unites States and Mexico--the symbolism stretches even further than the fence.  (http://www.relaxedpolitics.com/2009/08/better-than-any-fence/)

Public libraries, which are funded by the state, are an especially apt indicator of what those established boundaries of civil liberties are within the state. The books contained within the walls of a library (as well as the types of people who are allowed to use them) say just as much about the country that houses the library as that stack of books you may have checked out with head held either high or low.

In the United States, the expansion of civil rights from the time of the country’s founding until today has paralleled the evolution of the library system. In colonial times, most library collections were privately held by wealthy individuals such as doctors and lawyers, or by the churches and colleges they attended. In 1731, Benjamin Franklin and some of his literary friends banded together to create a “social library”, where they pooled their resources and shared their books with members of the learned elite.

Around the same time, the idea of the circulating library was taking hold. To become a member, a person had to buy stock in the library. Circulation libraries expanded the social library by including popular reading materials, such as novels, in addition to scholarly reading materials.  They were still restricted to the elite, however, and mostly men at that.

Finally, in the 19^th century, the public library system was born as a combination of the previous types of book lending services.  In 1848, The Boston Public Library was founded as the first free municipal library in the United States.  Their mission statement included assertions that there is a close linkage between knowledge and right thinking, that the future of democracy is contingent on an educated citizenry, that there is a strong correlation between the public library movement and public education, and that every citizen has the right of free access to community-owned resources.  Despite their lofty intentions however, access to public libraries remained difficult for the lower classes—their hours were restricted to day-time use, when the working classes were unable to get to them.

The social reform movement of the 19^th and 20^th centuries continued to parallel the expansion of equal access to public libraries.  It is Andrew Carnegie who is largely responsible for making public libraries truly accessible to all classes of citizens.  He donated millions of dollars to fund over 2,000 public libraries in the English-speaking world.  A self-educated man who became a millionaire, Carnegie is famous for publicly stating that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes to the poor. 

The Civil Right’s Movement of the mid-19^th century continued the march toward truly equal access to public libraries.  Now in 2012, thanks to the combined efforts of many men and women throughout several centuries, the boundaries of both the United States and Her public libraries have expanded to include people of all genders, races, and classes within their walls.

The Hide that Binds

           A quiet carpet of pine needles makes a thick layer on the forest floor, shadowed by a hundred rows of tall white pines, stark against the clear sky. The tops of the trees form rolling dark green hills-- each row gets shorter and shorter until finally they end at the fragile saplings,  transported from the nursery only the day before. And then up again, until they reach their peak, seventy feet in the air. The piney scent in the air is sharp and clean, so different from the fake spray you can buy at the drugstore. Suddenly, the churning whirring of metal on wood smashes the stillness, and one by one, the trees begin to fall. Now, there is a long gap in the rows of trees where the tallest ones used to stand—they will be replaced by their seconds in command and the cycle will continue.  Soon, they are all bundled together, needles are ripped away; giant toothpicks piled onto the beds of so many extra long trucks.  Phase one of their journey is over and now they move on.

Down the road just a little ways, a contented lowing drowns out the faint growl of the chainsaws and a farm, black and white and green all over, is temporary home to its many large lodgers.  Calm brown eyes, tails that swish arithmetically, a careful shifting back and forth—left to right and then back again—keeping the flies at bay; the entire herd roams slowly together. The grass is thick and lush, the perfect beginning, middle, and end to a day here on the farm.   By their pacified demeanor, it is plain to see that these cows are content in the moment and have no ideas about what tomorrow will bring.

Contented cattle in a field of green.  (http://www.saawinternational.org/cows.htm)

Moving from the lush valleys of the Pacific Northwest, down, down until the burning sun shines on land that is flat and wide. The view is broken only by a sound; one not easily identified by someone unacquainted with the natural gas fields of Texas.  An unceasing rhythm, click, whoosh, click, whoosh, draw the gaze to dozens of metal apparatus that look like children’s toys in a land this size.  

A man perches atop a gas rig in Texas.  (http://therightsideofaustin.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/texas-accounts-for-45-of-all-domestic-drilling/)

Far below the surface, the liquid that has filled pockets in the Earth for thousands of years is being pumped to the surface, where it will join the world of the white pine and cattle.

Back up North, the piles of toothpick trees continue their journey on the highway. Red flagging tape waves merrily in the wind at the end of the extra-long load, cautioning motorist to stay back.             When a new smell is in the air—“rotten eggs” people say, noses crinkled in disgust—the truck’s brake lights finally turn red, the tires slow and then stop.  The mill’s power source is high in its banks after a long rainy spring, perfect for generating the power needed to run a factory of this magnitude. Each log is carefully unloaded for processing.  

The Georgia Pacific paper mill. (http://www.penntoolsalesandservice.com/)

First, the debarker removes dirt and bark and then feeds individual logs into a chipper, creating a uniform cereal of wood, ready to be chewed up, digested, and then spat back; a wet, woody slurry.  The mixture is beaten, bleached, dried, and pressed into submission until it has been reformed into rolls and reams for bathrooms, office supply closets, and publishing houses.

Meanwhile, the trucker drives his empty rig back down home to the southland to rest before attaching another load for hauling. After a few days, he is back on the road, this time pulling a combustible cargo that requires careful driving and wakeful eyes.  Natural gas is difficult to transport, and trucking it cross-country is one of the main ways it travels. This batch is heading to a processing plant where is will be cleaned and the impurities scrubbed away until can be used for powering human lives in many forms. But there is a byproduct of this process—when natural gas is only partially combusted, carbon black is formed. The flat, black of this substance used to be considered trash, but now it is a valuable resource—it is mostly used as a rubber stabilizer for tire making, but it is also the main ingredient in paint, plastics, and ink.  Mixing carbon black, a binder, a solvent, and various additives together makes printer ink, now ready for placement in universities, offices and publishing houses.

 Our friends on the farm are noisier than ever. They are crowded onto the flat bed of another large truck, unsatisfied with the change of scenery— these cows are bound for the slaughterhouse. Their carcasses will be used for products that have a surprisingly wide range--from the steak on your plate and the sofa in your living room to the leather binding on your prized family Bible.  Each cow will produce about half it’s weight in the beef bound for the dinner table, and enough leather for eight pairs of cowboy boots for someone’s bare feet.  Before the hides become boots or books, they are processed at the tannery. The hides are soaked and de-haired, and then put through a series of chemical processes before they are ready to be stacked into piles of cured leather. 

            Far from the farms, fields, forests, and factories, a struggling writer takes her finished book, neatly wrapped in a padded manila envelope, and puts it into the hands of the post office worker who will send it off to the publishing company. If she is lucky, they will review it, accept it, and send it to the printing press for publication. If she pays extra, she can get the leather binding wrapped about the paper and ink that will hold her book together the way coffee has held her together for the past two years. And maybe, maybe, it will become popular enough to justify enough printings for the bookstores  or the public library, where it will join the ranks with a thousand other books, all of them which have journeyed from field, to forest, to factory and finally here, to a quiet home to be loved or hated by readers for years to come. 

Crafting a Turkey

Butterball turkeys, seventy cents a pound! Frozen or fresh, seven pounds or twenty, buying a turkey for Thanksgiving is generally a painless procedure, one that is easily checked off a “to-do” list during the week before Thanksgiving.

            In fact, the only difficult task when choosing a turkey at the local Safeway or Wal-Mart is in picking the perfect one. Piles upon piles of sanitized, plastic-wrapped, overstuffed birds patiently wait to become the main course of a gluttonous dinner. Most people just choose based on the number of guests who will be joining their table—a pound (or maybe two!) per person usually does the trick. After all, in a Butterball Turkey, size is really the only way to tell one apart from another.

Turkeys show their tail feathers. Image from http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/2009/03/the_niman_turkey_project.html

            Back in the day before these sumptuous birds topped the scales at roughly the same size as a small child, the way Americans prepared for Thanksgiving happened a little differently.  A visit to the local butcher weeks or even a month before Thanksgiving was less easily checked off the task list. A family had to make holiday plans well in advance—having to pre-order the turkey was to fix the number of guests at a maximum amount. But pre-ordering the bird was necessary because farmers needed more time to prepare them for the big day. Small farms ran high risk operations, and no one wanted to take the chance of having grown too many turkeys, and then having no one to sell them to after Thanksgiving. The farmer sold to the butcher, who sold to the consumer, and everyone had money on the line.

            The mass production of meat in the United States is a relatively new phenomenon. Farming has never been a “get rich quick” business, and one of the easiest ways to keeps costs low and profits high is by streamlining the product. Even just a few decades ago, the idea of pumping hormones into pork, beer, or poultry was an unheard of concept. To get the turkeys fat, a farmer had to make sure the bird had plenty of time to eat plenty of calories. It took time to grow the perfect turkey.

            A turkey needed a balanced diet high in protein to gain prized pounds, therefore it needed a proper habitat to peck for fat grubs and other insects. A farmer first had to be a generous benefactor to his birds before getting any financial payback from them.

            Additionally, antibiotics used to be less available to farmers—and more costly. Preventative care medicine was a crucial component to turkey raising. Turkey farmers had to be both competent veterinarians and benevolent landlords to coax profit from their poultry crop.

            These days, you might still see signs suggesting that you “Order Early”, but they are more of a novelty than the norm. Mostly these signs are at farmers markets or healthfood stores and the turkeys they represent are going to cost more than 70 cents per pound.Turkey craftsmen are a dwindling breed, but for people who consider cooking to be a form or artisanship they are a small but invaluable resource.