Iowa Trivia -- Knowledge We Cannot Live Without!
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Take a look at this! It's the kind of information that will be of interest only to someone who came from Iowa, knew someone from Iowa, lived in Iowa for a spell, married someone from Iowa (if so, it may be best to keep these facts to yourself until such time as your spouse brings up some other obscure fact), had other relatives (no matter how distant) from Iowa, went to school in Iowa, drove through Iowa, or are one of those rare people who has a deep sense of pursuit of Iowa facts -- a very rare person, indeed! |
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Ripley's Believe It or Not has dubbed burlington's snake alley the most crooked street in the world. |
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Strawberry Point is the home of the world's largest strawberry. |
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The state's smallest city park is situated in the middle of the road in Hiteman. |
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Rathbun Dam and Reservoir is the largest body of water in the state.
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The |
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Kalona is the largest Amish community west of the |
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The state's lowest elevation point (at 480 feet) is in |
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The |
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The |
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Maynard Reece, born in Arnolds Park, is the only artist to win the Federal Duck Stamp competition five times. |
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Sabula is |
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Herbert Hoover, a West Branch native, was the 31st president of the |
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Mamie Doud Eisenhower's birthplace is located in Boone and includes a restored frame house, complete with summer kitchen and original furniture. |
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Van Meter is the hometown of baseball's Bob Feller, an |
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Born Donnabelle Mullenger in |
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Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, John Wayne was the son of a pharmacist and grew up to become one of |
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The town of
Campers and motor homes are manufactured in |
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Decorah hosts Nordic Fest -- a three-day celebration of their Scandinavian heritage.
The national balloon museum in indianola chronicles more than 200 years of ballooning history. sheldon high school summer theater, the only high school repertory in iowa and one of just a few in the nation, puts on a different play each week in june and july. Wright county has the most artesian wells. Eagle grove has an artesian well that has run non-stop for over 100 years and is still flowing. folks from all over go there and fill jugs with its pure water. |
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Beautiful Land |
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53 Years Ago Comments made back in 1955 . . . "I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20."
"Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2000 will only buy a used one." "If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous." "Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?" "If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store." "When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage." "Kids today are impossible. Those ducktail haircuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls." "I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying "damn" in "Gone With the Wind," it seems every new movie has either "damn" or "hell" in it." "I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas."
"Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the president." "I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now." "It’s too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet." "It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work."
"Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more; those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat." "I'm just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business." "Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government."
"The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on." "There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel." "No one can afford to be sick any more; $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood." "If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a haircut, forget it." |
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The ABC’s of Aging
A is for arthritis;
B is the bad back, C is the chest pains, perhaps car-d-iac? D is for dental decay and decline, E is for eyesight, can't read that top line! F is for fissures and fluid retention, G is for gas which I'd rather not mention. H is high blood pressure--I'd rather it low; I is for incisions with scars you can show. J is for joints, out of socket, won't mend, K is for knees that crack when they bend. L is for libido, what happened to sex? M is for memory, I forget what comes next. N is neuralgia, in nerves way down low; O is for osteo, the bones that don't grow! P is for prescriptions, just take a pill, you’ll be good as new! Q is for queasy, is it fatal or flu? R is for reflux, one meal turns to two. S is for sleepless nights, counting my fears, T is for Tinnitus; there's bells in my ears! U is for urinary; big troubles with flow; V is for vertigo, that's "dizzy," you know. W is for worry, NOW what's going 'round? X is for X ray, and what might be found. Y is another year I'm left here behind, Z is for zest that I still have-- in my mind. |
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SMALL TOWNS
Those who grew up in small towns will laugh when they read this. Those who didn’t will be in disbelief and won’t understand how true it is. 1) You can name everyone you graduated with.
2) You know what 4-H means.
4) You used to “drag” Main. 5) You whispered the “F” word and your parents knew within the hour. 6) You scheduled parties around the schedules of different police officers, because you knew which ones would bust you and which ones wouldn’t. 7) You could never buy cigarettes because all the store clerks knew how old you were (and if you were old enough, they’d tell your parents anyhow.) Besides, where would you get the money? 8) When you did find somebody old enough and brave enough to buy cigarettes, you still had to go out into the country and drive on back roads to smoke them. 9) You knew which section of the ditch you would find the beer your buyer dropped off. 10) It was cool to date somebody from the neighboring town. 11) The whole school went to the same party after graduation. 12) You didn’t give directions by street names but rather by references. “Turn by Nelson’s house, go 2 blocks to Anderson’s, and its four houses left of the track field.” 13) The golf course had only 9 holes. 14) You couldn’t help but date a friend’s ex-boyfriend/girlfriend. 15) Your car stayed filthy because of the dirt roads, and you will never own a dark vehicle for this reason. 16) The town next to you was considered “trashy” or “snooty,” but was actually just like your town. 17) You referred to anyone with a house newer then 1955 as the “rich” people. 18) The people in the “big city” dressed funny, and then you picked up the trend 2 years later. 19) Anyone you wanted could be found at the local gas station or the dairy bar. 20) You saw at least one friend a week driving a tractor through town or one of your friends driving a grain truck to school occasionally. 21) The gym teacher suggested you haul hay for the summer to get stronger. 22) Directions were given using the stop light as a reference. 23) When you decided to walk somewhere for exercise, 5 people would pull over and ask if you wanted a ride. 24) Your teachers called you by your older siblings’ names. 25) Your teachers remembered when they taught your parents. 26) You could charge at any local store or write checks without any ID. 27) There was no McDonalds. 28) The closest mall was over an hour away. 29) It was normal to see an old man riding through town on a riding lawn mower. 30) You’ve pee’d in a cornfield. 31) Most people went by a nickname. 32) You laughed your butt off reading this because you know it is true, and you forward it to everyone who may have lived in a small town. I would not have wanted to have been raised any other way! Tough times don’t last – Tough people do. |
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WHAT DATING WAS LIKE IN 1958 |
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REMEMBER THESE?
I don’t think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma’s apron was
to protect the dress underneath,
but along with that, it served as a potholder
for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children’s’ tears,
and on occasion
was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used
for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes
half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places
for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold,
Grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow,
bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen
in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled,
it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used
to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road,
it was surprising how much furniture
that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready,
Grandma walked out on the porch
and waved her apron,
and the men in the fields knew
it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something
that will replace that “old-time apron”
that served so many purposes.
Send this to those who would know, and love the story
about Grandma’s aprons.
REMEMBER –
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies
on the windowsill to cool.
Her granddaughters set theirs
on the kitchen counter
to thaw.
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BACK TO THE 60's! |
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45 rpm spindles |
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Green Stamps |
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(with levers!) |
