RMW Ramblings

  The Big Bands at Sunnybrook Ballroom I ran across this poster at an antique mall and it brought back memories. The 1950s were the waning years of the big band era, but Sunnybrook Ballroom in Pottstown, PA gave me and some of my friends the opportunity to hear, and dance to, the live music of Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Les Elgart, and others, including a new name at that time, Maynard Furgeson.  There were many trips up US 202 and PA 100 on Saturday evenings in my 1948 Studebaker Land Cruiser sedan, and sleepy drives back.  Sunnybrook was alcohol free and welcomed teens. I welcomed at least one New Year in at Sunnybrook. A few times I had a chance to chat briefly with some of these major bandleaders, including Louis Armstrong. In 2007 Arcadia Publishing published a picture history of Sunnybrook by Thomas Sephakis, The Sunnybrook Ballroom. The Kenton poster above does not have a year, but October 3 fell on a Saturday in 1959.  I think I was there.

  Wilmington's Trackless Trolleys 2. Their History On March 29, 1939 the first trackless trolley line started in Wilmington, the 10 Delaware Ave., which ran out to The Highlands.  This had been the first tracked trolley line earlier.  The system was converted fully, eliminating tracked trolleys, and operated until December 6, 1957, when all lines were converted to smelly diesel buses.  It was a sad moment for me; I loved the trolleys.  DART, the successor to the old private Delaware Coach Company (DCCO) is now converting back to electric propulsion, now sans overhead wiring and trolley poles.   There is a complete history of Delaware's trolleys in this book, now out of print...     Two of our former trackless trolleys are at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME...   Our trackless trolley era got less than one page in Cox's book...    

  Wilmington's Trackless Trolleys 1. My Junkyard Finds In the 1940s and 1950s we had trackless trolleys, or trolley buses, in Wilmington.  Powered from twin  overhead electric wires with two trolley pole connections, these rubber tired trolleys could pull over to the curb and swerve around stopped vehicles.  In the 1970s I photographed some junkyard remains of a few of these in south Wilmington.  Here are some of the pictures.     Here's a ceiling light fixture, rather art deco... Here's the driver's dashboard... We'll have some more on our trolleys in another posting.

  A Christmastime Saint King Wenceslas Today, December 26, is the Feast Of Steven, when, as we all know, "Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Steven," according to the carol written by Anglican cleric John Mason Neale in 1853. I described my painting of St. Wenceslas with this a few years ago for a gallery display Saint Wenceslas   September 2, But associated with the Feast of St Steven December 26   St Wenceslas, Svätý Vaclav, Duke of Bohemia (posthumously titled King) has in tradition been celebrated for his generosity and kindnesses to the poor.   The patron of the Czech Republic, Wenceslas has long been venerated in Central and Eastern Europe.   His tradition in the English-speaking world has been informed by the carol Good King Wenceslas published in 1853 by the Anglican cleric John Mason Neale, who overlooks our scene from his framed photograph.   The seven-foot tall saint carries a jug of wine and a basket food for the poor...

  A Nativity Set Three Christmas Miniatures This little set of paintings was done to fit a group of small thrift store found frames which I bought four for a dollar.  (The fourth frame found another purpose.)  From left to right, the Shepherds, the Holy Family, and the Magi.  They are currently on holiday display in our home.

  Handel The Messiah  For Unto Us An important part of the Christmas season for me is The Messiah , the oratorio by  George Fredrick Handel [ Georg Friederich Händel].   In the 1950s I was part of the chorus in performances of The Messiah for several years with the Wilmington's Capella Club at Grace Methodist Church in front of their magnificent stained glass window by Louis Comfort Tiffany.    My painting above, For Unto Us, shows Handel, with an organ pipe rank halo, conducting a small chorus and instrumental ensemble,  on a gallery wrapped canvas with a baroque crest  (see this blog August 03, 2021.) I retained my worn and annotated  Schirmer score and paid for a new replacement for the Club.  A few years later I hand rebound my copy with scrounged materials.  The black cloth was scrap from blackout fabric in our Berkeley lab where we were doing research requiring darkroom conditions.  The framed title was assembled from t...

  This Year's Card 2021 Christmas Eve by the Fire Our card this year looks back to the 1970s...   Our card in 2012 also showed Mary by the fire, that year at our cottage...