Looking Through the Catalogue:

I remember older teachers reminiscing about the Eaton’s catalogue when I was in public school; recalling the fact that their mother’s ordered furniture for their home from it. They remembered the catalogue as a high point, often when their families could buy things from it, it meant that their families, mostly immigrant backgrounds, had made it financially. While going through the catalogue I felt old, because I could remember shopping at the Eaton’s store at Yorkdale mall with my mother. If I mentioned this to anyone at least five years younger than me, they would probably not remember shopping there. When thinking about Eaton’s I was surprised how well I remembered them going bankrupted, then re-opening some stores (including the Yorkdale one), then going bankrupted for a final time. I went to check Wikipedia to see when this all happened. Their final bankruptcy was in 1999, when I was ten. I strongly recall the basement of their store in Yorkdale having a liquidation sale during their first bankruptcy. And that they chose a sparkly indigo blue for their new store near the escalators. On a side note, I really don’t like escalators, because when I was around seven years old I remember watching one of those 20/20 or Dateline specials about dangers. And they showed this kid who lost a chunk of his foot from it being caught in the escalator; I always stare at my feet when on an escalator due to this show. That’s why the sparkly blue is in my memory, because it had to be something eye catching for me not to look at my feet to make sure they did not get sucked into the side of the escalator. 

Though it may seem like I am all nostalgic about Eaton's closing, I don’t really care. It is a tad sadder that the oldest Canadian company (HBC) was sold to Americans. But, since Lord & Taylor bought it, the shopping there has just become so much better.  While I am on this topic of lost Canadian business to America; I think the selling-off of part of CN Rail to Americans probably made John A. MacDonald role over in his grave. Since he temporarily lost being PM for almost making the railway go into the States, and now its own by Americans. Though I think a train from Union Station to Grand Station would make it up to me.

So I should probably stop my mind from digressing, though thats just how it works. I start thinking about one thing off topic, then it snow-balls and I am off googleing random-ass things.

My most predominate memory of the Eaton’s catalogue is from Roch Carrier’s book “The Hockey Sweater”. Which in grade two I remember reading in three different languages (I no longer can do this). The Quebec boy sadly gets a Toronto Maple Leaf’s sweater from the Eaton’s catalogue, instead of the coveted Maurice ‘The Rocket’ Richard jersey.  

The cover of the first Eaton's catalogue, published in 1884.

Now back to the assignment. After doing all these readings about how to preserve, what has been preserved, problems with preservation, ect. I am still impressed by how much is on the internet. The magnitude of it all is far beyond my comprehension. I really like to be able to see and touch things to truly understand and comprehend. Holding a primary document is way cooler than a digital copy, especially when you have to hold it close and squint at it in your attempt to read it, hard to do with a computer that is heavy. Yet, I am all for these out of copyright books to be available for free on-line. Obviously, the benefits of the internet do not reach everyone in the world equally, since globalization as a process hopes from spot to spot, instead of spreading resources evenly.  But let’s not be grim on the eve of another semester finishing, let’s instead be happy that at least some are benefiting; problems with equal distribution of the internet can be a topic for next semester.

One popular undergrad course at this university is Children’s Literature, it’s offered at main and all three affiliates; my sister took it last year. For the first semester of the course you read classical children’s literature. I happened to notice as I looked through the catalogue that many of the children’s books they were advertising were on my sister’s reading list, and are currently now on our shelf of past university books. I went through the books on our shelf and noticed that most were ten dollars, and that she had to read around one book a week. So in a semester she spent over a hundred dollars on these books, not including textbooks for the course. So I went to Project Gutenberg and looked up the famous (but is way too often referenced by people who think they are being profound by making illusions to it) Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass”. It is available here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12 . I mentioned this to her, that she could have read all these books on-line for free, but she replied that she prefers to read from a printed book, which I really can’t blame her. But it’s still nice to know you have the option.

One aspect that I found really interesting about this assignment was seeing what was popular for boys and girls in 1913-14. As a child, and still now, I enjoy reading what is often the duel year publication of novels about a favourite protagonist, that usually come out before Christmas, and in early spring. Often these types of books that become mass produced by an author by the fifth one are really popular in the time that they are written in, but become forgotten as new popular series get written. I was surprised to see such long lists of books about protagonists I had never heard of, so I decided to look them up. I was pleasantly surprised that the whole catalogue for these protagonists is available free on-line.  For girls I looked up the “Elsie Dinsmore” series by Martha Finley. The first book of the series is available here: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6440/pg6440.html.  But the rest are also on Project Gutenberg.

 For boys books they tended to be categorized by the author’s name, and contain lots of colonial imperial imagery (they would definitely not be available in public schools anymore).  One author is G.A. Henry, I provided his book “The Young Colonists” here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32934/32934-h/32934-h.htm. Another popular boy’s author was Horatio Alger, which are available here:

http://www.readbookonline.net/books/Alger/230/. Alger’s books were 19 cents in the Eaton’s catalogue.  Next, out of curiosity, I decided to look through the catalogue of the Toronto Public Library, to see what the likelihood was of me discovering any Alger books as a child. Well it makes sense that I never heard of him. His books are in the catalogue but they are only at the Toronto Reference Library, and they are in the back where you have to get a librarian to bring them out for you. So you can’t take any Alger books home, and you have to know that you want to see his books, you won’t merely discover them by shelf browsing (which is a shame because I find it a great way to discover new books). I think the true beauty in the Gutenberg Project is evident here, for books that are no longer easily available.

In the catalogue I liked the title “High Class Fiction” which cost 50 cents. But I did not know how much that was equal to today.  I discovered that The Bank of Canada has an inflation calculator, which is cool, so you should check it out: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/. The calculator stated that 50 cents in 1914 (which is the furthest back it goes) is $9.90 in 2011. From this list, I decided to seek out an on-line copy of “Torchy” by Sewell Ford, it’s available here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20626/20626-h/20626-h.htm. After finding it on the Gutenberg Project website I went to the Indigo/Chapter’s website and was surprised to find that they only had a pre-1923 historical reproduction of this book, and the website kind of hinted that it might have errors. The book is currently out of print, though they claim that they are trying to bring it back into print again. The book is quite expensive for a novel at $34.50. Another book under the High Class Fiction section in the catalogue was “Sowing Seeds of Danny” by Nellie McClung. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she was an author, I had not known that prior; it’s available here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4376/4376-h/4376-h.htm.

I began to worry that I was not really challenging the system. I figured that novels had a high chance of being preserved since people become so attached to them. So I decided to try and seek out instruction books. I was surprised at first by the easiness it was to find free on-line copies of these books too. I first searched for Mrs. Emma F. Angell Drake’s “What a Young Wife Ought to Know”: http://www.archive.org/stream/whatayoungwifeo04drakgoog#page/n9/mode/2up. But then I realized that was not really a challenge, some feminist historian will definitely want a copy of that someday. So I decided to search for a book about building things, something obscure that they most likely have found a better way of making it by now. I saw in the catalogue Frederick Thomas Hodgson’s “Light and Heavy Timber Framing Made Easy”: http://www.archive.org/stream/lightheavytimber00hodguoft#page/n1/mode/2up. But I found that quite fast too.

Now I was on a quest to stump the internet. I think I may have found it with Frank H. Atkinson’s “The Art of Sign Painting”. The problem with trying to find this book was that many people have referenced it. Also, the fact that Atkinson made an updated copy with a similar title a few years later hinders its search ability. I was only available to find a hard copy that could be shipped to my house, but it was kind of a wonky site.

I liked that this assignment connected the past with the present. Flipping through catalogues is a very common human activity that is shared throughout the world by people of all ages. So far as a history student I have been a bit limited to the historical items made available to me. I enjoyed this assignment because it never occurred to me to look at an Eaton’s catalogue as a means of understanding Canadian society for a particular time. I would have really enjoyed seeing order forms: what was the most popular item sold, who bought what where, and even what got returned the most because of poor manufacturing?  

My Guide to Jewish Cooking:

So there is no way that I am divulging any of my Bubbie’s recipes. (Bubbie is Yiddish for Grandmother just in case you don’t know, and if there are any weird looking words in this blog post for my readers please feel free to google them.) My Bubbie is a wonderful cook, though sadly recently she has been having problems with her hands and has not been able to cook the family dinners as usual. Though my Zaddie (grandfather) has stepped up and has been doing all the cutting and other prep work that is to difficult for her to do now. And for the record, he has always washed all the pots, and that’s a big task, because Bubbie always makes a lot of dishes. After family dinners I am usually found lying on the couch patting my belly and looking very tired. Though I will get up when I here the word desert mentioned, and return to the table.

Food for me, and in my observations I have seen this with most ethnicities, is a prime part of connecting with a culture. As a historian I think it would make an interesting topic of inquiry; especially since what people eat tells a lot about them, for example seeing how often a family eats meat may tell you their economic standing. But obviously this is not always the case, if they never eat meat they might be vegetarians like Hindus.

I thought this would be an interesting example for my guide for online resources because I often google recipes. Though in all honesty, I don’t really google Jewish recipes because my Bubbie has taught me all my favourites (and I live with my sister who has mastered all these recipes better than I). I tend to search for recipes that will spice up my dinner for the night with something new. However, I have decided to make a guide for what I know. Though I might not be the best cook, I know how to eat. But as a disclaimer, when doing my research I have been a bit disappointed since many of the Jewish cookbooks that I tend to use at home are not open-source. So this guide is limited to what is available to everyone on-line. Also, I have not made any of these recipes. This guide is not a recommendation of my favourite recipes; it’s just a list of traditional meal recipes.

Further, the recipes that I have included are primarily from the Ashkenazi tradition. Jewish cuisine varies greatly from place to place, depending on what has traditionally been locally available. Additionally, Jewish cuisine also varies depending on how closely one keeps the kosher laws. One example is during Passover, traditionally Ashkenazi Jews do not eat beans because they see the way they expand when they are cooked as rising. (FYI Jews are not supposed to eat anything that leavens during Passover.) But Sephardic Jews do not have this tradition of not eating beans during Passover. 

So here are a few on-line sites that provide recipes for each course in a traditional Friday night meal.

Matzo Ball Soup:

Firstly you need a good soup. Soup also happens to be my favourite part of the meal. I am providing a list of matzo ball soup recipes, which is delicious anytime of the year, but is definitely a must in my family during Passover. Now some advice if you are going to be making your first matzo ball, do not make them too big because they will expand. I learned this the first time I tried to make matzo balls with my Bubbie. She left me to shape the batter while she worked on another dish. When she came over to the table to see what I had made, she said they were too big and that I had to make them smaller. This was not a big task to make them smaller, but the whole fact that they expand has always puzzled me why they are eaten during Passover.

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/matzo-ball-soup/detail.aspx

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Passover/At_Home/Food_and_the_Kitchen/Matzah_Balls.shtml

Gefilte Fish:

You might not be pronouncing that word right, its an ‘a’ sound at the end. Gefilte fish is something I only enjoy if it is freshly made, I never eat that can stuff eww. Also, this is something I have never made and really do not plan on making, because to be done right you need to de-bone the fish. Since I don’t even like de-boning a can of salmon, this dish is too much effort for me to make. But if it is done right it is very yummy. So if you are an adventurous cook here is a new dish for you to try out.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Classic-Gefilte-Fish-40014

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/passover/gefiltefish/recipes/food/views/Gefilte-Fish-234457

Brisket:

This meat will melt in your mouth. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/jewish-grandmas-best-beef-brisket/detail.aspx

http://www.cookingnook.com/brisket.html

Kugel:

Kugel is the beloved side dish to brisket, and it comes in many different types. Usually there are at least two types of kugel at our dinners. I will be honest, in my internet research and from watching a lot of Food Network, I have yet to see any recipes that are as good as my Bubbie’s and as low cal (though that is a relative term, I mean in compassion). Here are some recipes for noodle kugel. But I am warning you that I make mine completely different.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1635,146161-226195,00.html

http://judaism.about.com/od/yomkippurprefast/r/kugal_swtnoodle.htm

-this one is pareve so it can actually be eaten with the Brisket.

Desert:

I like banana bread for desert. The leftovers are great with a coffee for breakfast the next day. Were not really a big desert family, since you can’t mix milk and meat. Banana bread and some cut-up pineapple and watermelon is a great way to end this very heavy meal.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

Oy, once your done eating all this food it's time for some Jewish guilt about all the calories you consumed.

I fought the law and the law won.

Now you might be wondering why that is my title for my blog on writing html. Well, it just happens to be the song I did my victory dance to after making my web page.  Though occasionally words such as; I, computer, and I won, happened to get thrown in instead of the usual words.

So this assignment has given me some faith that I might be able to gain some much needed computer skills. Ideally for my next semester project I would like to make a video game about smuggling booze during prohibition era Canada and America, and the whole point will be to bring it over the boarder. Though this still might be too big of a step for me. I might also do a model of siege warfare.

So when you look at my web page you might be thinking, eww freakishly bright. Yes, it is a tad tacky. But playing around with the colours was fun, reminded me of the good old days back in elementary school when we all took turns to play on “Kid Pics”, my favourite computer program of all time. If you have never used it, it’s like paint on the computer, but a thousand times better.

I was surprised when creating my web page how some arrows (< >) and slashes (/), let the computer know what you want a web page to look like. I enjoyed the try it yourself sections on w3schools.com , that let you see instantaneously what my attempts looked like, and that I could revise them easily.  Having the ability to try different options, before adding it to my own HTML document was important for me because I find that I need a concrete example to let me see my possibilities before I can start thinking about what I want to do from there. It’s like what someone said in class, that sometimes you need to be given a box to think out of it, it’s that way with me and technology. I need to be sure that my computer will not spontaneously blow-up before I try new things. – Yes, that is a fear, since I am bad with remembering to back-up documents.