It looks like even the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown, New York, wants to get in on Blue Bell Ice Cream’s 100th anniversary, with a display on ice cream in America.
But it’s only coincidence: Cooperstown is outside the Blue Bell distribution area.
Nice idea, though.
Leave a Comment » | 
Food history, Museums, Texas, Texas history, Travel | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
(Click on thumbnail for a larger view of this Caddoland Collage)
Caddos, Anadarkoes, Tawaconies, Southern Delawares — so many Native American tribes disappear from U.S. history books, and from U.S. history. These histories should be better preserved and better taught.
Texas history texts mention the Caddo Tribe, but largely ignore what must have been a significant cultural empire, if not an empire that left large stone monuments. Teaching this material in Texas history classes frustrates me, and probably others. Student projects on the Caddos are frequently limited in what they cover, generally come up with the same three or four factoids and illustrations.
The Caddo Tribe lived in an area spanning five modern states, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and eventually Missouri. Here is an interactive map that offers more information and useful photos of Caddoland than I have found in any other source: The Caddo Map Tool.
This is just an image of the tool — click on the image above and it will link to the actual site. One of the things that excites me about this map is its interactive features, especially the map that carries links to photos that show just what the local environment looks like.
2 Comments | Archaeology, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Lesson plans, Maps, On-line education, On-line learning, Place Names, Prehistory, Student projects, Teaching, Technology in the classroom, Texas, Texas history, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
The story could fuel jokes for years. Or it could cause tears, as indeed it did from the woman who organized the festivities around the unearthing of the 50-year-old Plymouth buried at Tulsa’s courthouse.
The headline in The Tulsa World shows pluck, determination and a good sense of humor: Tulsa celebrates anyway, but the Plymouth is a bucket of rust.
“Tarnished gold,” is the headline.
Now we know what 50 years in a hole does to a Plymouth Belvedere.
The tires go flat. The paint fades. Hinges and latches stiffen, upholstery disintegrates, the engine becomes a very large paperweight.
But what the heck. None of us is what we used to be.
1957? Eisenhower sent U.S. Marshalls, and then the U.S. Army, into Little Rock, Arkansas, so 9 African-Americans could register to go to Central High School. That was so long ago that the Little Rock 9 graduated, became doctors, lawyers and businessmen, and even an undersecretary of Labor, and got very gray; Central High is now a National Historic Monument (though still a high school). 
Leave a Comment » | 1957, Archaeology, Cold War, Current History, History blogs, Teaching, Technology, Transportation, Travel | Tagged: 1957, Archaeology, Cold War, Current History, History, Oklahoma, Plymouth Belvedere, Teaching, Technology, Transportation, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Alas! Initial word out of Tulsa is not encouraging. The buried 1957 Plymouth Belvedere was in a concrete vault, and sealed in plastic, to protect it from the effects of being buried. It may not have been protected well enough — when the cover was pulled off the vault yesterday, the vault had several feet of water.
The story is told well, here, on the Route 66 News blog.
Photos do not encourage me. The residue on the sides of the vault is a rust color. That could be from the red soil (does Tulsa have red soil?) — or it could be from rust from the car.
Here’s hoping the car was protected from the water . . .
Official opening is set for tomorrow, June 15, 2007.
1 Comment | Archaeology, Capturing history, Cold War, Current History, Teaching, Technology, Transportation, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Everything is connected.
Unaware that the Cutty Sark still existed, the news of the fire on the most famous of the clipper ships caught me by surprise.
Our U.S. history texts these days mention the clippers, but little more. This wonderful chunk of history, showing great invention in the capture of wind power, and great romance of the sea, falls by the wayside.
Were a teacher so inclined, she might introduce some of that romance and admiration of invention with a bit more than two minutes spent on clipper ships.
For starters, what does “cutty sark” mean? Antiquarian’s Attic provides links to the news of the fire and enough background to make any teacher sound like an aficianado in just a few minutes. “Cutty sark” means a short shift, a very short skirt or dress — it’s from a poem, “Tam O’Shanter” by Robert Burns.
Her cutty sark, o’ Paisley harn,
That while a lassie she had worn,
In longitude tho’ sorely scanty,
It was her best, and she was vauntie.
Hey, who knew there was a poem that gave the name to the hat favored by U.S. Sen. Sam Hayakawa, and the hat which played such a prominent role in the opening sequence of The Mary Tyler Moore Show?
Connections can get a bit out of hand, no?
I digress. Back to Cutty Sark.
Progress in transportation, particularly in speed, makes a solid unit of study in 8th and 11th grade history in Texas, fitting neatly in the advances in technology and how such advances push history along. Particularly with the defense of the America‘s Cup this year putting a spotlight on speed sailing and sailing history, there should be a lot of supplemental material to provide good lesson plan hooks to make a day’s diversion into clipper ships well worth the time.
Perhaps your class would like to contribute to the restoration of the Cutty Sark? Remember it was pennies from U.S. school kids that saved Old Ironsides, after Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., wrote a poem in tribute to her. See also the Ballad of Mad Jack.
Did you hear how Mad Jack saved “Old Ironsides” too,
From the scrapheap of flagships too old to renew,
At sixty-five years he inspected each shroud,
And promised the Navy he’d make her stand proud.
He collected the finest ship-riggers around,
From Boston, New Bedford, and Old Portsmouth Town,
He rigged her and jigged her and made her stand tall,
Then he sailed her around the world once and for all.
- Ballad of Mad Jack by Steve Romanoff, performed by Schooner Fare, 1981
Leave a Comment » | Brain learning, History, History museums, Technology, Transportation, Travel, War of 1812 | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
One Blog a Day features Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub today.
One Blog a Day probably qualifies as a sort of internet navel gazing — each day it highlights one blog of some interest. Generally it just points the way, but on a couple of occasions it has generated controversies, or at least discussions, in the comments (see the 726-comment entanglement on the original posting of Pharyngula’s feature).
Where else do you see history, exotic travel, biology and cream puffs clumped together like that? Eclecticism has its place, and One Blog a Day appears to be it.
Tip of the old scrub brush and thanks to One Blog a Day.
1 Comment | Technology, Technology in the classroom, Travel, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
This news can fit into curricula in several ways, in several courses: Insects have already evolved in response to climate shifts due to global warming.
The Boston Globe has a series on global warming, and a recent article detailed how mosquitoes on the Maine frontier have already changed their breeding seasons in response to warming weather.
A mosquito that can barely fly is one of only five known species that scientists say have already evolved because of global warming. The unobtrusive mosquito’s story illustrates a sobering consequence of climate change: The species best suited to adapting may not be the ones people want to survive.
Such news enhances biology studies of genetics and insects, geography studies of climate, animal dispersal patterns and disease and pest ranges (a subject more technically known as biogeography), and the articles lend urgency to studies of how governments react to natural crises, a topic suitable for government classes, economics, and U.S. and world history.
Click on the thumbnail to see four examples of genetic change credited to global warming. (Graphic by David Butler of the Boston Globe staff.) Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Current History, Disasters, Economics, Education, Environmental protection, Evolution, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Lesson plans, Natural history, Politics, Science, Teaching, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Another of the great quirks that makes Texas, Texas, is the Marfa lights. Marfa is in far west Texas — alone, a tiny city in a very arid area. It’s desolate enough that Hollywood thought it would be a great place to film much of the movie “Giant,” which needed to use part of Godforsaken* County to make a point about how desolate Texas can be.
And way out there, there is a hill where one can stop after sundown, and watch the mysterious dancing of lights coming from the not-too-distant hills. So far as I can tell, no good explanation exists for what the lights might be. Physicists have ruled out mirages, and the lights were there long before auto headlights anyway.
Marfa hosts the “Mystery Lights Festival” over Labor Day Weekend (as the story cited above notes, the same weekend as Alpine, Texas, hosts its balloon festival — two West Texas happenings in one trip, perhaps).
Do you know of a good explanation? Anybody got one?
8 Comments | Geography - Physical, History, Movies, Science, Texas, Texas history, Travel, Video and film | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Good News Comes in Small Packages Division: This was the entirety of the article in the Dallas Morning News travel section Sunday:
Come on down for a Janis Joplin tour
Head down to Port Arthur – in a Mercedes Benz, if possible – for a new self-guided Janis Joplin driving tour. The 15 stops include her childhood home, churches, schools and the Museum of the Gulf Coast, which has an exhibit devoted to the rock and blues singer. For the tour brochure, call 1-800-235-7822.
Is there more? Sure — below the fold. Summertime’s a good time to make the tour — but so is spring, fall, and winter.
4 Comments | History, Music, Texas, Texas history, Texas Music, Travel | Tagged: Janis Joplin, Media, Rock and Roll, Texas, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
This is a story about space technology and why we orbit satellites, geography, geology, the risks of living in certain places, and the fun, and perhaps life-saving value, of finding things out. 
This is the kind of science news that excites normal kids and lends outcroppings on which to hang a lesson plan or class warm up: The Yellowstone Caldera is uplifting, according to new satellite measurements. Don’t worry. Yet. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Geography - Physical, Maps, Science, TEKS, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Where do Ed Brayton and P. Z. Myers find the time to blog so much?
Here are some things that deserve consideration, that I’ve not had time to consider.
Dallas is only #2 on the national allergy list: #1 is Tulsa. This is a ranking one wishes to lose.
The Texas Senate passed a bill to change the current state-mandated test for high school students. Tests are not a panacea, and the current structure seems to be doing more damage than good, in dropout rates, and especially in learning. What will take the place of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS)? No one knows, yet. Much work to do — but there is widespread understanding that TAKS is not doing much of what was hoped.
Incentive pay for teachers: Despite a cantakerous and troubled roll-out in Houston’s schools, and despite widespread discontent with the execution of incentive pay programs that appear to miss their targets of rewarding good teachers who teach their students will, Texas has identified 1,132 schools in the state that are eligible for the next phase of the $100 million teacher incentive program. Some administrators think that, no matter how a program misfires, they can’t change it once they’ve started it. ‘Stay the course, no matter the damage,’ seems to be the battle cry. (And you wondered where Bush got the idea?)
Saving historic trains: History and train advocates saved the Texas State Railroad earlier this year; now they want $12 million to upgrade the engines, cars and tracks, to make the thing a more valuable tourist attraction and history classroom. Texas has spent a decade abusing and underfunding its once-outstanding state park system. Citizens are fighting back.
Maybe you know more?
Leave a Comment » | Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), Current History, Curricula, Government, History, No Child Left Behind Act, Politics, Public education, TAKS, Teacher Pay, TEKS, Texas, Texas history, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Would tracking disasters add more than a little interest to your geography units?
Cliotech, a blog by a Pennsylvania social studies teacher, gives pointers to Alertmap, a group based in Budapest (hey, that’s a geography lesson right there!). Alertmap charts disasters — fires, floods, earthquakes, etc. — and what student is not interested in disaster?
Be careful not to unnecessarily scare students — but do point out that the world is full of danger, and natural and man-made disasters continue to plague mankind the world over.
2 Comments | Classroom technology, Current History, Disasters, Economics, Environmental protection, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Lesson plans, Maps, Public health, Technology, Technology in the classroom, Travel, War | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Drug couriers, it appears, like to put off suspicion of their vehicles by putting a Bible on the dashboard as they travel. So, in a countermeasure, cops target cars with Bibles on the dash to be pulled over as suspected for couriering drugs.
Isn’t that a violation of someone’s First Amendment rights? Not according to the federal courts in Nebraska, no. The case is Frazier v. Lutter, a March 27 decision, which Prof. Friedman details slightly more.
Say what? Suddenly you have more sympathy for imams kicked off of airplanes?
Leave a Comment » | Justice, Law, Religious Freedom, Travel, U.S. Constitution | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Turkey, Texas, again hosts the annual Bob Wills reunion on the last Saturday of April — April 28, in 2007. National Geographic Video features a short introduction to Turkey, with heavy Bob Wills overtones.
Turkey’s website is down for maintenance as I write this, but it may be a good place to check for more details. 
Leave a Comment » | Texas, Texas Music, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
My first visit to Texas in the early 1980s, to visit friends in Houston and in-laws in Dallas, I met Blue Bell Ice Cream. It was love at first bite, of course.
Blue Bell Creamery ad, barn and blue sky, and their memorable slogan
Ice cream plays an important role in my family. Family reunions, or just any celebration in summer, were excuses to pull out several hand-cranked ice cream makers, and freeze away. Homemade vanilla delights the palate, and family gourmands grind vanilla beans to add a little extra oomph. When grandfather Leo Stewart had peaches from his orchard, or later just peaches from our backyard tree in Pleasant Grove, Utah, fresh peaches went into the mix. Only someone who experienced my father’s peaches in my mother’s custard, frozen in a hand-cranked freezer, could fully appreciate Willie Stark‘s lines about peach ice cream in Robert Penn Warren’s book, All the King’s Men.
White Mountain 6-quart hand crank ice cream freezer, one of the better freezers
Homemade ice cream is a bother. Better freezers are not cheap, and they don’t travel well. My mother’s mini-freezer disappeared sometime in one of her later-life moves. My father’s much larger, two-gallon colossus simply wore out, with most of the ferrous metal parts rusting away, and even the wood of the barrel crumbling to dust. Proper salt to get the solution colder than freezing is sporadically available in city supermarkets. My mother’s recipe for the custard, unwritten as all her better recipes, died with her.
Bluebell Peaches and Homemade Vanilla
Utah is a haven for ice cream makers. Snelgrove’s on 33rd South in Salt Lake City is tradition in many families (Snelgrove is now owned by Dreyer’s, but still operates as Snelgrove in Utah) (Update, July 2008: Snelgrove’s is dead). My wife’s family is partial to Farr’s in Ogden, “Farr better ice cream” — and it is very, very good. Trips to visit family include stops at Farr’s.
Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla tastes like my mother’s custard frozen in a hand-cranked freezer. It is consistently the best-tasting ice cream, for a very reasonable price.
Blue Bell celebrates its 100th anniversary as a company in 2007, the “little creamery” in Brenham, Texas, where Blue Bell is made.
Even better, the company wants you to suggest new flavors, and is holding a contest to get good, local flavors. Winners of the Taste of the Country Flavor Contest get a trip to Brenham for the 100th anniversary celebration.
Plus, winners get a year’s supply of Blue Bell ice cream.
Blue Bell is a nice local company making good. Though the production is limited (and I believe it is still true that all the ice cream is made in Brenham), so it is available only in 17 states concentrated in the southeast, the brand is the third best-selling brand in the U.S.
If you’re near Houston, you would be well advised to make a side trip to Brenham to tour the Blue Bell ice cream factory (plus, the bluebonnets will be in bloom shortly).
North America is a big continent, with international brands that work for international consistency of products, so that the company’s customers get the same experience regardless where the customers are — think McDonalds, Burger King, and Coca-Cola. Large conglomerates often own even nominally regional brands. As I noted earlier, Snelgrove’s in Salt Lake City is now run by a national ice cream giant — even Ben & Jerry’s brand is now owned, produced and marketed by a national marketing giant. Blue Bell is a standout, an almost-local brand, with limited distribution. Part of the joy of a well-working free enterprise system is finding a well-run local company, with a unique product.
Blue Bell could make a fortune bottling their success formula, too, in addition to their ice cream.
26 Comments | Books, Economics, Family, Food history, Free market economics, Texas, Travel | Tagged: Blue Bell Ice Cream, Books, Economics, Family, Food history, Free market economics, Texas, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
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Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
