Dan Antion

Observations Made

Note: No Facilities is now operating under a new theme and was published via the Block Editor. While the Classic Editor remains an option for me at this time, I have decided to switch so I can stop thinking about it. WordPress is surprising people with pink slips for the Classic Editor, and I don’t like surprises. Also, some people have mentioned that they’ve been having problems viewing the photo galleries on small devices, so I decided to switch to a slightly more modern theme – I’m using Tortuga, in case you’re interested. Here we go.

As I mentioned on Saturday, I visited the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS) last week. They opened for the first time since they were ordered closed by the Governor back in March 2020. I added the year just in case the pandemic drags on. CHS had three new exhibits. Each exhibit would require more than one blog post to describe, and I have more photos than I can easily share. I will attempt to assemble my thoughts on the three subjects for a future post, but right now, there’s too much information to process. So, as the title would suggest, I offer observations on the three exhibits in the order in which I viewed them:

Fighting on the Home Front: Propaganda Posters of WWII

“This traveling exhibition from the Detroit Historical Society features about two dozen posters produced during the war that promoted patriotism, the purchasing of war bonds, growing and canning food, and taking jobs to aid in wartime production. In an era before television, posters were an efficient way to grab someone’s attention. Americans were likely to encounter war-related posters throughout their daily activities–on the commute to work, at work, at the grocery store, or at the post office.”

The posters in this exhibit addressed rationing, security, supporting the war effort, service, travel, price controls and our health. A dominant theme throughout the exhibit was individual sacrifice in support of a larger goal. Individuals – sacrificing – for others.

Manufacturing Victory: The Arsenal of Democracy

“This traveling exhibition from the National WWII Museum tells the inspiring story of the Home Front effort that produced tanks, planes, ships, and guns with staggering speed and unparalleled energy. It was a surge in productivity that not only brought the country out of depression, but also created mighty military forces, supplied the Allies abroad, and opened new doors of opportunity and social change.”

I thought I had heard of this program before, but, to be honest, I might be confusing it with “The Arsenal of Freedom” – an episode in the series Star Trek Next Generation. So many aspects of our existence were on display in this exhibit that it’s hard for me to even summarize it. Wikipedia (no, not my sole source of information) lists 45 major corporations that were involved in the multi-year program. The exhibit also highlighted industry executives who worked for one US dollar a year as they offered their insights and expertise to managing this effort. Some companies continued producing their standard products, albeit at an enhanced pace. Other companies retooled to produce military products, including tanks, planes, weapons, and ammunition. People who had never worked in manufacturing were brought into the workforce and production of many normal goods was discontinued. The program was not without problems, but the nation worked through it for the common good.

A Vote of Her Own: The Long Fight for Woman Suffrage

“One hundred years ago, women secured the right to vote with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The struggle for “woman suffrage” lasted more than 70 years and was fought by women and men on both sides of the contest. This exhibit features original photographs, documents, and artifacts representing Connecticut individuals and organizations who argued, reasoned, marched, and took action for or against women’s right to vote.”

I found this exhibit fascinating. I didn’t realize that “woman suffrage” was as complicated an issue as it was. I didn’t realize women had been actively working for the right to vote for almost 100 years, and I didn’t realize that many women, particularly in women in the State of Connecticut were opposed to this right.

There, aren’t you glad I didn’t try to go into the details? If you live in near Hartford, CT, I would urge you to visit these exhibits.

We joined the Historical Society the day before I visited. We wanted to show our support for the work that they do.
Propaganda?
You could ask this question today.
Step this way.
Women working in traditional roles in support of the war effort.
Women in non-traditional roles.
Chocolate is Fighting Food – I like that.
After the war, people were eager to purchase homes, start families and purchase the things that hadn’t been available. That’s an areal picture of Levittown on Long Island. Houses for returning soldiers.
Fascinating exhibit.
Connecticut had the opportunity to be the final state required for ratification, but our Governor declined to call the Legislature back for a special session. Tennessee earned the honor of being the final state.
Yes! Yes it was!
“Why is the trash on my porch again?”
I had to move the “trash” before I could sit.
Portulaca
I love how this little branch produced a blossom. We will prune it before winter, but it’s too pretty to prune today.

88 comments

  1. It’s always good to revisit the past once in a while and be amazed at what our ancestors accomplished. Yes, the pink slip arrived on the MG blog. I wish I could say it was an invigorating challenge that I was looking forward to but it’s not, and I’ll leave it at that. Happy Monday, Dan.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. I wonder if that’s the same exhibit we saw at Hyde Park a year ago. It was wonderful.
    As for the new theme, it was fine right up to the last photo where things started to run together again.
    I’m dreading the new editor… and with all the pics I post I’ll avoid it for as long as I can.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  6. I’m sorry that the 100 year anniversary of women’s right to vote has not gotten the attention it deserves. I knew that many woman didn’t want the right, brainwashed, I suppose, by the misogynistic culture around them. Still see some of that today… 🙄

    [You’re brave to take on the blockhead editor. I resist, like I do with so many things right now.]

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. Very interesting trip, Dan. There is so much we do not understand about our own history — good and bad. I like the theme. It is clean and crisp and the photos look great. I cannot see the captions, of course, until I click on the image. I still have a few of the same gripes about self-hosted blogs. I cannot ‘like’ your posts. Even if I use the WordPress icon to ‘connect’ so I can leave a comment, I am still unable to ‘like’ a self-hosted post unless I do it through the reader. At least I was able to do that. I will go back to the reader and try to ‘like’ this after I post this comment.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • This isn’t self-hosted, so I’m not sure why you can’t like it. WP’s Happiness Engineers blamed it on the theme. Now I guess it’s back in their court. It’s frustrating, especially since I’m paying them to make this work. I don’t want to think about self-hosting – it would remind me too much of work. I can’t find a gallery option that shows the captions without plastering the text over the image. I don’t like that, because I tend to write long captions. The engineers say that’s a problem, and that people like short captions better. Of course, they say that my wanting the ability to indent paragraphs is due to my age :(

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      • Dan, I guess self-hosted is the wrong term. You have a paid account (wordpress.org) rather than the free software (wordpress.com). I have this problem with all paid accounts I follow. At least yours allows me to connect back to WordPress to pick up my credentials. Sometimes that does not work for other sites – then I must key in my name and email address every time. I am sure it has something to do with where the database containing my credential information lies and how the software accesses it. I gave up indenting and double spacing at the end of a sentence because of writing so much online. So much for those hard-drilled English lessons.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

        • I have a paid account but it’s with WordPress.com – it’s just a premium plan. I was just on a chat with the Happiness Engineers, and they say they can’t reproduce those errors (so they don’t exist). When I mentioned that lots of people complained, they said “it might be their browser” – which is code for “you’re not getting help from me today.”

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

            • Thanks Maggie.

              I use different browsers, and I have two mobile devices, but apparently, I’m not covering all the bases.

              I think the problem with the Like button is the same one they had last year – related to the cross-site cookies they use to recognize WP users as they move from blog to blog. When I worked through that issue in 2019, I spoke to six engineers before one explained that that was the problem. The others hid behind not being able to recreate the problem,

              Liked by 1 person

  9. I got something from WP regarding the New Editor but I deleted it. I’m going to hang on to the Classic for as long as I can.

    How wonderful to go to a museum and see all the neat posters, and photographs from the past, and learn something about our history.

    I like your new theme it doesn’t seem that much changed from my end.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks Deborah. I liked the look that I had with the previous theme, I didn’t want it to change much. This may be temporary. I switched because WP said the theme might be the cause of the problems people were having seeing photos and liking my posts. There are a few things I don’t like about this theme, but it was an easy switch.

      I love museums, and I was so glad this one reopened. They normally have three or four rotating exhibits. We are members now, so I hope to be able to visit more often.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  10. Welcome to the new block editor Dan. Evidently they have been working on something. Tags are now being applied on the first update. Miracle of miracles. As for likes and comments no doubt the happiness engineers are working on it furiously. So much so that in another month or two they will build up a head of steam. Who knows they might even get back to the ‘list’ for the reader. It was a fantastic idea right up until one could not get back to the list to add or drop blogs. And it seemed a great way to keep notifications from trashing my in-box. Seemed like. Rumor has it that is all caused by static from the Vogons clustering just out beyond Mars to begin construction on the new interchange…

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  12. One day last week I received my email that said good-bye Classic Editor and the next day it was gone. Yours looks good–different but good. I went with Block Classic being I have so little text in my posts. I had no problems clicking on your photos with captions or reading them in a gallery, so not sure why others had problems. All good on my end, Dan. I’m glad for the switchover, too. It was too much like waiting for the other shoe to drop. It did, I can post, so all is well in my world.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  14. Amazing tour. Never knew all the history behind suffrage movement.

    Love that one blossom and portulaca is a favorite of mine. Poor Maddie…..she has to do her own housekeeping now!
    Ginger

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  15. “Chocolate is fighting food”–somehow I focused on that message when I encountered it in your photos. When I first joined the Army in 1977, our field rations came in cans and it was always exciting to get one that included chocolate, even if the chocolate was a specially fortified version whose primary virtue was its long shelf life. When they transitioned to MREs in a pouch, the Army made the smart decision to move to commercial candy in its rations. It’s fascinating to read how providing M&Ms to the troops was considered as contributing to the war effort.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  17. Dan, I view your blog posts on my laptop 90% of the time, so all is well here. It looks good. I don’t mind having to click on the photo to read the entire caption. It’s an opportunity to enlarge the photo for a better look. Thanks for the museum tour. I wonder if that add compelled folks to send boxes of chocolate to soldiers. Not exactly the first thing I would think of for comfort, but right up there!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  19. Looks like you have the block thing mastered, Dan. Good for you. I’m hanging tough till they pry the classic editor out of my cold dead hand.I love the coverage of the WWII home front in posters. Maddie is cute too.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  21. Awesome! Women have fought for everything and we continue to fight. Each generation has it a bit better in most ways. I mean, my grandmother got to vote, my mother took a ‘man’s job’, and I secured financing without a man. Pretty much expect my girls will break the wage discrepancy, and hope Moo smashes some STEM sexism.
    One of my favorite attractions at the state fair is the Indianapolis Historical Society — which, Dan, showcases their exhibit in an old train. (!!!) Sigh. None of that this year.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  23. Got an email purporting to be from you this morning. Block Editor test with links and supposed gallery of pics. No pics in the email and the link said page not found. I didn’t want to click on the link supposedly taking me to Monday’s post. Didn’t know if it really was from you or not. If it’s a new feature of Word Press, I’d say it still has some bugs.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Hi CJ. It was from me. I had to prepare a test post when I was working with the Happiness Engineers do show them the problems I’m having with Block Editor photo galleries. I deleted post after we finished.

      Like

      Reply

    • Thanks Joanne. I’m hoping the theme solves some problems people are having. I don’t think it will, but it was the only reasonable suggestion given to me by the Happiness Engineers. I’m grudgingly giving into the Block Editor. I don’t really like it. The museum visit was great!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  25. I haven’t switched to the block editor yet, Dan. I am closing my eyes and hoping I don’t have to switch (I know that’s unrealistic). Thanks for sharing the photos from the museum. I am fascinated with the story of women’s suffrage. I think those women and their sacrifices are underappreciated today, so any shout out to them is a good thing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • There are many other photos, but I don’t usually deal with issues like this on my blog. It was fascinating, inspirational, sad, frustrating and confusing all at the same time.

      Like

      Reply

  26. I’m so glad I stopped by today for so many reasons. Your historical museum visit sounds so very interesting. I hope some day it makes its way south to Florida. I recently changed the theme on my blog because it was old and no longer supported. I’ve yet to get my pink slip for the Classic Editor and am really dreading the day I do. Not knowing what your old theme looked like, all I can say it this looks good. Even in Classic Editor, my captions are too long for many of my photos and look just like the ones in this post.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’m glad you stopped by, too. I took up my gallery caption issues with the Happiness Engineers. I wish I could say that I received a good answer. I did not. I’m looking into ways to work through this to make the captions available to readers who aren’t interested in stepping into the gallery. I don’t like inline photos, because that are easy to accidentally touch when viewing on a mobile device when you’re just trying to scroll.

      More to come.

      Like

      Reply

  27. Loved it. I would have visited this place for sure if I was in CT. You know I was never into museums back in my school days. However, when I took Arts, my college building is in the Grade 1 Heritage Area, so there was history everywhere. Everything you see and touch is probably 150-200 years old. Plus, dead right opposite to my college was Jehangir Arts Museum. So, if I don’t want to sit for a particular class (45 mins) I would just cross the street and go there. Initially, the intent was to skip class, but eventually I believe it grew on me. Every week a new artist would put up his or her paintings, sculpture, photographs and I would go there to see it. I would leave comments in the feedback book for the artist. I would see the artist sitting in the corner, but I never had the guts to go talk to them. I am a very shy person, until I open up. Once I’m relaxed it would be hard for someone to shut me up. :)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.