MAHS-- Part 6: Even More Board Games

McHenry Area Historical Society.

And, Pat Wirtz had even more board games on display.  I am writing down just some of the games he had with him.

The Puritan Game of My Wife and I (from 1888)

Fibber McGee & Molly (from the mid 1930s to mid-1950s)

Lindy  (Based on Charles Lindbergh's famous flight.

Touring  (started in 1906)

Steve Canyon  (based on a comic strip)

Flying Aces  (1946)

The most money he ever spent was $125 for the German WW II game.  (Or, at least that is what he said since his wife was there.  But, he said his wife knows  everything about his purchases.)

He also has some 40 shoe boxes full of postcards and a complete run of Life Magazine from 1932 to 1945 as he focuses on the World War II era.

He Sure Knows His Board Games.  --CootBoard

MAHS-- Part 5: Some of His Many Board Games

Pat Wirtz had a large collection of games on display.  I went around and looked at them.  Here are some of them:

1927 Turnerville Trolley

Have Gun Will Travel (based on the TV show)

Commandos  (A WW II game)

Underdog

Leave It to Beaver

Little Orphan Annie

Chutes and Ladders

Gene Autry's Dude Ranch

1914 Quarterback football game

--Cooter

MAHS-- Part 4: Milton-Bradley Company and the German WW II Game

Milton-Bradley came out with the Concentration and Jeopardy games in the 1950s as well as the ever-popular Game of Life and Twister.

The company was bought by Play Skool (which is the company that makes Yahtzee and he electronic game Simon.

(Are any of these names bringing back memories?)

Pat Wirtz's oldest game  was first produced in 1905 and is a baseball game.

He also has an unopened McHenry Monopoly game which starts at Pearl Street Park.  (I'd never heard of this park, but looked it up and now it is always referred to as Veterans Park.)

He seems to be most proud of a 1940 game from Germany made for kids that features the Battle of Britain.  This game is very colorful (and, of course, in German, and is what got Pat interested in board games.

--Cooter

McHenry Area Historical Society (MAHS)-- Part 3: Those Board Games

Many of the companies who made the early board games started  in Massachusetts, including the two biggies: Milton-Bradley and Parker Brothers.

Parker Brothers started in in 1883.  They are best known for Monopoly, Clue and Risk.  Their first game was Banking.  George Parker joined his brother in Salem, Massachusetts to start this company.

In the 1900s, General Mills bought them out.  In 1983, Parker Brothers had a book published.  General Mills merged with Kenner and then Hasbro bought them.

Milton-Bradley started in the 1800s as a lithography shop.  One of their first games was The Checkered Game of Life which was a forerunner of the Life game that we all know.  It was very religious and featured the good and bad things that you might do.  You didn't want the bad things.

During the Civil War, they produced smaller versions of the game for Union soldiers and they sold for $1 each.   During the Great Depression the company was losing money.  They also had special soldier game kits during World War II.

--CootGame

McHenry Area Historical Society-- Part 2: Early Board Games

They now have a Facebook and Blog up and running.  There are 2100 followers on Facebook with 8-12,000 views per article.

Today's presenter, Pat Wirtz is a bit like me, or the beloved Bill Shea down in Springfield, Illinois, in that he pretty much collects everything.  And, like me, he is a White Sox fan, as is Double D.  Must be a good guy.

His topic today:  Board Games.

The first commercially-sold board game was The mansion of Happiness in 1843.  It was a children's board game based on Christian  morality.  Players raced around a 66-space spiral track depicting  virtues and vices.  Land on a vice square and you go back.

At one time, the two major board game companies were Milton-Bradley (Pat says 2/3 of his games are made by them) and Parker brothers.  Both are now owned by Hasbro.

The earliest board games were made by lithography companies.  But production unfortunately was only limited to a few hundred copies.  Then, they changed to using watercolors.

--Cooter

McHenry (Illinois) Area Historical Society Meeting 4/9/22: Board Games

The meeting was held at the McHenry Savings Bank on Illinois Highway 31 south of McHenry.  There were 24 in attendance.  It is good to be back meeting again after all that you-know-what.  I just don't do Zoom.  

The last in-person meeting was held last June 11, 2021, at the Veterans Park Shelter in McHenry.

The next meeting will be at the bank on October 8 and the presentation will be about Women Pilots in World War II and the presenter will be Judy Porter from McHenry.

Attendance is down and the society will have a booth at the Thursday night concerts at Veterans Park this summer.

Membership is still $15 a year but will be going up.

There are two publications available from the society:  a 2022 calendar showing historical buildings and a McHenry  Illinois Sanborn Insurance Map Book showing the locations of every building in the city  from 1893 to 1933.

This morning's presentation was Board Games, given by Patrick Wirtz.

I was surprised to see good buddy Double D, fellow collect-too-much and NIU football superfan.

--Cooter

Fox Lake Area Hist. Society Meeting This Saturday

Fox Lake, Illinois.

The General Meeting of the Fox Lake-Grant Township Area Historical Society will take place this Saturday. May 21, 2022, at the Grant Hall  Museum located at 411 Washington Street in Ingleside, Illinois.

Up-dated by-laws and rules will be reviewed and approved.

It will be followed by the program:  The Shadow Hunters' Paranormal Investigation  report.  The Grant Hall Museum was in the former Grant Township Department of Transportation building which dates back to the early 1900s.  In other words, we will be finding out if we have any ghosts  in the old building.

Makes you have to think twice before volunteering for docent duty on a Sunday.

I don't know that I would want to be a docent, likely there alone if they find we have other-worldly guests there.

Not Too Scared.  Well Maybe a Little.  --CootBoo

Titanic Survivor Adolphe Saalfeld-- Part 3: The Aftermath

"No one in our boat knew how many lifeboats were on the Titanic but ... there was ample time for saving every soul on board had their been sufficient boats....  

"The Captain and Officers  of the Carpathia did all  that was possible to make  us comfortable and to those that were sick or injured, they gave their tenderest care.  The icebergs were huge and the weather extremely  rough on the voyage to New York."

Afterwards, Saalfeld returned to his wife in England.  But as a male survivor of the disaster he found himself ostracized by  society and  his family reported that  he never slept properly again, often calling on his chauffeur to drive him around empty  midnight streets before he drifted off.

He died  in Kew, Surrey on June  5, 1926, at age 61.  He was still chairman of the firm, which continued to do business until 1954.    His estate was settled  on July 16, 1926, and his assets were worth 46,902 pounds.  Burial was at Golders Green Jewish  Cemetery in Barnet,  London.

--Cooter

Titanic Survivor Adolphe Saalfeld-- Part 2: Forgot His Perfume Samples in the Chaos

Before boarding, he and his nephew, Paul Joseph Danby, also a chemist, boarded the ship and toured it together.  Danby wrote a letter back to his wife in Manchester which stated:  "Uncle has a very large cabin, nearly a living room with sofa and electric ventilator."

Saalfeld wrote his own wife:  "... I just had an hour's roaming about on this wonderful boat.  I like my cabin very much.  It's like a bed-sitting room and rather large.  They are still busy to finish the last things on board...."

According to a later statement, Adolphe Saalfeld had been  in the smoking room at the time of the collision and saw the iceberg following which, he went to his cabin.  In his haste, however, he left his perfume samples there.

He recounted:  I saw a few  men and women go into a boat and I followed and when lowered, pushed off and rowed some distance,  fearing ... Titanic sinking... as we drifted away gradually saw the Titanic sink lower and lower and finally her lights went out, and others in my boat said they saw her disappear.  Our boat was nearly two miles away but the pitiful cries could  be plainly heard."

--Cooter

Titanic Survivor Adolphe Saalfeld-- Part 1: British Subject, Born in Germany

From Encyclopedia Titanica.

Back in April and early this month, I was writing about what they ate and drank on the Titanic on that first and last voyage it made across the Atlantic.  The article I used gave the name of "Popcorn Dan" Coxon and Adolphe Saalfeld.

He was born in Oranienbaum, Anholt, Germany, to Jewish parents  around 1865.  Trained as a chemist, he came to Britain in the  mid-1880s and became a naturalized citizen in July 1896, living in Clarence Lodge, Victoria Park, Manchester.  By 1901, he was described in the census as a chemical merchant and still living in Manchester.

A self-made  businessman, Adolphe was chairman of the  chemists and distillers at  Sparks, White & Co. and oversaw  his line  of concentrated perfume fragrances and fine oils for distribution and sales.

Saalfeld boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a first-class passenger (ticket #19988 which cost30 pounds, 10 shillings.  He was traveling with samples of his perfume products with the intention of opening up a new outlet for his floral fragrances in America.

--Cooter

Last Night on the Titanic, The Popcorn Vendor

From History on the Net.

One  legendary fixture on the Titanic was a gregarious  popcorn vendor known as Popcorn Dan Coxon.  You could call him one of America's first food truck operators and was a highly successful purveyor of popcorn.

He was lost on the Titanic and his body never recovered, although a New York Times article claimed it was him when it wasn't.

Coxon lived an interesting life.  He lived in a Queen Anne house on the Wisconsin River, which people thought was haunted.  He dressed  in a fur-lined coat and loved to maintain a flashy appearance.  But he was still a working-class man.

This was by Veronica Hinke, who wrote the book "The Last Night on the Titanic."

--Cooter

Some More on 'Popcorn Dan', Daniel Coxon, Titanic Victim

From the Titanic Encyclopedia Message Board.

Someone was looking for some information on "Popcorn Dan."

Some comments:

**  Suggested the person look up local papers around Merrill, Wisconsin, from 1912 for stories that weren't covered in major papers.

**  Dan was known as "Popcorn Dan" and got that nickname because he would set up a popcorn stand at different public events around Merrill.  He lived in Scott's Mansion.

**  Another person said the wrong photo of him was being used.  The one you see in sources is of his  nephew David.

**  This set off a lot of discussion as to the correct photo of Dan.

--Cooter

Daniel Coxon, 'Popcorn Dan', Titanic Victim-- Part 2: Lost His Life

It is believed that Daniel Coxon had returned to England one time earlier, but he returned to his home land  aboard the SS New York on 22  December 1911, traveling  in third class  aboard the same steamer that almost collided with the Titanic in Southampton docks four months later.  

Whilst in England, he lived at  38 Rockford, Kentish Town, London, presumably the address of one of his siblings.  Reportedly delaying his return to the U.S. so he could board the new steamer Titanic, he boarded the vessel at Southampton as a  third class passenger (ticker number 364500 which cost 7 pounds, 5 shillings).

Mr. Coxon lost his life in the disaster and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

--Cooter

Seven Things About Cinco de Mayo-- Part 4: Actually a Bigger Thing in the U.S. Than Mexico

7.  Cinco de Mayo  is more widely celebrated in the United States  than in Mexico.

Benito Juarez declared Cinco de Mayo a holiday immediately after the Battle of Puebla, but for may Mexicans it has always taken backseat to such events as   the September 16 Independence Day, which commemorates the start of hostilities against Spanish rule in 1810.

In the United States, on the other hand, Cinco de Mayo gained traction during the 1960s, when Chicano activists began looking for a way to honor their history, culture and heritage.

It really picked up as more and more Mexicans moved to the United States.

Today, the biggest Cinco de Mayo celebrations are held in U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations, such as Los Angeles, which every year attracts hundreds of thousands of people to its Fiesta Broadway Festival.

Of course, this also becomes a big drinking and partying day at many bars across the country with all sorts of drink specials and Mexican food.

Margaritas Anyone?  --Cooter

Seven Things About Cinco de Mayo-- Part 3: Maximilian's Out. Juarez and Dias Battle for Control

5.  Continued.

With money running low in his coffers, Napoleon III decided in 1866 to end France's occupation of Mexico.  

Maximilian  unwisely stayed and briefly fought before surrendering his troops after they were routed at  Queretaro.  On June19, 1867, he and his generals were executed by firing squad.

6.  Porfirio Diaz began making a name for himself at Puebla.

Porfirio Diaz, Mexico's longest-serving president,  was a relatively unknown cavalry commander until the Battle of  Puebla, where he outflanked the French on their third charge and sent them into disorderly retreat.

Over then next several years, he won battles at Oaxaca and elsewhere.  Following the war, however, Diaz became  so disillusioned with his one-time friend Juarez that he unsuccessfully ran for president against him.

He later launched a couple coup attempts, finally seizing power in 1876.  Except for one four-year  break, his reign lasted until 1911, when he was finally deposed by the Mexican Revolution.

--Cooter

Seven Things About Cinco de Mayo-- Part 2: France Won the War Anyway

4.  After losing the Battle of Puebla, France went on to win  the war.

Mexican victory at Puebla slowed, but did not stop the French onslaught.  French Emperor Napoleon  III ordered another 30,000 troops sent to Mexico under a new commander.  They overran Puebla easily and captured Mexico City. 

Juarez and his followers escaped to the mountains and Napoleon installed  Ferdinand Maximilian von Hapsburg, second in line to the Austro-Hungarian throne as Mexico's ruler.

5.  The French occupation of Mexico was short-lived.

Back in France, Napoleon III was growing increasingly concerned about  Prussia, which had won victories against Denmark and Austria and figured they would next try to  reclaim the  the disputed territories of  Alsace and Lorraine.

Meanwhile, the Civil War in the United States had ended and  the U.S. government was putting pressure on him to get out and also supplying  weapons to  to Juarez's army.

Continued.

--Cooter

Seven Things About Cinco de Mayo-- Part 1: Not Just France

From the April 28, 2022, History "7 things you may not know about Cinco de Mayo" by Jesse Greenspan.

1.  Mexico had just gotten over a civil war in 1862.

2.  European troops invaded because Mexico was broke.  Owed lots of money to Spain, France and Great Britain.  With the U.S. too tied up with its own civil war, it would be unable to enforce the Monroe Doctrine.  Spain and Great Britain almost immediately left, but 7,000 French troops pushed on, aided by those Mexicans who had lost the civil war.

3.  France was considered a major military power at the time.  On May 5, they encountered Mexican forces at Puebla and despite three charges, were forced to retreat.  A major victory for the Mexicans.

--DaCoot

Daniel Coxon 'Popcorn Dan', Titanic Victim-- Part 1

From the Encyclopedia Titanica.

He was born in St. Prancas, Middlesex, England, on  27 August 1853 and married twice, with his first wife dying and had eight children with his second one.  His family was listed as living at Kentish Town in Middlesex from 1871 to 1891, but he did not live with them, having moved to Canada sometime in the early 1870s before finally ending up in Merrill, Wisconsin (according to family sources).

Mr. Coxon never married in his new home and was listed as a laborer in the 1900 census.  By the time of the 1910 census, he was listed as a  street popcorn vendor.

Contemporary news sources listed him as a "cripple" and was well-known in his community as  "Popcorn Dan."

--Cooter

May 1972: The Two Year Anniversary of the Kent State Killings

From the MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back" for May 4, 2022.

1972, 50 years ago. 

"On Thursday morning, students at Northern Illinois University will conduct an anti-war march into DeKalb  and will hold a moratorium on classes at the university.

"The march is being held on the second anniversary of the killings at Kent State University and the subsequent  death of 15 people in demonstrations at Jackson State and Augusta, Georgia."

The Kent State shootings caused some violent confrontations between students and various law enforcement groups.

--Cooter

A Tribute to 'Popcorn Dan' of the Titanic

Veronica Hinke also pays tribute to "Popcorn Dan" (aka Daniel Coxon) of her hometown of Merrill, Wisconsin.

"The Gage (restaurant) contributed a caramel corn recipe in honor of Daniel,"  Hinke said.  "It's also a special nod to Chicago because Cracker Jack was  introduced here during the World Columbian Exposition of 1893, and you can imagine that caramel corn had become so popular by the time the Titanic sailed that it might well have been on board as a special treat."

Pop That Corn.  --CootDan

What They Ate and Drank on the Titanic's Last Night-- Part 4: A Chicago Connection

Adolphe Saalfeld had boarded in Southampton and his letter was mailed before the Titanic headed across the Atlantic Ocean,  "It was pure joy for me to stitch together the tales told in letters home, to tell the story of these amazing people through the lens of drinking and dining," Veronica Hinke said.

Hinke's culinary narrative tells the stories behind the dishes, desserts and drinks that appeared, or likely appeared on Titanic menus, based on contemporary Edwardian dining trends no doubt embraced on board.  She also includes recipes, many of which were adapted to modern tastes by Chicago-area chefs.

Hinke now lives in the Chicago area, notes that there were many Chicago connections to the Titanic.  One of them was Anne Isham, one of only five female first-class passengers who did not survive. She refused to leave without her Great Dane.

First-class passengers Ida Hippach and her daughter Jean, of Evanston were survivors of both the 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire in Chicago (at least 602 deaths) and the Titanic sinking.

--Cooter

May Events in the American Revolution: Ethan Allen, Tea Act, Charleston Captured and Battle of Waxhaws

MAY 10, 1775

**  Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys seize Fort Ticonderoga.  Also, the Second Continental Congress meets

MAY  10, 1773

**  Tea Act--  An attempt by Parliament to undercut smugglers by reducing the price of tea to the colonies.

MAY 12, 1780

**  British capture of Charleston, South Carolina.

MAY 15, 1781

**  Battle of Fort Granby, South Carolina.

MAY  20, 1778

**  Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania.

MAY  28, 1754

**  The French and Indian War begins.

MAY 29, 1780

**  Battle of Waxhaws, South Carolina

--Cooter