Pinball
I started playing pinball at Gabby Avenue News in Meadville when I was in junior high. Almost every morning before school I would try to get in a few games before dashing off to homeroom. After that, I played mostly at the College Pizza Villa on North Main Street. When I got to Wittenberg, I was happy to see that there were 4 or 5 machines in the basement of the student union. To say the least, I was a regular down there. With the advent of video games, the popularity of pinball faded, and the machines that were being made were not so interesting to me. They were way too complicated with multiple levels and lots of ramps and extra bells and whistles. For me, the heyday of the pins was from the mid 60s to the mid 70s. / Peter has always been interested in my younger days and he loves to hear me tell stories about growing up in Meadville. He especially liked the pinball related anecdotes. / Some time ago my brother got a machine for his basement. It is made by Stern and is the Elvis model. It is one of the later designs, and initially it didn’t interest me so much. But whenever we would visit, Pete would head down and spend lots of time playing. Eventually I became hooked and we now play quite a bit together. Because of his CP, he plays both flippers with his right hand, and he is amazing good. / Union doesn’t regularly have any machines, but during special weekend events they bring in one or two that are set up to play for free. Cristine and I were visiting him yesterday and he and I went over to Reamer and played this one. Like the Elvis game, it is of the modern variety with way too much going on, but as you can see in the high score list, I totally killed it. Score inflation has gotten out of hand though; over a billion points is just wrong. At some point during my big game, Carlene Carter’s “Every Little Thing” started playing and after we were done, I was surprised to see in the credits that the female voice that pops up on occasion was hers. Weird, but I went to iTunes today and bought the song.
Frozen Fenway
This past Saturday I shot the UMASS / Vermont ice hockey game at Fenway Park in Boston. My friend Thom Kendall was covering the action on the ice, and I had the luxury of just wandering around shooting whatever looked interesting. It was great fun to have the run of the place. It was the first official event in this, the 100th year of the park. So much history. / This panorama was taken from the “Green Monster”.
Milk Cap
One day when I was in college, I was standing in front of the mailboxes in Ferncliff Hall and dropped a penny. It landed on its edge between my feet and stayed that way. I thought it was really cool and decided to leave it there. I walked by several hours later and it was still in the same place in spite of all the people who had walked by. I thought of it as a good omen; something unusual that I was a part of, and I remember that day as being especially nice. A similar thing happened with an aspirin a few years later and I began to pay attention to the correlation between dropping something that stayed on its edge and having a happy and productive day. Over all these years it has maybe happened 20 or so times with various objects, and I always feel elated. Yesterday morning as I was making tea for Cris and me, I took the cap off the milk and dropped it. It turned out to be a very nice day.
John Wilson
I’m in the UK for a few days helping my friend John Wilson do some work on his house in Chiswick. We don’t get to see each other often enough, but when we do it is always a treat. We met when we were both living in Berlin in the 1980’s and became close immediately. I have always been fascinated by his personal history. He was born in Trinidad, went to boarding school in Barbados, moved to the UK when he was 16, and has lived and worked all over the world. His family had been in the Caribbean for generations, and his father’s father was the Postmaster General of Grenada. (Charles Livingstone Wilson) Today we were in his studio and he wanted to show me a suitcase that contained some family items. (Suitcases seem to be a theme for me lately.) The name tag above is sewn on to the tennis shorts that he wore while at the Lodge School in Barbados.
The Pan American tag was on the inside of the case. It was full of family items and lots of folders, including reports to his mother and father about his progress at school.
I really like looking at old documents. There is something about the typefaces and writing in ink from a fountain pen that appeals to me.
Above is his housemaster’s comment (turquoise ink). And he still is quite the gentleman.
The comment above from the headmaster is a true reflection of the times. This is from his last term at school. / I am constantly reminded of how amazing all of my close friends are, and am so lucky to be a part of their lives.
Pizza Hunt
On my way to Albany yesterday to do more work on the suitcases, I drove past this abandoned Pizza Hut on Route 9 in Hadley. I have always wanted to photograph it in the fog, and the conditions were just right. This building is odd to begin with, and the fact that it sits empty in the middle of an otherwise highly developed area makes it even stranger. I think it has been empty for at least 5 years. When Peter was a little boy, we once went there for one of those kids birthday parties, and even then it was a bit other-worldly. I wonder if this was the bog standard corporate design for smaller New England Pizza Huts. As Peter was learning to talk, he would often add consonants to words where they didn’t belong; hence this building was, and still is the Pizza Hunt.
Willard Suitcase #7
Not all of the suitcases have much in them. Craig suggested that I make selections from the master list, but somehow I like the surprise of not knowing what they contain. I did make some suggestions this time, but was still surprised by what I found.
I am still drawn to the archival paper and string that is used to preserve the cases. There is something so beautiful about how the bows are tied.
This case belonged to Raymond H. You can see the bird droppings from when it was stored in the attic before they were saved by the museum.
I don’t always find items that tell much of a story, but something about this one caught my fancy.
It took me a few minutes to figure out what these papers were.
Rolling papers! I hadn’t noticed the orange wrapper when I took them out of the envelope.
May 4, 1923, such a long time ago. / Many thanks to Peggy Ross who helped me rewrap the cases and pointed out a few things that I had missed. And as usual to Craig for all his help.
Spikes
When I was in high school, I played soccer. I spent alot of time practicing on fields very much like the ones near the UMASS football stadium. We were coached by Mr Shuster, who was from eastern Massachusetts and had a very heavy New England accent. His favorite expression was “Can of corn!” which was his catch-all phrase for something that was supposed to be really easy. At the end of the season he told me that I was the only player that he ever coached that started the early games on the first team and ended up the season not even traveling to the final away game. I never fully understood what I had done wrong to be demoted so far, and he didn’t seem interested in explaining his logic. It was an early example for me of having someone in a position of authority assuming I knew what was going on when I hadn’t a clue. Anyway, I had fun playing. When Pearl and I were walking across the rugby pitch yesterday I looked down and saw these spike marks in the muddy grass and it brought back a flood of memories. / Today is St. Crispin’s Day. I like the Olivier version best. Check it out. It still gives me chills.
Willard Suitcase #6
This suitcase belonged to Maude K. There seems to be some question as to her surname; on some of the tags it is spelled differently.
Three of her cases are in the collection and I shot all three but for brevity I am only posting this one.
I am starting to edit a bit more tightly for these posts since some of the cases contain a considerable amount of interesting objects.
Maude was clearly involved in crafts of some sort.
Her tools and materials are beautiful. I would love to know if there is any record of what she produced with them. And the question again arises as to whether or not she was able to access her case during her time at Willard.
There is definitely more information about her available through the archives, and once I have finished photographing the cases I’ll make every effort to find out more about her.
This score pad indicates that at one time she probably played bridge. The design of these objects knocks me out.
There was still glycerine in this bottle.
The inks were mostly dried out as the corks in the tops had deteriorated almost completely.
I would be glad to know if anyone recognizes what these items could have been used for.
I liked these tweezers, and believe that the white bit at the top is ivory.
I think this glass paper-weight came from the “World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893” in Chicago. / Maude’s cases were really interesting. I hope to be back in Albany sometime this week to do some more work. For those of you seeing this for the first time, here is a link to my Kickstarter project. Thanks, Jon
Willard Suitcase #5
This suitcase belonged to Mary W.
Hers was the second wicker case I photographed last Thursday.
As I have mentioned before, I haven’t any idea what I will find when I unwrap the cases. This one felt a bit heavier than others and when I opened it, it was mostly filled with fabric and lace that I am assuming Mary had made.
There was a lovely feel about the material as I unwrapped each piece.
A mark similar to the one above was on several of the towels. At first I thought it was a date, but I am not so sure.
I believe these tags are from Willard and not the museum. It looks like her case was entered into the system in the 1960s.
The detail on the lace pieces is beautiful.
Lots of interesting shapes and sizes.
Thursday was very productive. Mary had only the one case with the lace and towels, but I also shot 3 cases that belonged to another person. I’ll edit those photos and get them up soon. Many thanks to Peggy Ross who helped me rewrap the cases, and as usual to Craig Williams for all his support. If you are seeing these for the first time, please check out my project on Kickstarter.
Willard Suitcase #4
Here is another case from the Monday shoot. This one belonged to Clarissa B.
The leather straps were in pretty rough shape.
The address label is quite faded, but it is clear that she was in another hospital before Willard. I googled Rockland Hospital and it is in Orangeburg, NY. The label underneath is obscured, but Worthington Place in New York City is pretty clear.
I like the details of this case; the metal bits are a bit rusty, but the some of the leather has a nice patina.
The museum has done such an amazing job stabilizing these objects. After sitting unprotected in storage for so many years, it is incredible that they are as intact as they are.
Above is the opposite side of this suitcase with more labels.
It is clear that this case has traveled around quite a bit. Even the Railway Express labels have such a pleasing design. I really wish the Date line had been filled in.
I was pretty sure there wasn’t much inside when I lifted it up.
Just a few items, and nothing particularly personal.
This little metal plate was inside one of the smaller cases. Etched into it is her name and “Bldg 18” and what looks like the date “5/2 36”.
I hope to get back to Albany next week to do some more work. Thanks for looking. You can see more about the project here.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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