Lettuces
Amazing, beautiful lettuces at today’s farmer’s market. Apparently there is a bumper crop this year. Everything around here is flowering to beat the band. The mountain laurels are just about to pop and the lady slippers are all around us in the the woods.
Willard Suitcases / Labels / Washington
I am in a phase of editing the suitcases where I have shifted from working on mostly full ones to ones that are largely empty save for labels. This is Elaine G’s leather grip. Nice hats, a lovely porcelain figurine and a Bible. Check out the suitcases site to see the latest uploads.
James arrived at Willard on 15 February 1961. I like how the staff identified his case as “clothlike”. I think it was actually real cloth.
And Carrie was admitted on 21 March 1930.
I am really facinated by the labels as they reveal quite a bit about the folks who owned the cases.
I was in DC earlier this week and had an interesting meeting with one of the curators at the National Portrait Gallery. This is the atrium that they share with the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is an amazing building with a fantastic collection.
That Thing Again (with aspirin)
I started taking a low dose aspirin a while ago, and as I was filling up my weekly pill dispenser this morning that thing happened again.
But this time it happened twice! The wayward one rolled away and stayed upright and the one in the pill container just landed that way.
Willard Suitcases / Harry M
Harry M’s case wasn’t technically a suitcase, but it contained some interesting things.
I’m not sure what the wooden object on the left is, but the Latimer White Petroleum Jelly label is quite nice. And the Prell shampoo bottle is classic. The label had fallen off, but it has the “Rinse, Lather, Repeat” admonition that got consumers to use twice as much as they probably needed.
I have been editing and uploading more of the suitcases, and you can see the latest here. Just click on “The Cases” at the top of the page. Thanks for following.
Tulips
The university has planted a ton of tulips in anticipation of a flood of people visiting for commencement. Most of them are planted in regular beds, but these guys are interspersed with clumps of grass just outside of the recreation center. Nice.
It’s Growing
Here it is from a different angle. It is growing nicely. I wonder if it will flower.
Water Plant
We had a lovely walk in the woods this morning. The trees are just starting to show new growth, and I was pleased to see that some of these water plants (identification anyone?) are starting to appear in the small streams. This one is right near a spot where Olive likes to lie in the water and rub her back on the moss covered rocks.
This is from a few days ago. It might be time for a bath.
Willard Suitcases / L W M
L. W.’s case was largely empty save for this purple piece of rope and a half-smoked cigar. It stikes me as a pretty good metaphor for a life interrupted. You can check out the other photographs on the suitcases site. Thanks for following, and I wish you all a lovely weekend.
The Clark
Cris and I drove to Williamstown yesterday to meet up with Peggy Ross and her husband Peter. The Clark is always the draw, and every time I go something new grabs me. These Renoirs are quite nice.
I have always liked this Sargent on the right (“A Street in Venice”).
Cris really likes these figures. I can’t remember the artist.
I spent a lot of time sitting in front of the Turner that I mentioned in a previous post.
Willard Suitcases / Charles F
I mentioned earlier this week that I was hoping to get Charles F’s photographs uploaded by the end of the week, and here is a sample. To see the rest of the collection, please go to the Willard Suitcases site.
From the little I know about Charles, he came to Willard somewhat later in his life. I have no way of knowing if the portrait in the above photograph is he, or someone near to him, but whenever I think about his life, this image comes to mind.
The tassels on his tallit are especially evocative to me.
I believe that this is the publisher of some of his books. I did a search for it but came up empty. Any help would be welcome.
His starched collars were still in quite good condition.
I have no way of knowing if he was in the military, but I would guess that this canteen was army surplus.
Here is a close up of his naturalization papers, which date to October of 1896.
Many of the suitcases in the collection contain scraps of paper with hand-written notes on them. I find that these can be especially interesting.
One of Charles’ cases had this selection tools (and a razor).
Please check out the rest of my photographs of Charles’ possessions on the suitcases site, and thanks for following.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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