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  1. B

    Terms Which Have Disappeared

    The Liberty ships built in WWII had some problems with metal cracking that sounded an awfully lot like some of the details of the Titanic as far as metal failure. In fact, twelve Liberty ships simply broke in half and sank (out of about 2,700 Liberty ships) because of metal fatigue. Of course...
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    Terms Which Have Disappeared

    I've always believed that too many conspiracy theories and other theories about things that are claimed to be faked are based on what cannot be done or what cannot happen. In the case of the Titanic, "everyone knew" it was unsinkable, so there must be another explanation. In the same sense, a...
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    The Best Yet....1950's

    The fifties sure went by fast, didn't they?
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    Terms Which Have Disappeared

    Oh, I don't know. This computer sometimes insists on words, word order, spelling, everything, that I don't want to use. This computer isn't smarter; it's just contrary (a word not used very much). Already robotic machines make other robotic machines. But somewhere along the way, a customer is...
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    Vintage Things That Will NOT Disappear In Your Lifetime

    I recall hearing a reference to someone in an old movie as a "vaselino," meaning someone who used a lot of hair grease. I don't think it was used as a compliment.
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    Vintage Things That Will NOT Disappear In Your Lifetime

    The mention of Vick's, which I don't recall that we used, nevertheless reminded me of some other things that we did use and which we used a lot. Kids used to always be getting scratches, cuts and burns as well as poison ivy. So everyone had iodine or mercurochrome on hand. I think all they...
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    The Real Reason Malls Are Closing

    I also worked in Landover on the other side of the beltway from the mall when Capital Center (arena) was still there. I thought Landover Mall was as nice as any other for what it was. I believe that Sears actually owned the land the store occupied but I don't know if it's still there or not. The...
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    Vintage Things That Will NOT Disappear In Your Lifetime

    The jeans I usually wear in the winter are so-called logger jeans. They are full-cut (not slim, that is), have suspender buttons and are high-waisted. They are available with a double front but I don't need that much. There are several brands available but I think they're all made somewhere else...
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    The Real Reason Malls Are Closing

    I was referring to Seven Corners Mall. The building across Route 7 was a Lord & Taylor. There as a Garfinkel's at one end and a Woody's, I think, at the other end. The inside corridors I remember being rather narrow. One of my memories of the mall was seeing lines outside "The Magic Pan," I...
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    The Real Reason Malls Are Closing

    It doesn't matter how long the line is; all that matters is who you're standing behind.
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    The Real Reason Malls Are Closing

    Maybe what you're saying is that malls now don't have anything to appeal to men who are 40 years older than they were in 1974. But there's a lot going on here. The ownership of the mall, which probably includes several malls, is a distinct and separate entity from the stores occupying the...
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    You Know You Live in a Small(ish) Town When...

    I was going to add that you're in a small town when the undertaker that buried both your mother and father (about 30 years apart) graduated from high school with one of them and you went to the same high school, but that could happen anywhere. I was also going to say that it couldn't be a small...
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    You Know You Live in a Small(ish) Town When...

    The police station in one small town I frequently visited in the 1950s had a police station that was about the size of the inside of a typical gas station office. But that was 50 years ago. The police station in my hometown shared a building with the fire station and both had garage doors...
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    Vintage Things That Will NOT Disappear In Your Lifetime

    A new M-4 carbine (used ones, too, I guess) weigh more than the original M16s because of all the accessories that are now considered essential, although they are very useful, especially optics. I got out of the army in 1968 having never seen an M16, which had been around for ten years by then...
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    The Real Reason Malls Are Closing

    The merchants I mentioned had something called "Old-fashioned bargain days," with sales people wearing old-fashioned clothes, which I don't remember too well, old things in the windows and things like that. I don't recall that there was any parade or anything like that. But the funny thing was...
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    The Real Reason Malls Are Closing

    The effectiveness of advertising is always debatable but it still usually pays to advertise. You have to do it yourself, too. Nobody else will do it for you. In my wonderful hometown in the 1950s, there was clearly a community spirt, which together with the merchants, made it a nice place to...
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    The Real Reason Malls Are Closing

    I think you're exaggerating for the effect but I sort of understand what you're getting at. One town center that I'm thinking of, in fact, the only one I've been to, really, has no outstanding architecture theme. It does have a nice layout but the parking isn't as good as you might wish...
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    So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

    I had French in high school, so I didn't have to take any language in college (except, ironically, more English). But the only advice I ever received about going to college was to get all my classes first thing in the morning. Worst advice I've ever received.
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    Vintage trains

    I think there has always been a certain amount of romanticism attached to most forms of transportation, even now. There are a lot of elements that kill those aspects, to be sure, but it's still there. It's isn't necessarily about the vehicle but more about the journey itself. But sometimes the...
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    The Real Reason Malls Are Closing

    The Mall of America near Minneapolis is an experience. I don't know who dreams up things like this but the latest thing (meaning within the last 20 years!) is the so-called Town Center, usually spelled centre. They are okay but all the ones I know of are rather upscale. They usually don't have...

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