Missing Members

[GHT]

At first glance I thought your classmate referred to the infamous 1840 Old Bailey case, Courvoisier
which firmly established the right to defense against accusation in common law.
Irish silk Charles Phillips knowingly defended a guilty man and paid debt in the court of public opinion.

Courvoisier, the brandy of Napoleon. And Josephine.

I bow to your knowledge, and if fate should ever throw up a chance meeting, the Courvoisiers are on me!

Did a little arithmetic about one of those unnamed Gone But Not Lamented individuals to whom I referred. He was a prolific poster, and yet few seem to have liked what he had to say (or perhaps, how he said it). His probability of getting a "like" on a post was 890.3114754098361 to one. I'd submit that others here beside myself do not exactly lament the loss of the guy.

Mr. Gone but not lamented is not someone that comes to mind, possibly because I ignore those who seem to seek some sort of pleasure in creating discomfort for others. Eventually their only audience is an empty room, even then I have known some who can come close to starting an argument in such a place.

 

[Harp]

I bow to your knowledge, and if fate should ever throw up a chance meeting, the Courvoisiers are on me!

Kentucky bourbon and you're on. Courvoisier is a bit much sour taste to my plebeian palate.
And some place near Foyles on Charing Cross. A tube pop out run. Grab a Shakespeare complete
and some criticals thereto, need marmalade too. I know someday I'll chance meet Nigella Lawson
at Foyles or Punjab.

 

[GHT]

Kentucky bourbon and you're on. Courvoisier is a bit much sour taste to my plebeian palate.
And some place near Foyles on Charing Cross. A tube pop out run. Grab a Shakespeare complete
and some criticals thereto, need marmalade too. I know someday I'll chance meet Nigella Lawson
at Foyles or Punjab.

Tell you what, afternoon tea in The Savoy, I'm not being either boastful nor snobbish. Afternoon tea at The Savoy, so old school, so Fedora Lounge, so wonderful and so many celebrity faces: A great place to people watch.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Had afternoon tea at the Savoy about ten years ago. It was a memorable highlight of that era of my life. “0ld school” is the word for it!

 

[BobHufford]

Anyone knows, if @Knotten is doing well??

He just started following me on Instagram after I posted the Resistol “art” hat, so I assume he is good.

 

[MisterCairo]

And …

I look back to the beginnings of this thread, to the summer of ’06, and see how many of the then-active participants are no longer contributing.

Was noticing the same thing. While clicking on their profile links, and the "last seen" date comes up, I was gobsmacked at how long ago folks I recall well last lurked.

 

[tonyb]

Was noticing the same thing. While clicking on their profile links, and the "last seen" date comes up, I was gobsmacked at how long ago folks I recall well last lurked.

The prevailing subject matter in some of the forums has changed some since then, which might account for some of it.

I appreciate what I take to be the generally more informed and nuanced perspectives on the “golden era” and “greatest generation.” Others might feel differently, which might also account for some of it.

But I suspect that most of those one-time regulars who rarely if ever stop by anymore have found other diversions. A person can learn all s/he wishes to know about vintage men’s hats or half-belt jackets or spectator shoes or whatever and become bored with it all. That’s kinda what happened to me. I still make hats, but I know all I need to know and most of what I want to know on the subject, and I converse with others in the trade on other platforms, of which there are a few. There’s a custom hat-making world out there that has nothing to do with the Fedora Lounge. Some are almost hostile to it, which baffles me, but different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

Time flies, though, don’t it? I’ve been here since December of ‘05, more than 16 years ago now. Seems a blink sometimes. I’m now what we used to call “retirement age.” I’ve survived health crises that would have killed our “golden era” ancestors. I’ve buried too many friends and a parent and a sibling. I’ve seen changes in myself and in my world that I couldn’t have imagined when I signed on. I can’t say it’s all been fun, of course, but I try to find things of interest in this meager existence, and I still find things of interest here.

 

[tonyb]

Much as I might take exception with a handful of characters here, those who have gone and those who remain, this place has shown itself to be inhospitable to out-and-out BS’ers.

I recall one fellow who boasted of having some high-level military security clearance. He would have us believe that a person trusted with a high-level security clearance would boast of his high-level security clearance.

His tenure here was short-lived. Blessedly.

 

[Tiki Tom]

I recall one fellow who boasted of having some high-level military security clearance. He would have us believe that a person trusted with a high-level security clearance would boast of his high-level security clearance.

Those who know, don’t tell. Those who tell, don’t know.

 

[tonyb]

Those who know, don’t tell. Those who tell, don’t know.

That fellow made numerous other outrageous assertions in one of those threads on the pandemic that got deleted in their entirety. That was to the better, seeing how those exchanges had become both acrimonious and platforms for misinformation.

 

[Harp]

Had afternoon tea at the Savoy about ten years ago. It was a memorable highlight of that era of my life.

Interesting how our lives are writ like chapters with geographic landmark witness time's passage.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Speaking of missing members, whatever happened to Harp?

 

[Trenchfriend]

I hope @Knotten is doing well.

 

[MisterCairo]

Was noticing the same thing. While clicking on their profile links, and the "last seen" date comes up, I was gobsmacked at how long ago folks I recall well last lurked.

The irony in my case, I too rarely pop in these days...

 

[tonyb]

A few people still listed as moderators (“bartenders”) rarely if ever check in anymore. One I sadly suspect is deceased. A couple others I still communicate with on other platforms. And one is still very much alive and apparently well and still deeply immersed in matters vintage — clothing, mostly. I‘ve never discussed with any of those folks why they have stepped away from this place.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

HoosierDaddy (aka Van Brown) passed away about a year or so ago after a long battle with cancer. I was still in contact with him on Facebook right up until his passing.

I’m also in regular contact with James Powers, Rue and Widebrim on Facebook.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
Sorry to hear about Van, but not surprised. We communicated a bit via less public means. I knew of his increasing health challenges, of course, so I thought it best to allow him to expend his waning energy with his loved ones and others who were more central to his life.

He and I found much on which to disagree, but neither of us had so much of our identities invested in our opinions that our differences kept us from finding things to like in each other.

 

[tonyb]

I hesitate to ask what became of RJR.

 

[BobHufford]

I hesitate to ask what became of RJR.

Sadly passed in 2019.

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/thr...pay-last-respects.30281/page-227#post-2547054

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^^
I feared that. We’re at that age.

Most mornings I find myself reflecting on the people I’ve lost, and a month doesn’t go by without hearing that people with whom I have some association have either died or have a condition that likely will kill them within the foreseeable.

It leaves me grateful for the life I have, melancholia and all. I’m setting up our “outdoor living space” (in the parlance de Realtor) this sunny spring day, thinking of the rumps that will never again plop down on that wicker.