Christmas in August

I had a fabulous summer this year, for the most part because I was able to spend so much time with my family, but especially because I spent so much time with my grand babies, who I really haven't had much time with in their new little lives. I feel like I've really had a chance this summer to get to know their personalities and they've really gotten to know Ed and me, too. We had more time together in these two months than we have had in the rest of the 2+ years since Lily came along.

First lunch together this summer.

Bill gives Owen a different perspective on the crowd at Mashpee Family night.

Uncle Dooger and Owen at our Halliday family reunion.

Sharing the Fireworks with them was really a highlight of the memories we made together.

But Labor Day is here and our time together has come to an end for this summer, as we always knew it would.


A few days ago we went off the Cape to Kim and Bill's house to babysit for the grand babies for the afternoon while Kim went into work for a little while. We had the kids to ourselves for a few hours, followed by a nice visit that night and had one good last visit with everyone. In the morning, Kim had work and we had to get back to the Cape. We loaded the kids into the car for Kim to bring them to daycare. Because it was our last time seeing them before we left to return home to  Florida next week, we had a big dramatic goodbye, lots of kisses and hugs and a few tears on Grammy's part as they drove away. It was a sad parting for me, and I think for Lily, too. She is a very sensitive little girl.

One year old Owen just goes with the flow, waves bye bye and smiles. He has the kind of  "Don't Worry Be Happy attitude" that we all should try to emulate. It would be much better for our heart health.

Lily, on the other hand, gets quite dramatic and emotional about goodbyes.

Just as an example of what I mean, one day when I was visiting last spring, Kim and I stopped with the kids to visit my son Bill, Lily's Daddy, at his workplace. After our visit, he walked us to the car but had forgotten to give Lily one last hug after buckling her into her seat. As he walked away and Kim started the car she began to strongly protest  that she wanted to hug her Daddy. But her Mom told her that he had to get back to work and we'd see him at supper. She began to whimper a little and said that she was very sad.

When I asked her why, she said "Because I miss my Daddy." in the saddest little voice you've ever heard. He'd been gone from her side for 30 seconds and was still walking across the parking lot, within sight and she already missed him. She just adores her Daddy.

So, after we said our goodbyes last week, Kim had explained to a very sad 2 1/2 year old Lily (who has taken to sometimes calling me Glammy instead of Grammy), that they would see us at Christmas time, trying to give her something to look forward to and ease her sad little heart about missing us. That's a long way away for Lily and Glammy, to be sure.

Add caption

But, as luck would have it, that was not the last time we would see them before heading south. Kim came down to the Cape one more time with the kids yesterday. She texted me and suggested we meet with them for one more goodbye. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to see them again and immediately went off to find some kind of trinket to give them at the restaurant where we had arranged to meet for dinner.

Happy First Birthday, Owen!

We arrived and met them in the parking lot of the restaurant, with hello hugs and kisses. I was armed with a plastic bag containing the latest Ariel toy that I had found on sale, and some sort of nesting blocks for Owen, who could care less about presents at this point.

You can see one of Lily's many Ariels in the background.

It was just something to amuse her at dinner and anybody who has met our Lily is well aware that anything having to do with Ariel would please her. We sat around the table and I was right across from her. When I told her that I had a present for her she gave me a big smile and then told me, "Grammy, we are going to see Santa tonight."

Kim started laughing. I said to her that I really didn't think she was going to see Santa Claus tonight. She insisted that we were. I was trying to figure out why she said that and thought maybe it was because she had just received the perfect present, an Ariel gift. But Kim leaned over to her and said "No, Lily, Santa isn't here tonight. We will see him the NEXT time we see Grammy and Grampa." In her little 2 1/2 year old mind, she made the logical deduction that because she was told that the next time she'd see us would be at Christmas, it just made sense to her that if she saw us, it must be Christmas!

Last December, Lily, not quite two and Owen just 5 months old.

I could see the wheels turning as she tried to figure it out and just when we thought she understood that Santa wouldn't be joining us for dinner she said "I want another present now." I think she still thought it was Christmas.

Here is the Ariel that Lily got tonight. Ariel is the Little Mermaid and Lily's favorite Disney Princess.

But we went on to have a lovely dinner. Owen flirted with all the waitresses and anyone who walked by and high fived one of the waiters who stopped to say hello. Lily played with her Ariel all through supper and was quite happy with just the one present. She didn't mention Santa again.

Glampa was very popular this summer. They couldn't get enough lap time.

We cleaned up the kids and left a tip to match the mess the waitress had to clean up under the table. We all walked out to the parking lot together, Owen in Grampa's arms and Lily carrying her Ariel. When we got to our car I told her to wait one minute and that I had one more goodbye gift for her and Owen. Owen got a hammer and work bench thing, which he really didn't care about one bit. He was having more fun just cuddling with his Grampa.

Happy Happy Owen.

I had found an Ariel Play-Doh and vanity set for Lily at Benny's, a discount place we have nearby. It was the best $7.00 I ever spent.
I don't think I have ever seen her so excited about anything before. I thought that child was going to weep with joy when she saw it. It is so much fun to spoil her because she is so appreciative! She told me that I was her best friend, which was very cute, although I like being Glammy better. We helped Kim get them buckled into their car seats and again, lots of last kisses and hugs. Lily had her lap full of Ariel paraphernalia and was  more focused on wanting that play-doh set opened than she was on the goodbye, and I was glad she had a distraction. We waved as they drove off and then we walked back to our car, my heart a little heavy, but full. Just as we were about to drive off, we saw Kim driving back into the parking lot toward us. She rolled down the window and said, "We had to come back. Lily needs another hug from Glammy."

I don't know how I am going to wait until Christmas.

Have a great day,
Love,
Suz

There Ain't Nothin' Like a Puffin

I just love Puffins. I knew very little about them before researching for today's blog, except they were cute in photos, with their colorful faces and waddley little way of walking.  Those little faces with bright broad beaks and triangular looking eyes, make them seem like living, breathing cartoon characters. I want to see a Puffin in the wild and it's on my bucket list. One of the few things that I actually have on that list, I guess. I usually just play things by ear and try to enjoy life as it comes, but maybe I need a plan. And recently, after announcing that bucket list item on Facebook, my cousin-in-law Steve, who lives in Maine,  has offered to go with us on a Puffin boat tour out of Bar Harbor next year. I am wildly excited about that trip! 

I found out online today, that there are three species of puffin in the US, but only one lives in the east while the other two reside on the west coast. Horned Puffins and Tufted Puffins live in the north Pacific Ocean. Our puffins, the Atlantic Puffins are found in the north Atlantic with their largest population in Iceland but some also do nest in Maine. There are about 1,000 nesting pairs in Maine now, while there are over 10 million breeding each year in Iceland. So, they are not really endangered, just not as common in Maine as they once were. In Iceland, they are eaten and often appear on hotel menus. In fact, a raw Puffin heart is considered a delicacy. AWWWWK!

Puffin in milk sauce - Mjólkursoðinn lundi

4 puffins
50 g smoked bacon
50 g butter
300 ml milk
300 ml water to taste salt

Puffins should be skinned or carefully plucked and singed. Remove the innards and discard. You can use the breasts alone, or cook the whole birds. Wash well in cold water and rub with salt, inside and out. If you are using whole birds, truss them. Lard the breasts with bacon fat. Brown the birds on all sides, and stuff them tightly into a cooking pot. Heat the milk and water and pour over the puffins. Bring to the boil and cook on low for 1-2 hours (test the birds for softness). Turn the birds occasionally. Remove from the cooking liquid and keep warm while you prepare the sauce...

 

AAAAWWWKKK!

Click Here to Hear The Puffin.

Fortunately, Maine considers them threatened and they are making strides in revitalizing the breeding population there. You will not find Puffin in milk sauce, served with Brussels sprouts and caramelized potatoes in any restaurants in Maine. 


They are a member of the Auk family, a really great word for crossword puzzle and Scrabble fans.

Auks

Interestingly enough, one of the few predators they have to look out for is a Skua, also a very good word for a crossword puzzle or you Words with Friends people when you have a K, difficult to use but the 3rd highest point scorer at 5, and a U when the Q has already been used up with Qi or Qat.

Skua

Puffins are affectionately called Sea Parrots and Clowns of the Sea. They have short wings, suited for diving and swimming underwater, like penguins. But they are also fast and able in the air. They flap their little wings quickly, up to 400 times a minute and can reach speeds up 55 miles an hour. They are only about 10 inches long and weigh not much more than a pound.

The puffin, genus fratercula: Fratercula is Latin for Little Brother or little Friar, probably named because they look like they are wearing monestary garb with their black and white plumage.

Their feet and legs are bright orange and their beaks, during breeding season, are black and red.

They shed an outer layer of the beak after breeding season, revealing a dark, less interesting beak beneath. These beaks are broad and because of that, they can bring large beakfuls of live sand eels and minnows to their chicks (called pufflings, hee hee).

The average mouthful is 10 eels or minnows, but someone took the time to count, and they have actually counted one mouthful containing 62 eels. (Don't ask me how they counted them, it's just what the National Geographic Website said!)

They establish long lasting relationships, the breeding couple. The male prepares the nest in a burrow or crevice in the rocks, for the one egg that the female will lay. They both incubate the egg. The pair often returns to the same burrow year after year.  After the little puffling hatches, they take turns feeding it.

It leaves the nest and spends some time with the colony of fledglings and parents until they are ready to leave their birthplace. When they are ready to go, which they do only under the cover of night, the babies fly out to sea and will not return to land for several years, when they are ready to breed themselves. Puffins spend most of their lives at sea, only returning to the coast to breed.This makes it difficult to track them at sea, but if we are lucky, they will return.


Here is a link to a LIVE webcam of Puffins. It's not very active right now as it would be during breeding season, but it's still fun to see them live in real time.

Puffins of Sea Island LIVE

For forty years they have been trying to revitalize the Puffin population in Maine. Here is a video of some of the Puffins off Seal Island in Maine. Click here or on the video (sometimes this is the only way you can go to video if you are on your ipad.)

Yup, it's on my bucket list. To see an Atlantic Puffin, in the wild, would be a pretty awesome thing, It think.

Have a great day!
Love,

Happy National Pots de Creme Day

I always get a chuckle out of these National "whatever" days. Today is August 27th and is National Pots de Creme day. I wasn't even sure what Pots de Creme was so of course I Googled it. It's really just custard in little dishes. But why does it need it's own day? I guess whatever floats your boat.

But August 27th is also National Banana Lovers Day. That makes a little more sense to me when we Americans eat so many bananas. I bet it's the most popular fruit. Even I, notorious non-lover of fruit, like bananas. Statistics on the official National Banana Lovers Day website I found are that we each eat 33 pounds of bananas a year. That's about 100 bananas each. And did you know that although we think of bananas growing on trees, the banana plant is really an herb? Let's plant bananas in your window sill herb garden and see how they do.

These national observance days are proclaimed by the Pres or Congress, depending on who promotes them. Usually an industry, such as the United Pots de Creme Workers of America (WPDCWA) will lobby for their very own day. (Just kidding) but you get the idea. Or, citizens can also submit a petition to commemorate a cause for a day or a week or a month of the year.



This week is National Safe at Home week promoted by the organization known as the Safe At Home Organization.

No, Not that kind of Safe at Home!

They say more people are injured in accidents at home than anywhere else and they are trying to prevent that from happening. So, let's be safe out there, people. At least for this week.









Among a dozen or so other causes in August, it happens to be "What Will Be Your Legacy?" month. I quite like this one. It's something that Martha J. Ross-Rodgers, a motivational speaker and author, came up with in honor of her mother. It's a time to reflect on what it is that we will want to be remembered for by our kids, grandkids, etc. Instead of just living the work-a-day life we get caught up in, just stop and think if what we are doing will have an impact on those we leave behind.

My dad and my son.

I guess I think about that whenever I am with my grandchildren. When I am with them, I think I become my best self. So, the idea is that if we are mindful of that  in all of our relationships and interactions, it can only make the world a better place. Yes, I kind of like that one.

But today is also "The Duchess" Who Wasn't Day. This one piqued my interest right off the bat and I had to find out what it was all about. And speaking of legacies, as it turns out, Margaret Wolfe Hungerford was an Irish novelist in Victorian days who we all have quoted maybe more often than any other writer without even knowing it.

The Duchess, Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

She was born in 1855, the daughter of a local Vicar in County Cork. As a child, she used to love to make up stories and wrote some prize winning stories in school.  She married a lawyer when she was very young, just 17. They had three daughters together but she became a young widow when her husband died after just 6 years of marriage. In order to support herself and her family, she wrote her first novel, Phyllis. Soon afterward she wrote her most well known book, Molly Bawn.

She wrote prolifically and was in great demand. She remarried in 1872 to Thomas Henry Hungerford. They had three more children. She managed to keep up her writing, and turned out many short stories and articles, as well as books. With such a large family, she was able to continue her writing career only with the self-discipline a good writer needs. She closeted herself away in her writing room without exception for three hours everyday. This is something I must try. Margaret died at the age of 42 of typhoid fever and left behind a large body of work.

She first published Anonymously. Then she published her works by Mrs. Hungerford. However, in the United States she published under the name of "The Duchess". 

Phyllis: a Novel, 1877 Molly Bawn, 1878 Airy Fairy Lilian, 1879 Beauty's Daughters, 1880 Mrs. Geoffrey, 1881 Faith and Unfaith, 1881 Portia, or by Passions Rocked, 1882 Loys, Lord Beresford, and other Tales, 1883 Moonshine and Marguerites, 1883 Rossmoyne, 1883 Doris, 1884 The witching hour, and other stories, 1884 (U.S.) Fortune's wheel, and other stories, 1884 A Week in Killarney, 1884—reissued as Her Week's Amusement, 1886 O Tender Dolores, 1885 Mildred Trevanion, 1885 A Maiden All Forlorn, and other Stories, 1885 In Durance Vile, and Other Stories, 1885 Dick's Sweetheart, 1885 (U.S.) Green Pastures and Grey Grief, 1885 Lady Branksmere, 1886 A Mental Struggle, 1886 The Haunted Chamber, 1886 (U.S.) Lady Valworth's Diamonds, 1886 A Modern Circe, 1887 The Duchess, 1887 Undercurrents, 1888 Marvel, 1888 Honourable Mrs. Vereker, 1888

A Life's Remorse, 1889 A Troublesome Girl, 1889 A Born Coquette, 1890 April's Lady, 1890 A Little Rebel, 1890 Her Last Throw, 1890 A Little Irish Girl, and other Stories, 1891 The O'Connors of Ballinahinch, 1892 A Conquering Heroine, 1892 Nor Wife Nor Maid, 1892 A Conquering Heroine, 1892 Lady Patty, 1892 Nora Creina, 1892 A Mad Prank, 1893 The Red House Mystery, 1893 Lady Verner's Flight, 1893 An Unsatisfactory Lover, 1894 Peter's Wife, 1894 The Hoyden, 1894 The Three Graces, 1895 A Tug of War, 1895 The Professor's Experiment, 1895 Molly Darling and Other Stories, 1895 A Lonely Girl, 1896-- (American title: A Lonely Maid) A Point of Conscience, 1896 An Anxious Moment, 1897--(Stories) Lovice, 1897 (posthumous) The Coming of Chloe, 1897 (posthumous

My guess is that most of my readers haven't ever heard of Margaret before today, and therefore might be wondering how you could ever have quoted her. Well, in The Duchess' second novel, Molly Bawn, Margaret reduced the sentiments of Shakespeare, Ben Franklin and David Hume and others to something much more familiar to us all.

Good Lord Boyet, my beauty, though but mean,
Needs not the painted flourish of your praise:
Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye,
Not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues
Shakespeare, Loves Labours Lost, 1588

Beauty, like supreme dominion
Is but supported by opinion.
Ben Franklin, 1741


"Beauty in things exists merely in the mind which contemplates them."
David Hume, Essays Moral and Political, 1742
Have you guessed yet?

Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, aka The Duchess, coined today's commonly used idiom when it appeared in print for the first time in her novel Molly Bawn:


In Context:
“The cousin! I am so glad. Anything new is such a relief. And I have heard she is beautiful: is she?”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” quotes Marcia, in a low tone, and with a motion of her hand toward the open door inside which sits Molly, that sends Lady Stafford up-stairs without further parley."

If only these eyes could ever see but beauty.

Have a great day, you beautiful people!

Love,
Suz

The Tenors

Three Tenors sing Nessum Dorma Link to You Tube
I remember well The Three Tenors, when I first saw them perform on a PBS special back in the 1990s. They were Italian tenor and likeable character Luciano Pavarotti, the most well known at the time, Placido Domingo from Spain and the one whose name I can never remember until I hear it, Jose Carreras, also Spanish. I learned recently that this trio first performed in July of 1990 as a fund raiser for Carreras' charity the International Leukemia Foundation and also for a chance for his friends to introduce Jose back into the opera world after his own fight with Leukemia. Today, he still is singing, as is Placido. Luciano died in 2007. But who knew that one idea would take off touch people who might never have heard opera performed before, or opera singers performing things other than opera. And who can ever forget their Nessum Dorma.

After these three tenors, came the Irish Tenors.

They were brought together specifically for a PBS special in 1998. They are Anthony Kearns, Ronan Tynan and Finbar Wright. My sister-in-law actually saw one of them perform right here in South Yarmouth at her church once. I couldn't remember if it was Anthony Kearns or Ronan Tynan, I am embarassed to say, until I Googled it and confirmed it was Anthony Kearns. But it was an amazing performance and I remember it well, just not which one it was! These three are still performing, mostly Irish songs, but certainly a variety of classics, folk and contemporary music to keep anybody interested. Who could forget their performance of Danny Boy?

YouTube link to Irish Tenors singing Danny Boy

But last night we saw another group. They were originally called The Canadian Tenors, but now are just known as The Tenors. I hadn't heard about these four until Ed saw a PBS special a few weeks ago and told me about them. As a birthday gift he bought two tickets to see them appear here at the Cape Cod Melody Tent, a theater in the round that rotates and attracts top names every summer. I've been to quite a few concerts here. But by far, this one for me was the most enjoyable.

 These four young guys, all of them probably in their twenties and thirties are so personable that you can't help but like them. After all, they are Canadian.

From upper left going clockwise, Remigio Pereira, Fraser Walters, Victor Micallef, and Clifton Murray

The first set was a few songs perfomed as a quartet, each of them featured at some point during the songs. But then they left the stage momentarily followed by one tenor returning and taking the stage himself. The first was Clifton Murray, who wears a little fedora for most of the show. He told us a little about himself and how he got started in music. He was very funny and then he sang a solo with the backup band. Each of his mates returned one by one, entering singing to rejoin the quartet for the next few numbers. One by one they did that, giving the audience a chance to learn a little bit about each of them. It was very endearing.

They also told us about their charities and invited us to go to their website The Tenors where you can read about their charities as well as other information about them. It's a very well done site. They had just returned from two weeks in Africa where they worked with a group of orphans and they were all very moved by their experience. And recently they've partnered with the Horatio Alger Foundation to benefit US school kids. They are really grateful for their success and are actively giving back.

Their act included a very talented backup group who they brought up front and featured during a three song medley at one point. The Tenors' repertoire includes some opera, of course. I mean you can't feature big tenor voices without some opera, but mostly pop songs and ballads. They did several Dylan songs, including Forever Young that they just knocked out of the park. Their last song was  Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, a favorite of many of us, in a way I'll never forget. Here is a video of that song, which they won a Canadian Grammy.
Link to The Tenors Singing Hallelujah

 

And they also sang Ed's and my song, Elvis's I Can't Help Falling in Love With You. That was really beautiful. And one of the most impressive moments was when Fraser sang a solo, accompanied only by piano, of the tearjerker from Les Mis, "Bring Him Home". That was incredible. Their encore was none other than "Nessum Dorma".

If you get a chance to see them I hope you go. It's not a rock band, but it's a night of beautiful music performed by some very talented guys whose voices blend just beautifully. It was a wonderful evening. Thanks Ed! Love Ya!

The Name Game

I read the funniest article in the New England Historical and Genealogical Society's weekly newsletter. It was an article written by Dahlia Lithwick, a catchy name, I'd say. It appeared in a daily on-line publication called The Slate, which is owned by the Washington Post. The title of the article is "Can You Name Your Baby Messiah?"


Dahlia Lithwick is a Canadian writer and editor who lives in the United States. Lithwick is a contributing editor at Newsweek and senior editor at Slate. Wikipedia

I was careful to mention the article and its author and the publication because I think it's worthy of quoting and I don't want to be accused of plagiarizing. She begins the article by summarizing what's been going on in Newport, Tennessee, as most of you have already heard, where a couple was appearing before a judge at a child support hearing and there was a dispute about the child's name. His name on the birth certificate is "Messiah Deshawn Martin" The judge, Lu Ann Ballew, just decided to change his first name to Martin, along with changing his last name his father's surname, McCullough. There was no dispute about the first name in court but the judge took it upon herself to change the name with the following explanation. "The word Messiah is a title and it's a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ."

So, that was the story that inspired the author to write the article. Some of the names she has uncovered and included struck me as very funny.

Writer Dahlia, goes on to tell us how lucky we are in the US because the government doesn't interfere with child naming on nearly the level that it does elsewhere in the world. In fact, Messiah was in the top 400 baby names in 2012 and the judge's decision will most likely be overturned and Martin will once again be Messiah.

In New Zealand, you can't name your child anything that might offend a "reasonable person." I hadn't ever heard of this, but she says that it's a famous case where someone there wanted to name their daughter "Talula Does the Hula in Hawaii". I thought that was hysterical. They blocked that one. But they also blocked Messiah and they stopped someone from naming their twins "Fish and Chips." Isn't that the funniest thing you ever heard? I guess New Zealand judges don't have a sense of humor when it comes to naming children. I am still chuckling about Fish and Chips.

In Sweden, she goes on to tell us, the names "Metallica" and "Ikea" were blocked. And in Norway, a woman went to jail for naming her son "Gesher" which means bridge in Hebrew. I don't know why that would be offensive, do you?

In Iceland,"a teen is suing the government to reinstate her name, which means, benignly, "Light Breeze." I kind of like that one. In Denmark and Japan, the Government issues lists of several thousand names that parent's are allowed to choose from. German babies must have names that make it obvious if they are girls or boys and last names or names of objects can't be used for first names. The name "Dear Pineapple" was rejected in the Dominican Republic, although I just read that they now allow that name, along with another recently tested case where the child was named Dummy Ruiz. Actually, Dummy Hernandez has a ring to it, especially here in NE Patriots territory.

The article goes on to mention a study done by UCLA-Davis law professor Carlton F. W. Larson in 2011 on the "law of parental naming rights in the United States" . He found that in NJ you can name your child just about anything. But California does restrict names. Somebody tried to name their baby Luc'ia but wasn't allowed to because of the accent mark. And in Massachusetts the first, middle and last names can't be more than 40 letters each. Wow. I am amazed that there are that many spaces that can be accommodated by most data bases.

He lists some really unusual names in this study:  "Loyal Lodge No. 296 Knights of Pythias Ponca City Oklahoma Territory" is quite a name and the writer adds "must have been extremely hard to call to dinner." Somebody named their child Ghoul Nipple.  And there are also the little ones who were named "Toilet Queen", "Leper", "Loser", "Fat Meat", "Cash Whoredom", "Tiny Hooker", " Giant Pervis" and "Acne Fountain". Being a genealogist of sorts, I had to do some searches on these people and was amazed at what I found.

I decided I didn't want to try to find Loser and I didn't want to touch the name Leper. I couldn't find any record of Loyal Lodge...Territory or Fat Meat. They may be more contemporary than the records on Ancestry.Com. But I did find Acne Fountain who was born in 1871 in North Carolina. He was a public school teacher in 1930 living with his unmarried and older cousin Mettie Jarman. Apparently, Acne was a fairly popular name at one time. In a really quick search, I found:

Acne Ales from NM
Acne Simoff from Cincinnati
Acne Cratlar from Tennessee (Do you think Judge Ballew would have put the Kibosh on that one?)
Acne Rassmussen from Iowa
Acne Fisher from NH

But Acne wasn't just an American name. I also found Acne Badweeky from Ontario. (Still laughing at that one.)
And From England we had Acne Legg and Acne Healey.
My favorite, though was Acne Shine. Because that Acne was from Hackney. (hee hee)

I did find Cash Whoredom who was born in Texas in 1852. His father, Adolph, was a farmer. His mother was Mary. In 1860 Goliad Texas he lived with the whole Whoredom family.

Giant Pervis, also born in Texas, was 40 years old in 1930 and lived in Houston with his 18 year old wife Elda and their baby 1 year old Annie. Now if her name had been Tiny, that really would have been funny.


I found Tiny Hooker in the census records for 1930 Allegheny, VA. She is the daughter of Hill and Medie Hooker.

I didn't find a photo of Tiny Hooker's grave, but I found for Mini Hooker. (Okay, it is spelled Minnie, but I still thought it was funny,)

Toilet Queen was born in 1890 and lived in Ashton, Iowa with her parents and siblings in 1900.  I have a feeling her name was changed because she doesn't appear in subsequent records. Do you think maybe her father manufactured bathroom fixtures? Or maybe they named her after she was potty trained and they were really proud of her. But as it turns out, her father  James Harvey Queen was a farmer. Toilet changed her name to Helen, which was her middle name, never married and was postmistress in Blackbird, Nebraska.

1900 Census showing Toilet Queen, daughter of James and Ada, sister to Galoa?

I found a photo of James Harvey Queen and "unknown child" on Ancestry. Could this be Toilet?

Much to my surprise, I did find Ghoul Nipple who was named by his parents Alfred and Bertha Nipple. He had a brother named Ray. I found Ghoul in several census records and directories in Rock Creek and Logansport, Indiana. He was a foreman for the railroad. I am not fond of the name Ghoul, but it's better than if they'd named their son Giant, like the Pervises had.

1940 Census record for Rock Creek, Indiana shows Ghoul and Mary Nipple living with their children. Ghoul was born in 1894.

 Believe it or not, I also found  a photo of Ghoul Nipple with his parents and brother Ray.

The Nipples. Bertha, Ray, Ghoul and Alfred -The photo is on Ancestry.com

 
"Professor Larson", Lithwick writes, "cites numerous studies concluding that people with unusual first names show "more severe personality disturbance than those with common names" and reporting that having weird first names correlates to higher instances of delinquency in youth."

Most serial killers I have heard of have fairly normal names, like Ted, Jeffrey and John. I certainly haven't heard of any criminals named Dear Pineapple or Toilet. I feel bad for these oddly named children, but it does demonstrate to me that  for generations people have had senses of humor. It's a good thing I don't have anymore child-naming years left. I could come up with some doozies now that I've had a little inspiration!