Baseball Bats & Bubblegum

Double Bubble baseball bats filled with bubblegum. Because you can’t sell chewing tobacco to kids.

The Story of Mother’s Day

This is a tale of love, obsession, madness, candy, and carnations.
It is the story of Mother’s Day.

The holiday was passionately promoted by single-minded spinster Anna Jarvis (1864-1948), described by Michael Farquhar as “… a woman of fierce loyalty and tireless enterprise and a total raving lunatic.”

Miss Jarvis worshipped her mother’s memory, and no wonder. Her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832 – 1905), was truly a saint. Daughter of a clergyman, Ann Maria Reeves married merchant and minister Granville E. Jarvis and gave birth to 11 children, only four of whom survived into adulthood.  In 1851, Mrs. Jarvis, a Sunday School teacher, founded Mothers Day Work Clubs in West Virginia. These met in local churches, but were no parish sewing circles.  The clubs dealt with health care, disability, infant mortality, poverty, employment, worker safety, food safety, and sanitation issues. Mrs. Jarvis’ brother, James E. Reeves, MD, a public health authority, was a club lecturer and supporter.

Finger Lickin’ Peeps

This is Easter weekend, when Christians across the United States celebrate with reverent displays of synthetic marshmallow animals. The indegestible items, apparently constructed of latex foam, are dyed bright pastel colors as a warning against ingestion.

Displays and dioramas of seasonal scenes are crafted as acts of devotion, in fulfilment of vows, and as objects of veneration. Here are links to a few for your holiday contemplation:

Washington Post Peep Shows: 2007, 2008, 2009 (and this year’s winner).

Chicago Tribune Peeps on Parade 2009

Peeps Research for Easter geeks.

For Peeps Sake!

The Peeps Bus.

Seattle Times Peeps Parade.

Peeps in Space!!!!

Peeps Pool slide show on flickr.

Fox TV:  Web Full of Peeps.

100 Ways to Kill a Peep.

Peepfest 2009, Chapel Hill, NC.

Marshmallow Peeps On the Internet – A Study. 

The big list of Peeps Links.

 

Image by Mike Licht (no Peeps were harmed in the making of this mash-up). Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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