And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that this column is due to be printed Dec. 21, which is listed as the first day of winter. In my opinion, winter arrived about three weeks ago!

My grandmother had a saying to the effect that if you see one crow alone, no snow was due. More crows, more snow, she said. The day before the Dec. 10-11 snowstorm, I counted 14 crows in a mid-afternoon murder.

So that adage, this time, worked.

I hope another one won’t: As the days get longer, the cold gets stronger.

There was a letter to the editor in one of today’s dailies, noting that after Pearl Harbor Dec. 7,1941, Japan and Germany were our enemies. But today, they are as close as friends can be among nations. The writer wondered who among our enemies today might be friends 75 years from now?

Speaking of those days of World War II, I am constantly intrigued and sometimes amused by the commercials which are included in the old time radio shows broadcast by Wisconsin Public Television Saturday and Sunday evenings.

I have noted here before that I find the humor much funnier there than on today’s television sitcoms, and like the imagination required to follow the serious dramas.

But the commercials are different, too.

Some show obvious differences. Example: “Pepsi Cola hits the spot. Twelve ounce bottle, that’s a lot. Twice as much for a nickel too. Pepsi Cola is the drink for you.” That last a reference to its competitor Coca Cola’s familiar six ounce bottle. A nickel for 12 ounces!

Some words I have heard frequently repeated in old-time commercials include the word “swell.” As in Dad saying they could go camping, and the kid answering: “Gee, that’s swell.”

When’s the last time someone has used that word in your presence these days?

Well, it is necessary to go down about five possible meanings in my dictionary to find that use of the word. It came out in the 1960s, I think. So was the word demoted after the war?

Another word is “grand.” As in, it would be a grand gift for Christmas.

That word is apparently still acceptable to the dictionary; first meaning is stylish. But have you heard that used as an adjective recently?

Another commercial touted a method of using Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with a little creamed leftover meat, so as to save precious rationing points from being used to purchase more meat.

Would we put up with rationing today?