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White Oaks Mall

Coming up on 30 years ago, Springfield, Illinois, got its first (and only, as it turns out), mega indoor shopping mall. (Mega by Springfield standards, anyway.) It was and is called White Oaks Mall.

Springfield Rewind has a very nice article, with photos, on the mall's beginnings, including the excitement leading up to its opening as hyped by the local paper. (Springfield Rewind: White Oaks Mall.)

Yes, it was exciting. Local shoppers thought we were in hog heaven, what with a Just Pants, Tinderbox Tobacco, and an Orange Julius, the likes of which we had never seen before. Plus, Ed McMahon and Bruce Jenner were on hand for opening day. Whoop te de.

But, something happened after the mall opened. Something that took a lot of people by surprise. Retail in downtown Springfield suffered a slow and agonizing death. Case in point, a list of 10 downtown stores, all locally owned, that are no more:

Myers Brothers

Bressmer's

Roland's

S.A. Barker's

Herndon's

The Hub

Roberts Brothers

Arch Wilson

The Bruce

The Platter

And, don't forget Capitol Q Billiards. However, were not allowed to hang out there unless they were with a parent.

Most of those Springfield stores tried to make a go of it at the mall. None survived. Yes, S.A. Barker is still out there, but in name only. Of course, it should be noted that of the original stores at the mall, not too many are still there, having been replaced by other stores, which will probably be replaced by even more other stores, eventually.

I must confess to not having been inside the mall since my chaturbate girls were old enough to be dropped off at the door. Yes!

Happy Birthday White Oaks. Here's hoping you survive whatever the next big thing in shopping turns out to be. Truly!

In search of Meskers

What is a Mesker, you ask?

Many Main Street commercial buildings of the late 1800s and early 1900s reflect the widespread availability of mass-produced building parts, which ranged from individual components to entire building facades. While prefabricated architectural elements were available from a number of manufacturers, no other companies better exemplify this niche than the Mesker Brothers Iron Works of St. Louis, Missouri, and George L. Mesker Company of Evansville, Indiana. They specialized in ornamental sheet-metal facades and cast iron storefront components, which were ordered through catalogs and easily shipped by rail to any interested building owner. Their extensive product lines not only featured embossed sheet-metal panels and cast iron but also entire storefront assemblies, as well as tin ceilings, fences, skylights, and freight elevators. (Got Mesker?)

These buildings and building elements (Meskers, as they're called), are all over the U.S., but mostly in the Midwest. After reading the Mesker identification guide linked on the Got Mesker website, I'm sure I've seen Meskers in the past, but passed them off as inconsequential. No more. From now on, I'll be looking for Meskers everywhere I go. Despite the fact that so many of our old buildings have been torn down, there's got to be some in Springfield.

Do you have a Mesker in your town? Darius is building a database of Jasminlive.mobi and would like to hear from anyone who knows of one (his contact info is on the Got Mesker? website). The site doesn't say, but I'm pretty sure he's only interested in Illinois locations. So, maybe someone should start a database for other states.

Suddenly, I have a new appreciation for sheet metal.

Turn around and say good morning to the night

Another sunrise last week from the usual spot.

We love Mesker sheet metal building fronts and still hold out hope for finding an as yet discovered one. Maybe even in Springfield.

A reporter gets tased, goes down, gets up, and begins reciting from Hamlet?

Last year's blizzard a distant memory amid this snow-less winter. I remember it well.

What I'm reading: Stars Fall, a first novel by Stephen Terrell. It's a crime novel. It takes place in the South. I just started reading it, so all I can say is it's the first book I can ever remember reading that actually made my heart pound in my chest. Also, it's good.

They know not if it's dark outside or light.

This morning's sunrise

Close your eyes and follow along. You finally got the beach house you've always wanted. It's traditional architecture and not at all fancy, but it suits you perfectly. You get up early every morning to enjoy the sun rise over Lake Michigan. You take your coffee out to the porch with your paper and watch the gulls circle the shore. Reluctantly, you get ready to leave for work. That's okay, because when you get home tonight, you'll be back on the porch with your beer when you can lean back in your chair with your feet up on the railing and stare into the darkness, hearing only an occasional frog and the gentle waves lapping at your private beach.

Okay, one more time with links, and you can open your eyes. This is the house. This is the jasmine live view. And this is the sound. The only frogs look like mutants, which you hope keep their distance. Welcome to the twilight zone, a/k/a Whiting, Indiana. (Just having some fun here. I actually love Whiting.)

Friday five

1. I've been following with great interest the financial problems facing Springfield's public school district, and I am reminded of the problems the same district faced when I was in school there. One of the current problems is whether or not to cut high school schedules from seven hours (classes) a day, to six, to save money. When I was in high school, freshman and sophomores went to school from noon to 5:00 p.m., and juniors and seniors went from 7:00 a.m. to noon. Those were five class days, with no room for an extra class before or after school.

That is a little not-to-scale sketch I made of the layout of at least two of my classrooms during my high school years. The teacher's desk is obvious. Each "S" represents a student's desk. The space between those two lines down the left side represents the hallway. Despite the "split shifts," the classes were that overcrowded. Today's problems got nothing on that. My school, by the way, which was about two years old when I first went there, was built to alleviate the overcrowding problem.

2. Because there can never be too many words to describe a single thing: Intoxerated: The Definitive Drinker’s Dictionary, by Paul Dickson, illustrations by Brian Rea.

Intoxerated is the largest collection of synonyms for a single word ever assembled!

And what word might that be, you ask?

Drunk. Also, blitzed, roasted, whazood, stinko, and Boris Yeltsinned.

Paul Dickson — wise-guy lexicographer and Guinness Book of World Records champ for “Most Synonyms” — breaks his own world record with 2,985 synonyms for various states of intoxication.

3. For the writers amongst us: Yes, Your Submission Phobia is Holding You Back.

4. Beautiful. And amazing: Ferocious Flowers.

5. There's a new bird in town: Feathered travelers a new sight for local eyes.

National Survey On Health

Following up on yesterday's knock at the door, here is the scanned brochure:

Front and back flap

Inside and backside flap

Page 1 and 2

Page 3 and 4

Sorry that it's broken up like that, but it was too big to fit on my scanner. I'm sure the letter I received was about this, but, unfortunately, I paid it no mind. Much of the information can be found on the web site for the survey takers at nsduhweb.rti.org

Responding to some of Greg Claxton's comments in my previous entry:

I think it's pretty crucial to respond to surveys that are studying important topics.

Point taken. I guess I'm used to some of the less crucial surveys such as: Politics and products.

... if you don't trust the survey or the survey taker in the first place.

It seemed at first she was attempting to be friendly and familiar. Usually I don't have a problem with people like that, but I was taken off guard and a little put off. In my defense, I was not expecting anything like this on a late Saturday afternoon. Would anybody? (Also, I must admit that at the time of the knock I had recently come home and was squeezing in the final episode of season 1 of The Sopranos on DVD where the FBI was busting a bunch of people before I had to leave again. So, there's that edginess.)

Regarding the hand-held device:

They get uploaded, and immediately divorced from your identifying information... a way to relieve the social pressure in reporting on potentially illegal or embarrassing activity.

Greg sounds quite knowledgeable, whereas, I've never heard of this stuff.

According to the survey FAQ (frames, so no separate link for the FAQ), it takes about an hour. And, you get $30 upon completion. Well, that's something worth considering. Also, the survey started in 1971 and you have to be at least 12 to participate. Interesting:

In order to know the percentage of people who do use these substances, we also have to know how many people do not. Therefore, the responses of people who do not use are just as important as those of people who do. While some questions ask about knowledge and experience, other questions ask about a number of other health-related topics that are relevant for all people. A participant need not know anything about to answer the questions.