This week's blog idea came from my boss, who asked the musical question, "Why do Clevelanders pronounce Carnegie as Car-nay'-gee, while New Yorkers and other say, Car'-neh-gee?"

Andrew Car-nay'-gee
(public domain photo)

Naturally, being the curious soul that I am, I had to investigate. And so I hobbled over to the google and asked.

As it turns out, Clevelanders get it right. "Right" is defined by how Mr. Carnegie himself pronounced his name, if you assume the person whose name it is knows how to pronounce it correctly. (Which I do.) It also helps that folks who live in Scotland, where the name originated, also say Car-nay'-gee.

You never know, when you set out to learn the correct pronunciation, what you will find. 

The Carnegie discussion led to a related topic, i.e., why small towns in America sometimes adopt the name of another known city, then change its pronunciation. I give you:

Lima (Ly'-mah)

Milan (My'-lan)

Medina (Med-eye'-nah)

Louisville (Lou'-iss-ville)

The list goes on, but you get the idea.

Some have theorized the pronunciation was done intentionally so the locals would know when a visitor was amongst them. But I think this is pretty lame. After all, it's been my experience that small town folks know all their neighbors. It wouldn't take the mispronunciation of their berg to tip them off to a stranger.

As someone who grew up with the name "Schrimpf," which almost no one gets right (except Axel), I've always been a little sensitive about saying names correctly. I've come to realize that even simple names can be mispronounced. 

Just to clarify, I say it's "Gin-lee." If you say it's "Jin-lee," you're wrong.

Let's call the whole thing off...

Finger-Laking Good

Last weekend, Mr. Ginley and I ventured into the Finger Lakes region of New York for the East Coast celebration of a West Coast wedding. The bride and groom were our niece, Megan and her beloved, Liam. 

Like most of our road trips, this one involved Google maps and a lot of swearing.

Also, like most of our road trips, all's well that ends well. And the party in the park was definitely worth the trip. 

The actual exchanging of the vows took place last month among the redwoods in California. Our son and daughter-in-law represented for the family, but Mr. and I decided to attend the east coast celebration instead.

The bride wore her wedding dress, a lovely chiffon-skirted and lace topped dream that suited her nicely. The groom chose not to recreate his wedding day attire. A video of the ceremony was projected on the wall, and the slide show the bride's father put together was also shown, to the tears and applause of an appreciative crowd.

The weather cooperated, and we were able to feast and visit to our heart's content. The venue was Taughannock State park near Ithaca, on the Finger Lake known as Cayuga. It was a beautiful spot. The kids and dogs were able to run around and play like, well kids and dogs. The adults were able to visit and catch up. It was a picture-perfect event.

Alas, the day went by quickly, and we made our exit before darkness arrived. We only got lost once on the way back. And yes, it was dark way before we were back on the lighted freeway. 

But we made it back to civilization just fine, and with our happy memories intact.

Rocking the Bedazzler

"It looks like his wife got him a Bedazzler for Christmas," Mr. Ginley quipped last night.

The Bedazzler (photo credit below*)

We were watching episodes of The Midnight Special, a musical extravaganza of the 1970s that featured all of the popular pop/rock acts of the day.

The Bedazzler comment was made in reference to a member of Aerosmith, whose shirt sparkled with gewgaws. Back in the day, the Bedazzler was used to affix said gewgaws to items of clothing.

As well as sparkly shirts, vests, jackets and pants, performers were bedecked in large bellbottom slacks (which we used to call "elephant pants"), karate-style pantsuits, frilly shirts in yellows, pinks and baby blues and, of course, the requisite platform shoes. 

Plus lots and lots of guys with open shirts. (Not a bad thing for a young Peter Frampton, for example.)

While we enjoyed the trip down memory lane, and we were certainly guilty of some of the fashion OMGs we saw on display, it was all a bit sad, too, as the refrain became, "Is he/she still alive?" and "Whatever happened to...?" Along with, "Wasn't Graham Nash the lead vocalist for the Hollies at some point?"

So, as we listened to the music, I went a-googling.

"Which one of the Bee Gees is still around? (Barry Gibb). 

"Is Helen Reddy still alive?" (No)

"What song did War do besides Cisco Kid?" (Low Rider)

We also discussed the lyrics to Patti Labelle's Lady Marmalade, which was quite racy at the time but today wouldn't even raise an eyebrow. Mr. Ginley, having mastered three years of French I, translated Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi to: "Will you sleep with me?" 

John Denver did a duet with Mama Cass. Ironically, it was I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane (although John Denver's final flight, as I recall, was a prop job).

I also commented on how one guitarist (who shall remain nameless because I don't know his name) must have a little willy because it seemed to me he was trying to overcompensate with an electric guitar that was an über-fancy double-neck behemoth.

And on we went, late into the evening, skipping over a bunch of the artists but savoring the likes of Peter Frampton, Robert Palmer and Blondie.

It was fun traveling back in time to our "yutes" (as Joe Pesci pronounced it in My Cousin Vinnie). But a little sad that so many of our fellow travelers are gone.

And I'll never again wear elephant pants or platform shoes. 

I guess it's true that every cloud has a silver lining.

*This image, which was originally posted to Flickr, was uploaded to Commons using Flickr upload bot on 25 October 2013, 21:38 by Ke4roh. On that date, it was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the license indicated.

Bowling for Art

At the Rocky River Public Library there are several displays of artwork created by Cowan Pottery, a company founded in 1927 by R. Guy Cowan.

Photo attribution below*

The collection is housed in the library as an homage to the pottery company, which was located in Rocky River, Ohio. One of the pieces that kept attracting my attention was a bowl entitled "New Year's Eve in New York" created by Viktor Schrekengost. 

My curiosity getting the better of me – as it is wont to do – I took a book out of the library about Cowan Pottery and sought to get the whole story about the bowl.

In 1931, shortly after Viktor began working at Cowan Pottery, a request came in from a gallery in New York for a punch bowl featuring a "New Yorkish" theme. The patron who made the request was not named. Viktor chose to take on the project.

In Viktor's mind, New York was all about the nightlife. He saw the city in blue and black, lights and jazz music. He was inspired by Harlem's Cotton Club. And Josef Binder, an artist renowned for his stunning poster designs. 

In Cubist style, Viktor created the Jazz Bowl, employing the sgraffito technique, which he'd learned in Vienna. Sgraffito is created by covering a white clay base with a black clay. The design is then etched into the black clay, exposing the white base beneath. The bowl was decorated in stylized images that celebrated the Jazz Age: stars and neon signs, skyscrapers, ships, a bottle of Champagne and a cocktail tray. Once the design work was completed, the punch bowl was glazed in Egyptian Blue. 

The completed piece was shipped off to New York. In response, a letter came from the patron, who turned out to be Eleanor, wife of then-New York governor Franklin Roosevelt. Eleanor so loved the bowl, she commissioned two more. One was to be placed in the Roosevelts' Hyde Park Home, the other in the White House. (Presumably, she was confident FDR would be living there soon. Two years later, he was.)

Viktor ultimately crafted ten of these bowls, although not all were in the Jazz style. One featured a fox hunting scene with matching plates, each plate with a different rider. To find the fox, the bowl had to be emptied – the fox was situated at the bottom of the punch bowl.

Now that I knew the history of the Jazz bowl, I became intrigued with Vicktor himself.  

Victor Schreckengost was born in Sebring, Ohio, in 1906. At an early age, he followed in his father's and uncles' potter-professioned footsteps, making toys out of clay and using crayons as the glaze.

At The Cleveland Institute of Art, he earned his diploma in design in 1929. He studied for a short time at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, where "Victor" became "Viktor." He returned to Cleveland and in 1930, joined the faculty at the School of Art. Three years later, he started the industrial design program there, which was the first of its kind in the U.S. Generations of industrial designers were taught by Viktor, including a man named Joe Oros, who was the chief designer of the 1965 Ford Mustang. 

Viktor was called to serve his country during World War II. While in the Navy, he aided in the design of radar-dectection systems and later, artificial limbs.

Espousing a credo of "function first, form after," Viktor Schreckengost designed a wide range of everyday items. Some of his more well-known pieces include:

• 1930s: A china pattern for American Limoges called "Flower Shop"

• 1933: The first cab-over-engine truck

• 1930s+: Children's streamlined pedal cars

• Mid-1960s: Sears Spaceliner bike

Other everyday items he designed were baby walkers, golf carts, flashlights, furniture, fans and lawn mowers.

Viktor passed away at the age of 101 in Florida. At the time of his death, he was an emeritus professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he'd taught for 78 years.

It's theorized he would have been world-famous had he abandoned the shores of Lake Erie for, say, The Big Apple. But I have a sneaking suspicion Viktor was pretty happy with the way his life turned out.

What a great ride, and a truly cool Cleveland native.

*This image was originally posted to Flickr by Tim Evanson at https://flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/39517173152(archive). It was reviewed on 6 January 2019 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0.