Month: May 2012

Diary

Dale Joins A Church

by Editorial Team
In St. Paul on Sunday, May 11, 1941, Dale wrote, “Fine day.  Joined the First Christian Church at the corner of Marshall and Farrington in St. Paul.  Reverend Hantzenrader baptized me.  Perfect day all around.”  The church is still there, at 317 Marshall Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55102.  Dale didn’t attend church very often, but he walked the walk.
Diary

Churchill Becomes Prime Minister

by Editorial Team
On Friday, May 10, 1940, Winston Churchill succeeded Neville Chamberlin as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, under King George VI (the monarch portrayed by Colin Firth in the movie, “The King’s Speech”).  Churchill held this office through World War II until July 26, 1945.  Here he is in an early famous speech:
Diary

Stan Takes The Car For A Date

by Editorial Team
In Muscatine on Friday, May 8, 1953, Dale wrote, “Beautiful day.  Stanley took the car for the first time alone, with a date, to a formal prom dance at night.”  Do you remember the first time you drove the family car?  What a milestone in life!
Diary

Dale Takes A Mail-Order Course

by Editorial Team
At his Iowa farm on Tuesday, May 7, 1935, Dale signed up for a mail-order course for postal clerk.  What he learned from that course qualified him for the entry-level file clerk job he obtained in Washington, DC, the following April.  That started his Civil Service career, most of which was in the Alcohol Tax Unit of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service.  (The year Dale retired, 1968, the ATU was renamed the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division of the IRS and was referred to as the ATF.  The Homeland Security Act of 2002 moved the ATF from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department.)  Dale’s job with the ATU was to be a Gauger at different bottling plants, measuring the quantity and strength of alcohol in various products to ensure that the appropriate taxes were collected.  Here is a video of one bottling plant:

Diary

Stan Drives The Family Car

by Editorial Team
In Muscatine on Wednesday, May 6, 1953, I drove our 1939 Mercury to a garage for testing and they found sticky valves.  Dad rode along with me.  I had just gotten my first driver’s license and felt empowered!  Below: a 1939 Mercury.
Picture

Diary

Dale And Dalene Hit Golf Balls

by Editorial Team
In Minneapolis on Sunday, May 5, 1957, Dale wrote, “Beautiful day, in low 70s.  Took Dalene for a ride and knocked some golf balls at the Big T driving range.  Had fried chicken for dinner.  Put a basketball backboard up on the garage in the afternoon.”  He bought a basket and installed it on the backboard the next day.  Below: the only picture I have of him swinging at a golf ball is from 1946.
Picture

Diary

Dale Sets Up A Basement Darkroom

by Editorial Team
In Muscatine on Monday, May 4, 1953, Dale wrote, “Set up my photo equipment in the basement at night.”  He was an avid amateur photographer.  Before Polaroid cameras and digital cameras, he developed his own negatives in a home-made darkroom (lit with red light for processing film), then printed the photographs.  He took pictures for years, many of which are incorporated into his diaries.  Watch what developing film in a darkroom looked like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpJOA4J57o4
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