Month: August 2012

Diary

Swimming At Lake Johanna

by Editorial Team
In Minneapolis on Monday, August 11, 1958, Dale wrote, “A nice day.  Humid in the morning.  I took Dalene and Diana swimming at Lake Johanna.”  Diana was a friend of Dalene’s.  Below: Lake Johanna is in the Arden Hills suburb north of St. Paul.
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Diary

Hang ‘Em Outdoors

by Editorial Team
In Minneapolis on Saturday, August 10, 1957, Dale wrote, “Mowed the lawn.  Dalene went swimming and wore herself out.  Helen and I washed after supper and hung the clothes outdoors.  High was 85°.”  Below: a 1957 ad for clothesline rope.
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Diary

Hot Day At The Zoo

by Editorial Team
In Minneapolis on Saturday, August 9, 1958, Dale wrote, “Gerald, Ressia, and Alice came about 11 a.m.  Hottest day of the year, 97° and muggy.  Went to the zoo and about cooked.”  Gerald Schaffer was Helen’s brother, Ressia his wife, and Alice their youngest daughter.  Below: a vintage postcard of Como Park Zoo’s monkey island.
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Diary

A Memorable Picnic

by Editorial Team
In Washington DC on Saturday, August 8, 1936, Dale and Helen went on a picnic and saw the German zeppelin Hindenburg flying over the city.
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Diary

A Really Big Computer

by Editorial Team
On Monday, August 7, 1944, the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, designed and built by Howard Aiken with funding from IBM, was dedicated at Harvard University, where it was called the Mark I.  Used by the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships for gunnery and ballistic calculations, it was an electro-mechanical computer 51 feet long, 8 feet high, and 2 feet deep, using 500 miles of wire with three million connections.
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The Mark I read its instructions from a punched paper tape and executed the current instruction and then read in the next one.  A loop was accomplished by joining the end of the paper tape containing the program back to the beginning of the tape (literally creating a loop).  One of the first programmers of the Mark I was Grace Hopper.  I once had the pleasure of hearing her speak at a computer conference.
Diary

Jack And Margie’s Vacation

by Editorial Team
In Osceola on Wednesday, August 6, 1969, Dale wrote, “Helen and I stayed all night at Jack and Margie’s, they are in the Black Hills.”  They stayed nights at Jack and Margie’s farm for a week.  Below: shelling corn on that farm a month later.
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Diary

Family Reunion Picnic

by Editorial Team
On Sunday, August 5, 1951, the annual Gardner-Williams picnic was at Osceola’s East Lake Park.  Dad and I were in Osceola and he wrote, “Stan and I took Mother.  Helen and Dalene stayed home.  Drove back to Muscatine in the afternoon.  Lots of traffic.”  Below: Dale’s mother Jettie at her piano in 1951.  The photos on top of the piano are of her children Marie, Dale, and Lloyd.
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Diary

Dale Plays Pool

by Editorial Team
On Saturday, August 4, 1951, Dale and Stan drove from Muscatine to Osceola.  Dale wrote, “Nice cool day.  Played pool with Uncle Charlie, won 2 out of 3.  Went uptown at night and saw everyone, almost.  To Mother’s and to bed at 11.”  Uncle Charlie, below, was Charles Monroe Gardner, the younger brother of Dale’s father Williams Gardner.
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Diary

Keith Flips Burgers

by Editorial Team
In St. Paul on Sunday, August 3, 1941, Helen’s teenage nephew Keith Schaffer, visiting from Osceola, got a job at a hamburger shop at Fourth and Roberts Streets for $13 per week.  Dale, Helen, and Stanley ate there frequently while Keith worked there – he went home to Osceola at the end of August.
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Diary

A Hot Day In Twin Cities

by Editorial Team
In Minneapolis on Sunday, August 2, 1964, it was HOT, high of 103°.  Dale and Helen stayed in the house all day by their dining room window air conditioner.
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Diary

Stan The Usher

by Editorial Team
In Minneapolis on Wednesday, August 1, 1956, Dale wrote, “Dalene went to a show with Marianne.  Stan’s first night working at Heights Theatre as usher.”  After my summer job working at Crown Iron Works days, I worked evenings taking tickets, selling popcorn and candy, and acting as bouncer.  Got to see lots of movies free.  That’s the theater below.
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