Shouldn’t this really be the scary day. The 13th is a 19th century conceit, but the Friday business goes back to The Canterbury Tales at least. So much of Chaucer is often forgotten. Friday is frequently seen as the beginning of a good thing.
Monday the 13th still offends the apostolic notion of completeness. And yet we’re all back at the office. Monday the 13th. That’s disconcerting. Imagine the marketing the Jason people could have had there.
Chaucer to Jason in under 45 words. And they said it couldn’t be done.
(The exception to this hasty Friday the 13 is a good day idea being if you are paying for a service. Think long and hard about tire rotation or a roof repair done on Friday. Those diligent and hardworking people could be distracted by thoughts of the weekend too.)
Monday the 13th is a good day here. A great day, even. They often are. Taught a class, answered a lot of questions, discussed resumes and style. Generally tried to be helpful. Wrapped up a few small projects. Got handed a few more. Great Monday. For a 13th, that is.
I love this. Some of our classrooms have old newspapers on display. Some of the newspapers are national, historical front pages. This one is from the first issue of the 1925 edition of the Howard Crimson. The paper was just 10 years old at the time when students were still studying on the old Eastlake campus. This was a front page ad. Imagine the scandal of such a notion!
They led fashion, they did not chase it. What a great ad. Someone should run a mini campaign in this still today, just to see how it stands out from the contemporary fare.
Blach’s was a family-owned department store chain founded in 1885 by German immigrant Julius Blach. At it’s peak in the 1960s and 1970s they had five stores. In 1987, Blach’s filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but the reorganization couldn’t revive the company and they closed for good that same year. The invaluable BhamWiki records:
During the 1945 printers’ strike, which stopped the publication of all three of Birmingham’s daily newspapers, WAPI-AM posted news stories in two of Blach’s windows, organized by various categories. The resulting crowds, according to Time magazine, “all but blocked traffic past the store.”
The Blach’s building started as the Hood, built in 1890 to serve as the storefront for the Hood-Yielding General Merchandise Store. In 1910 it was converted into the 100-room Bencor Hotel and in 1935 it took the Blach name.
Here’s a view from just a few years after that ad. And this is it today:
It sat stagnant for much of the time after bankruptcy and was renovated in 2007, before the bank foreclosed in 2009. Now you can rent a loft there, apparently with the original hardwood.
Do you know what’s great about 100-year-old hardwood? No splinters! Makes every Monday better.
