~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
April 3, 2011

Updated: April 3, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote:  “We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning.” Henry Ward Beecher

★~  Tweed Day:

Tweed Day recognizes the cost of political corruption. Infamous senator-turned-crook, William “Boss” Tweed, was born today in1823.  Tweed was  the “poster boy” for political corruption, it is estimated that his “tweed ring”  stole up to $200 million-dollars of public money. He endured several stints in the slammer, and died in jail in 1878. Cartoonist Thomas Nast deserves much credit for Tweed’s arrests and convictions.

On a most positive note tweed also celebrates the rough, woolen twill material often used in apparel and accessories originating from Scotland.  Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and Professor Henry Jones of Indiana Jones, frequently wore tweed.

★~ Today in History:

♥~1800 – Martha Washington became the first U.S. President’s wife to be allowed to ‘frank’ mail. What does that mean? Well, according to Mr. Webster’s dictionary, frank means “To send free of postage. The right to send mail for free. A mark indicating this right.”

♥~1829 – James Carrington of Wallingford, CT patented the coffee mill. Have a cup of fresh ground in celebration today.

♥~1866 – Rudolph Eickemeyer and G. Osterheld of Yonkers, New York patented a blocking and shaping machine for hats. Which reminds me, do you know why cowboy hats are turned up at the sides? — So three cowboys can ride in a pickup truck

♥~1953 – TV Guide was published for the first time — from Radnor, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia). On the cover of this first issue was Lucy’s Baby, Desi Arnez IV. The publication reached a circulation of 1,500,000 readers in its first year.

♥~1965 – Bob Dylan appeared on the pop music charts for the first time. Subterranean Homesick Blues entered the Top 40 at number 39. The song stayed on the charts for eight weeks.

♥~1975 – Bobby Fischer was stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend it — he had not played a single chess game since winning the world championship

♥~ 1987 – The late Duchess of Windsor’s jewels were auctioned off for 31,380,197 pounds – six times the expected figure

★~Born Today:

♥~1892 – Happy 119th anniversary to the ice cream sundae! Yes, 119 years ago, in Ithaca, New York, two men invented the first ice cream sundae. To celebrate the day and bring awareness to this event, Google has a special ice cream sundae logo .Official Ice Cream Sundae website-handy reference.

♥~1922 – Doris Day (Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff) singer: Whatever Will Be, Will Be, Everybody Loves a Lover, Sentimental Journey; actress: Young at Heart, Pillow Talk, April in Paris, Lullaby of Broadway

♥~1924 – Marlon Brando Academy Award-winning actor: On the Waterfront [1954], The Godfather [1972]; Apocalypse Now, Last Tango in Paris, One-eyed Jacks; Emmy Award: Roots: Next Generation; died July 1, 2004

♥~1942 – (Carson) Wayne Newton singer: Danke Shoen, Red Roses for a Blue Lady, Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast

♥~1958 – Alec Baldwin (Alexander Rae Baldwin III) actor: Pearl Harbor, The Hunt for Red October, Beetlejuice, The Getaway, Married to the Mob, Talk Radio, Working Girl, Miami Blues, Knots Landing

♥~1961 – Eddie Murphy comedian: Saturday Night Live; actor: 48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Doctor Dolittle

★~Did you know:

♥~There’s a Tweed River in Scotland, but this river has nothing to do with the fabric called tweed. The name of the fabric came about by error. In 1826, a clerk in London was writing out a bill for twills, a kind of woven cloth that is called tweets in Scotland. The clerk wrote tweed instead of tweel, and before long customers were ordering more of this “tweed” fabric!

♥~ Scotland is famous for its tweed-One kind of tweed is known as Harris Tweed, named after an island called Lewis with Harris that lies off the northwest coast of Scotland.

♥~ Superstitious Scottish sailors will never wear a jacket or cap made from Harris Tweed.Harris Tweed is colored with a dye made from a plant that grows on the rocks off the Scottish coast. A Scottish superstition holds that these plants “always return to their rocks”. So wearing a garment made of Harris Tweed could result in the ship crashing against the rocks where the dye-producing plants grow!

♥~ Harris Tweed is still woven by hand according to a precise Harris pattern on time-honored Hattersley looms. Every weaver that weaves a piece of Harris cloth must sign a document stating that the cloth has been hand-woven by the islanders of Lewis, Harris, Uist and Barra in their homes, using pure virgin wool that has been dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.”

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I’ve always thought tweed was a little itchy! Do you like it? Odd Loves Company so leave a comment if you have a have a morno moment!

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