Publication Tramps

Recently, news went around that nearby Held Manor had been rented for the summer, and better yet, a jolly crowd of young, well-off people would be gathering frequently at the baronial hall. What entertaining parties were anticipated by the local residents! What opportunities to meet eligible men! 

Dolly and Minerva were so pleased to receive an invitation to a dance at the Manor immediately after the moving-in, despite a few reports of loud and raucous laughter and something that could scarcely be called music issuing from the old hall at hours when no decent person should be awake. Arriving at the door with a lovely garden pedestal as a gift, Dolly and Minerva are confronted with a sight they are at a complete loss to understand. What is that noise? What are those people wearing? Why are they leaping about in that frantic manner? Suddenly it dawns on them.

Publication tramps. Been there, done that.

Ballooning in France

The two Montgolfier brothers were born into a family of paper manufacturers, Observing how laundry suspended over a fire billowed up with the waves of heat, Joseph experimented with paper bags, until he and his brother Etienne eventually built the huge hot air-filled globes that could carry people long distances. Their first public demonstration was in June of 1783, with a balloon that traveled 2 km in 10 minutes, at an altitude of about 2,000 metres. This encouraged them to build a larger and beautiful balloon for a demonstration for the king and queen. With the assistance of Jean-Baptiste Réveillon, a wallpaper manufacturer, a gorgeous balloon was constructed. Aboard were a sheep called Montauciel ("Climb-to-the-sky"), a duck and a rooster.  The royal couple were totally impressed. 

The Montgolfier brothers were aware of the far-reaching implications of their invention, envisioning long-distance transportation and military possibilities. Other inventors soon jumped on the idea and balloon travel was the wave of the future. Here's a postcard from the late 1800s depicting "Airships in the Year 2000" while touting chocolate. 

A favorite poem in my family was "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American pilot serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WWII. He was killed in a training exercise in England in 1941, at the age of 19. His poem, written on the back of a letter to his parents, was published and has since become an inspirational standard.

Is that Cousin Geneviève and Louis?