The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming; Antique and Collectable Dealers and The Memorabilia of Conflict

1914 War Map by "The Strand" showing Crimea on the top left corner

1914 War Map in Damaged Condition But Still Good For Us Historical Types

ANTIQUE DEALERS AS HISTORIANS? YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED HOW MUCH WE KNOW - BUT THEN, YOU NEVER ASKED

WE LIVE WITH HISTORY BY PROFESSION, AND WE NEED TO KNOW THE NITTY GRITTY ABOUT WHAT WE BUY AND SELL

     A PREAMBLE NOTE: I FEEL CONFIDENT, THE RUSSIAN POPULATION, AS A WHOLE, IS DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE ESCALATING TENSION IN THEIR PART OF THE WORLD, WHEN IT COMES TO THE POLITICAL DISRUPTION, BEING EXPERIENCED IN THE UKRAINE. I EXPECT THERE ARE PROTESTS GOING ON, IN RUSSIA, SOMEWHERE AND SOME TIME, ABOUT THE MOST RECENT SITUATION, IN THE CRIMEA REGION OF THE UKRAINE. FOR AND AGAINST, I SUPPOSE. BUT WHAT WE ARE EXPOSED TO, HERE IN CANADA, VIA A WIDE VARIETY OF MEDIA, IS WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT....AND WHAT WE HAVE KNOWN FROM PAST CRISIS EVENTS, IN THE REST OF THE WORLD. AND THERE ARE ALWAYS VILILANS….TRANSGRESSORS, AND THOSE WITH GREAT AMBITIONS FOR THEIR COUNTRIES. AS MUCH AS WE TRY TO ALLIGN OURSELVES, BASED ON ALL THE AVAILABLE INFORMATION, WE CAN'T ALWAYS GET PAST THE OBVIOUS. I CAN'T NAME A SINGLE PERSON I'VE EVER KNOWN IN MY LIFE, THUS FAR, WHO HAD ONE BAD THING TO SAY ABOUT RUSSIAN CITIZENS. BUT IN THE GENERAL SENSE, AT LEAST FOR US BABY BOOMERS, WE UNDERSTOOD, IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, THAT THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT WAS A BEAR OF A DIFFERENT COLOR....AND THAT WE SHOULD FEAR IT....AS IT MIGHT ONE DAY CONSUME US. I WAS AS FRIGHTENED OF THE NAME KHRUSHCHEV, AS MUCH AS ANY VILLAIN OF FICTION. IF HE WAS A NICE MAN, I NEVER KNEW ABOUT IT. IN OUR HOUSE, HE WAS THE WORLD LEADER WHO WAS GOING TO BLOW US TO SMITHERINES, WITH ATOMIC BOMBS, LAUNCHED FROM CUBA. IT BECAME THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. FEAR AND LOATHING, BUT FROM A DISTANCE. SO IT'S NOT THE CASE, THAT I DISLIKE RUSSIANS. OR THAT OUR MODERN DAY FAMILY FEARS BEING INVOLVED IN AN INTIMATE BATTLE. BUT AS HISTORY SERVES, WE ARE JUST WARY, YOU SEE, A WAR COULD NOW BE SEEDED IN FERTILE GROUND. HISTORY SUGGESTS WE DO HAVE SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT. IF IT IS JUST WORRY, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT....WELL, WE'VE PROVEN WE CAN LIVE WITH THAT; AND SURVIVE WITH THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE OF A FEW BAD OPINIONS. FOR THOSE OF UKRAINIAN ANCESTRY, IT'S A LOT TOUGHER TO LET BYGONES BE BYGONES, WHEN THEY'RE REPEATING AS ACTUALITY. WHAT A GREAT OUTCOME, IF IT ALL JUST WENT AWAY, PEACEFULLY, WITHOUT ANY FURTHER LOSS OF LIFE.    
     WHEN LOCAL ROADS, HERE IN GRAVENHURST, GET YOU DOWN, AND RATTLE YOUR BONES; AND YOU WORRY ABOUT POTENTIAL HEALTH SERVICE CUT-BACKS AND HOSPITAL CLOSURE; OR WONDER IF L0CAL GOVERNMENT WILL EVER GET IT RIGHT, WELL FOLKS, WHAT'S GOING ON OVERSEAS SHOULD DIVERT OUR ATTENTION FOR A TAD. ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE UNBELIEVABLY BAD ROADS HERE, ARE OF A MUCH LESSER CONCERN. "THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING." THAT WAS THE MOVIE. IT WAS A COMEDY. WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE UKRAINE, AT THIS MOMENT, ISN'T FICTION, OR THE KIND OF PLOT THAT MAKES US LAUGH. WHAT IT SHOULD DO, IS FORCE US TO TUNE-IN AND NOT TUNE-OUT, AS SO MANY PEOPLE DO THESE DAYS....BECAUSE "NEWS IS ALWAYS SO NEGATIVE." GOSH, WHAT WOULD THESE PEOPLE HAVE DONE DURING TWO WORLD WARS? WITHDRAW FROM REALITY?
     WE WERE LOOKING FOR A MOVIE TO WATCH THE OTHER NIGHT, AND SEEING AS SUZANNE HAD NEVER SEEN "DR. STRANGELOVE" BEFORE, AND ROBERT HAPPENED TO HAVE A COPY, WELL SIR, WE SPENT THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS, WATCHING A FRIGHTENING POTENTIAL UNFOLD. "IT'S ONLY HOLLYWOOD," SUZANNE KEPT REMINDING ME, AS MY FINGERS WERE DIGGING INTO THE ARM OF THE CHAIR. COMEDY? A LITTLE BIT! DARK? A LOT! A POLITICAL, MILITARY CONDEMNATION? MOST CERTAINLY! AND OH, THAT "COWBOY'S" COWBOY, SLIM PICKENS; RIDING THE BIG PAYLOAD BARE BACK, DROPPED FROM THE BOMBER, LIKE IT WAS A BUCKING BRONCO, ALL THE WAY TO THE DESIGNATED TARGET STRIKE, INSIDE RUSSIA. SEEMS THE ONLY WAY TO PUT IT ON TARGET, WAS TO GET ON BOARD. CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MORE MEMORABLE MOVIE MOMENTS. IT'S NOT AN EASY MOVIE TO WATCH, BECAUSE IT BRUSHES TOO CLOSE TO WHAT WAS THE NERVE-RATTLING REALITY OF THE COLD WAR, TO THE CITIZENRY OF THE ENTIRE WORLD. THERE'S NO SAFE PLACE ON EARTH, WHEN YOU'RE LETTING OFF THE MOTHER OF ALL WEAPONS. EVEN VIEWING IT RECENTLY, WE WERE BOTH STRUCK BY THE RELEVANCE THE MOVIE HAD TO THE CURRENT EVENTS OF 2014. I WONDER IF ANYONE IS THINKING ABOUT THIS, AND WITH THE RECENT EVENTS IN THE UKRAINE, IT DOES START TO PARALLEL SOME OF THE OTHER MORE INSANE PERIODS IN MODERN WORLD HISTORY.
    ONE DAY WE'RE CELEBRATING THE OLYMPICS, IN RUSSIA, IN THE SPIRIT OF GOODWILL BETWEEN COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, AND THE NEXT, WE'RE STAGGERED BY THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE SAME HOST COUNTRY, INVADING A NEIGHBOR NATION. I LIVED THROUGH THE COLD WAR, AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU, WHEN JOHN KENNEDY WAS ASSASSINATED, AND HIS SHOOTER WAS SAID TO HAVE TIES WITH RUSSIA, THERE WAS A VERY REAL FEAR IN THE HEARTS OF US COMMON FOLK, FILTERING DOWN TO THE YOUNGER GENERATION, WONDERING ALOUD ABOUT ALL THOSE MISSILES AIMED AT US. MANY HOMEOWNERS DUG FALL-OUT SHELTERS, AS IF THEY WOULD HAVE DONE ANY GOOD, IN THE EVENT OF THE BIG BANG. THEY HAD BASEMENTS FULL OF SURVIVAL MATERIALS, EXPECTING SOMETHING BAD WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. WE'D JUST GONE THROUGH THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, AND EVEN AS A KID, IN BURLINGTON, AT THE TIME, I PICKED UP ON THE NERVOUS TENSION. MOST OF OUR TELEVISION STATIONS, BACK THEN, WERE AMERICAN, AND WE WERE GETTING THEIR SLANT ON THE CRISIS, AND THEN, FOLLOWING THIS, THE AFTERMATH OF THE PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION.....WITH CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUNDING.
    I DIDN'T KNOW ANY COMMUNISTS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL, BUT WE WERE MADE TO FEEL SCARED OF THEM, FOR THEIR PART IN THE MILITARY STAND-OFF, IN CUBA. DID THE COMMUNISTS KILL KENNEDY? THE COMMUNISTS, ACCORDING TO MY PARENTS, WERE THE CAUSE OF A LOT OF BAD THINGS IN LIFE AND TIMES. IF I'D GONE TO MY MOTHER, DURING SOME OF THESE FAMILY POLITICAL RANTS, TO SHOW HER A RASH ON MY ASS, SHE WOULD HAVE SUSPECTED IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH FALL-OUT, FROM SOMETHING THE RUSSIANS HAD UNLEASHED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. THE TALK AROUND OUR APARTMENT, WAS MOST DEFINITELY ANTI-RUSSIA, AND I'M SORRY TO BE POLITICALLY INCORRECT, IN THIS ENLIGHTENED TIME IN HISTORY. BUT IT WOULD BE A LIE, TO SUGGEST DIFFERENTLY. IF WE WERE GOING TO DIE IN CONFLICT, IN THE 1960'S, IT WAS GOING TO BE FROM AN ATTACK, PERPETRATED BY THE COMMUNISTS, TO WIPE OUT DEMOCRACY. MAYBE WE WERE BRAINWASHED. PROBABLY. I JUST DON'T REMEMBER. OTHER THAN IT WAS THE TALK WE HEARD AFTER THE DAILY NEWS. WHAT I DO REMEMBER, WAS THAT THERE WAS NO ESCAPING THE NEGATIVITY, ABOUT THE MOTIVES OF THE RUSSIANS. THAT WAS WHAT MADE THE MOVIE, "THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING," SO FUNNY....BECAUSE IT'S JUST WHAT MANY CANADIANS AND AMERICANS WERE WORRIED ABOUT....THAT THEIR SMALL, ONE HORSE TOWNS WOULD SUDDENLY, IN THE DARK OF NIGHT, BE INVADED. AND THEN WE'D ALL FORCE TO ADOPT COMMUNIST BELIEFS, AND HAVE STATUES OF RUSSIAN HEROES ERECTED IN OUR TOWN SQUARES.
     ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLE DEALERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO SPECIALIZE IN MILITARIA, AND MILITARY REFERENCE BOOKS, MAPS AND DOCUMENTS, ARE TUNED INTO THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS, NOT FOR FINANCIAL GAIN, BUT BECAUSE THEY'RE HOBBY HISTORIANS AS WELL. IF YOU'RE A DEALER, WHO SELLS A LOT OF NOSTALGIA, THEN YOU ARE PARTICULARLY AWARE OF THE COLD WAR ERA MATERIALS, FROM BOOKS AND MAGAZINES, TO DOCUMENTS AND MILITARY-RELATED PROPAGANDA; ADVERTISING FROM THE PERIOD, AND THE LIST GOES ON. THERE WERE "HOW TO" BOOKLETS PUBLISHED, DETAILING WHAT YOU WOULD NEED, TO BUILD A FALL-OUT SHELTER, AND THOSE SURVIVAL GOODS REQUIRED IF THE STAY WAS A LONG ONE. THIS WAS ABOUT ONE PRESSING ISSUE. THE FRAGILE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA. AND ALL THE BOMBS POINTED AT EACH OTHER. WE HAD ALSO BEEN TOLD HOW TO REACT, IN CLASS, IN CASE OF A BOMB ATTACK. I REMEMBER THERE BEING A DISCUSSION ABOUT IT, BUT I'M NOT SURE WHETHER WE WERE TO BE MOVED TO THE SCHOOL BASEMENT, OR JUST TOLD TO PROTECT OUR HEADS, INITIALLY, BY CROUCHING UNDER THE DESKS. SUZANNE REMEMBERS THE SAME EMERGENCY MEASURES, BEING TAUGHT, AT THE WINDERMERE PUBLIC SCHOOL, DURING THIS TIME. DUCK UNDER THE DESKS, AND THEN EVACUATE TO THE BASEMENT OF THE BUILDING. YOU SEE, IT WAS ALWAYS SUSPECTED, THAT TORONTO WOULD BE A TARGET FOR ONE OF THESE MAJOR STRIKES, AND IN BURLINGTON, THAT WAS TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT. I WOULD RATHER HAVE BEEN IN WINDERMERE, HERE IN THE MUSKOKA HINTERLAND.
     AT HOME, MY PARENTS WERE GLUED TO THE EVENING NEWS, DURING THE MISSILE CRISIS, AND MY FATHER, HAVING BEEN IN THE NAVY, DURING THE WAR, FIGURED WE WERE HEADED TO THE FINAL RECKONING. THE BIG ONE! THINKING BACK, IT'S KIND OF WEIRD, BECAUSE FOR THE LONGEST TIME, FROM THE LATE 1950'S TO THE MID 1960'S, LIFE AND NORMALCY SEEMED MORE AND MORE FRAGILE, AS POLITICAL EVENTS TRANSPIRED, AND MY PARENTS ALWAYS SEEMED TO HINGE THINGS ON THE LATEST FAILED DIPLOMACY BETWEEN THE SUPER POWERS; THE MOST RECENT THREATS OF MILITARY ENGAGEMENT, AND WHETHER OF NOT, THEY SHOULD MAKE LONG TERM INVESTMENTS; ESPECIALLY IF THE WORLD WAS GOING TO BE REDUCED TO DESOLATION AND ASH. I DON'T THINK MY PARENTS WERE ALARMISTS. THEY WERE ACTING AND FEARING AS MANY CITIZENS WERE, IN THOSE PRECARIOUS DAYS; AND THE YOUNGER GENERATION, WITH NO FILTERING OF IGNORANCE, WAS NEGATIVELY EXPOSED TO THE THREATS OF WORLD WAR III. I THINK MY FATHER'S OPINION, WAS THAT, IF THE BIG BOMB CAME OUR WAY, HE'D RATHER BE THE ONE DIRECTLY BELOW, THAN BEING FORCED TO LIVE LIKE A MOLE, IN A CONCRETE BUNKER, FOR A YEAR OR MORE. HE DIDN'T SAY IT TO ME, BUT I OVERHEARD HIM TELL ONE OF OUR NEIGHBORS. I HAVE TO SAY, I WOULD FEEL EXACTLY THE SAME. FIRST OF ALL, I DON'T LIKE CONFINED SPACES. AND I DON'T THINK A BUNKER WOULD SOLVE ANY PROBLEMS, BECAUSE A RADIATION FIELD, IS GOING TO GET US ALL ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
     AS FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE UKRAINE, AND RUSSIA'S OMINOUS PRESENCE, (SOLDIERS IN NEAT CIVILIAN-WEAR, WITH BIG HONKING GUNS, HELICOPTERS OVER UKRAINE'S AIR SPACE, AND A PARTIAL NAVAL BLOCKADE IN THE CRIMEA, TO NAME A FEW) THERE ARE A FEW OF US ANTIQUARIANS, AND DABBLERS IN WORLD HISTORY, WHO ARE FEELING A LITTLE "COLD WAR-ISH" RIGHT NOW, AND FOR GOOD REASON. IF YOU ARE A STUDENT OF MILITARY HISTORY, AND UNDERSTAND HOW WARS HAVE ERUPTED IN THE PAST, THE PRESENT EVENTS UNFOLDING ARE TEN OUT OF TEN, NO MATTER WHAT THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT MIGHT SAY TO THE CONTRARY. THE OPTICS ARE NOT GOOD, AND THERE HAVE BEEN INCURSIONS INTO THE CRIMEA THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO RUSSIAN INFLUENCES....AND POLITICAL INTERESTS. THE WORLD IS IN A MUCH MORE DANGEROUS SITUATION, THAT IT WAS TWO MONTHS AGO, AND I'M SORRY IF THE RUSSIANS DON'T AGREE. SOME OF US HAVE BEEN IN THIS POSITION BEFORE, WHEN RUSSIA HAS MOVED UPON OTHER COUNTRIES, UNWILLING TO GO PEACEFULLY. I'M JUST NOT GETTING THIS PART, THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE THE INJURED PARTY HERE; AND BY NATO'S RECENT REACTION, ANNOUNCING THEY WILL DEFEND THE SOVEREIGN RIGHTS OF THE UKRAINE, FORCEFULLY, I NEED SAY NO MORE. THIS IS THE TEMPEST WE'VE BEEN WORRYING ABOUT, FROM THE PERIOD OF THE COLD WAR, AND IT'S IN A REGION THAT HAS SUFFERED GREATLY IN THE PAST. SO AS MUCH AS WE WISH THIS WASN'T HAPPENING, WE WHO LIVE AND BREATHE HISTORY, AS BOTH A PROFESSION AND HOBBY INTEREST, ARE FULL OF FEAR, DESPITE THOSE WHO MAY THINK WE ARE JUMPING THE GUN....OR OVER-REACTING. I HATE WHEN POLITICIANS TELL US EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, AND THEN, THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT OCCUPIED AIR PORTS AND PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, AND THE START OF A NAVAL BLOCKADE. I DON'T THINK WE'RE AT THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS LEVEL JUST YET, BUT I THINK THE NEXT TWO WEEKS ARE GOING TO BE FRIGHTENING FOR THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD.....BECAUSE WHENEVER THE HEAVYWEIGHTS DUKE IT OUT, WE TAKE THE PUNCH.
     I ALSO BELIEVE, THAT DURING THE COLD WAR PERIOD, MY PARENTS, AT LEAST, HAD VERY LITTLE INTEREST IN MATERIAL THINGS....OTHER THAN A REASONABLY COMFORTABLE SOFA AND CHAIR, A CHROME DINING SET, AND BOTH HALF-WORKING TELEVISION AND RADIO. THEY NEEDED THEIR NEWS UPDATES. I'M SURE THEY WERE THINKING THEN, THAT CASH WAS MORE IMPORTANT, "IN HAND," THAN OWNING EXTRAVAGANCES IN THE HOUSE. DID WE HAVE ENOUGH FOOD IN THE HOUSE TO KEEP US FROM GOING HUNGRY, IF THERE WAS WORLD CALAMITY? THEY WERE WORRIED. I KNOW THEY WERE. AND IF THEY WERE ALIVE TODAY, THEY WOULD FEEL THAT WHAT WAS HAPPENING, IN EUROPE AT THIS PRECISE MOMENT, WAS DANGEROUS TIPPING POINT, TO ANOTHER WORLD WAR. I THINK, THAT IN PERSONAL IMPACT, THIS INCURSION WILL EVENTUALLY TRUMP, HOW MANY CANADIANS AND AMERICANS FELT, DURING THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS.
     THE ECONOMIC WOES OF THE UKRAINE AT PRESENT, CERTAINLY DOESN'T HELP MATTERS, OR HERALD A SPEEDY RESOLUTION, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT A LARGE VOLUME OF NATURAL ENERGY RESOURCES COME FROM RUSSIA. IT ALL HAS THE MAKINGS OF A MAJOR WORLD EVENT THAT'S FOR SURE. HOW WILL IT PLAY OUT? WE'D SURE LIKE TO BELIEVE, DIPLOMACY THAT USUALLY FAILS, WILL MAKE ITS TRIUMPH IN THE UKRAINE. I'M HOPING THE ALLIES AREN'T JUST BLOWING SMOKE, WHEN THEY ANNOUNCED THEIR INTENTION TO BACK THEM, IF WORSE COMES TO WORSE.
     SO HOW MANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, IN CANADA TODAY, IF ASKED, WITHOUT PREAMBLE EXPLANATION, COULD POINT OUT THE "CRIMEA" REGION OF UKRAINE? HOW MANY STUDENTS WOULD KNOW WHERE THE UKRAINE IS, IN EUROPE? OR IS IT IN SOUTH AMERICA? DO THEY HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THE COLD WAR WAS ALL ABOUT? SHOULD WE BE WORRIED THAT THEY KNOW MORE ABOUT VIDEO GAMES, AND POP STARS, COMIC BOOK HEROES, THAN PRESENT WORLD ORDER? ARE THEY AWARE, THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO USE THEIR CELL PHONES, AND VIDEO GAMES, IN THE CONCRETE BUNKERS WE HAVE TO BUILD IN OUR BACK YARDS? NAIVE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD? MORE LIKE UNEDUCATED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD! I THINK MOST OF US BABY BOOMERS WOULD BE SHOCKED TO SILENCE, BY THE STATISTICS, THAT MOST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TODAY, COULDN'T FIND THE UKRAINE ON A MAP, WITHOUT ASSISTANCE OF GOOGLE OR AN INTERNET SEARCH. IT'S GREAT IF YOU HAVE BATTERIES AND ELECTRIC BACK-UP. GOSH, IF WE EVER HAD TO LIVE THROUGH THE CONDITIONS THAT PREVAILED IN EUROPE DURING THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS. RATIONED FOOD AND GAS. HOW MANY STUDENTS UNDERSTAND "RATIONING" AND WHAT IT MEANS TO SURVIVE BY MEANS OF A COUPON BOOK, AND RATION TOKENS FOR MEAT AND DAIRY PRODUCTS? A LOT OF ANTIQUE DEALERS STILL HAVE THOSE RINGS OF RATION TOKENS AND SOME BOOKLETS, WITH GAS RATION COUPONS. WE MAY NOT HAVE LIVED THROUGH THE WAR, BUT MANY OF US LIVED WITH PARENTS WHO HAD BEEN IN THE THICK OF THINGS, AND WE HEARD THE STORIES, OVER AND OVER AGAIN; ESPECIALLY WHEN WE DIDN'T CLEAN OUR DINNER PLATES, OF THE FOOD PREPARED FOR US. I CAN REMEMBER HEARING MY MOTHER COMPLAIN ABOUT THE FACT, I HAD LEFT PORTIONS OF MEAT AND POTATO ON MY PLATE; WHICH WAS OFFENSIVE TO HERE, WHEN SO MANY HAD DONE WITHOUT DURING THE WAR YEARS. I'D TELL HER THAT I WOULD HAVE OFFERED IT TO THEM, IF TIMES WERE REVERSED. BUT FOR THEM IT WASN'T NONSENSE. THEIR FEARS WERE INBRED, FROM HAVING TO LIVE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF WAR, AS THEY PRESENTED IN CANADA. IT WAS WHAT THEY HAD ENDURED AT HOME. WHAT DO OUR TEENAGERS TODAY, KNOW ABOUT HARDSHIP CAUSED BY INTERNATIONAL CIRCUMSTANCE? WE CAN FORGIVE THEM, ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVEN'T BEEN TAUGHT THIS AT SCHOOL....AS PART OF NORMAL CURRICULUM; OR AT HOME, BY PARENTS WHO BELIEVE HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE, IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT TO ENHANCED LIFE SKILLS.
  
"THE STRAND" WAR MAP OF CENTRAL EUROPE, CIRCA 1914

     A couple of months ago, we purchased a large lot of ephemera, from two estates, and in so doing, picked up quite a number of pieces from the period of the First and Second World War, including some late 1940's and early 50's letters from Germany. Included in the material, was the 1914 "War Map," produced by "The Strand," published by the George Newness Limited Co., of London, England. It (the map) was owned by a citizen of England at the time, and it was well used as you may be able to see from the photographs above. The map, in its current condition, is neither rare, nor valuable, but it is interesting for the hobby historians, and students, to see what Europe represented, in the opening year of the Great War. As compared to maps from the past few years, there are a lot of boundary changes....and there may be more to come, as this present crisis escalates. Even as a kid, I was fascinated by maps, so whenever a crisis occurs, whether in the Middle East, or in this case, the Ukraine, I still whip out my respective maps and atlases, to see the changes that have occurred over the centuries. We have to know the past before we can truly appreciate the changes of the present and future. Are we likely to see the Crimea area, of the Ukraine, forcefully annexed back to Russia? Some say yes. Some say, "over our dead bodies!" As for the casualties, we've already seen evidence, that this conflict will take a high human toll. Can it be stopped in time? One imagines how many lives could be lost in such a conflict over sovereignty. It's complicated. It's a political mine-field. Yet it simplifies down to the old saying, that may have pre-dated the American Civil War, where I first saw it referenced, as the words spoken by a Confederate soldier, to his Yankee captor.... "Live and Let Live, I Heard Some Folks Say." And why not? I know, I know....it's complicated.
     I'm hoping the Russians will pull back from the Crimea, and seek a diplomatic solution to whatever territorial claims they wish to make. The world is watching after all, or did they only care about the attention they received for hosting the Olympics? So far, it looks very much like this is the case, and what a tragedy for their country, when it comes right down, to how this will be perceived by the rest of the world.....that is far more connected by news actuality, via technology, than it was during the Cold War. Forgive us baby boomers, who grew up with the fear of Russian invasion, and atomic warheads heading our way. "Dr. Strangelove," was just a movie. Right? Or will our worse fears be realized. This is an hourly news watch, just as it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis....when being an alarmist was all the rage. Of course it changed our lives. Will this latest intervention do the same, to the present generation? Fear as fashion? Not buying green bananas! Living a frugal, only-what-you-need lifestyle? A minimalist attitude, where we will get by with less, because we don't need more than this! Keep in mind, at this precise moment in time, many citizens of the world live with much more danger in their lives than we do......and have those empty plates in their hands, looking for something to eat. I used to tell our boys the same thing, as my mother used to tell me.....about how wicked it was to waste food, while people were starving in the world. Ah, the not-so-subtle influences of childhood, during trying times!
     Thanks for visiting today. Let's all hope for improvements in the Ukraine. Its really all we can do, at present!