QOTD: "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
Reading: Agatha Christie, So Many Steps to Death
Listening to: nothing
Decluttering accomplishments: a bunch of household paperwork
The title of this entry is from "Plain and Fancy", a fairly obscure Broadway musical and refers to the weekend. The week was less musical, though fairly busy at work. Tuesday night I went to see a documentary at the Museum of American History about Tupperware. It was very interesting, largely because the personal dynamics between the two key players in the company's early history were so dramatically different from each other. Earl Tupper was a rather misanthropic inventor, while Brownie Wise (who persuaded Tupper to use the party plan for his sales and became Vice President of the company as a result) was something of a social butterfly. The movie suggested, however, that what really led to her being essentially purged from the company was nothing more than simple sexism. Tupper wanted to sell out and the buyers wouldn't take on a company with a woman in such a prominent role. He got millions, while she ended up with a mere $35K. Not only did the company destroy photos and film footage of Brownie Wise, but they dug a pit at Tupperware headquarters and buried all the remaining copies of a book of motivational speeches she'd written.
As for the weekend, I realized this was my last opportunity to get away for several weeks, as I have commitments for at least the next four weekends. After considering several possibilities, I settled on going to Ephrata, Pennsylvania, which was the site of a late 18th century Utopian community. Most of the communal religious groups in America peaked in the mid-19th century, but Ephrata was primarily a community of German immigrants and reached its maximum membership in the 1750's. The tour of the Ephrata Cloister includes the home of Conrad Beissel (the group's founder), the sisters' house and the meeting house. The group consisted of celibate brothers and sisters ("the Solitary") and married families called "Householders." The members of the Solitary spent all of their time working and praying, with little sleep (two three hour sessions a day, on hard benches with wooden pillows) and one meal a day (usually roots, though there were "love feasts" that included lamb stew.) They wore white robes and are known for their music (somewhat medieval sounding) and their calligraphy (large illuminated manuscripts in a German script called "Fraktur".) I gathered that there was something of a cult of personality around Beissel and the group didn't do well after he died. The last celibate member died in 1813 and the Householders (who lived non-communally on surrounding farms) reorganized into a somewhat more conventional church, whose distinctive beliefs were adult baptism and having the Sabbath on Saturday. The church dissoved around 1934 and the state of Pennsylvania took over the property in the 1940's, restoring it as a museum.
Then I checked out some of the outlet malls in the area, which was mostly irritating, due to crowds and due to the continued failure of outlet shoe stores to have anything I like in my size. I stayed overnight in Lancaster (where I watched the Source of All Evil in the Universe lose the World Series) and drove up to Hershey in the morning. I'm not sure why we never went there when I was a kid, as most everyone else I knew did. I seem to recall that back then people toured the actual factory. Nowadays, you take a hoky ride that simulates the factory. They do, still, give you a free sample at the end. In this case, the samples were of Mr. Goodbar bits, which are a new product and amount to chocolate-covered peanuts. You get more samples if you take the somewhat pricy trolley tour. This is actually worthwhile for the guide's reasonably balanced comments on Milton Hershey's life. It also includes a fair amount of the town, though you don't actually get out and look at anything. The notable aspect of Hershey is the school for disadvantaged children. The Hershey trust owns the chocolate company and administers the school, which provides all expenses for the children (originally orphan boys, now co-ed and not necessarily orphaned), including college scholarships that cover all but $2000 a year of their expenses for up to 5 years. I was amused by a boy who, whenever the guide asked if there were any questions, asked, "when do we get more chocolate?"
Founder's Hall (at the school) and the Hershey Museum would be worth some time, but I wanted to get home early enough to catch up on some household stuff. So I just did some shopping (including truffles for the office, as well as Halloween candy). Then I drove to Baltimore, where I stopped at the Book Thing (a free book exchange, open every weekend). I dropped off a donation and picked up some children's books to give out for Trick or Treat (along with the candy). Then I drove home and read the newspaper in lieu of doing the housework I'd intended. It was still good to get out and do something, instead of sitting around the apartment reading.
Copyright 2003 Miriam H. Nadel