Newspaper Page Text
The art
of junking
I HAVE NEVER lived in a
subdivision and have never fol
lowed a homeowners’ code for
manicured yards and neat outbuildings
and even a prescription for what type
of child’s playset is “acceptable.”
Ok, I said it.
Now what I’m about to say
next will make more sense.
I am always
somewhat amused
and - dare I say
it? — appalled
when I hear
someone describ
ing how they had
to sneak a metal
swingset into
their backyard,
lest they offend
the sensibilities
and regulations
of their home-
owners’ association.
Or that their “outbuildings”
must meet a certain standard.
And so forth.
(Oh, the horror of a metal swingset!
What if it rusts? I recall our childhood
swingset out in the backyard and the
hours of fun we had. Yes, it did rust
and was probably unseemly, if anyone
on the dirt road where we lived had
been studying our backyard closely.)
Well, it all comes down to
what you know, I guess.
Many people live happily in subdi
visions these days and many people
must adhere to such rules as the above
in order to keep property values up
and to keep everyone surrounding
them contented. I’m not wild about
the idea, personally, of someone else
determining my space in that way,
but I understand that for close quar
ters it is about respect for others, as
well as appearance and values. If you
live that close to someone else, their
junk becomes your junk, in a sense.
I grew up in what used to be the
country. After a stint or three at vari
ous colleges and universities — dorms,
apartments, duplexes and so forth — I
moved out to what is still the country.
My neighbors are “down the road,”
literally, and we have cows study
ing us from the pasture in between.
Here’s where the amusement
comes in, when I imagine how our
home and surrounds would (not) fit
into a code. When I look out into our
(not so manicured) yard, I do see a
metal swingset, children’s toys scat
tered about for all to notice from the
road and an assortment of somewhat
ancient outbuildings with a collection
of clutter (also visible in some cases).
Ok, we call them sheds, smoke
houses, homeplaces, bams and
even (old) chicken houses. Those
old buildings lend a lot of character
to the place and are stocked full of
items with stories behind them.
But as far as a homeowners’ code
goes, well, perhaps one lives differently
in the country. Just look around, every
one has an old building or two. You
might even spy an old outhouse if you
look carefully. Maybe that is the code.
For many used to neat neighbor
hoods, the look may be considered
“junky,” “old country” or “rural.” I’ll
admit, sometimes I do fall prey to this
great urge to clean up, organize and
work in the yard — or I feel it, even if I
don’t have time lately to attend to it. But
I also recognize that in many cases those
rural outbuildings and their contents are
historic (in our case, most of it is farm
ing related), not deserving of scorn.
And your old outbuilding and
its artifacts could be just what a
proposed TV show is looking for
to air on the History Channel.
I received an email a short time
back about a “History and Junking”
TV show, which would feature pri
vate “disorganized collections” of old
items. The Cineflix crew is travel
ing through various states, including
Georgia, seeking individuals with
historic and dynamic collections.
The “art of junking,” it’s called.
No, it’s not just that pile of rubble
you keep meaning to clean out of the
shed, it’s more defined than that.
According to the email, the crew
members “are on a search for bams
and sheds, warehouses and storage
units loaded up with dusty gems,
cool junk and all kinds of items from
days gone by. They want to meet the
owners of unorganized collections of
stuff (bikes, antique cars, car parts,
engines, mopeds, tools, phones, radios,
crates, trunks, bottles, crocks, vending
machines, pinball machines, vintage
memorabilia and records, etc).”
“Collectors” are asked to email
mmalovic@cineflix.com and may visit
www.cineflixproductions.com for more
information on Cineflix and its shows.
One man’s junk is another man’s
treasure, or something to that effect.
If anyone local has such a col
lection and contacts Cineflix, I’d
love to hear about it. It would be
great to see someone from this
area on the History Channel.
Jana Adams Mitcham is features
editor of The Jackson Herald.
jana. a.
mitcham
Inside: Recycle your Christmas cards — page 2C
January 6,
2010
0 The Jackson Herald
Jana Adams Mitcham,
Features Editor 706-367-8760
jana@mainstreetnews. com
Section C
— Crawford W. Long Museum grand re-opening ahead Sat. —
A pair of eyeglasses and well-worn
case, which Dr. Crawford W. Long
used at the time of his death, along
with his wedding day tie, a silk
scarf he gave to his wife and a
volume of Shakespeare are among
the personal items on display at
the Crawford W. Long Museum.
Photos by Jana Mitcham
Medical, personal artifacts
of Dr. Crawford W. Long
included in new exhibits
First use of ether as surgical anesthesia, March 30, 1842
Jefferson, Georgia, Jackson County, by Dr. Crawford W. Long
By Jana A. Mitcham
HERE’S A
pair of wire-
framed glass
es, along with a case
well worn from being
slipped in and out of a
pocket.
There’s a wedding
day tie, a black silk scarf
that was a present to his wife.
There’s a book of Shakespeare,
‘Two Gentlemen of Verona,” with
Dr. Long’s name written on the
cover page.
A medical case with the handle
worn rough from being gripped
over and over is opened to display
cork-stoppered bottles, cardboard
and wooden pill boxes and paper
sleeves with cursive handwriting
indicating that they contained mor
phine tablets or gen
tian violet.
There’s something
to be said for getting
a close-up view of
not only the medical
items, but the personal
items, as well, of Dr.
Crawford W. Long,
who first used ether in
a surgical capacity in Jefferson on
March 30,1842.
The medical gallery at the newly
renovated Crawford W. Long
Museum in Jefferson, set for a
grand re-opening Saturday (see
story below), includes information
on Dr. Long’s medical history, as
well as about his family and his life.
He lived, he was “real,” a man, as
well as a physician.
continued on page 2C
ff
r
DR. LONG
A diorama in the Long gallery at the Crawford W. Long Museum in Jefferson not only shows the first "painless surgery," with Dr.
Crawford W. Long using sulfuric ether as anesthesia, but also shows what Jefferson looked like at in March 1842.
The Crawford W. Long Museum will hold a grand re-opening Saturday, with visi
tors able to see the structural and exhibit upgrades made with grant funding.
The Long gallery in the medical building includes medical and personal history,
along with graphic information panels. The Pendergrass Store is also open, as
is a sort of visitors' center with Jefferson photos and history.
Museum
Modernized
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Museum director Lesa Campbell shows a
1940s anesthesia machine, complete with
ether jar, at the Crawford W. Long Museum.
Museum situates modern exhibits in old building ambience
By Jana A. Mitcham
ISITORS TO THE newly
renovated Crawford W.
Long Museum on the
square in Jefferson will first step into a
bit of Jefferson history. The door opens
to Sanborn fire maps, depicting which
buildings were located where, as well as
old photographs of the town — Martin
Institute, the Curry Creek mill, a birds-
eye view of old Washington Street as
seen from up in the courthouse, and
more.
Slated for a grand re-opening from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, the
museum will not only feature exhibits
on Dr. Crawford W. Long’s medical
and personal history — his discovery
of the use of sulfuric ether for surgery -
but will also serve as a sort of visitors’
center for the town. The Pendergrass
Store, also a part of the museum’s three-
building complex, will not only serve as
a teaching tool for student groups, but
will also provide guests with a look at a
mid-1800s general store.
The museum has been closed since
June 2008 for structural renovations
and exhibit upgrades, funded in part by
a USDA Rural Development grant. The
museum now operates under the juris
diction of the City of Jefferson.
“We anticipate a big crowd on
Saturday,” Starnes said of the grand
re-opening (see sidebar), adding that
descendants of families associated
with Jefferson plan to attend — the
continued on page 2C
Brightly and artistically labeled
canned goods are among
the items displayed in the
Pendergrass Store, which would
have served as a general store
in the mid-1800s in Jefferson.
The canned goods served as
in-house advertising and reflect
the heyday of advertising.
Re-opening events
•Saturday, Jan. 9, I0 a.m.-3 p.m.
The museum's reopening will include
horse-drawn carriage rides through his
toric Jefferson, along with coffee, hot
chocolate and refreshments. The first
100 guests will receive a commemora
tive gift. The opportunity to join the
Friends of the Museum program will be
offered at half price to all attendees.
A fundraiser dinner and tour pack
age, sponsored by the association
board, offers two seatings, one at 6
p.m. and one at 7:45 p.m. Tickets avail
able at the museum are $50 each and
include dinner at Fusion on the Square
Restaurant followed by a guided tour of
the museum.