We have several advertised special days today to cover. What makes them a little more confusing, is that they are also promoted in February. I checked, and I did not talk about them then, so today is a double duty day.
September 4th is National Spice Day. There is also February 17th-Spice Up Your Life day. I have also talked about spices on a few other days, but will show a couple of spice books I have not yet displayed.
The first is “Nathaniel’s Nutmeg, or The True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History” by Giles Milton, 1999. The author tells the tale of Nathaniel Courthope who took the island of Run for England in 1616, a spice island noted for Nutmeg, controlled by the Dutch. For 1540 days, he held the island. In the end, there was a trade of the island for another-Manhatten.
The second book is “The Clove Tree” by G.E. Tidbury, published 1949. The subtitle is “A Comprehensive Account of the History of the Clove Tree, Trade, and Products.” This is an old book that gives us a rather thorough look at the spice that most of us just think about on cooking a ham. For years there was clove gum, made to hide alcohol breath. Cloves also could dull tooth aches.
September 4th is National Macadamia Nut Day. February is also National Macadamia Month.
I have a two volume set of books, “Tree Nuts: Production, Processing, Products” by Jasper Guy Woodroof, published 1967. These unusual books go into a great deal of information about growing, processing, storing, importing/exporting various nuts. Hawaii is the main supplier of macadamia nuts, even though they originated in Australia. Other names were the ‘Queensland Nut’ or “Australian Nut”. According to the book, sales in Hawaii were growing stronger every year. In 1946, there was $96,000 in macadamia nut sales. In 1965, there was $1,651,000 in sales.
September 4th is also National Wildlife Day. There is a second National Wildlife Day on February 22. That day was added because it was the birthday of Steve Erwin-The Crocodile Hunter. One way to celebrate National Wildlife Day, it is recommended, is to visit a local zoo.
I have the book “The Arc in the Park: the Story of Lincoln Park Zoo” by Mark Rosenthal, Carol Tauber, and Edward Uhlir, 2003. This gives a good history of the zoo, including the directorship work by Marlin Perkins, who later went on to the TV show Wild Kingdom. From the book is a picture of Perkins with an alligator (unfortunately it was not a crocodile). When I lived in Chicago, I would take my son every other weekend to Lincoln Park Zoo. The zoo was free. A little tip, if you park on the west side of the zoo, you don’t have to pay for parking.
In 2019, only about four miles west of Lincoln Park Zoo, in Humboldt Park Lagoon, an alligator was spotted. It took a full week to catch “Chance the Snapper”, a five foot alligator. He now lives in a preserve in Florida.
I thought I would end with the book “Alligators All Around” by Maurice Sendak, 1962. A wonderful alphabet book with alligators on every page.
I would read this to my granddaughter who went to Grundy Grade School in Morton. Their mascot was a ‘gator. When I would pick her up, we would sing “I’m a gator, you’re a gator, chomp chomp.” and sticking our arms straight out in front of us, using our fingers as teeth, make big chomping motions at each other. We laughed. People around us would laugh too…perhaps at us.
What is the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?
One will see you later, and the other will see you in a while.
Librarytomes 