Nostalgic Items at American History Museum

The Smithsonian American History Museum was always a favorite of mine. I was first introduced to it many years ago when I visited my sister who was in college in DC. I loved the First Ladies gowns and the general vibe. At that time my plan was to major in history, but that never materialized. When we lived on Capitol Hill we would visit here and there during the slower times of the year. Now that we live in northern Virginia we drive in to the city at least once a week. In the last month or two we have been visiting the museum in order for me to get images for the weekly photo challenge. The subject matter was “nostalgia” for one of them, and that took me to the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. But while we were there we stopped in a few other areas and checked out the other nostalgia items. There was Stan Musial’a bat and Carl Yaz’s head gear. Barbie was front and center - I had a whole collection of Barbie stuff including her car. Then there was Mr Peanut. We used to see him walking in the street when we went to visit my grandparents in New England. Of course Colonel Sanders had a presence in both his likeness hanging from the ceiling and the bucket used to pick up chicken. A VW bug poster and model car shows the transition over time. And there was an office with a royal typewriter sitting on the desk. I had a royal in college to type all of my papers. Obviously the place was filled with all sorts of things. Unfortunately I didn’t pay as much attention to these objects because I was focusing on getting a photo for the challenge. Luckily we have the luxury of coming to town when we are interested. Or, you can always do a virtual visit. 

Florida State University Alumni Call

I received a postcard in the mail the other day from Florida State. I graduated with a bachelor of science in Nursing. They want to update the alumni information for the directory, so I called and talked to a gentleman. Since we moved last year, a few items really needed to be changed. And, I have retired since the last information was published. The one question The caller asked was to name something I remembered about attending FSU. I used to tutor some of the basketball players and attended all the games for free - and that was when FSU was #2 in the country after UCLA. The basketball players and coaches all came to a party at my house after a Christmas tournament. I didn’t think much of it then, but can’t believe it now given all the March Madness “madness!”  Anyway, after the call I was compelled to dig though some of my momentos - a few basketball handbooks, two publications with my photo on the cover, my diploma,  my student nurse name pin, FSU nursing pin, and the two green and one red ribbons that are placed on your nurses’ cap. One green means a junior, two greens mean a senior, and upon graduation, the official nursing ribbon is garnet. I can’t believe it’s been 45 years since I graduated from FSU. It feels like yesterday. Look what a postcard can do.