Speaking of calendars speaking to us

As this is my last column for the year, I have decided to tackle a subject that is near and dear to all our hearts. New Year’s Eve is once again upon us, and that means it’s time to take down the old 2005 calendars, and put up the new ones for 2006.

I have no favorite kind of calendar, such as one with puppies, cats, ocean views or cartoon characters. No, I usually wait for a few weeks or so until they go on sale, then I pick out one at half price. If I can wait long enough, I might get one at 75-percent off. Borders in LaGrange always has some good ones left for a good long while.

Now don’t think that I go without any kind of calendar at all during those first few weeks. Last year I got a free one at the True Value Hardware store on Broadway Avenue in Brookfield. Come to think of it, I have just now noticed that I have had that one up during all of 2005. I never did get one of the fancy ones.

In 1997, I used one from the Thor-Shackel Horseradish Company located in Burr Ridge. I don’t know how I ever got hold of that one. I don’t even like horseradish. My 1998-2004 calendars were of the store-bought variety, and I have saved every one of them.

You may wonder why I have kept those calendars. Why didn’t I just chuck them out, when the year was over? Well, until late 1996, I used to keep journals. I sometimes use these as historical sources. Most recently, I used information from a journal in writing my article on Brookfield’s village block parties.

Beginning in 1997, I found I had less time to devote to a journal, so I began to write important notes of daily occurrences on the calendar’s date squares. When 1997 was over, I did not toss out the calendar full of important information, but saved it, as I did the next year, and so on. I sometimes use these notations as historic sources.

Last Thanksgiving I was visiting my niece Julia, sister Beth, and brother-in-law Bob. We stopped in at Lena’s Mercantile, in Lena, Ill., which is southeast of Galena by several miles. The Mercantile isn’t one of those old-fashioned dry goods or grocery stores, located out in the country, a million miles from nowhere. This is mostly an antiques store, and the really great thing is that they have, in the back, this cozy little restaurant, where you can get pies that taste better than anything at Baker’s Square.

Anyway, I was there, looking at several booths full of collectibles and antiques, such as at Booth No. 54, which was full of interesting old product advertising. Nearby, just casually lying among the bric-a-brac of a bygone age, was an “old” calendar for sale at the reasonable price of $6. This was a 1960 Girl Scout Calendar.

I paged through it and found that the day number boxes had almost all been written in. Whenever the entries didn’t consist solely of weather notes, it was like reading a diary, and it took on both personal and historical overtones. I finally decided that its owner had been a woman, but her name was never mentioned anywhere. Because of local place names, I concluded that the woman had lived somewhere close by, maybe even in Lena.

I bought it, thinking it would make interesting reading. January 1960, began ominously. The New Year’s holiday death toll was meticulously recorded: “366 auto crashes, 63 fires and 74 miscellaneous” (whatever that means.) I wonder if that was for only Illinois, or for all the nation? It doesn’t sound like it was a good time to be out on the road.

On Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, this woman recorded: “Sunshine day. All snow is getting a little crust on it from the sun. Navy reports a second mystery sub off coast of Argentina’s shore. Spotted 15 days ago. Relaxed and just caught up on things.” What was this lady, a part-time spy?

April 27 was interesting: “Jeffrey Todd Dial of Lena is poster child of Cerebral Palsy. [Friend] Stella [Blair’s] preacher yelled again.” Nothing like a little community pride, but it sounds like that preacher needed a vacation!

July 25: “Chicago bustling with GOP convention. [Friend] Pearl came back spritzed several times, in p.m.” Those crazy conventioneers and their horseplay!

Then on Aug. 15, the spy work was back again: “Nautilus [submarine] back with fleet, May 28/58, came for checkup, found electrical cable damaged. Sabotage pattern.”

Three days later, “Capsule of Discoverer XIV picked out of air as parachuting to area near Hawaiian Isle.”

Aug. 30 rounded the month out with: “Richard Nixon hospitalized from infection. Tomato patch dried pretty well. Picked some from edges.” Maybe she sent some tomatoes to Nixon?

One last note, for Wednesday, Nov. 9, the day after the U.S. Presidential election: “Kennedy is in lead, not all votes counted yet.” Guess those tomatoes didn’t help Nixon’s chances any, did they?

So you see, this is like reliving history, both public and private. Although, sometimes I know just how it’s going to turn out. The next time you see an old calendar lying around, see if it has anything to say. Calendars can “talk” long after their 365 days of usefulness is over.