Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published Aug. 25, 2004

Coming of fall brings a flood of memories

It is hard to accept that outside the leaves are slowly falling. Inside, my desk is covered with interesting clippings that have piled up over the summer. As August wears down and before I must start raking those falling leaves, this seems a good time to sort through and share some of the stories in those clippings.

The 60th anniversary of a shocking tragedy was remembered last July when in Hartford, CT, ground was broken for a memorial to the 168 killed and 700 injured in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus fire on July 6, 1944. On that day I was living just outside New Haven, CT, where my soldier husband was sent for training in radar. I shared a house at Short Beach, CT, with two other wives whose husbands were in the same training. The radio was our link with the war news but on that hot July day the news was of the circus fire.

That terrible event seemed even worse because of the many children seated in the big top for what should have been a joyous few hours. A total of 6,000 people filled the seats for the matinee performance when the flames started licking at the tent and then rapidly enveloped the canvas. Just as 9-11 was seared into our memory bank, that circus fire 60 years ago left a scar.

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Recently a group of retired BellSouth employees held a reunion and they talked about the days of party lines. Many of us remember those days when we shared one phone line with up to seven of our neighbors. You recognized your call by the length and number of rings and it didn't take long before you knew everyone's special ring. Some of those sharing one line were great talkers and, even though they always knew when someone was waiting for the phone by the click when the receiver was picked up, they would just go on and on. If the conversation sounded interesting, it was not unusual to have a silent listener. It would be hard to explain this system to cell phone owners!

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About a century ago a fellow named William Murphy had a bright idea which he patented as the Murphy bed. I had never heard of this bed until I rented an apartment in Minneapolis, MN, as I followed my husband around during World War II. When I looked at the furnished apartment there was no bed in sight and that was when I learned what a clever invention this was. The apartment was just one big room with a small kitchen and bath tucked away in corners. During waking hours, the bed was folded away in the wall out of sight, making the living space larger.

The business that makes these units has been in business all these years and the demand comes and goes. Today's market is good. Many seniors find them attractive as they move to smaller places. Even some hotels and resorts are installing them so more guests can share one room.

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More than six million women were known as Rosie the Riveter during WWII. At a former shipyard in Richmond, CA, work is under way to transform the place into The Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park. Boxes and boxes of tools, clothing and letters from all over the country have been donated to the effort. As volunteers sort through the boxes they are touched by the contribution those women made to the war effort.

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.