Wayne's Remember When 2
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Do You Remember When?

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 © W.P. Armstrong 2019 

Go To Latest "Remember When" Note On This Page
Wayne's "Remember When" #26 (15 September 2016)

Remember When: My old carbide latern--it never needs batteries! All you need is some calcium carbide (CaC2) and water (H2O) The mixture produces acetylene gas (C2H2) and a very bright light.

Wayne's "Remember When" #27 (20 September 2016)

This Singer child's sewing machine dates back to the 1920s. It belonged to my mother. It is fully functional and doesn't require electricity. I must confess that I never learned to sew, I just go to my nearby dry cleaners!

Wayne's "Remember When" #28 (21 September 2016)

I had many collections before becoming a biologist, including rocks, nails, matchbooks, coins, sea shells, and "bullet shells" (shell casings). My favorite was a 5 inch shell casing from a US Navy Cruiser!

Wayne's "Remember When" #29 (22 September 2016)

Remember When: General Patton trained with his army in the Colorado Desert region north of the Salton Sea, from Indio to Arizona. Partially buried, rusted 50 caliber belt links & shell casings are scattered throughout this extensive World War II training area. BLM Brochure

Wayne's "Remember When" #30 (23 September 2016)

Remember When: I restored an old 1948 Ford convertible like the one in image during the 1950s while attending Arcadia High School. A similar black 1946 Ford was driven by Biff Tannen in the movie "Back To The Future." BTW, a yellow 1948 Ford convertible was used in the original "Karate Kid."

Wayne's "Remember When" #31 (7 October 2016)
Back To The 60s & 70s

When I was a young botany teacher at Palomar College I dated many trees. I was especially fond of a lovely 1400-year-old sierra juniper (Juniperus grandis) on a steep ridge west of Pine Mountain in the San Gabriel Mtns. See following image:

Wayne's "Remember When" #32 (16 October 2016)

Remember When: An energy efficient method of scrubbing clothes without electricity. Washboards date back to the 1800s. I must admit that I prefer an electric washing machine unless I am without a power source.

Wayne's "Remember When" #33 (1 November 2016)

Memory Lane: I just had lunch at this little restaurant near my mtn property. Its been about 50 years since I ate here. The recent Blue Cut Fire spared this quaint restaurant & my pinyon-chaparral.

Wayne's "Remember When" #34 (23 November 2016)

Ingenuity from the 19th century: Data storage disc on a hand crank Regina Music Box. Binary data (music) is stored as perforations. There are 2 data states: hole or no hole. Your computer stores binary data as zeros and ones.

Wayne's "Remember When" #35 (4 February 2017)

Remember When: Drive-in restaurants & classic cars during the 1950s. A hamburger, fries & coke was .25 + .15 + .10. Photo taken 4 February 2017 at classic car show in Arizona. I once did this with my 48 Ford Convertible, not a Corvette like in photo!

Wayne's "Remember When" #36 (17 April 2017)

Remember When: I bought this camera used in the 1970s. It took amazing macro images with Kodachrome film!

Wayne's "Remember When" #37 (24 June 2018)

Remember When: State of the art Eastman Kodak camera when I was eleven years old back in the Second Millennium AD. Images taken with Sony DSC HX60V using internal flash.

Wayne's "Remember When" #38 (8 July 2018)

Remember When: During my formative years the match box holder was very common in kitchens. We also had one in our little mountain cabin back in the 1950s.

Wayne's "Remember When" #39 (24 July 2018)

Plasma Ball: My latest toy. A Tesla Coil produces high voltage, miniature, "dendritic lightning" inside glass globe. During my childhood years (late 1950s) I produced similar effects with Model T Ford ignition coil (trembler coil), model train transformer, and large light bulb. The 30,000 volts produced mild electric shock & amazing "lightning display" when holding light bulb against secondary terminal. Touching this terminal directly is a painful & unforgettable experience!

Wikipedia has a nice summary about the history of Model T Ford trembler coil: "The wide availability of the Model T made their component parts equally widespread. Their trembler coil in particular became a popular component for electrical hobbyists and backyard tinkerers, and was one of the first factory-made electrical components to be available in such numbers. They were used as shocking coils, in either the pseudo-medical or the prank sense,[8]. Model T coils were also used for some of the earliest home-made electric fences for livestock control. The Model T coils remained so popular for non-car use that they remained in production for some years after the car itself." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trembler_coil.

Wayne's "Remember When" #40 (17 August 2018)

Remember When (August 1987): My modest botanist quarters on Tetiaroa Atoll in French Polynesia. Gee, I miss those days when I was young and adventurous. On table are fruits of Cocos, Pandanus & Barringtonia.

Wayne's "Remember When" #41 (Updated 8 February 2019)

Remember When (Palomar College January 1972): A & B. My dear biology student (Malek) from Pakistan and his beautiful Cooper's Hawk. C (8 February 2019). Young resident Cooper's Hawk in our backyard on his favorite perch, our bird feeder!

Wayne's "Remember When" #42 (20 August 2018)

I decided to include in my "Remember When" series some links to short memorials I wrote for dear friends that touched my life. This one is about my major professor at CSULA Dr. Richard Vogl who truly inspired my career in biology. In Memory Of Dr. Vogl

Wayne's "Remember When" #43 (31 August 2018)

Remember When: Classic film cameras used by John, our dear friend at Palomar Mountain Observatory, Elaine and me. In fact, they are still functional if you can find the correct film.

Wayne's "Remember When" #44 (16 September 2018)

Remember When: I was so impressed with Palomar College chemistry professor Dr. Kent Backart as a pilot that I am including 2 more images of our memorable trips together. Kent Backart In Saline Valley

Wayne's "Remember When" #45 (24 September 2018)

Remember When: A young undergraduate student in 1963 with my 1st camera capable of macrophotography. Although it was completely manual with a silk focal plane shutter, this old camera took pretty good close-up images. BTW, my car was a well-worn 1950 Ford 2 door sedan. Macrophotography Techniques

Wayne's "Remember When" #46 (16 October 2018)

Remember When: Roughly a half-century before Amazon, practically everything you wanted could be ordered from the Sears catalog. During the mid 1960s when I taught biology labs at CSULA (formerly LA State), one of the students was on the cover of a Sears catalog!

Wayne's "Remember When" #47 (25 October 2018)

Remember When: Over 50 years ago I found a mantispid on the Palomar College campus. I have never found another one of these unusual mantid look-alikes since. An outstanding example of convergent evolution. Convergent Evolution (Homoplasy)

Wayne's "Remember When" #48 (18 January 2019)

My 1st 35 mm camera: I purchased it at Sears in Pasadena, CA in 1961. A very sharp, fast f-1.9 lens, but not suitable for macro images. My first SLR (Single-Lens Reflex Camera) for macrophotography came a few years later: My First SLR: Tower 32A

Wayne's "Remember When" #49 (19 February 2019)

Remember When: In the late 1950s I exercised regularly with my Whitely Chest Pull. I worked up to 5 springs with 1 inguinal hernia and 2 enlarged trapezius muscles, but never looked like man in illustration. At least bullies stopped kicking sand in my face at the beach!

Wayne's "Remember When" #50 (17 March 2019)

Remember When: In the 1950s I enhanced this classic Hubley cap gun with flat black paint. This is roughly the same time that I became fascinated with ants! There is absolutely no correlation between cap guns and ants. My First Affair With Ants