It was New Englanders that gained world-wide fame for their whaling prowess in the 1800s, but did you know that whaling was a small but steady industry in North Carolina for over 200 years? Check out the latest edition of “This Month in North Carolina History” for more details about our state’s shore-whalers.
Jessica Sedgwick
Where the Heel?, Part XI
I know that you’ve been waiting for it, so here it is: the 4th slogan-based “Where the Heel?” Take a look at the image below. The name of the location has been removed, but do you know where the “Crossroads of Tomorrow” is (or was) located? I think that a number of North Carolina locations have a legitimate claim to the title, but only one published this particular version of the slogan. As always, please leave your guesses as comments and good luck!
Where the Heel?, Part X
I’m hoping this week’s “Where the Heel?” will be a little easier than last week’s, but still challenging enough that you have to think about it for a bit. Take a look at the slogan below and see if you know to where it is referring. As always, leave your guess as a comment.
Krispy Kreme Challenge
This past weekend I attended the Krispy Kreme Challenge, an event in Raleigh which has become an extremely popular tradition in a very short time. Founded by NCSU students in 2004, the race had 12 runners the first year. This year there were 5,519!
The Challenge can be summed up as this: “Run. Eat doughnuts. Run more.” More specifically, runners start at the NCSU Belltower, run 2 miles to the Krispy Kreme on Person and Peace Streets, eat a dozen glazed donuts, and then run the 2 miles back to the Belltower…all in under an hour. The annual event benefits the North Carolina Children’s Hospital and, while not officially affiliated with Krispy Kreme, the store supports the event by producing 1/3 ton of sweet and airy glazed breakfast goodies for challengers to consume on the day of the race.
Many of the racers came in costume; I saw superheroes, a gorilla, Elvis, swimmers, fairytale characters, doughnut- and coffee-people, Dr. Seuss characters, and Santa, as well as people running with kids, pets, strollers, and shopping carts. Some of the materials from the event (including a Krispy Kreme hat!) will be added to the NCC’s Local Ephemera Collection.
Where the Heel?, Part IX
Welcome to our second slogan-based installment of “Where the Heel?” Remember, we’re looking for the North Carolina location that is described by a specific slogan. If you have a guess about the location that fills in the blank below, leave it as a comment. Ready, set, go!
Where the Heel?, Part VIII
It’s time for a new installment of “Where the Heel?,” but I’m adding a twist to this one. Instead of identifying a place based on an image, we’re looking for the North Carolina location that is described by a specific slogan. Can you fill in the blank below? If you have a guess, leave it as a comment. Good luck!
North Carolina Tourism, Illustrated by Hugh Morton
I know that many of you may follow the A View to Hugh blog, which covers the processing of the Hugh Morton photographs here at the North Carolina Collection. If so–or even if not–you might be interested in some of the state’s tourism literature that features Morton’s photographs. This week I found two such examples while filing travel brochures in our local ephemera collection. The first is from Airlie Gardens near Wilmington and the Morton images are color photos of pretty girls amongst the flowers, including a picture of Miss Polly Bergen, Queen of the Ninth North Carolina Azalea Festival. The second is an official brochure for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. Evidence that Mr. Morton was influential (as if we needed any more): both pieces state in prominent locations that the photographs are his.
Gubernatorial Ephemera, Part 2
My favorite piece of gubernatorial ephemera from the Democratic side of things was this one produced by the State Employees Association of North Carolina:
I particularly enjoy it because the image reminds me of some advice I received years ago, “If you want to sell something, use cute pictures of puppies or small children.” Since dogs were used to support Kay Hagan, it seems that Perdue’s supporters decided to go with children. If you look closely you can see that the poor little kid is nowhere near hitting the nail with his hammer. Plus, the tool belt is huge and it looks like he could topple over at any minute! You can click on the image to see a larger version.
Best Gubernatorial Campaign Ephemera
North Carolina will officially welcome its new governor into office this weekend. In honor of this event I thought I would share a few of my favorite pieces of gubernatorial campaign ephemera from 2008. I’ll post about my favorite Democratic ad tomorrow, but one of my favorites from the Republican end of the spectrum is this one:
It was created by RGA North Carolina 2008 PAC, a political action committee created by the Republican Governor’s Association. What struck me first about this ad’s image is that it is obviously at least four (and quite possibly five) images blended together to make one composite. You can click on the image to get a closer look. The different levels of focus, varying degrees of pixelation, and strange white marks around components give it away…and having the man on the left “climbing” over the velvet rope did nothing to make it look more authentic. Quality aside, however, the image certainly gets the group’s point across about a hot-button topic.
Happy birthday, online catalog
Twenty-three years ago today, the online catalog was introduced in UNC’s Davis Library. This image shows several library employees happily exploring the new system, with the old card catalog hanging out in the background.
We’ve still got our trusty card catalog here in the North Carolina Collection, though most (about 90%) of our holdings have made it into the online catalog.