Original rules of basketball expected to sell for millions

Original rules of basketball expected to sell for millions

Basketball is a sport that I've never followed, nor did I enjoy it at school (although to be fair I've never been a really sporty person and disliked all school sports apart from badminton and cricket...).

Nevertheless it has become part of American sporting culture and also enjoys a level of popularity here in the British Isles. I was interested, then, to read about the upcoming sale of an historic item which set the ball rolling (groan) - the original rules of basketball as drawn up by the game's creator, Canadian professor and sports instructor James Naismith, in 1891.

Regardless of your attitude towards the sport of basketball it is difficult not to marvel at the beginnings of the game (above). The fact that the original "basket", was just that, and what's more still had its base so players were forced to climb up and retrieve the ball (originally just an ordinary [soccer] football), may seem silly to us now but one has to remember that this was a new game and it is quite interesting to see the layout and rules as they were first created. As with all areas of history this glimpse into the early days of a still-popular, modern pasttime helps add to our appreciation and understanding of it in today's world while at the same time enlightening us as to how it came to be played and the way it was played in the years following its inception.

The sale of these original rules will no doubt generate a great deal of international interest and, wherever or whoever it ends up with, an important sporting document will have been preserved plus, what is more, helped to have raised funds for a children's sports charity, which is good news all round.

Why typewriters beat computers

Why typewriters beat computers

Now this is more the kind of thing! A splendid article from the BBC that highlights the benefits (yes, there are such things!) of a typewriter over a personal computer. And they haven't even touched upon the finer aesthetic qualities of the typewriter compared to the black/beige box that is the PC. "Clunky" and "dirty" indeed! Why, just look at the picture above - how beautiful is that?

As you may have worked out by now, I am somewhat passionate about typewriters, just as I am about most early- to mid-20th Century machinery. I have one myself, an Imperial 66 that I'm ashamed to say is rather battered and has seen better days, as you can see (left). It still works though! If anyone knows the name of a good restorer, however...

I can quite understand why some people prefer typewriters over more modern devices (I would love to use my own more often) and the users featured in the article make quite pertinent yet funny points regarding the shortcomings of newer technology. However it is surprising (but understandable) to see that typewriters still retain some popularity among students. Nevertheless the writer of this piece has, at least in my case, hit the nail fairly firmly on the head in his description of aspiring typists and aficionados of the machine(!). The chap mentioned in the article, Richard Polt, is well-known and highly-regarded in typewriting circles and ironically the Internet has allowed groups and collectors to flourish all over the world. Adventures In Typewriterdom, Fresh Ribbon, Retro Tech Geneva and Strikethru are just a few examples of the blogs I have stumbled across in my travels.

It is a sad inevitability that typewriter sales are declining, probably to a point where they will soon cease to be made new, but so long as there are those out there with a passion for these machines their future is assured. Of course there is another avenue - one that has been explored by the Steampunk movement in particular - and that is the merging of typewriters with computers. This has been done to varying levels of ingenuity and success, from programs such as Virtual Typewriter, through the wonderfully detailed ElectriClerk (above), to the chap who has managed to convert old typers to work with iPads, Macbooks and the like (below).



Finally, one more little thought-of advantage typewriters have over computers is that they make a delightful noise. Which allows me to finish this post with a fantastic typewriter history lesson in sound. Close your eyes and get ready to be taken through... The History of the Typewriter:

And now... the weather

Britain's obsession with the weather: 60 per cent admit it's a 'social prop'  

As interesting and amusing vintage-inspired news items seem rather thin on the ground at the moment (I've said before that they can be like buses - none for ages then two or three come along at once) I thought I would post a link to an article about the next best thing - amusing and interesting British cultural traditions.

"It is commonly observed, that when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather; they are in haste to tell each other, what each must already know, that it is hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm."

So wrote Samuel Johnson, the great author and lexicographer, in issue 11 of The Idler on Saturday 24th June 1758. Two hundred and fifty-two years later and it is funny, yet somehow reassuring, to see that nothing has changed. Many observers, both British and foreign, have since noted that we as a nation seem strangely obsessed with what the weather is doing. It has become something of an international joke that all we seem to talk about is the climate. Now thanks to the survey mentioned in the article, we can see that not only is it actually true, but also why we do it. Yes, we do it to be polite! What's the one safe topic of conversation that you can introduce at any level and with anyone you meet? Why, what the weather's like, of course! I do so love how these findings have sought to explain this curious little characteristic of British life and I hope it has given anyone from abroad reading this some insight into one of the many peculiar traits of the British people. So, what's the weather like where you are?

Norfolk war hero's 71-year wait for Isle of Wight trip

source

Norfolk war hero's 71-year wait for Isle of Wight trip

We often read about holiday horror stories - cancelled flights, missed boats, overzealous customs officials and booking mix-ups. Spare a thought for the chap in this article, though, who arranged to go on holiday - not far, just to the Isle of Wight - in September of 1939, only to have a world war start and scupper his plans!

Now over 70 years later a charming postscript can be added to the story, thanks to the chance discovery of a slip of paper and the generosity of the hotel where the chap was to have gone in '39. Thanks in no small part to Warner Hotels and the manager of the Bembridge Coast Hotel the holiday happened, albeit 71 years late. That the fellow had such a nice time, and was looked after so well, just adds to the happy tale.

Television hit Downton Abbey helps save the real stately home where it is filmed

Television hit Downton Abbey helps save the real stately home where it is filmed

ITV's latest costume drama, Downton Abbey, is fast becoming one of my favourite television programmes and a particular Sunday treat (as I'm sure it is for many of my readers).

Now as well as providing us vintage aficionados with a healthy dose of Edwardiana the series (which, you'll all be pleased to hear, has just had a second series commissioned) has gone some way to improving the fortunes of the stately home where it is filmed.

Eagle-eyed vintage viewers will also recognise Highclere Castle from the early-90s Jeeves & Wooster series, where it played the part of Totleigh Towers. In recent years the building has been in need of some repair but now with the great interest that viewers have taken in it since the broadcast of Downton Abbey the current owners are in a position to embark on the renovation of this historic pile and eventually, it is hoped, open it to the public.
It is splendid to see that there is still such a great interest taken in this country's ancient buildings and architectural history and that TV programmes like Downton Abbey are so popular that they encourage people not only to visit but also, ultimately, to preserve these important historic houses. Well done, everyone, and the best of luck to the owners the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.

Rare Audrey Hepburn stamps sold at Berlin auction

Rare Audrey Hepburn stamps sold at Berlin auction

Some more rare stamp news now, this time featuring the enduring film star Audrey Hepburn.

Once again this shows how good can come out of an unfortunate circumstance. I can readily understand why the son of Miss Hepburn was uneasy about the doctoring of the image used on the stamps and the subsequent destruction of all but a few sheets has quite naturally meant that the price for such items remains high. That Mr Ferrer has allowed the one set in his ownership to be auctioned for children's charities shows generosity of spirit and means that this small mistake and subsequent disagreement has ended up benefiting children the world over.

Of course the philatelic world is better off too, as interest in such rare stamps continues to prove. The auction of this one-time contentious stamp design must surely mean that there is no more ill-will regarding the original oversight by the Deutsche Post and it will also mean that if any further examples come up for sale a better knowledge of the existence and number of the stamps should prove useful.

As it is in this case a collector acquires a rare piece, a charity benefits and everyone gets to feel good about themselves, which is all one can ask, really.

Campaign builds to construct Babbage Analytical Engine

Campaign builds to construct Babbage Analytical Engine

An exciting proposal, reported here by the BBC, to create a full-size replica of what is rightly regarded as the world's first computer, as conceived by Charles Babbage in 1837.

It is incredible to think that the foundations for the computer age were laid down as long ago as the mid-19th Century, but Babbage's designs and creations were to all intents and purposes embryonic computers, albeit very large and steam-powered. This picture (above) illustrates only part of the Analytic Engine; as the article mentions a full-size version has never been built and could easily be the size of a small lorry!

Once again it begs the question of "what if?". Had Babbage succeeded in creating a complete working Analytical Engine, what would it have meant for the Industrial Revolution and the British Empire? Might there, as Dr Swade also wonders, have been an information age in the latter part of the 19th Century? Where would we be now if it had been so?

These kinds of questions are, in part, what led to the formation of the Steampunk movement which does indeed image an alternate universe in which Babbage's machines not only worked but became commonplace; in which steam remained the main motive power and allowed amazing adventures to take place with all the majesty and pomp of Victorian Britain through the 19th Century and beyond.

Even if a scale replica is successfully built and operated it will still be some years off yet and, sadly, unlikely to precipitate us into a Steampunk future (sorry chaps!). It does have the potential to be a major engineering undertaking, though, with the great possibility of rewarding knowledge and understanding of the processes and abilities of these early behemoths. Good luck to them, say I!