Columbia Details, 1979
I'd like to wish our good friend Melissa a very Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day. Sue B. kindly provided a humorous vintage birthday-related photo (not a "Lou and Sue" joint). That little girl is concentrating every atom on the task of blowing out those candles. I love that the dog is there, waiting for his slice of cake!
And if that wasn't cool enough, Sue B. went above and beyond and created this special tableau just for Melissa! Notice the french fries sticking out of a Filet O' Fish sandwich!
Meanwhile, it's time for more details from the Columbia sailing ship, thanks to the Mysterious Benefactor!
The Columbia wasn't a war ship, but that doesn't mean that it didn't need to open a can of whoop-ass occasionally. And a big shiny cannon will scare away all the the meanest scalawags. I like to fill the gun with red-hot shot.
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What kid hasn't dreamed of steering a ship through stormy seas (waves like skyscrapers!) while manning the helm? In oilskins and big boots, of course - a nice herring in the pocket to munch on (herring were the Gogurts of the 17th and 18th centuries).
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If you've ever wanted a closeup of a ship's wheel, you are in luck!
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Sometimes the hold filled with water. Heavy seas, cannon holes, teenagers, you just never know. So a chain pump is just the thing to help prevent going straight to Davy Jones' Locker. It is also great cardio.
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It's four bells! That means that it is time to do something, but who knows what? Those bells are so confusing. But they look and sound so cool that nobody has ever wanted to update to a nice Timex wall clock (with "Indiglo").
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Many thanks to the Mysterious Benefactor!
34 comments:
Major-
The MB has come through once agin with some great detail images of the 'ol Columbia - and would normally be the featured attraction. But... I'm afraid Sue has provided some steep competition to honor The Mistress of All Things Funny here on GDB. The birthday girl's expression is beyond priceless, while 'Queenie' waits his turn for some birthday cake. My real concern is that of 'Mom' - who [appears to be] preparing to turn Sally's celebration into a very bloody affair. (What the heck is going on with that knife-??!!)
Sue-
I think you've given McDonald's another use for the Filet O' Fish sandwich-! Yummy.
Thanks to both the M B and Sue - and big Birthday Wishes to Melissa on her special day-!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MELISSA!
Without you, this blog would definitely not be as funny!
and, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM PEPPERIDGE!
Without you, this blog wouldn’t exist!
—Sue
Bibbidi-bobbidi-birthday to our Melissa! You said you were having a rough day yesterday. I hope your birthday day goes better for you.
How much ya wanna bet that the birthday girl in the photo is sucking rather than blowing. Young kids tend to do that. Haha, The dog is wearing a party hat, too! Meanwhile little sis, in the high chair, is getting ready to rip hers off. Hard to tell who's concentrating more; the dog or the girl.
In Sue's custom card for Melissa, I like that it's the early 1930s Mickey. Scrawny with rubber-hose arms and legs. That's my favorite version of him.
In the Ship's wheel photo (and the one after) we get to see the CM messing with the controls. I think one of our former CMs told us what that console did; but I can't remember what.
In the chain pump photo, You can't fool us, Major. That's the Kalamazoo handcar, doing double duty.
In the last photo, I love the detail that went into the construction of the Columbia. Like how the bell rope is precisely tied and woven. Speaking of ropes, I've always wondered what the rope is for, coiled around the mast. I've noticed it in movies and such.
The gentleman on the far right has just seen a VW beetle and is about to 'slugbug' his unsuspecting wife.
Nanook, Ha! I didn't notice the knife. And the evil expression on Mom's face! (Norman Bates has got nothin' on her!) Yer right, something bad is about to happen. Actually, Mom has her eye on the dog. I think she's expecting the dog to make a lunge at the cake and is ready to go into action if need be. Hopefully not with the knife though.
Sue, thanks for clueing us in on Mom Pepperidge's birthday. Does that mean that the Major is one of her luftuggies?
Thanks to Sue for the birthday photos, and to the Mysterious B. and Major. And to Melissa, who brings mirth to us here, almost daily.
Major-
On second glance, I realize there appear to be eight candles on that birthday cake. (Is this yet another opportunity to reference a 'Dog Years' joke-??)
Obviously, in my post above, I meant leftuggies, not luftuggies. Whoever heard of luftuggies? That's not even a real word! ;-)
Happy Birthday, Melissa! Without you, GDB would not be as fun. I always enjoy reading your comments.
You are quite creative there, Sue.
While I love the Columbia pics, it's the first pic of Butcher Knife Mom and the dog that takes the cake. The whole scene is very comedic.
More gems from the FRO series. I really like that chain pump pic.
Thanks M.B., Sue and Major.
Happy birthday, Melissa! I’d think of something funny to say, but I’m not very good at that sort of thing. Glad we have you to fill that role for us. And happy birthday to Momma P. and all mommas everywhere. Without you, I can guarantee none of us would be where we are today.
Curious - were the cannon in in the Magic KIngdom’s Fort Sam Clemens/Fort Langhorne (referencing a discussion from a week or two back that I was unable to partake in, “Langhorne” was what the “L” stood for in “Samuel L. Clemens”) and Pirates of the Caribbean queue cast from the same mold as the kaboom carts on the Columbia?
A herring in your pocket also comes in handy if you happen to run into the Knights Who Say “Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Zoo Boing.” A couple of shrubs in your sea bag will also save some time in this scenario. You can take my word for it.
I always felt bad for Davy Jones at the end of the school year. Imagine having to clean out that locker before being allowed to go home for summer vacation.
Happy birthday to the queen of making us think "I wish I had thought of that!"
I had forgotten that your birthday is exactly one week before another huge event!
I love the birthday pics! I like to think that the doggo got about half of the cake, and everyone laughed and laughed...and that Mom was acquitted of those mysterious disappearances around the docks.
Cannons! If there are anything better than cannons I sure don't know what it is! I keep one in the car just to amuse myself in heavy traffic! Honk at ME will you????
I'm pretty sure the pump also poured water over the nuclear reactor. A very important job, indeed! Just looked at what happened to that ship that was anchored by Krakatoa. THAT guy didn't get his bonus herring that year!
A very happy Birthday to you Melissa. You are definitely both the Yin and Yang of the Major's crew and always a pleasure to listen your tales or poems or just whatever you decide to talk about.
That cannon was always my go to spot on the Columbia in the whenever we got on. Got to be there to light the fuse if needed. Great pics of the other parts of the ship which usually gets ignored by guests. That chain pump is a doozy.
Thanks Mr.X and thank you Major.
Happy Birthday to Mom Pepperidge as Sue so aptly put, she started this noble effort, so thank you! Hope you are doing well.
Happy Birthday Melissa and Mom Pepperidge, wish you both Many Happy Returns of the Day!
Melissa, thank you for your poetry, with you, GDB takes a turn for the verse. Mrs. P, we are all grateful that you raised the Major to run this blog!
Sue, that birthday pic is pretty creepy, I’m sure it all worked out. And the fish burger cake, makes sense only here.
While cannons get all the press, the pumps are possibly more necessary. This is the second Disneyland display of maritime pumps, the original 20K Nautilus featured a scene of the pump room. I wonder if the Columbia shipped water?
Thanks Major, I always wanted a close-up of the wheel handgrips.
JG
Melissa, happy birthday to you, and to Mother Pepperidge, too! Today also happened to be my great-grandmother's birthday. I was very fortunate to have her in my life, until I was 35.
The mom in the birthday pic is using a "reverse Michael Myers" grip on that knife!
I've always wondered why Micky Dolenz doesn't get a locker?
Thank you Major and Sue, and the Mysterious Benefactor, too!
I just realized what’s missing from the ship’s wheel handgrips - tassels! Put some ball cards in the spokes and a banana seat on that baby and - well, something.
Happy Birthday Melissa, may your swordfights be sleeveless! The "Totally True Adventures of the Knife Wielding Mom"...is a bit disturbing, although the dog (with hat) gives it a whimsical flair! I'm not a huge fan of Filet O Fish...but if someone put a candle and fries in it, I probably would eat it anyway. I do have a "thing" for french fries and I'm not even Belgian! (but please, no globs of Mayonnaise...) I prefer a 40's 50"s Mickey, but potato potahto. Mickey is, and always will be cool, but mouse ears should be used sparingly. "All" becomes "nothing" (Disneyland hotel has mouse ears on any conceivable thingy-dingy...) I continue to be impressed by the Columbia. That this model actually moves and sails around in a theme park is kind of inconceivable. It's very much made for a museum...I hope the people that appreciate these sorts of things appreciate them. The ones that don't even see it, won't even see it. The Columbia was in her dry dock last week. Davy Jones Locker I always confused with the real Davy Jones or Davey or David...true story: I went to see the "Real Live Brady Bunch" where they re-created episodes from the show. It really was well done and hilarious. The episode that we saw was the one that Davy Jones guest starred on originally. Unbeknowst to ANYONE in the audience (picture a bunch of 30 year old ladies, who had David Cassidy posters in their bedrooms)....the REAL Davy Jones stepped on stage and was singing THAT song (Girl...look what you've done to me...) ...OMG...it was complete and total PANDEMONIUM! Like the Beatles and Sting were on the stage at the Hollywood Bowl. The screaming was deafening! Girls openly weeping...people rushing the stage...it was out. of. control. I think it is up there in the "top 10 theatre moments" in my lifetime. I think the only thing in Davy Jones' locker was old Tiger Beat magazines. News flash for new "Tours" at Disneyland: I was told there that there would be new "museum tours" coming soon after some employee testing. (employees can go on free tours right now). The museum tours would be specific to one area of the park...like Main St., etc. and the "docent" or Tour Guide, would take guests on a "museum tour" of the "gallery"...the gallery being Disneyland itself. Kind of interesting given that some exec said at some point, "DISNEYLAND IS NOT A MUSEUM!"....well, things like the Columbia, and other important cultural artifacts are. In fact, Disneyland itself is a cultural artifact, as we all know. These tours should prove interesting if they are actually greenlighted. A few of the employees I saw were saying "I went on this tour, and that tour, etc." So apparently, there are going to be multiple tours for multiple $$. As Arte Johnson said, "Very Interesting".
Nanook, yes, I hope that the Mysterious Benefactor’s photos aren’t overwhelmed by Melissa’s birthday, because they are really nice! That being said, I am very happy to be able to wish our Melissa a happy birthday. It’s my mom’s birthday too, 87 years young!
Sue, thank you so much for the photos you contributed! “Mom Pepperidge”, ha ha!
JB, do kids really NOT know to blow out candles?? I’m not around small children enough to know. I wonder what kind of controls the Columbia has? “Forward”. “Reverse”. “Stop”. That’s probably about it. The level of accurate detail on the Columbia is truly impressive, I wonder how often they had to bring an expert in to redo the rigging?
Nanook, oh no, never a “dog years” joke for a lady!!
JB, “luftuggies” are leftover luftballoons.
K. Martinez, “takes the cake”, you meant to do that!! I learned lots about chain pumps from the Aubrey/Maturin series of books by Patrick O’Brian.
Chuck, if you can’t think of anything funny to say, just tell us about buses! I love it. I would own a vintage bus if I could. Paint it up like a Mondrian, and take my family on tour. Why did they change the name of “Fort Sam Clemens” to “Fort Langhorne”, anyway? Seems random. I watched “Holy Grail” about a year ago on Netflix, it holds up! Davy Jones did alright, he changed his name to David Bowie.
Stu29573, yes, I would have never thought to buy a Filet O’Fish and put candles in it, Sue has the best ideas. That doggo looks so well-behaved and lovable. Didn’t the little girl have any pals to show up for her birthday? Your comment about cannons made me think, what would it be like to have a car horn that sounded like a cannon going off? Maybe another car would shoot back, at least here in SoCal.
DrGoat, it’s hard to imagine a GDB without Melissa. So glad that she is here to brighten our days! I stood near the cannon on my one trip on the Columbia (because I normally like to ride on the Mark Twain), and MAN is that thing loud! Everybody jumped six inches into the air when it went off. My mom is doing well, she wanted brownies (with frosting) instead of a cake, I made those yesterday. Not sure what to do when it is time to serve it. Candles on brownies?
JG, I don’t know, I don’t find that birthday pic to be creepy, it reminds me of lots of my own family’s random birthday photos. My my family is creepy! Until reading those O’Brian books, I never realized that those old boats tended to leak a bit all the time, and as you said, the pumps were extremely necessary. “One foot of water in the well, Captain!”. Good question about the Columbia, was it completely water tight?
TokyoMagic!, aw, you were definitely lucky to have your great grandmother in your life! I never knew any of my great-grandparents, but I had three grandparents until I was in my 40s, which is pretty incredible. I could really appreciate them by then.
Chuck, you obviously know a lot about the ways of the sea! Don’t forget the sissy bar on the back of the ship.
Bu, yes, Melissa spends a lot more time in swordplay than I ever realized. Got pin up those sleeves for sure. Have you ever watched a kid blow out the candles on a cake, only to spit all over it, and then you are supposed to enjoy your slice? Ugh. I do love french fries, they are the thing I have to avoid if I find myself putting on weight. But there is nothing better than a hot, salty fry! I can’t fault people for wearing mouse ears, I appreciate their enthusiasm. We all need to bring out our “inner child” at Disneyland. But yes, the park can overdo it with mouse-ear decor. I’m not even particularly enamored of the “Hidden Mickeys”, though I know that many people love them, so it’s all good. I wanted to see “The Real Live Brady Bunch”, but never got around to it, I’ll bet that was fun. I was a Monkees fan as a kid, and “Daydream Believer” was my favorite song at some point. We went to a hamburger joint in Virginia, and it had a jukebox, and I think I played Daydream Believer six times in a row. I’m sure the other folks hated me. “Museum tours”, I am skeptical. Could they tell me anything that I don’t already know? I’m a tough customer!
Happy birthday Melissa! Your comments are always the creative engine that gets so many of us to try to one-up each other. And to Mom P too.
In fact, so many birthdays seem to however around September, it's Happy Birthday Virgo time! Seemed like during the year, the crew would celebrate an individual birthday with a cake just for that event. BUT, with so many Virgos, there was a single party with a cake saying just that. Now just what were our parents doing 9 months earlier?
That first shot...that looks like me today trying to blow at all my candles at once...I need a fan these days!
4 bells. Well, I'll assume this was taken in the early afternoon, so it is 2PM. Thanks to you Capt. Mike.
The console contained a number of gauges to check the engine operation, like temp and fuel...plus the forward/reverse control as well as the narration button. There was a roll top lid that we could pull down but usually kept it in the up position.
Nights were always a fun time to operate the Columbia.
You know, Bu...I'd love to be a docent for one of those museum tours.
KS
Happy birthday, dear Melissa and Mother Pepperidge! The dog pic is too funny; I like that little sister has one of those plastic bib-shirts that we’ve seen on kids in previous photos here on GDB. Neat ship photos. With all those guests in bell bottoms, they must have felt like sailors. There’s a man in a white shirt about dead center of pic 4 who forgot his pants; thank goodness for the wooden railing that censored it for us. Thanks Major and MB and Sue.
I can't take credit for the Filet O' Fish and french fry idea. Melissa mentioned, a few months back, that she used to do that and pretend it was a birthday cake. I stole her idea. Thank goodness Melissa didn't tell us she used to put candles in lobster.
And, at this very moment, I'm eating a Filet O' Fish in her honor.
Major, yes, put candles in the brownies.
Thank you, MB, for today's photos. Chuck, while we're at it, let's add a woven basket...it can hold the Filet O' Fish.
Major, they renamed the fort as a (head-scratchingly obscure) tie-in to the 1995 movie Huck & Tom. There was a “Fort Langhorne” in the film, included as a subtle reference to Sam Clemens. I guess they misplaced the original sign and never switched it back. If only WDW had a sign shop…
You sure that’s true about David Bowie? I though he died at the Alamo with Randy Travis and Sonny Crockett.
Sue, as a guy, I always preferred saddle bags on either side of the rear tire. I never seemed to be able to find a basket that didn’t have a plastic flower permanently installed on the front. And now I’m wondering what lobster-scented candles would be like. Buttered or plain…hmmm…
KS, it’s more fun to do individual birthdays! I used to work in an office, and they’d do a monthly birthday thing in the lunch room; it mostly felt like an excuse to eat cake. Not that that’s a bad thing! And they did get excellent sheet cakes, really tasty. Lucky for me, Sue does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to birthdays, and she makes sure I am aware of when a Junior Gorilla’s special day is coming up. Thank you for the info about the Columbia control console, it makes sense! I’ve only been on the Columbia one time, and that was during the day, but nights on the river are best no matter what.
Kathy!, Mother Pepperidge (ha ha) thanks you! It sounds like she should be sitting on the front porch with a shotgun. That man loved his short shorts. “Everyone loves my legs!”. Well, not everyone.
Lou and Sue, I remember when Melissa mentioned her Filet O’Fish “birthday candle” idea, but would have never in a million years thought to recreate it and take a nice photo! Candles in lobster, hmmm, maybe it’s time for me to reveal MY birthday. Man, I hate to admit it, but a Filet O’Fish sounds good to me right now.
Chuck, jeez, who even remembers “Huck and Tom”? Besides you, of course. What a dopey series of events. And yes, why not just make a new sign? I like “Fort Langhorne” just fine, but you know that only a percentage of people know who “Sam Clemens” was, and a tiny percentage of them know the significance of the name “Langhorne”. Even FEWER people know that he liked to go by the nickname “Finster”. Hey, I just report the facts, I don’t explain them. At the age of 7 my bike had a manly metal wire basket (no flowers) on the front, perfect for injuring yourself if you wiped out just wrong.
Melissa!! Happiest of Birthdays to you!!! Hope you get to do something fun. Did you really get a “fillet O Fish” mini birthday cake once?? One year when I was little I was on a pie kick and wanted a blueberry pie and not a birthday cake…
Major : happy wishes to your mother too!! 87 - that’s great!
I heard a financial bit regarding retirement on the radio this week and some study said that people who are alive in 2030 will -in most cases - easily live to 100 and over…… amazing.
I swear a week ago we had the discussion about why WDW’s Fort Wilderness was changed to Fort Langehorn…. ( with the Tom and Huck walk around characters….etc…. . BOTH Disneyland and Walt Disney World had their fort name change for about 6 months … after the promotion the walk around characters disappear at both parks …. Disneyland’s fort returned to Fort Wilderness and Walt Disney World’s fort was left “Langehorn” this may have been done because around this time the fort closed its canteen and other food services like Aunt Polly’s. There were some of the first plans to re-Theme Florida’s Tom Sawyer Island ….. and I even worked on 2 later variations in 2011 and 2012.
Disneyland’s fort had a lot of attention in the late 90’s because of the issue of its rehab having been delayed 3 times into the early 2000’s ….. before Disneyland decided to just forget it’s refurbishment and tear it down…… what stands there today is a odd unfinished looking construction resembling something that would be built for a neighborhood playground. And today’s structure is used for a prop staging storage area for FANTAMSIC.
Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes. Getting a year older isn't ALL bad! And a special thanks to Sue for the pictures. If Fido has to wear the hat, he gets to share the cake! And I laughed until I was literally light-headed at the Filet-O-Fish; brings back so many memories! Is that a Photoshop, or did you actually make a Happy Birthday to Me Sandwich?!? Mother Pepperidge has good taste in birthdays as well as in sons.
I can't see a ship's guns without thinking of the "cracked four-pounders" from Stan Rogers's great shanty "Barrett's Privateers."
I didn't catch the caption on the wheel picture. I'm a little hard of herring.
Those happy Anaheim tourists are having fun on deck, but they have no idea they've been shanghaied and are on their way to indentured servitude in the posts of Azusa and Cucamonga.
These are some of the best shots I can remember coming out of the MB's camera. Such sharp detail!
"Obviously, in my post above, I meant leftuggies, not luftuggies."
The Luftuggies were the worst pilots in the German Air Force.
"GDB takes a turn for the verse."
Now, why did I hear that in Béla Lugosi's voice? ;)
Bu, you reminded me of a Joke Micky Dolenz used to tell, about how they could only afford two e's for the band name because he and Davy had left them out of theirs.
"Have you ever watched a kid blow out the candles on a cake, only to spit all over it, and then you are supposed to enjoy your slice?"
I NEVER eat the frosting off a cake somebody else has blown on! I pretend I'm watching my calories, but I'm really watching my germ intake. (I figure the cake inside is protected.)
Happy Birthday to Melissa and Mom Pepperidge!
Thanks Sue for contributing the birthday pictures. Thanks also to the Mysterious Benefactor and Major for the detailed Columbia photos.
JB- I agree, the 1930s "Pie-eyed" Mickey is my favorite version of the mouse.
-DW
"Sue, as a guy, I always preferred saddle bags on either side of the rear tire."
Chuck, they'll smash a Filet-O-Fish.
Melissa, I don't know how to use Photoshop, so you're seeing what I did for an hour, one afternoon, a few weeks back - especially for you. But I made the mistake of picking up the Filet-O-Fish and fries after I had just eaten a big lunch out with a friend. By the time I got done with the 'photoshoot,' I had some room left for the sandwich - but no room for the fries. They were cold anyway. I hope you are having the best birthday, ever!
Melissa, I read "everything" in Bela Lugosi's voice.
He's getting tired of it and keeps asking for it back.
JG
Sue, ”…they’ll smash a Filet-O-Fish…. We only got McDonald’s food “to go“ when I was young (indeed, our local McDonald’s didn’t even have an indoor dining area until 1976), so I was well into grade school before I realized that McDonald’s food didn’t come pre-smashed. I was really irritated to learn I had to do all of the chewing myself.
You could have easily reheated those fries by lighting the saturated grease.
Chuck, ha! And then I wouldn't have wasted that candle, either!
Hey, folks, speaking of pirates, look at what ShopDisney.com is selling, right now...I love it! It's a bank that talks and the eyes and face glow red.
CLICK HERE!
No, I'm not getting paid for this advertisement, but I know if you see something really cool on ShopDisney, it sells out within 24 hours, sometimes. For all your POTC fans, for Christmas. ;o)
Disney suits, if you're reading this: Please also make one of Skully with green glowing eyes.
Chuck, one of the wilderness survival tricks we taught in Scouts was the use of junk food snacks as fire starters.
We got the best results with Cheet-oh cheese puffs, but some types of chips also worked. Just crumble a few cheese puffs on a small heap of tinder (dryer lint works very well) and use your flint and steel to strike sparks into the cheese crumbs... ...poof, fire. Feed your kindling in slowly in the customary fashion.
I never tried french fries, but seems like it might work, or maybe using the napkins after the meal.
JG
Chuck, haha, I almost went to the same place as you with the herring reference. Only I was gonna use the Knights Who Say Ni (Nee?). Or maybe the Knights Who, 'Til Recently, Said Ni. Another instance of weird minds think alike.
The problem with packing shrubs with you is, you never know what variety the Knights are going to request. A good laurel or boxwood usually satisfies them.
Major, I'm not around small kids either. But I've seen enough videos on TV to know that many of them haven't quite mastered the concepts of blowing and sucking.
About the candles on brownies: Just squirt it with lighter fluid and toss a match on it. It looks festive, AND it re-heats the brownies!
Sue, thanks for reminding us about Melissa and her Filet-O-Fish birthday cake story. Your photo rang a bell but I couldn't quite remember what it was.
Chuck again, "David Bowie? I though he died at the Alamo with Randy Travis and Sonny Crockett" And you say you aren't funny!
Sue again, that's actually not a bad price for that PotC bank. I was expecting to see a blinged-out something-or-other that cost $497.99 (plus tax).
Melissa,a very happy birthday to you, our own poet extraordinaire!
Wow, A Stan Rogers mention! My wife introduced me to his music years ago and Barrett's Privateers is one of our favorites!
JG, in our District, we teach the junk food method of firestarting at Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills (translation for non-Scouters, “adult leader camping leadership training”) alongside more traditional methods like flint and steel and steel wool and batteries. I remember as a Scout using stale hot chocolate mix to help start fires. Bug spray, too.
The Boy Scouts of America - turning boys into pyromaniacs since 1910. And something about responsible citizens and tomorrow’s leaders. Whatever. Where are the matches?
During my entire tenure in the Camp Fire Girls, we never lit a single camp fire. We could have burned up all those unsold boxes of peanut brittle.
Chuck, if you're looking for a rack with no flowers and such, check out Rivendell Bikes
Good to see the ropework is ensuring that's not a loose cannon.
Speaking of the accuracy of the construction of the Columbia, is the wheel connected to a rudder? Since it follows a track, I wonder if it would be a problem.
Nope the wheel is not connected to the rudder. It moves on its own for the effect. KS
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