Virtual online tour of Jensen

I was always interested in what goes on behind the scenes. When I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, the best location in the nation, my first grade class toured a Sealtest factory. Perhaps that whetted my appetite for touring. I remember they asked us Who wants to taste the curds of cottage cheese. My hand shot up in the air. I tasted it and gagged.

My dad was the manager of Majestic Specialties, Inc., a ladies' apparel company, w/HQ in New York, where we'd move when I was 18 and in college. He was constantly giving his kids tours of his warehouse. He was so proud of it. I remember when he got a new conveyor belt where boxes of blouses would slide along before being shelved. Majestic shipped to fine stores across the nation which is how I've heard of the now-defunct Carson Pirie Scott in Chicago and the Bon Ton in Washington State and of course Cleveland's own Halle's, Higbee's, the May Company, and Sterling Lindner Davis (with the magical glass elevator doors).

But never, until today, have I heard of Cole Haan, a subsidiary of Nike, founded in 1928 in Chicago, until I clicked on an ad in the Times.

Whenever I start to blog I never know where I'll end up. I addressed an envelope to someone in Norristown, PA today, and misspelled it as Burristown. What were my fingers remembering? Tim Burris, the former naturalist at Pennypack, just about the only naturalist I never had a crush on? I have my reasons. Political differences.

For my novel I'm fleshing in some parts. Our hero Julius is a collector. He's actually a hoarder, like his namesake, Simon, but I promised both of them I wouldn't use 'that ugly word again.'

When Simon lived w/me he had a collection of miniature steam engines. He'd put a pellet in the smokestack, put some boiling water inside, and don't you know that the darn thing would chug away! Very impressive. He'd buy and sell em on eBay.

Reflexively, I look over to the corner of my windowsill where Sy last kept his steam engine. When he moved out, he wouldn't let me keep it as a souvenir of his existence. He'd also bought this useless but pretty white grating which I put in my garden. He insisted on taking that too.

You do want to keep something from the guy. Here's what I have to remind me of him. His signature. He co-signed something with my mother.

In the novel I needed to remember the name of the steam engine company so not only did I find it but I took an online tour of the place. Should you wish to visit the factory out of a garage in Jeannette, PA, you may click here.