Coronavirus Update
Public Health References
CDC * Colorado * Jefferson County * City of Golden
The governor is asking everyone to wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth when leaving the house. The State-Wide Stay-at-Home Order is in effect through April 11, 2020. City and County fire restrictions are also in place.
Jefferson County’s case count page says that as of 6PM yesterday, there were 516 (up from 477) “confirmed, probable, suspected, or under investigation” cases in Jefferson County. There have been 15 deaths (up from 14) and 126 are hospitalized (up from 118). There are 41 known cases in Golden (up from 39).
Make Masks
The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum has issued an urgent call to make face masks. Both the CDC and the State of Colorado have asked everybody to wear a mask while out in public. Masks are scarce or unavailable on the market, so Americans are being asked to sew them.
When the Quilt Museum issued a call for help after the 2013 Colorado floods, their community made more than 800 quilts for the flood victims. Now they’re asking quilters and sewers to ply their needles to make face masks. If you can sew, please consider helping them.
The initial batch of masks will go to Golden First Responders. The Golden Civic Foundation will be collecting the masks from the Quilt Museum and helping to get them to people who need them.
There are many patterns available on the web. The Museum’s website links to a pattern that includes a pocket for a filter. You don’t need to provide the filter–just the mask. You can also check 9 News to watch a construction video. See more information, including how to make masks and where to drop them off.
A Golden History Moment
Patriotism in the Paper
Yesterday’s review of the celebration at the end of World War II inspired me to keep reading back into the War years. The War was a part of every aspect of life…school, work, play, eating. The newspaper articles reported on which local boys had been wounded overseas, and which had died. The community worked on clothing drives, food drives, and war bond drives. Many things were rationed, including food, gasoline, and rubber. The grocery stores detailed the points needed as well as the cost of foodstuffs.
Uncle Sam was everywhere…promoting war bonds on one page and encouraging everyone to buy chicks from the Golden Mill in the next.
The Colorado Central Electric company cheerfully speculated as to whether Hitler would be electrocuted at the end of the war, then went on to say that if he was, the electricity used would be CHEAP, because electrical power is CHEAP.
My favorite ads were a long-running series called “The Old Judge Says….” The Judge was always having folksy conversations with his fellow townsfolk, explaining the fine points of government policy. Curiously, his conversations always revolved around what a dumb idea prohibition had been. Here’s an example:
Judge, would you mind tellin’ Charlie here what you told me the other night walkin’ home from lodge. I can’t word it just the way you did.
Sure thing, Tim. Here’s what I told him, Charlie. There’s no such thing as votin’ a nation, a state, a county, or even a community dry. We had proof enough of that during our 13 years of prohibition. What you really vote for is whether liquor is going to be produced legally or illegally…whether the community is going to get needed taxes for schools, hospitals, and the like, or whether this money is going to go to gangsters and bootleggers. That’s the answer, boys…simple as A-B-C.
In other conversations, he concluded that
It all goes to prove what I’ve said time and time again, Chet…prohibition does not prohibit. Same thing happens every time…as soon as legal liquor is voted out, bootleg liquor with its crime and corruption moves right in.
and
It’s not hard to figure out. As soon as the distillers stopped making whiskey and devoted their entire facilities to the production of industrial alcohol for the Government…the racketeers muscled in again.
Careful scrutiny of the tiny message printed beneath each cartoon revealed that the series was sponsored by the Conference of Alcoholic Beverage Industries, Inc. I guess they were worried that Prohibition might make a comeback.
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and many thanks to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
