The MTU Archives, Erik Nordberg to be precise, has given us permission to share a few oldies of Winter Carnival in Houghton. This photo dates back to1939 and looks to be a Winter Carnival parade somewhere on College Avenue. The Official date for this year's carnival is Feb. 4th through the 8th, but many events are getting underway this week. Of course the statue construction has already begun. Check out the StatueCams and watch the progress, either in "still" or "motion". I bet there are more than a few parents who wouldn't mind a StudyCam to see if their little Heikki or Helmi are hitting the books at college!

Good Morning all. Nice frigid day here in Mt. Pleasant. -10 right now. Reminds me of home!!! The kids behind the rear bumper of this pic reminds me of when we used to "shag" bumpers. Anyone else remember doing this rather dangerous stunt?

picture reminds me of the "Dog Patch" restaurant's Logo - "Dog Patch Taxi Service"

just need a moose pulling it all

Morning Ron. Sure do. Remember one time when unware to us on the rear bumper there was a large bear spot ahead, and when we hit it the bottom of one of my boots came off, must have been thin anyway. -4 here in Calumet. Have a great week. Jim

This looks more like the first port-a-potty, rather than a television. Maybe it's the first TV installed in an outhouse.

ron from mi... sure do remember shagging cars.we were just talking about it last night.we were calling it bagging cars though.these days kids have shoes with wheels or scooters etc...we had a free dangerous ride!those were the days....

Just wondering. How much of Lake Superior is frozen over? If I remember, it doesn't completely freeze. I would assume that the lake effect snows would decrease when the winds blow over ice.

Check out MTU Walker cam and the Alpha Gamma Delta girls Statue to be - the motorcycle is all ice, it's great to be able to see the girls progress. Also check out statue pictures under the Winter Carnival site to see update still shots on the other Statues. While your at the MTU site watch a broom ball game. I know our Heikki and Helmi aren't studing much this month but still MTU is the best education around. We are proud to be a second generation Tech family.

Great Lakes ice cover can be found at the following:
http://140.90.54.35/pub/great_lakes/D9_Support/

These old pictures are wonderful..and help us all to better know the unique history of the Copper Country....I just love seeing the old pictures!!....Thanks to the MTU Archives and others for sharing them with us!!

In Baltic we called it bum riding.

Its freeeeezing this morning! The National Weather Service website reports that a record low of -16 was set here this morning. Its warmed all the way up to -8 so far today.

Minus 14 here in Durand and my hot water pipes are frozen. Tried using a space heater to thaw them but the smoke alarm just went off so had to turn it off. HELP!! Any suggestions/ideas would be most appreciated.

Patt, wrap them in pipe insulation. Or take a barbque lighter and warm them up.

Patt,
How about a hair dryer? This works on the point where it is frozen. Once unthawed... leave your tap running just enough to keep the water flowing! Good luck... maybe invest in some foam pipe covers or heat wrap for your pipes...

Patt, use a hand held hair dryer

we called it skitching down here thats when we would get lots of snow, blizard of 79 now that a was good time! coming up soon for real snow.

Shagging bumpers was how we got from DHH to town on really snowy days in 65. One guy got mad and really "hit it" and the next thing I know I was sliding at about 35 mph until I hit something. Lucky I wasn't run over by the cars behind. I guess you had to be there.

We called it bumming a ride. I remember when we were in high school, going out behind Laurium, on the road to Traprock Valley and hanging on to the car bumper to see how fast we could go and still hang on. Sometimes we could get up to 60 miles per hour. Really stupid. That was when cars had bumpers.

You must be from "da city". Lot's of cars (and trucks) still have bumpers here.

Anyone recall hooking a tobagoon behnd the car with a lomg rope so you could steer a little? Did this on Old Colony road back in the late 40's.

THE PICTURE REMIND ME OF HOME, AND THAT IS WHERE THE HEART IS. THE WIFES ,NOT THE HUSBANDS

Wish I had a camera this morning. Looking out the bathroom window here in the city (SE MI)where houses are close together, I see three little birds sitting on the neighbors chimney flue huddling in the funace fumes keeping warm. A squirrel climbed up there for a minute (no doubt wanted some warmth too) and the birds flew away, probably to find another chimney. Those birds who didn't fly south must be wondering about the meaning of life and who's looking out for them these last few days. (Hmmmm..maybe I'm giving these birds more intelligence than they have, but you know what I mean).

Wow! With that distinctive square pillar on the Frat house in the left corner of the photo, I can tell exactly where that is!! This vehicle is proceeding westward down College Avenue at about Garnet street.

I just love looking at "old" pictures of our area. Thanks :)

I remember back in the seventies when Sonny Eliot, a local weather forecaster from the the Detroit area, reported a -50 degree temperature for Portage Entry. This was before they calculated wind chill.

Sarah
If you get out of the bathtub sometime today, and look out the sunroom, you'll see I put bird feed in the feeders, and the strung popcorn / cranberries from the christmas tree as well as other treats for the birds - hanging from Katie's window...
Now I'm hungery - Chicken noodle soup done???

Our cold went away but the snows fell. The Yooper Scooper caused a neighborhood stir this a.m. Maybe I should take it up on the hill for a ride down?! I note scoopers propped up near one of the statues...I too enjoy the Sunday memories.

run for your lives! there is a giant fly over the bridge!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions about how to thaw out my frozen hot water pipes. They are fine now. Turned up the heat in the house, closed the door to the room where the access point is and left that opening (hole on the floor)open. When I came home from church 2 1/2 hours later the water was coming out of the faucets fine. YEEE HAAAAA

Also appreciate the suggestions about the foam wrap for the pipes. Trouble is I can't reach them. Would actually have to rip out the bathroom vanity and the flooring beneath it get to them. Just may do that in the Spring but not right now.

You guys & gals are great! Thanks again!

view from m203 looks like the ice has built up and now extends into the four mile freighter lane

"Bum riding" was the term in Copper City. We all hung out at Mike's store for the opportunity as it had a stop sign. Worn sole engineer boots, even old ice skates, really added to the thrill. Lots of folks would get out to chase kids away.By sliding under those taller old cars you were then ready as they got in and drove off. he,he. Oh yeah, wet 'choppers' tended to stick on those cooold bumpers.

We called it "bumper hitching" in Iowa back in the fifties. Throw your sled's tow rope over a bumper guard and away you go! Hopefully the driver didn't stop too fast while you were being towed. If you didn't have a sled with you, you simply ran up behind a slow moving car, grabbed a bumper guard, crouched down and away you went! The only problem was, those old six buckle overshoes had pretty thin soles and mothers seemed to be more concerned about damage to the overshoes than damage to our bodies when they caught us "bumper hitching"!

And we think our kids take unnecessary risks. Soups almost on.

Greetings from Gold Canyon, AZ. People here are complaining because it is only in the 50's. But we had much needed rain. Hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow. Stay warm in the U.P.!

I remember watching the boys bum ride the school bus as it went up the road. I used to think that looked exciting. Whew! Scarry!

We were on skis and tied a long rope on a buddy's car. He drove the car and pulled us on the farm roads. The State Police caught us once and gave us all tickets.

I can't remember what the "charge" was, but since we were only 16 years old we had to see the Justice of the Peace, Norman Tresize (sp?) in Calumet. He "suspended" our drivers licenses (yes, even those of the "skiers") by putting them in his desk drawer. After 30 days we went back to see him and he gave them back to us. And that was the last time we did that. No fine or costs and no "points", but the lesson was learned none the less.

24 here in Missouri. Had freezing rain this AM followed by snow about 3inches. Thats enough winter for me. I'm ready for warm weather. Have seen in your letters and in the papers up there that you are getting your fair share of the good old white stuff. Enjoy it. Was out playing in it earlier today had my share.

Your photo was a few months prior to my birth, same year. As kids in troll land we did everthing behind the tractor, sleds, tobaggons, wood skis w/leather strap. My Dad skied with rope behind car, he would never let us do it. Mother had to drive the car to pull him, I don't think she liked it, probably why we could not.

Have used hair dryers, heat gun, butane torch, etc. to thaw ('unthawing' would be to freeze, wouldn't it?) frozen water pipes. But if you can get at the pipe, hot water and rags or towels wrapped around 'em work the fastest and easiest. If you can help it, don't use a flame to thaw pipes. Besides, the flame heats such a small area at a time. An apartment building burned down in Escanaba the other day because the maintainance man used a blowtorch on the pipes.
We used to 'shag' rides in Hubbell and Tamarack way back when, too. Also an old car hood towed by my brother was fun, specially when he would go around the corners as fast as he could. We'd swing 'way out and up on top of the snowbanks. :>) Never told the grandkids that one.

Toivo, are you sure of the date of that picture??
1939 was before we got involved in World War 2 and television was unheard of except in some research labs. It was also called video at that time. A more likely date is 1949 when television was developing commercially.

The mention of the TV weatherman Sonny Eliot,reminded me of how he used to pick the UP off his weather map, poke his finger right into the spot on 117 and say, "Its 12 degrees at Eng-ger ring-ger ding-a dine!" or something like that!

Looking at the left front fender of the car just coming into the picture on the left I would have to agree that the date is later. Can anybody Identify it for me. At first I thought it was a late 40s-56 Jaguar but it is only a guess.

We called it "hitching bumpers" in the West end of the U.P. (Ironwood) It was especially fun when coming home from skating -- you could really get going when you had your skates on. Truly a miracle that no one ever got hurt.

Sonny Eliot still does the weather forecast a couple of times a day for WWJ here in the Detroit area. Haven't heard him mention "Enga-denga-dinga-dine" in a while, but at this time of year, he usually mentions some town in the UP as having the lowest temp. in the state.

All I'm sure of is that Erik Nordberg, from the MTU Archives supplied the photo and the date for it. I tried a search and came up with this info from the The World's Fair Gallery. Maybe that's what the float was about. Toivo's not old enough to remember when T.V. started --

I found another interesting site called the first 75 years of
Television History. Here's the link. http://www.tvhistory.tv/


The photo certainly could have been taken in 1939.

Reference comments about date of Shoebox Memory photo today: After pulling up various websites comparing 1939 and 1949 TV, it seems 1949 might be the more appropriate date. If anyone can confirm date, please post. Thanks. AČ

I remember Sonny Elliot... and as I recall, he wasn't too bad at actually "forcasting" the weather; without all the bells and whistles! (doppler, graphics, and weather tubes, etc, etc!)
Glad Pat got her pipes defrosted!
It looks like we're in for quite the weather week!

To Gordy in Gwinn - the ice cover website is interesting!! Thanks for sharing it with us.

I was interested in the ice cover on Lake Superior. I vaguely seem to remember, hearing a couple of years ago, it was reported that it was 'almost' frozen over. True or false?
I might add I really enjoy the Pasty Cam site and have been spreading the word to friends.

I once found a great article in a library's 1928 edition of Reader's Digest--"Television: The Next Big Thing." It seems they had the technology for TV in the 20s but the Depression, and then World War II, delayed its implementation. The big cities had local programming by 1947 and most of the country was hooked up by 1949, so apparently they got serious about making it a true communications medium after the war.

We called it bum riding in Mohawk also...Many choppers were lost doing that...

Morning. Brought back a memory when a post stated -50 at the Entry. Back in 1979, mid February, a bunch of us came up from Escanaba, Iron Mountain. We stopped at the Cliff View, and weather entered into the conversation. Tom S. said we may get a lot of snow up here, but, we do not get that bloodly cold you get down there. That weekend, Saturday morning, Copper City had -48. At Agate Harbor, it was around - 30. Ice fishing, you spuded the hole, and before you could get the line down there was an inch of ice again. Have a great one. Jim

1. Sonny Elliott's old favorite UP location was: "Enga-denga-ringa-dinga-dine"!

2 .R S, Minocqua, Wi. said:
I was interested in the ice cover on Lake Superior. I vaguely seem to remember, hearing a couple of years ago, it was reported that it was 'almost' frozen over.

Apparently last Year was the first time in 29 years that Lake Superior has frozon over. Check this recent discussion at John Dee, the local Lake Linden, MI weather wizard's web site, at the Ask John link: Lake ice coverage

^^^
I don't think anyone officially said the lake had completely frozen over.

According to the National Ice Center, forecasts at the peak of the ice cover reported there would still be open patches in some places due to offshore winds.

Although the graphics on the site look like there was total ice coverage over the lake, the analyst at the center told me that that's an average over an entire area and not definitive.

Is this taken in front of the Beta Sigma Theta house???

YES. That is in front of the Bet Sig house...