The other day I was watching one of those videos on a news program where they show the barren streets and sidewalks in a BIG city during the 2020 Pandemic.
What caught my eye in the video was one of the signs in a window which said "Support our local Stores."
I would assume most stores in populations of millions would generally have enough patrons to support them, but I'm thinking it really "hits home" during the Pandemic where owners of businesses in even large cities discover the importance of supporting the people of their own communities.

Today while picking up the mail (April 17) I notice Solls Service now had a sign in their window.
I went up and down the Main Street sidewalks on April 14 to take pictures of the various buildings and the messages they had posted but Solls did not have a sign yet.
Of all the messages I saw on the various Manning store windows, I think this message captures the essence of our times the best.


April 17, 2020 message to Manningites

Did you know that a wooden 2-story building once stood on this location and the second story was where Manning had its very first school in 1881? Will we ever learn from our history again?
Farther down below in a different feature story, I posted a number of samples I scanned of Manning Legion history/documents that were recently discovered in the former Manning American Legion Hall building by Dale Hinners.
As I was sorting through the drawers of stuff I found some nails, hooks, and what most people would think of as junk and just throw away.
The first thing I noticed on the hooks were "Made in USA" which was kind of surprising since this is such a small item.
I'm an observer and this is something I've always paid attention to over the years and even will comment out loud to people when I see these words and say "Gee, something actually made in the USA."
Why would the manufacturer (circa 1940s) take the time to have this stamped on such a little hook?
Could it be the owner of the company was proud of his country?
I'm sure there were other reasons too, and then I think about when I first thought about how terrible it was back in the 1970s when Japan was starting to take over many of the items once manufactured here in the US.

Finally we have a president who has been bringing the issue to a head...fighting against the globalism, multinationalism, and multiculturalism - some people, who for various reasons seem to think that promoting the US is bad or somehow elitist today.

When I scan small items I will often use a penny for reference - then as I was zooming in on the hook to scan it, I also noticed another saying - "In God We Trust" and I thought, WOW, how ironic I just happened to bring these 2 sayings together that are so objectionable to way too many US citizens and politicians today.
I couldn't remember exactly when "In God We Trust" was established as our national motto, so I looked it up and also found another factoid I did NOT know - the first time it was used on a coin.
The modern motto of the United States of America, was established in a 1956 law signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower - "In God we trust".
The phrase first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864.

It seems like it is the "little things in life" that are the most important and make the most difference...that a simple "Made in USA" stamped on a little hook can have such an important meaning.
Hopefully after we finally win the battle with the 2020 Pandemic, more US citizens will appreciate these 2 sayings a little more.


As I often write about - finding historical items and appreciating and understanding the importance of their history is why I need to go through things - I'll see something important that others will just discard as junk...


I want to also take this time to thank Dale Hinners - while he doesn't want to personally keep old pictures and history he finds in the buildings/houses he buys and renovates - he is NOT a thrower of history.

When he found a ton of old family pictures in a house he purchased in 2015, he contacted me and told me to come take a look - I knew immediately what family member would love to get these pictures.
BUT I first scanned all of them and then worked with that family member to get as many identified as possible - then I gave him the pictures - I scanned over 600 old pictures and documents found in that house.

Just like Dale could have just thrown away the old Legion stuff he found but first he called a member of the Legion and they said I could have them to scan and preserve.
Unfortunately, Dale is a rare person when it comes to helping save our history - most people would have just thrown those old pictures and Legion documents in a dumpster.

So Dale, for those of us who appreciate Manning history - "We Salute You!"


My suspicions were correct - it was Gene Steffes again, who thought up this ingenious idea about the recent pandemic message for the Iowa sculpture...
Much of the time he works nearly every day of the week and sometimes for 12 or more hours in a day, and still finds the time and energy to do things that promote Manning and show it off.

Trestle Park "Iowa Sculpture"
April 13, 2020

It's hard to believe that it was 3 years ago when the IOWA Sculpture was erected.

June 19, 2017


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