Barn Roofs, Quail Coveys, and General Mischief

Vocabulary words from the stories

Barn Roofs--info page

 

LINKS FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION

 

Related Topics and Links:

1. The Cherokees were one of the "Five Civilized Tribes," who were removed from their homelands in the early 1800's. There was a small division of Cherokees who managed to escape removal by hiding in the North Carolina mountains. (The Seminoles have a similar band in northern Florida.) The descendants of the Cherokees who escaped removal make up what's known as the Eastern Band of Cherokees. The Western Band of Cherokees live on reservations in Oklahoma. The Cherokee people are trying to preserve their language. Watch this you tube video to meet a few Cherokees and hear them speak their language. The woman in the video is Amanda Swimmer, a well-known potter in Cherokee, North Carolina. She still makes pottery the way the ancient southeastern natives made it, ground-fired with no kiln or potter's wheel.
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecm_DIpocI0&feature=related
2. The very first air rifle was not invented by Daisy but rather by Isaiah Lukens around 1800. Take a look at one or both of these You Tube videos about the unusual air rifle used by Lewis and Clarke on their famous expedition across America in the early 1800's:
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHXK8hIq23k&feature=related
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9WEsILY92o
3. Watch this you tube video on one of the early gasoline cars --
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsOH0N9evOY
4. Jay Leno owns a 1909 Baker electric car and he shows it to you in this video. You get to see all about it from the pullman-style windows to the rechargable batteries (he still uses the original ones!), and then he takes you for a ride. It's "like driving a phone booth," as Leno puts it. Note how there's no steering wheel --watch and you'll see.
   http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/electric/1909-baker-electric/
5. I want this car!! Watch the brief news video about the Nisan "Leaf" -- an all electric car due out sometime in 2010.
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f48x9baSuF0
6. And check this picture out--it's the Electrica, the first all electric car in the UK. It has just recently come out (2010). I feel like something is missing though, don't you? As if someone hack-sawed the body in half--a sort of extra strange Mini.
   
7. The interesting history of the ice cube tray. See why historians think it was invented by this doctor:
   http://inventors.about.com/od/istartinventions/a/IceCube.htm
8. Here's the audio file of a Bob White's call that I mentioned in the book--
   http://www.dovehunt.com/wave/bobwhite1.wav
9. This picture is of a bird dog in full point while on a quail hunt in typical-looking Georgia woods--
   http://z.about.com/d/forestry/1/0/A/G/bird_hunt6.jpg
10. For lots more about marbles:
    http://www.toysperiod.com/blog/collectibles/toy-marbles-history-and-varieties/
11. LEARN TO PLAY MARBLES on you tube! Here are 2 videos -- both short.
    (1). Best one first--This video demonstrates all the basics clearly. Very good and complete!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewqFhNw9k7g&feature=fvw
    
    (2).  This video shows what a young boy put together for his friends and uploaded to you tube. You could do the same thing with a game you enjoy and have it end up on someone's website like this :)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAQiQQ4Ir4g

 

More About Dalton:

1. The Chief Van House belonged to Joseph Van, a chief in the Cherokee tribe. The house is in Chatsworth, Ga., near Dalton. When you see the picture of his house, you'll understand just how far the Cherokees had come in trying to live, look, behave as white people did. Here's the Van House--
   http://www.gastateparks.org/ChiefVann
2. The Hotel Dalton, where the Jones boys' mother stayed when visiting Dalton, was the only hotel in town for many years, but it burned completely down in 1911 and had to be rebuilt. Here's an article from the The Galveston Daily News, Texas, April 10, 1911, telling about the fire.
   http://www3.gendisasters.com/georgia/6945/dalton-ga-business-block-fire-apr-1911
3. This link shows a picture of the Hotel Dalton as it looks today. When I was growing up in Dalton, it housed a drugstore on the ground level (Bradley and Weaver, I think) and my friends and I would to get milkshakes and chocolate sodas at the sofa fountain there after watching a movie at the Wink Theatre across the street. 
   http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/vanga.cgi?format=photo&query=id%3awtf049

 

Topic for discussion: Life expectancy then and now

It might have been nice to live back around 1920 when Alfred and Walter were young boys. Times were simpler in many ways: kids played outdoors more, most moms stayed home with their children, and in small towns like Dalton, no one even bothered to lock their doors. Even at night, doors were left open in the hot summer time to catch the breeze. People could do that because crime was so unusual in small towns like Dalton. In many communities safety was of little concern at all. We never locked our car doors. My dad even left the keys in his car whether he was parked in town or at home.

However, compare the average age when people died, or the average life expectancy:

The life expectancy for 1920-1930      men--54 years    women--55 years
The life expectancy for 2000-2010      men--77 years    women--80 years

What has made the difference? What do we have today that has increased the length of time the average person can expect to live?

Would you want to live back then? Why or why not? If you were suddenly transported back in time to 1920, what might turn out to be better? What would you miss the most?

Vocabulary words from the stories

Barn Roofs--info page