I was on a tour of Central & Eastern Europe not very long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and our tour stopped in Dresden, which had not yet seen much post-war rebuilding. My friend and I went one way in search of lunch, while some other folks on the tour went in the other direction. All we found was McDonald’s, so we ate there. The other folks found a place serving smoked salmon sandwiches, which they said were the best that they had ever eaten. Damn! I love smoked salmon and I would have much preferred it to fast food.
One of the most interesting experiences of that tour was a ride on a Czech portion of Germany’s original 1930s Autobahn, which was enlightening in several ways. First and foremost, that “superhighway” looked pretty primitive in modern times, and the closest comparison that I can think of is NY’s very badly outdated Belt Parkway in the '60s. Ergo–entrance and exit lanes that were far too short for safety, no road shoulders in some places, and narrow lanes. The mental image of the old 38 HP VWs trying to accelerate up to highway speed in entrance lanes that were less than 1/2 city block long was… let’s just say… thought-provoking.
Secondly, the rest stops on the Czech portion of that road were beer gardens. Yes, the Czech beers are fantastic, and–yes–because I wasn’t driving, I was able to have one glass of brew, but the number of drivers who were heavily indulging in beer before getting back on that highway was… disturbing.
I live in Iowa. It’s normal for me to drive 20 miles. I do this a few times a week.
It’s not unusual to drive 120 miles. I do this a few times a year.
It’s not rare to drive 800 miles. I do this annually.
Because I drive these distances as often as I do, I have confidence in my vehicles getting me where I need to go. Also, I do my own maintenance and most repairs. I know it’s done right and done with quality parts.
We are more independent out here in flyover country. At present my dryer is disassembled in my garage to replace an $8 part, for which I’m awaiting shipment. Until then, we’ll use our clothesline just like gramma did. I’ve also tiled my bathroom. My wife and I homeschool our kids. We cook our own food. I’m employed full time out of the home. I make much of my own furniture and cabinets. We have a garden. I fix computers on the side.
We’re teaching our kids to live this way too. Want something? Make it. Need something fixed? Figure it out (youtube it) and do it yourself. Over and over I tell them: even if you never do these things as an adult, knowing how will keep you from getting ripped off, and enable you to appreciate work done well by those you hire to do a job.
I can still remember when I was 10, my father taking me to Lucky Luciano’s funeral in Queens. I said to my Dad, Uncle Charlie did so much bad stuff, how could the priest say such nice things about him. My father explained to me that it’s all about money.
Did you know that, to save construction $$$, Robert Moses built the section of the Belt Parkway that goes through Sunset Park stop the remains of the 5th avenue EL that had closed in the 1940’s?
When we were in Dresden they were still working on restoring the cathedral. Really badly damaged by the bombing. Across the road though there was a big VW building. Never did figure out if it was sales, assembly, or what. I do remember though eating at a place in the square. Don’t remember anything else. We were traveling though with our pastor and soon to be bishop who made the mistake of climbing on the statue a little for a better picture. A resident angrily shooed him off and disgraced him as only a real German could do. Very proud of their city.
Unfortunately, our scheduled stop in Dresden was only for lunch, so we didn’t really see much of anything except what we could view from the coach windows and what was directly around us in the square where the coach parked. What we did see was evidence that the old Communist regime had done almost nothing about restoring the city–several decades after the war had ended.
In Berlin, we stayed in a Hilton that was located in what had been East Berlin, and its construction had begun under the old regime. While it was very new, the Hilton folks were unable to alter the concrete construction to enlarge the tiny rooms. It was quite luxurious, but the room was smaller than that of a cheap US motel room.
Luckily, the hotel was w/in short walking distance of Berlin’s excellent subway system, but the prices on that system were incredibly high. Yes, it was cheaper than taking a taxi, but not a lot cheaper.
Besides visible bullet holes, I was very negatively impressed by the system of elevated steam pipes that were used to heat buildings in East Berlin. Besides the fact that they were just plain UGLY, my thought was… How efficient could uninsulated steel pipes possibly be for transmitting steam block after block? A local resident confirmed for me that only the buildings fairly close to the steam plant actually got any heat. So, German engineering–at its worst–was on full display, courtesy of the old regime.
No, it wasn’t just the absolutely awful Trabant automobile that was an engineering disgrace for East Germany.
I’m not sure about that factoid, but he did manage to muscle-into the brewery business of one of my ancestors, in Kingston, NY. The Peter Barmann Brewery fell into hard times as a result of Prohibition… until Legs Diamond managed to convince my great-uncle–Peter Barmann–to enter into an alliance. It was one of those offers that you can’t refuse.
So, during Prohibition, Great Uncle Peter was able to keep his brewery running, and all of its output was channeled though fire hoses laid in the local storm sewers, to a bottling plant several blocks away. The fragmented nature of the operation continued to confuse Federal inspectors for several years. Then, when the esteemed Mr. Diamond was blown away in gang violence, my great-uncle’s enterprise lost its ability to market its brews, and all that remains are some memorabilia that own.
It’s amazing what folks would do for a bottle of beer! … lol … Family stories about the prohibition period in western Colorado go that most non-tea-totaling folks in town home-brewed their own wine from locally grown grapes. I believe that method of alcohol-beverage production was legal, provided it was for your own use, and you stayed within a certain limit, gallons/month or something. The result of the home-brewed product didn’t get very good marks for taste though.
Agreed. I fought forest fires for a short while and I got to see a little bit of the rest of rural America. I remember being in the outskirts of Kalispell, Montana thinking “What turnip truck did this redneck fall off of? Oh, wait…I’m from Mississippi.” The only difference I could see was that the redneck boys with jacked up 4wd’s over there had mudflaps. Mandated mudflaps, I assume. No offense to Montana. Beautiful country. No offense to mudflaps either. Probably a good idea on oversized mud tires.
“Jack Diamond was born July 10, 1897, in Philadelphia to Irish immigrant parents. His mother died in 1913, and the family moved to Brooklyn.”
Possibly my neighborhood- mom mentioned him a couple of times when we were growing up- unfortunately she’s gone.
Great article, though! We live in the Hudson Valley and have heard the stories - love the channeling through the storm sewers. Brilliant.
I’m told that in South Dakota the stills were pretty de-centralized so no big focus on one brewer. Everyone had an uncle or so that would sell jars to trusted customers. Or so I’m told. Sheriffs were elected by the populace so didn’t want to upset people by arresting small timers.
