I didn’t want to think about tomorrow today, and I needed diversion. I grabbed a pile of ephemera from a shelf in one of my office closets, just to have something to concentrate on, and thought I might share some of what I pulled out. Sort of like a shoe box, without the box, or the shoes.

Am I right to call it “ephemera”? Not sure. Dictionary.com defines “ephemera” as “a class of collectible items, not originally intended to last for more than a short time….” You decide.

The 1977 constitution was the 4th Soviet Constitution. We are still on our first. It provides that it can be amended by a 2/3 vote of the Supreme Soviet.  In 1977, the Supreme Soviet had about 1500 members, all of whom always voted as instructed. What if our constitution could be changed so easily?

This, by way, was the official English language version, priced at 15 kopecks.  Today that would be about 1 1/2 cents.

According to Derek Kartun in this English publication of the People’s Press Printing Society,  Eisenhower was a venial, incompetent war mongerer,  like all US presidents. Kartun, says Wikipedia, was a Communist journalist, a titan of industry, and a prolific mystery writer. To me,he just seems woke, or perhaps pre-woke.

You think there has been any new written about the Washington Monument since this was written in 1900? The answer is “yes”.

But there are some interesting tidbits you can use to impress visitors. Like the height of the monument is “597 feet 3 inches above the mean level of the Atlantic at Sandy Hook, N.Y”. Or “the Monument stands close to the intersection of the Jeffersonian Meridian Line of 1802, passing through the center of the Executive Mansion,  north and south, with a line running east and west through the center of the Capitol.”

Two more important facts, and then I will quit.

First, “There is enough room in the interior of the Monument to house an army of 12,000 men. The landings will accommodate 7,675, the stairs, 3845, the upper and lower platforms 450, and the elevators, 30.”

And, an African marble Roman stone given by the Pope was thrown into the Potomac by the Know-Nothings in 1854, and – as of 1900 – has not been found.

The American Education Monthly could be yours for an annual subscription of $1 “payable in advance”. In the August 1854 issue, I commend to your attention an article simply entitled “Corporal Punishment”, from which I take the following: “The sterotyped jest that ‘you can not drive knowledge into a pupil’s head by means of an application at the other end’ is as unsound in fact as it is absurd in expression.”

William Henry Harrison, the 9th president of the United States, died in April 1841, 32 days after his inauguration. May 14 was declared a National Fast Day. Pastor John M. Duncan of Baltimore’s Associate Reformed Congregation gave this sermon. I tried to read through it, but fell asleep at about the 30th mention of Jehovah on page 2.

I pulled out more ephemera, to be sure, but how much can one aborb in one day. I think I’ll watch some football. Maybe.