This week in history - Sept. 3, 2020

OLD TIMES

80 years ago

In Too Late to Classify, a column by Russell Kay: “We have heard a lot about color during the last few years. Most of it in Black and White, with less emphasis on Red and Brown. But what about other colors? We have developed quite a colorful language and have come to use colors to identify a lot of things.

“We associate Red with the (American) Indian. We see Red when we are angered. We suspect Russian Reds. Although bulls are color blind, we wave Red capes at them to arouse their ire. We think of a person with Red hair and nickname him ‘Red.’ We use Red as a signal for danger. We even have Red-light districts.

“We are Yellow if we refuse to fight. We have Yellow journalism, Yellow lights for caution and ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas.’

“Just why such a beautiful color as Blue should come to be associated with down-heartedness and sadsacks I’ll never know, but it seems if you are Blue you are unhappy. Then we have a type of music we call the Blues and a number of so-called Blue Laws advocated by folks called Blue Noses to seek to legislate our morals. Investors and poker players are familiar with Blue chips.

“Green is the go color for motorists and locomotive engineers, and you are certainly Green if you do not know it. Some people have Green thumbs when it comes to growing plants and flowers. And we are constantly advised to ‘Keep Florida Green’ by Smokey Bear.

“We enjoyed Brownies in our childhood. The aged are troubled with Brown spots and Gray hair. There are Gray skies and Gray areas to worry about. We award Purple Hearts. We are familiar with Scarlet letters and women. We term some people shrinking Violets and others Pinkos.

“Maybe we would be a lot better off if everybody was colorblind.”

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Sept. 3, 1970

Back-to-school time was important to local businesses who sold school supplies and clothing. In the Sept. 3, 1970, issue of The Winter Garden Times, Penny Saver in the West Orange and Ocoee shopping centers advertised its best styles and savings to parents looking to buy their children a new school wardrobe.’ The latest fashions were striped h.i.s flare pants in blue, bronze and white. Also popular were the puff and body sleeves on shirts.

Shoppers who visited the store that weekend were treated to the music of popular local band The Mother Country.

WINTER GARDEN HERITAGE FOUNDATION

HISTORY MYSTERY — This little home stood until recently near the end of an unpaved road that snaked south from Oakland Avenue. The property, currently undergoing development, also featured a larger home located closer to the main road. On the front porch of this little wooden house was a wood-burnt sign that read “Cracker House 1920,” though it may have actually been constructed in the 1940s.

Anyone who can supply further information about this little house is asked to call the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation at (407) 656-3244.