Glad You Asked, 10-27-07

Font Size:
Default font size
Larger font size

We ran an answer on Oct. 18 about a local choir starting for men. Lois Solberg and Jim Kitchak are organizing a Racine area all-male chorus and need men of all ages who love to sing. The group will be affiliated with the DeKoven Center and take the name of Men's Chorus at DeKoven. For more information, call Kitchak at (262) 994-3661 or Solberg at (262) 497-5035.

Don't forget about The Racine Dairy Statesmen, an all-male chorus that has been singing in Racine and surrounding communities for the past 65 years.

According to member Bruce Williamson, the group practices from 1:15-9:15 p.m. every Tuesday at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, at 3319 Washington Avenue in Racine. The Dairy Statesmen's next concert is at Carthage College on February 2, 2008.

All men are invited, but it probably helps if you can sing. Call Williamson (262) 886-5529 for more information.

Why aren't you supposed to wear white after Labor Day?

Do you have to ask? How gauche!

That's hopefully the last time the pretentious word "gauche" finds its way into this space.

We looked online and in books and no one knows exactly why you're not supposed to wear white after Labor Day. Some elegant elderly woman will mail me a detailed piece of reference about this and chastise me for not knowing.

From what we found, the rule is thought to have originally applied to shoes. You should only wear white shoes between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and applies particularly to pumps and dress shoes.

So what if a bride marries in the winter? What if it's 60 and sunny on Feb. 15 in Savannah, Ga., or Bakersfield, Calif.? Do they wear white shoes? Adherents to the original rule will say no. We say go for it, for whatever that is worth. Some on this staff didn't understand for years that belts and shoes should be color coordinated.

The heart of this issue seems to center on upward mobility. New money started to meet old money in the late 19th century, and the old guard needed to indoctrinate the new on the habits and ways of upper-crust society.

Regardless of why, this rule clearly is intended to ensure people wear summer fashions in the summer months. Who knows't know why someone would wear a parka in July or a sun dress in December, but at least there's a rule. It's all that separates us from the apes.

Why is it spelled "catsup" on some bottles and "ketchup" on others?

No one really knows.

The best we can offer is spelling preferences, a pureed version of you saying tomato with a short "a" and someone else saying tomato with a long "a."

Heinz makes ketchup, Hunts make catsup and, a few years ago, Brooks changed from ketchup to catsup. Ketchup is far and away the more popular of the two.

Incidentally, the world's largest ketchup/catsup bottle is in Collinsville, Ill. Check it out at

Which is the largest county in Wisconsin in square miles?

Marathon County is the largest of Wisconsin's 72 counties, with an area of 1,545 square miles. Ozaukee County is Wisconsin's smallest county, covering 232 square miles.

I didn't make this up. This information is courtesy of the Wisconsin State Cartographer's office, which has a Web site at:

What is Glad You Asked?

http://www.geography.wisc.edu

Glad You Asked finds answers to questions. Selected questions and the answers will be published in this column.

Call (262) 631-1758 to submit a question, or do so by e-mail: ask@journaltimes.com You may also submit questions online at

http://www.journaltimes.com

http://www.catsupbottle.com/

Print Email

/
 
Sponsored by: