The challenge on Illustration Friday this week is “tales and legends“. This is my second entry for this challenge. My first one can be seen HERE.

The legend of Pecos Bill grew out of the imagination of southwestern range hands who told tall tales to pass the time. The story goes that Pecos Bill, the youngest of eighteen children of a Texas pioneer, was lost in crossing the Pecos River and was brought up by coyotes. He considered himself a coyote until a cowboy convinced him of his true identity, a human being. After returning to civilized territory, Pecos Bill became the cowhand who invented all the tricks of the ranching trade; in various tales he appears as a buffalo hunter, cattleman, railroad contractor, and oilfield worker. His activities include teaching gophers to dig postholes, using a snake as a rope and roping whole herds of cattle at one time. He rode everything in the West, including a mountain lion and a cyclone. He invented the branding iron to stop cattle rustling and the cowboy song to soothe the cattle. On their wedding day, Slue-Foot Sue, Pecos Bill’s girl friend, was determined to ride Bill’s famous horse, the Widow-Maker, but the animal pitched Sue so high that she almost hit the moon. Her steel-spring bustle continued to bounce her so high that Bill finally shot her to keep her from starving. Pecos Bill’s death is a matter of controversy. Some cowboys say that he died from drinking fishhooks with his whiskey and nitroglycerin; others insist that he died laughing at dudes who called themselves cowboys. Whatever the mode of his death, Pecos Bill exists in cowboy folklore as a symbol of the endurance, enterprise and other qualities required of cowboys.

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The illustrationfriday.com challenge this week is “plain“.

It is the practice of the Amish that men typically wear dark-colored trousers and a dark vest or coat, suspenders, broad-rimmed straw hats in the warmer months, and black felt hats in the colder months. Single Amish men are clean-shaven. If they are available to court women, they will put a dent in their hat. Married men grow a beard. Moustaches are not allowed, because they are associated with the military.
Women wear calf-length plain-cut dresses in a solid color, such as blue or black. Aprons are often worn at home, usually in white or black, and are always worn when attending church. A cape, which consists of a triangular piece of cloth, is usually worn, beginning around the teenage years, and pinned into the apron. In the colder months, a long woollen cloak is sported. Heavy bonnets are worn over the prayer coverings when Amish women are out in cold weather.
Some Amish groups prohibit buttons, allowing only hooks and eyes to keep clothing closed. The restriction on buttons is attributed in part to their potential for serving as opportunities for vain display. Straight-pins are often used to hold articles of clothing together. Clothing should not call attention to the wearer by cut, color, or any other feature. In all things, the concern is “plainness”.
The “plain” tradition carries on to funerals, which are conducted in the home without a eulogy, flower decorations, or other display. The casket is plain, without any adornment.

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The illustrationfriday.com challenge this week is “stitch“.

In a letter to the Board of Admiralty in 1780, Francis Hopkinson asserted that he had designed the flag of the United States of America. Hopkinson had received nothing for this work, and now he submitted a bill and asked “whether a Quarter Cask of the public wine” would not be a reasonable and proper reward for his labors. The Board forwarded the letter to Congress, which referred it to the Board of Treasury. Apparently acting on a request from Congress, Hopkinson sent a detailed bill to the auditor general, James Milligan. He sent it to the commissioners of the Chamber of Accounts, who replied six days later that they were of the opinion that the charges were reasonable and ought to be paid. The bill was then passed from government office to office, debated more and never paid. Though Hopkinson’s political adversaries blocked all attempts to have him paid for his services, they never denied that he made the designs. The journals of the Continental Congress clearly show that he designed the flag.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Griscom was the eighth of 17 children born into the Quaker family of Samuel and Rebecca Griscom. As an apprentice upholsterer, she fell in love with another apprentice, John Ross, the son of a Episcopal reverend. As Quakers, her mother and father disapproved of interdenominational marriages and disowned young Betsy. In 1773, the couple secretly traveled across the Delaware River to New Jersey, where they were married by William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin’s son. John opened up an upholstery shop and the young couple lived on the premises. John joined the military and while guarding munitions, he was killed by an accidental explosion of gunpowder. In 1777, Betsy married her second husband, Joseph Ashburn. Joseph was a mariner and was often at sea, leaving Betsy, a new mother, alone in Philadelphia. Ashburn was captured by the British and taken to Old Mill Prison in England. He died in prison before the British released the American prisoners in 1782. Betsy was visited by an old acquaintance named John Claypoole. He was a fellow prisoner and close friend of Joseph Ashburn. John was there to bring Betsy the news of her second husband’s death. Betsy learned that she was once again a widow at the age of 30.
John Claypoole and Betsy rekindled their old friendship and were married in 1783. Betsy was finally able to enjoy a lengthy marriage to John Claypoole, but this 34-year relationship was not without its struggles. The couple had five more daughters together, but only four of them lived to maturity. John died in 1817, from a lengthy illness brought on by injuries he suffered in the war.
Betsy continued her upholstery business with the help of her daughter Clarissa. After over fifty years in her trade, she retired at the age of 76 and left the city to live on her daughter Susanna’s farm in the remote suburb of Abington. By 1833, Betsy was completely blind. She spent the last three years of her life living with her daughter Jane’s family on Cherry Street in Philadelphia. With family present, Betsy Ross died peacefully in her sleep in 1836. She was 84 years old.
Although Betsy Ross led an interesting life, there is no official documentation connecting her to the creation of the first American flag. The only claims to that distinction have been made by her descendants.

Oh, and I hate this guy.

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The Illustration Friday challenge this week is “100%“.

1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High was based on Cameron Crowe’s undercover exposé of high-school life. Crowe (who went on to write and direct Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous, for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay) went back to his alma mater, infiltrating the everyday life of the current student body. His character, although featured prominently in the book, was eliminated for the movie.
Fast Times was the starting point for many of Hollywood’s productive careers, including three Academy Award winners — Sean Penn as stoned surfer Jeff Spicoli (2004 Best Actor for Mystic River), Nicolas Cage [billed under his real name Nicolas Coppola] in the tiny role as “Brad’s Bud” (1996 Best Actor for Leaving Las Vegas) and Forest Whitaker as football star Charles Jefferson (2007 Best Actor for The Last King of Scotland). The film also showcased early performances by Vic Morrow’s daughter and noted silver screen nutcase Jennifer Jason Leigh (Backdraft; Dolores Claiborne), Eric Stoltz (originally cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future), Anthony Edwards (Revenge of the Nerds; eight seasons as Dr. Greene on ER), Amanda Wyss (Freddie Kreuger’s first victim in A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Pamela Springsteen (Bruce’s sister and Sean Penn’s former fiancé). Veteran actor Ray Walston turned in a terrific performance as the perpetually suspicious Mr. Hand, the geography teacher with a Hawaii fixation. It also featured a memorable scene with the future Mrs. Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, that became the making of fantasies for many a 1980s adolescent boy.
Beverly Hills Cop and The Santa Clause’s Judge Reinhold (the “close talker” from Seinfeld) gave one of Fast Times’ funniest performances as Brad Hamilton, the senior with big plans, if he could only get out of his minimum-wage job. Brad worked as fry cook par excellance at All American Burger. Brad prided himself on “selling no fry before its time”. While Brad usually worked in the kitchen, when the regular counter guy was in the bathroom, Brad had no choice but to face the customers. All American Burger offered a “100% Guaranteed Breakfast”, the best breakfast you ever ate or your money back!
This encounter occurred:

BRAD (nervously): May I help you?
BUSINESSMAN (returning his half-eaten breakfast): Yes. This is not the best breakfast I ever ate. And I want my money back.
Brad begins searching under the counter.
BRAD: Well, I believe you have to fill out a form. There’s a pad right around here.
BUSINESSMAN: No. I want my money back right now.
BRAD: Well, that’s not the way it works, really. And you ate most of your food already, too…
BUSINESSMAN: See that sign? It says 100% Money Back Guarantee. Do you know the meaning of the word ‘guarantee’? Do they teach you that here? Give me my money back.
BRAD: I can’t do that. But if you wait a minute…
BUSINESSMAN (as if talking to a kindergartener): Look. Just put your little hand back in the cash register and give me my $2.75 back. Okay? (He looks at Brad’s name tag.) Please, Brad?
BRAD: I’m sorry, sir. Just let me find the forms here.
BUSINESSMAN: I am so tired. I am so tired of dealing with morons. How hard is it to…
BRAD: Mister, if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna kick 100% of your ass.

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