Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 80

A Cotton Duck Shower Curtain? Is it a shower curtain made from ducks, or a curtain for the sorts of showers that ducks use? Turns out that the term comes from the Dutch doek or "linen canvas" (the term seems to have also been the derivation of "duck tape."). The Vermont Country Store still has them.

Society Expeditions! We just saw you, remember? I wanted to learn about Project Space Voyage. So here's what I've found. "Project Space Voyage" seems to be related to a paper delivered at the Fourth Annual L5 Space Development Conference in Washington DC, April 1985. The abstract reads as follows:

The day of passenger space travel is approaching, first to Low Earth Orbit and then to circumlunar distances. Details of the NASA citizen-in-space project are reviewed, along with a report on the Shuttle Passenger Module studied by a major travel agency. Passenger flight into Earth orbit, weekend stays in a globe-circling vacation spa, and eventual translunar excursions are considered in an evolutionary way.

You can read the whole thing here. I am presuming that the Society Expeditions folks were putting an effort into getting on the ground floor on the process. As I hinted at a couple of posts ago, we have an example of how history can throw a wrench into a business plan. Fifteen days after this ad originally appeared in print, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on lift-off. I'm sure that the brochure that must have had the same illustrations of rows of seats in the cargo area of a space shuttle kept folks away from investing in this plan.

Pregnant? Don't go into space. I think you can't go to ReCreations Maternity either. It seems to have gone under.

I can't find a website for Special Odysseys, but I see from the interestingly named www.comebackalive.com that they now offer trips to the North Pole.

I'm sure that this model was delighted to see the ad and discover the words "Natural Unplucked Beaver" right next to her head. I was tempted to leave it at that, but I'm on a research roll, so I found my way to this site which explains:

The water-hairs of beaver are either cut level with the rest of the fur (unplucked) or entirely removed (plucked beaver). Here is an extremely durable fur, heavy-skinned and long-wearing like all aquatic pelage. Deeply-furred pelts are most prized, and such are found in this far corner of Uncle Sam's attic, for they are evidence of hard winters sturdily survived. You would expect " the engineer " to have a well-built double-service coat, as well as his cunningly contrived two-story house, and these he surely has.

It's wintertime. Wrap your neck in one of these babies. They cost $12.95 now, but they're on sale.

The York Harbor Inn still has tons of Classic Coastal Charm. Look what's coming up next month: One of those murder mystery dinner things:

February 24, 2007 - Marriage can by Murder
If you survived Valentine’s Day, it’s time to indulge in a gourmet dinner with an unsolved marital murder plot. What could be more enticing than fine food paired with fascinating intrigue? And what better way to celebrate the Valentine month than with a hot and haunting mystery?

They're looking for some housekeepers too.

Ardsheal House seems to have given up their website. www.ardsheal.co.uk is now up for grabs, should you be interested in it. The hotel itself seems to still be operational. It might even have wi-fi.