Coffee after Obama

This morning I had coffee and a generous slice of squash bread at Top Pot Doughnuts in Seattle. When I went to pick up my coffee I saw a large photo of President Obama ordering coffee at the same place.

This is the second time I’ve been at a shop that proudly remembered our president stopping by. The first was a diner in San Juan that I cannot remember the name of. They put a plaque on the table President Obama sat at. If Top Pot did too, I missed it.

I enjoyed a few minutes of quiet this morning, something President Obama certainly did not have a chance to do here. One wall of the shop is lined with old books, so naturally that’s where I sat. I pulled down a small book that bound the December 1942 issues of My Garden magazine.

I find the ads in old magazines interesting for what they say between the lines. The ads are more interesting than the articles, the opposite of contemporary magazines, though that depends on the magazine.

One thing that struck me was the small ratio of advertisement to content. I suppose the original subscribers didn’t notice this, or maybe thought the magazine was putting in too many ads. I imagine they would be shocked by magazines that squeeze articles in between the ads.

Another thing that struck me was the somber but hopeful tone of the ads. Ford had a series of ads entitled “Until then …”. The ads seemed to say “We know nobody is going to be buying a car any time soon. But some day this war will be over, and when it is, we hope you’ll remember us.” Other companies tried to make the best of rationing. For example, one ad for shaving cream said that it was a good thing that their product worked so well since there are limits on how much shaving cream you can buy.

It was a pleasant way to start the day, without Secret Service agents buzzing around and without rationing limits on things like coffee and squash bread.