Vintage Shirley

The General Store

In the 1930's there was a devastating flood in Shirley. Recently, my neighbor, Violet, gave me some pictures of Shirley, taken after the rain subsided.

Another view of the General Store.

Full frontal flood. There was no Post Office addition at this time. The gas station is now the Shirley Book Lender and the tiny building to the left is now an addition to the back of the book lender.

Here are some guys standing knee deep on main street Shirley.

Serendipity

Serendipity is a wonderful word. It was coined by Horace Walpole who formed it from the title of the fairy tale, '’The Three Princes of Serendip”. The princes make discoveries not by questing but by accident. “Serendipity”, for Walpole, was the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident.


Robert King Merton (not to be confused with his son, Robert C. Merton, who won a Nobel for economics) wrote a history of serendipity (with a bit of help from Elinor Barber) which he stuck in a drawer for 45 years before is saw the light of day as The Travels and Adventures of Serendipity: A Study in Sociological Semantics and the Sociology of Science. Merton’s history began with a bit of serendipity when the young Merton was sitting around reading his beloved 13-volume 1933 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and happens upon an odd noun "serendipity.” (Let me just say now how much I adore dictionary readers… but I digress…)




Merton, besides writing about serendipity, coined the oft over-used phrase "self-fulfilling prophecy."
Why, you may ask as a self-fulfilling prophecy, am I blathering on about “serendipity” when there is a picture of a big old house on the page? Well, serendipity, of course.


On Tuesday, I had company in Shirley, West Virginia from Vermont including, Barbara Carter.

Barbara Carter’s father was Shirley Carter, a painter.

Shirley Carter painted a nude entitled, Lucinda. (Though not of this Lucinda.)



On Thursday, Barbara Carter left after mailing a note from the Shirley, Post Office.

She told the postmistress that her father was named Shirley.

Shirley Carter was named for Shirley Plantation.



Shirley Plantation is Virginia's first plantation named for Sir Thomas West’s wife, Lady Cessalye Shirley.

Shirley, West Virginia was named for Shirley Plantation as family members moved north.

Shirley Plantation was inherited by Elizabeth Hill, who married John Carter in October 1723.



Barbara’s brother is named John Carter.

When I turned on my computer, I had an e-mail from Garden & Gun about a new book, Great Houses of the South and the photo that was featured was of Shirley Plantation.


Serendipity at its finest!

Winter Wonderland

The first big...

snowfall...

in Shirley.

My very favorite Christmas CD, A Christmas Cocktail by Jaymz Bee & the Royal Jelly Orchestra, is out of print. Here is their rendition of...

Winter Wonderland

Why I Live At The P.O.

In this Fall's ongoing beautification of downtown Shirley, we painted the Post Office. Like many small towns, the P.O. is more than just a place to get mail, it is a gathering place, an information center, and a repository of history. While I don't "live" at the P. O., I do work in the attached old general store. One day, I might actually move to town and live at the P. O.

Until I do, you might want to read Miss Eudora Welty's classic, "Why I Live At The P.O."

The Old Barber Shop

With considerable help from the many residents of Shirley, we have been sprucing up downtown. For those of you who have never ventured to downtown Shirley, WV, here are some highlights. This building used to house the barber shop. It is now empty. I rent the double red doors to a neighbor to park his tractor.

We have had a few complaints that the red is simply too bright. We disagree!