Two kids in the yard

Two kids in the yard, originally uploaded by anyjazz65.

This is a found photograph of two children. For some reason, for me there is symbolism in it that is disturbing. It is doubtful that it was meant that way. After all, there were wizards and dunces too.

nyctreeman has a nice discussion on symbolism here:
www.flickr.com/photos/47967505@N00/353917083/

The Swastika Inn Circa 1930, originally uploaded by nyctreeman.

ctb59 says: Oy!

nyctreeman says: I would love to see if this building is still there! (probably not)

vfm4 says: yes me too! is it far from you?

yctreeman says: I have to look it up, give me a few ;-)
....................Oh forget it! It is near the Canadian border just to the right of Lake Ontario! TOO FAR

vfm4 says: ok, no prob..... maybe somebody else lives closer and even know about it... :-)

anyjazz65 says: We have come a long way.

nyctreeman says: anyjazz: I just figured out that this is more like 1925 or thereabouts.
Anyway, Swastika emblems were common for luck and design prior to Mr. Psycho Hitler's rise to power.
Interesting statement on human psychology how that symbol still freaks people out.

anyjazz65 says: Yes especially so, in that as I understand it the symbol predated Hilter by hundreds of years in many countries and cultures. The horrible stigma attatched to it in a few short years has almost erased the original meaning in modern cultures.
It is probably a good thing that a simple symbol makes people uneasy. Perhaps that will add strength to our resolve to be wary of such leaders. (!)
There is an interesting examination here: www.stewartsynopsis.com/swastika.htm

purplewon2000 says: Cool find. It'd be cool to see if it's still there. It might be, but without the swastika. The Original Spam Brain has ruined that symbol for many.

nyctreeman says: anyjazz: intersting link, thanks

purplewon2000: yup, but it is funny that even in the non-nazi form it still makes people uneasy. I have a long and boring theory about all of this, that is why the nazi swastika is so powerful as an image opposed to the Japanese or Soviet symbols. (I won't bore you)

Calveen 82 says: Too far?? Come on Len, look at all the nice scenery you're missing :)

nyctreeman says: Talk to me about this in June, not January ;-)

magpie-moon says: the owners of this place were probably saying "damn! damn! damn!" ten or 15 years later, when they were having to deal with changing the name on everything... (i always have to wonder about the company that made "Ayds" diet candy, too)

nyctreeman says: I remember AYDS!! I think they kind of disappeared too, or just quietly changed the name. What a terrible coincidence! "Lose weight with Ayds" ... whew! someone got hung in the board room on that one.

nyctreeman says: Oh wow magpie, I didn't realize how old the Ayds were!
Here is an an Ayds ad with Hedy Lamarr from 1952 on ebay:
cgi.ebay.com/Hedy-Lamarr-for-Ayds-Reducing-Plan-Candy-ad-...

Calveen 82 says: Haha. Just noticed your response. You'll be ok in January as long as you stay away from that snow infested Buffalo,NY.

nyctreeman says: I don't know Calveen, I try to stay below New York in the winter.
Last time I looked at the google map, Star Lake was pretty damn close to Buffalo in lattitude, that is. My way of dealing with this is to email the county clerks office there and start poking around that way.
"Hey baby", ..."You ever hear of the Swastika Inn"? hahaha
I'm such a charmer.

Zach's Dame says: Neat link to the Ayds ads...what was in those things?
As far as the swastika, it is interesting that its original meaning isn't as widely known, and even when it is known, gives us the heebie-jeebies (like for me). The evil that was attached to it is probably an unerasable stigma.
BTW, I'd like to hear your theory! Although the hammer & sickle chill me too.

nyctreeman says: Once upon a time, a man delved a little too deep into the nature of this beastly thing the human being, his own specifically...be careful what you seek, you may just find it.

We are not as complicated as we fancy, as a matter of fact we all share the same common programmed base nature. Manifestations of that nature vary in directions of course, but the drive mechanisms are all the same........well anyway..........

Of the monsters that have arisen in our recent history, the one singularly unique one was the Nazi regime. Only this regime based it's judgment on humanity according to what one was born with, (or lack thereof). Mimicking (in an evil way), a God like judgment, this regime determined the worthiness of a human being on their genetic background. A judgment that no human could overcome. As a matter of fact, the Nazi 'theology' was born out of an occult or religious theory that the Aryan race were once Gods on earth, thus relegating all others to subservience in the eventuality of their ascendancy to power.

Since I believe that judgment of that nature is at enmity with all of mankind, the result was not only revulsion to the obvious crimes against humanity that were committed, but also on a much more visceral level, to the judgment methodology itself. Any form of judgment that places mankind in a position in which his very nature and essence of being is called into question will be met with vigorous abhorrence.

All of this of course is irrelevant to the Nazis, it is a study in the most base nature of the human animal. Further complicating the matter in my opinion, is the rapid changes that the human being has undergone in the last 100 years or so. I also tie this theory of nature to the genetic programming that we all have and the remarkable way it seems to be contiguous with our spiritual side.

(remember, you asked for it) ;-P

anyjazz65 says: Well put, well put. Thanks.

I now have the courage to post a couple of found pictures I have been saving for the right context. (The photograph at the top of this page is one of them.)

It is a good thing that a simple symbol reminds us to avoid being sheep or that evil still lurks in the hearts of some men. History will repeat itself if we are ignorant of it. Or more eloquently:

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging of the future but by the past. - Edward Gibbon

History is the only laboratory we have in which to test the consequences of thought. - Etienne Gilson

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. - George Santayana (about Viet Nam)

Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times. - Gustave Flaubert

History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again. - Kurt Vonnegut

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. - Maya Angelou

History is the science of what never happens twice. - Paul Valery

One faces the future with one's past. - Pearl S. Buck

And the more ominous:
Things are more like they are now than they ever were before. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

nyctreeman says: Interesting photo, I think we can be simplistic in our analysis of this phenom in this way:

Symbols, images, objects, etc, we associate in a purely mechanical way through sight and memory record, but then the human nature aspect downloads that info and processes it in whatever way is keen to the specific individual.

I know some people who are fascinated with these old symbols from a completely artistic interest, and maybe hinging on their relationship to the cultural ghosts they represent. On the otherhand, I know people who are fascinated with the same images because of their own ideology or emotional attachments to the old regimes.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which is which.

anyjazz65 says:Agreed.