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Saturday, April 28, 2018

2018 A - Z Challenge - Y


Y    Things We Appreciate

Back in 1907, Chicago car salesman John Hertz, along with Walden Shaw began using trade-ins as taxicabs. Hertz painted the cars yellow to attract attention and in 1915 incorporated the Yellow Cab Company with a fleet of 40 cars. By 1925 it was the largest taxicab company in the world and boasted a fleet of over 2500. Several significant innovations were introduced under the leadership of Hertz, including the automatic windshield wipers, smooth-riding balloon tires, and telephone dispatch. But in 1929, John Hertz gave up his share of the Yellow Cab Company to focus on a rental car company he’d purchased in 1923. After merging with Checker, Yellow Cab remained in business throughout the years and in the late 90’s split off on its own again and founded the Wolley (yellow spelled backward) Cab Association, which runs a fleet of 120 bright orange cabs in Chicago.

Yellowstone National Park – The nation’s first national park was established and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. Encompassing nearly 3500 miles including areas of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, the park is well-known for its geothermal features such as the ‘Old Faithful” geyser that erupts every 91 minutes, and Yellowstone Lake; one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America, is centered over Yellowstone Caldera which is the largest super-volcano on earth. There are 290 waterfalls, 2 rivers, and 3 deep canyons to explore, though 80% of the park is forest and grassland. 311 species of birds, including 26 pairs of nesting Bald Eagles had been documented within the park as of 1999.
Bison are among the 60 different mammals you might see roaming free, though, for the bison, Yellowstone may be their last remaining stronghold. When the photo of Park Ranger Horace Albright and his dinner companions was taken in 1922, the practice of feeding the friendly bears was a favorite tourist activity, but several years and a few hundred injuries later, the practice was abolished.



Speaking of bears and Yellowstone Park, did kindly Yogi the Bear of Jellystone Park ever remind you of Ed Norton (played by Art Carney) from the television sitcom The Honeymooners? As many Hanna-Barbera characters were based on trending celebrities, Ed may well have been the inspiration.  I’m kind of partial to Yogi’s best friend Boo-boo ;-)  Fun Fact: Yogi was one of several Hanna-Barbera characters who wore a collar so that animators didn’t have to re-draw his entire body for each frame.

Any thoughts? Can you add to the list of things we appreciate that begin with the letter Y?

6 comments:

  1. Hi, diedre!

    Y O Y can't the A To Z go on forever? U C what I did there? :)

    I enjoyed learning how innovative entrepreneur Hertz founded Yellow Cab years before he elected to "put you in the driver's seat." I remember the crass joke that circulated when I was a kid. Chubby Checker = a fat taxi cab.

    Yellowstone must be magnificent. Mrs. Shady and I plan to get there someday. The wealth of animals and natural features found at the park represent the type of vacation experience we enjoy most. I'm sure Yogi wishes the rule against feeding the bears would be overturned. In my boyhood and early teenage years I was a regular viewer of that and other Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. Having also been a regular viewer of The Honeymooners, I did indeed notice and appreciate the similarities between Yogi and Norton. Another popular cartoon series, The Flintstones, with its two working-class couples dynamic and Fred Flintstone and pal Barney Rubble sounding and behaving much like Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton, was accused of being a direct rip-off of The Honeymooners and at one point Jackie Gleason was tempted to sue.

    I thoroughly enjoyed your Y post, dear friend diedre. Have a great weekend. I B Z-ing you Monday at the finish line!

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    1. Hi Shady!

      I do see what you did there - very clever! Yikes, I thought Chubby Checker was an entertainer ;-)

      I almost didn't use Yellowstone (too easy), but I couldn't resist. It truly is an unforgettable experience.

      I didn't catch the Flintstone character similarities until recently viewing Honeymooners re-runs. Then I saw it right away. You know, I think Ed (Art) did try (unsuccessfully)to sue over Yogi's character.

      I'm glad you enjoyed, and very pleased you came by, my friend!
      Have a terrific weekend, and Yep, I'll Z you Monday (whew) ;-)

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  2. dIEDRE ~
    Very 'Fun Facts' about Hertz and the Yellow Cab Company. I hadn't heard ANY of that before.

    >>... Yogi was one of several Hanna-Barbera characters who wore a collar so that animators didn’t have to re-draw his entire body for each frame.

    I don't quite get that. How did the collar save them from having to re-draw the rest of his body?

    ~ D-FensDogG
    Stephen T. McCarthy Reviews...

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    1. Howdy Reno!

      I hadn't heard about the Hertz connection either - pretty cool, huh? I was reminded of Paul Harvey's "And now you know the rest of the story" ;-)

      The way I understand the 'collar' thing is that it's used as a sort of cut-off point, so they can draw different facial expressions for each frame while the rest of the picture remains the same. Me, I just wondered why a bear in the wild would have a collar in the first place.
      Have a sunny weekend!

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  3. Hi Diedre - yellow flowers ... jasmine, daffodils, celandines and so many others ... just that mix of primrose yellow to lemon/ lime yellow ... or Wimbledon tennis balls that are actually green ... but yellow sun would be nice on a wet soggy Sunday - cheers Hilary

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    1. Hi Hilary!

      We are awash in yellow just now. Allergies at an all-time high - but I do love the color!
      Celandines? I'll have to look that up ;-)
      Wishing a bright yellow sun for you tomorrow!

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Any thoughts? Join the conversation, comments welcome here!