Hey, Summer Lovers!

What says ‘summer’ more than the Fourth of July? Well, maybe summer camp, but after that I think our Independence Day really drives summer home. No matter what you do today, be it participating in a parade, enjoying a carnival or fair, attending a picnic, a concert, a baseball game, a get-together, or simply admiring the explosive colors in the night’s sky, on July 4 you know it’s SUMMER!

Happy Fourth!

Our modern celebration of Independence Day may be a familiar sight but before 1776, the fourth of July was just another date on the calendar. Back then, the colonists, despite their move in 1620 to ‘The New World’—an attempt to claim their independence—still found themselves under the rule of King George and the government of Great Britain.

As unfair taxation and other conflicts grew between the colonists and the rule of King George, the colonies held a Continental Congress to resolve the matter once and for all. A Virginia statesman named Richard Lee is known for his words in a meeting on June 7 of 1776,

“Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”

Pretty different from the way we speak today, Mr. Lee was simply saying that the colonies were able to govern themselves and didn’t need Great Britain to do the job.

It was these words that set the wheels in motion. A committee was formed to draft a document stating the colonies’ case for freedom from Britain’s reign. The five members of the committee included John Adams, Roger Sherman, Ben Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. It was Jefferson who actually wrote the document.

After days of careful examination and minor revisions, the document was finally completed on July 4 and the majority of the colonies voted in favor of it. Independence Day celebrates the day that the colonies adopted our Declaration of Independence in 1776.

The document collected signatures of our founding fathers—first and foremost, the signature of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, who signed in large print supposedly so “King George can read that without spectacles!”

So, from everyone here at Everything Summer camp, enjoy your Fourth of July, from sea to shining sea.

- John

Hey, Ice Cream Enthusiasts!

It’s Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day and we’re celebrating here at Everything Summer Camp! We all know that everyone screams for ice cream, but what KIND are we all screaming for? That’s a loaded question! Do you have any idea how many different ice cream flavors there are—‘cause I don’t! And I’m pretty sure that no one really does as new flavors are being invented all the time.

Here’s a brief history of ice cream:

At the end of the 17th Century, Italians started experimenting with freezing drinks for desserts. Hot chocolate had recently become a fast-favorite, standing alongside other popular drinks like coffee and tea. These became the first three ice cream flavors.

Since then, people have greatly expanded the variety of flavors in the magical and sometimes surprising realm of ice cream. Everyone’s tried strawberry and vanilla and, of course, the aforementioned chocolate. Most of us have ventured into astonishing creations like Cookies ‘n Cream, Rocky Road, and the addictive Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

But if you think you’re well-versed in the world of ice cream and you’ve never heard of Sbraga in Philadelphia, SoBou in New Orleans, Humphrey Slocombe in San Francisco, or Sweet Action Ice Cream in Denver, then you’ve only tasted the tip of the ice cream iceberg.

Reminiscent of ‘Harry Potter Jelly Bellies’, ice cream can take on some pretty bizarre flavors. Just how bold do you think you are? Would you try Szechuan Pepper Ice Cream? How about Bacon or Basil Avocado?

They’re doing absolutely crazy things at Sweet Action Ice Cream! They make a beet-flavored ice cream, a tomato-basil flavor, chorizo ice cream, goat cheese, curry powder, and—brace yourself—honey jalapeño pickle ice cream!

My face is scrunching just having to spell it out—but (unlike the ‘Harry Potter Jelly Bellies’) weird ice cream flavors aren’t made just for the sake of being weird. They’re actually served as desserts that people intentionally order and eat because these flavors taste good.

I, myself, have never tried any bacon-flavored ice cream, so I can’t say that it’s any good. Of course, I can’t say it’s bad either. But even if I could, there’s only one way to see if YOU like it!

Thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Cool Campers!

I know all your futures are SO bright that you need to wear shades! Easy to obtain, you can pick a pair up for yourself at any ol’ convenience store. But things weren’t always so. No, sunglasses may have been around for a long time, but they weren’t around forever. When were these crafty specs invented and who were the first folks to wear these cool shades?

Well, I suppose the very first ‘sunglasses’ were invented by the Alaskan Inuits—also known as Eskimos. They didn’t look cool as opposed to the shades we wear today, but they worked and they’re at least 2000 years old!

The Eskimos (or more like ancestors of the Eskimos) usually made these ‘snow goggles’ as they were called out of bone or ivory. They didn’t have lenses but, instead, simple slits for your eyes to see through while still blocking out the harsh sunlight reflecting off the brilliantly blinding ice and snow.

For at least a few hundred years, Chinese judges in the Middle Ages wore sunglasses. They were made with a smoke-colored quartz for the lenses and therefore actually looked somewhat familiar to our sunglasses today. They didn’t wear them as protective eyewear from sunlight, however. These judges wore them to hide any expression that their eyes may reveal—the same purpose as hardcore Poker players.

Darkened glasses were thought to help to correct certain impairments in vision around the 18th Century and by were finally sold as ‘sunglasses’ once again on the beaches of Atlantic City by one Sam Foster. Seven years later, a man named Ray Ban made the first polarized pair of sunglasses that reduce glare from sunlight.

A commercial for Foster Grant sunglasses in 1960 skyrocketed the popularity for this product making them the cool, long-lasting fashion that they still are today.

Thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Today I want to look into the history of bed sheets. They date back at least 10,000 years—possibly over 36,000! Mankind has been catching Zzz’s since before we walked on two legs…and then some. But they certainly weren’t fitted mattress sheets with colorful patterns and prints of favorite superheroes. So just what did our very first bed sheets look like?

Mankind’s first attempt at using ‘bed sheets’ was more-or-less just a crude pile of straw, leaves, and twigs. At the same time, however, dyed fibers of the flax plant have been found in prehistoric caves, suggesting that these were once woven fabrics made from wild flax.

Flax became the leading fabric for woven linen—in fact, flax is actually where the word ‘linen’ comes from as the Latin word for flax is ‘linum’. It was so popular in ancient Egypt that they would use it as a form of money. The wraps of their preserved mummies were made of linen.

Linen fabrics aren’t the easiest to spin and they’re typically expensive (which is why mummies were wrapped in it, displaying their wealth). But it is a very durable, long-lasting fabric (which we also see from Egyptian mummies).

Still linen sheets couldn’t truly be considered ‘bedding’ as beds didn’t exist until over 3000 years ago when ancient Egyptians invented the elevated sleeping platform—the precursor of the bed.

Hard-to-spin flax was soon replaced in 1793 when Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin (the Gin is short for engine, by the way), creating a much faster method of separating seeds from cotton. Cotton became the new fabric for bed sheets. And while the fabric changed, the name didn’t. We still call our bed sheets linens when they’re 100% cotton.

True linen, made from flax is still spun today and preferred by some as it’s a softer, healthier material.

I hope you learned a thing or two today and go to bed tonight with a new appreciation of your bed sheets. Thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Fishing Fans!

If you love fishing then you’re sure to love today since it’s Go Fishing Day! Today is meant to be spent fishing and nothing else! So pack up your poles and tackle box; today encourages you to get some time off from your everyday and go catch a fish in the closest body of water you can find—be it a small, splashing stream or a rough, raging river.

Most people who go fishing enjoy it. It’s hard not to as it typically offers a quiet and peaceful setting out on the water or a shady shore. I fondly recall my first fishing trip at Crowduck Lake in Canada. It’s relaxing, recreational, and rewarding!

 Fishing is in our bloodlines as it’s been practiced and taught continuously on down through the ages; so—whether you’re fishing for your dinner or for a relaxing afternoon—you’re doing something ancient when you cast your line!

 But ‘ancient’ doesn’t even BEGIN to properly illustrate how old fishing is! Fishing is real old, like PREHISTORIC kind of old. Long before the ancient Egyptians caught Perch and Tilapia in the Nile, Stone Age cavemen caught fish. This is in what’s called the ‘Paleolithic Era’. It was around 40,000 years ago.

Of course, THIS ancient of modern man did not have the means (nor the brainpower) of constructing a fishing pole, so the act of casting is not 40,000 years old, but the act of hunting seafood is. Early man relied quite heavily on the seafood diet, using a large ‘fish hook’, carved from bone to catch fish.

Even as early as 4000 years ago, some Egyptian documentations point toward fishing being practiced as a sport as opposed to a means to a meal. It took some time for recreational fishing to catch on in more modern times. Around 1500s and 1600s popularity boomed for recreational fishing.

It’s popularity remains strong today with fishing shows, younger fishers, and days dedicated to fishing. Thanks for reading—now go catch a fish!

- John