Hey, Health Heads! 

Did you know that today is a double holiday? Two different celebrations rolled into one day. It is both Watermelon Day as well as Avocado Day! Two very summery treats also turn out to be very healthy foods. Both the watermelon and avocado are quite unsuspected but technically accurate members of the berry club! That’s right. They’re both technically berries. 

A surprising sidenote is that strawberries don’t actually qualify as berries. You can read more about that confusing matter on this previous Blog post containing some little known strawberry facts. 

We know full well that watermelons and avocadoes are somewhat iconic of the summer season. That’s why you can find these popping and cute prints depicting these delectable pieces of produce on select products here at Everything Summer Camp! 

Watermelons

That high contrast from the deep green of the rind to the pink with black polka dot seeds throughout is a head turning print that we love to dress one of our Designer Trunks. Of course, you can find watermelons elsewhere on our site like icons on nameplates and name labels along with our iScream Rhinestone Watermelon Decal! 

Avocados

The main ingredient of guacamole, avocados are a wonderfully versatile food. Avocado toast is one of my favorites in the morning! With so many lovers across the board, we figured we better put this trendy theme on a laundry bag! 

 

Dish up some avocados and watermelon slices for yourself today to celebrate BOTH Watermelon Day and Avocado Day! Enjoy these delicious foods and pick out some of our products that feature these foods! Have fun shopping our online site with plenty more fun products like these and, as always, thanks for reading. 

 

- John

Hey, Paperbackers! 

Do you find yourself often enough glued between the front and back of a soft, handheld novel? Today ought to be just your cup of tea! Find your favorite spot to read and plant your face in your favorite soft cover because today is Paperback Day! It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting under a shady tree or curled up in a nice, big chair—it’s what you’re reading that counts. After all, books offer a whole different world to which you can escape! 

Of course, you can’t curl up as comfortably with a hard cover book the same way you can with the casual portability of a paperback. And that means people didn’t know the joy of truly getting cozy with a good book until the paperback revolution came around in the 1950s. 

We have Allen Lane, a publisher in England to thank for this revolution. He used money out of his own pocket to launch the Penguin Books imprint in 1935. The softcover saw immediate success in the local area, but it didn’t take too long to sweep the world! 

Paperback popularity went through the roof in a very short period. They were cheap to produce and gave way to dime novels—a quickly produced book of typically low quality printing and writing. However, many paperbacks were simply reprints of their hard cover original. 

No matter what the content, softcover books shoehorned their way into places where a hardcover dared not go such as newspaper stands, drugstores, airports, hotel lobbies, etc. Books were now an item that people would buy on impulse! 

Softcover books are great to pack along for camp and any other summer travels you may have planned. Be sure to peruse our selection of Choose Your Own Adventure Books, the Camp Confidential Series, Mad Libs, as well as summer camp guidebooks, available right here at Everything Summer Camp and happy Paperback Day! As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans. 

 

- John

Hey, Donut Devotees! 

Happy Donut Day! People love these morning-time treats so much that donuts have become more than just a mouth-watering dessert and transcended into something of a style. Their iconic shape lends immediate recognition and notability. Legend has it that it was one Captain Gregory who invented the donut hole when he spiked one on a spoke of his ship's wheel to free up his hands while he needed to steer. The truth of the donut hole is that cooks faster and more evenly this way. 

Regardless of how the hole got there, we know people like their donuts. While we doNUT have any actual donuts to sell, we DO have a handful of donut-themed products we carry! Check them out: 

Trunk
Don’t try taking a bite of this trunk, but you’ll enjoy being mesmerized by the seemingly endless piles of donuts upon donuts upon donuts! This Yummy Donuts Designer Trunk is a great way to tell everybody that you love donuts without saying you love donuts. 

Floor Mat
Start and end each day with donuts as you get in and out of bed and step onto our Donuts Floor Mat. Carry the look of your footlocker over to the Floor Mat and indulge yourself in your summer camp bunk area, creating a cool and comfortable spot! 

Pillows
Get cuddly with these seemingly cream covered, cozy pillows from iScream. Covered in a photorealistic image, it may be difficult for you to know where the donut stops and the pillow begins. Satisfy your cravings by keeping comfortable and enjoy these donut pillows from iScream! 

Do up Donut Day in style and grab some delicious dessert pillows to celebrate your donut love. As always, thanks for reading and happy camping! 

 

- John

 

Hey, Passengers! 

Today is Train Day! Trains are an exciting, old-fashioned means of travel, still used for transporting goods on a daily basis these days. Trains are enthralling—pulling hundreds of tons of weight right along at a fairly speedy clip. Some trains pull as much as 500 tons! The steam locomotive was first invented in 1804, but trains were around before that even. How were they powered? 

Horse Power
Before the steam locomotives, people actually attached horses to trains (they didn’t pull quite as much weight as trains do now, though!). The first steam engine hit 18 miles per house. On its first journey, the train riders came across owners of Stockton and Stokes, a stagecoach company who challenged the train to race one of their horses. The horse won after the locomotive ran out of juice. 

Turbo Beetle
The Black Beetle (the lesser known beetle from the 60’s) was a passenger train that was tested in New York City, 1966. Engineers were experimenting to see what speeds they could achieve so they to a jet engine from a bomber and threw it on the back of the Beetle. Its test run reached over 180 miles per hour, but they quickly scrapped the project as it was too expensive. 

Beetles VS Bullets
Just because they did away with The Black Beetle doesn’t mean further speeds weren’t achieved in years to come. Japan has The Shinkansen, or Japanese Bullet Train which gives its travelers an hour long ride from one side of the country to the other. How can that happen so quickly? Well, it travels at 200 miles per hour as the fastest train on Earth. 

There’s a train that goes by not even a block from my house and I love hearing it pass by. Enjoy any trains going by that you may encounter today. As always, thanks for reading and happy camping! 

 

- John

 

Hey, Little Birdies!

Happy Bird Day! Birds are fascinating creatures for which many people have great appreciation. Birding is a relaxing activity that people develop in which they spot and study particular birds. You can do this with birds you spot in your backyard or with birds you seek out in the wilderness. Check out these amazing facts about birds that just might change the way you see them…

 

Bird Brain
Calling someone ‘bird-brain’ may sound like an insult, but the more you learn about birds the more you may take kindly to such a reference. A particular family of birds including crows, ravens, rooks, jays, and others are believed to be some of the most intelligent animals in the world based on their capacity for problem-solving, crafting tools, considering future events, and considering the state of mind of another creature.

Built-in Compass
Scientists believe birds have a protein in their eyes that provides them with a sense called magnetoreception—the ability to detect the magnetic fields of the Earth.  This is likely what gives birds their accurate navigation skills as they fly south for the winter and return in the spring.

The Big Birds
Not the famous one that lives on Sesame Street. Just generally speaking, what is the largest bird? Well, that answer isn't quite as cut-and-dry as what the smallest kind of bird is: the Bee hummingbird which weighs less than a penny. If you’re going based off weight, it’s the ostrich which can weigh more than 300 pounds! But for flighted birds, the condor takes the cake in weight, though the Wandering Albatross’ wingspan is larger, expanding out to 12 feet! 

Aren’t birds incredible? I think the best thing about them is that, no matter where you are, you can see birds of some species or another. You may not be able to catch a condor without going to great lengths, but you can probably spot a bird of some kind without leaving your backyard. Put out some bird food, grab some binoculars, and you ought to have a great show!

Did you already know any of these things about birds? Be sure to comment to let us know and, as always, thanks for reading and happy camping!

 

- John