Vintage News Articles & Finds

[billycw]

Ellora Caves continued...

Close look at the hemp plaster from Ellora Caves, sample from Cave 12.

Indra Sabha Temple - Ellora caves

And a tour of The Kailasa Temple...

Tour of Ellora Caves. Cave 16 -The Kailasa Temple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuPH1xTY36c


Sorry for so many pictures but truly an amazing place...

 

[Mrs.Babba]

Please don't apologize billy you like you said the pictures are so amazing, to see them in person must be truly breathtaking!!
Thank you

 

[billycw]

1873 engraving of a Bernese woman beating hemp- Antique Book page

If anyone knows the book this is from, I would love to hear...

 

[_tessarecting]

Amazing pics! What are all those things supposed to be in front of Ganga?

 

[billycw]

Amazing pics! What are all those things supposed to be in front of Ganga?

I'll give you a couple of choices as I'm not 100% positive and I always loved a certain hindu story...

1. Option one is the most probable, Lily Pads. Being goddess of the river, lily's/lotus pads make sense and are used in Hindu symbolism. Egyptians used a drug made from the Blue lotus (nymphaea caerulea) that looks similar too...

the Blue lotus (nymphaea caerulea)


2. Option two is mushrooms, they have been around and used in the area and religion for a long long time. Looks like they waited too long to pick though, maybe rebirth lol


3. Option three is a stretch being some have what appears to be stems attached, river rocks. Many sculptures are placed on river rock mounds and it would make sense for the Goddess of the rivers to be placed upon them... Stretch but had to include as a possibility...


4. Well option four is my favorite... Vagina's...

From the ancient Hindu teachings 'The Ramayana' we find this amazing story...

So 'Ahalya' was fucking sexy made from the ingredients of beauty itself by Brahma(the creator god)... Brahma married her off to the pure-of-heart Sage named 'Gautama'...

Indra(the king of the gods) lusted for 'Ahalya' and would stalk her by assuming other forms to go unnoticed by the husband...

One day Indra could take no more... Convinsing the moon to change into a rooster at 2 in the morning, he crowed to wake up the husband 'Gautama'. Thinking it was time for work, Gautama left for the day...

Indra then changed into the form of the husband Gautama...

Walking into the house he demands Ahalya have sex with him at once...

Ahalya, being powerful herself, knows it is not her husband but flattered accepts and gets freaky with Indra...

Panel from a Box late 17th - 18th century India depicting Indra and Ahalya


Right after the deed Ahalya feels bad, go figure, and tells Indra to leave just as her real husband gets home...

Indra wanting to sneak away changes into a cat and starts strolling away...

The husband Gautama being no fool knows what happened. Furious he curses the Moon for tricking him into thinking it was daytime, hence why the moon has 'holes' in it...

Then Gautama turns his wrath to his wife Ahalya...
"Fie on you, Ahalya! Your vanity led you into committing such a grave error. May you lose the form you are so proud of and subsist only on air. Surviving in such a manner, may you become invisible to the world, meriting no more importance than an ordinary rock, for ages to come. Not unless Vishnu himself decides to set foot in this ashrama may you be redeemed."

So he changed his wife into a rock, often seen in Shiva's wedding to Parvati as a reminder to be faithful(usually under Parvati's foot), like a rock lol...

Shiva and Parvati, India, c. 925-950, schist - Chazen Museum of Art



Then Gautama set his sites on Indra still trying to sneak away as the cat...
"Where do you go, shameless Lord?" the sage demanded. "Halt in your path, wait for me to grant you what you seek above all else. May your body, the strength of which is the cause of your impudence, be covered by that which you seek and furthermore, may you lose what is needed to unite with it."

Thats right, Gautama put vagina's all over Indra's body, 1000 to be exact...

Indra with 1000 eyes


Ashamed at his assortment of vagina's all over his body, Indra hid away neglecting his godly duties...

The other gods unhappy with the amounting work, formed a group to ask Gautama to change the curse on Indra...

Being that time had gone by, Gautama no longer mad, changed the curse...
“May the thousand additions to Indra’s features become eyes.”

Hence the 1000 eyed god Indra...

Apsaras of Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Indra has a house band called 'Gandharvas', Apsaras are the girls that dance for Indra with the house band, Nice...


I guess its all up to interpretation when the paint and artist's are long gone, but I always pick vagina's when given the option...

 

[billycw]

Pro-cannabis protestors in the 1960s

 

[billycw]

Scored some American History, thought I would share...

1861 Hemp For Traitors - Civil War postal envelope. I always thought these to be standard size envelopes (around 4in x 9 1/2in or so) but these are the small size for like events or parties, this one measuring 3in x 5 1/2in. Placed a quarter for reference... Have larger scan if wanted for your documents just pm.

 

[billycw]

Norman Rockwell by Alex Ross

 

[billycw]

Grow Yer Own Stone - Alexander Sumach, 1974 book cover


Grow Yer Own Stone

Canada much like the U.S. during the 70's had high penalties for cannabis infractions. In 1974 Author Alexander Sumach published a book proposing a solution...

Grow yer own stone... In it he sugests the Canadian government allow law-abiding Canadian citizens to legally grow their own cannabis in their own homes thus cutting out the criminal element...

Did I mention this was published in 1974...

A Prayer for Cultivator's - poem from Grow Yer Own Stone, 1974

 

[Hermanthegerman]

In the moment I am in the US Civil war fever again. Reading books, watching maps and DVDs. Before some days I saw the movie "Glory". The 54 Massachusetts Regiment was the first Black Regiment in the US Army.

My respect to Robert Gould Shaw, who was falling on top of his "buffalo soldiers"!

The most famous picture I think

And a little bit more realistic

 

[billycw]

Really enjoy reading on the Civil War too Herman, Glory is a classic for sure. Have a lot saved on the time period, how could I not in a war of Hemp vs Cotton and Hemp wins


Johnny, Fill Up the Bowl!

1863 Civil War Song

And just in case you wanted to play along at home...

 

[Hermanthegerman]

Ha ha, well hemp won! I am still reading the Carl Schurz Autobiography, war is over. Now he writes about the situation for north and south after the war. How poor the south was after the war, they needed the slaves for the harvest, that there is no hunger in CSA Country, but the slaves were free. Their Money had no value. Parts of the country and villages and Citys burned down. Interesting to read, the book, it´s so close to the time and gives a "brandnew" watch.
Interesting also, that Schurz writes his point of view. The german Union troopers were cowards (Chancellorsville) but he means that the americen press and army was just looking for a scapegoat.

By the way, I really like the civil war storys from Ambrose Bierce.

Yesterday I saw "Gods and Generals", don´t know how often I watched the movie. My next book is about letters and diarys of german immigrants in the civil war.

 

[billycw]

Now I'm going to have to read up on Carl Schurz, Herman... Have to hear the whole story on the Spandau prison break...

Really enjoyed reading a Carl Schurz speech from 1859 printed in "the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, newspaper, March 24, 1859"

Link to the whole speech- https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/State_Rights_and_Byron_Paine

the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, March 24, 1859

"A Republic with centralized administration in it, is no better than a despotism without a nominal King. There the people exercise their right of suffrage only in order to choose their own tyrants, and every popular vote means the suicide of Liberty."

"In order to invest the central government with the powers indispensable for carrying out the objects for which it was instituted, the States had to divest themselves of them. So they did, and made certain grants of power to the central government, never losing sight of the objects for which it was done. — “In deciding, what powers ought, and what ought not to be granted, the leading principle undoubtedly was, to delegate those only, which could be more safely, or beneficially exercised for the common good of all the States, by the joint or general government of all, than by the separate government of each State; leaving all others to the several States respectively. The object was, not to supersede the separate governments of the State; but to establish a joint supplemental government, in order to do that, which either could not be done at all, or as safely and well done by them, as by a joint government of all.” These are the words of a high democratic authority, Calhoun. The powers of the executive branch of the general government were most exactly enumerated; the range of the legislative department firmly walled in, the scope of the judiciary rigidly defined, and the makers of the Constitution, and of the amendments thereto, took great care to leave not a shadow of doubt about that one all important point, that the powers not expressly delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people. They never lost an opportunity to recognize the sovereignty of the States; in the convention which framed the constitution, they voted by States; they submitted the Constitution for ratification to the States, and made it amendable only by a vote of and by the States; all this, because they designed, in the construction of a general government, to carry out the doctrine of the ramification of political power as the only reliable safeguard of the liberties of the people, and because they recognized the States as the great depositories of organized local self-government. They, indeed, intended to build up an efficient general government; but they were determined not to sacrifice to its efficiency any of the bulwarks of popular liberty. And there stands the constitution, establishing a government of delegated powers, strictly defined and firmly walled in; strong enough to protect the honor of the American flag in every sea, and the honor of the American name in every land; strong enough to protect our frontiers from invasions and the homes of the citizens from lawless violence; but intended not to be strong enough to invade the liberties of the people. (Applause.)

And here let us pause a moment. There is the Constitution of the United States, with all its grants of power, and its limitations and restrictions, with all the great fundamental principals underlying it, and setting forth all the great objects it is to subserve, nicely defined and well-worded, the Constitution, the glorious bequest of the heroic age of our history, the object of our confidence and admiration, and now I tell you, calmly and deliberately, that constitution is not worth the paper on which it is printed, if the authority to construe it, is exclusively and absolutely vested in the central government.

Cardinal Richelieu used to say: “Give me three lines in writing of a man, and I will find a capital offense in it, sufficient to make him swing.” And I tell you: “Give me absolute authority to construe the Constitution of the U. S., as I please, and I will construct under its provisions the most absolute government the world ever saw.” (Laughter.)"

"They say: “If there is no supreme authority, to which all others must yield, how will it be possible to maintain law and order.” Sir, I have heard that argument before I landed upon the shores of this Republic. I have heard this claim set up against all liberal aspirations in the old world; against every attempt of the people to throw off the shackles of despotism. And, sir, it fills my soul with sinister misgivings when in the very bosom of this republic, I see them instill into the hearts of the people that superstitious belief in the necessity of a strong central government.

People are but to apt to take a childish pleasure in the great actions of state, performed on the boards of our general government. They already like too much to see their servants appear in a gorgeous outfit of power and act the great and mighty. Take care not to make them forget that the principal guaranty of their rights, their liberties, their security, their welfare and their greatness does not not consist in a splendid representation, but in that dismemberment of political authority which keeps the power near the original source of sovereignty; a system which is modest in its outward appearance, but renders governments weak in doing mischief, and the people strong in doing good.

Law and order! You must indulge me sir, if I have a little more distrust in that device than many of my friends. There was no crime ever committed by the bloodiest despots for which “law and order” was not used as a ready plea. “Law and order” was written on the banners of Louis Napoleon when he cemented his empire together with the blood of the people. “Law and order” has reddened the green waters of my beautiful Rhine, and marked with bloody streaks the waves of the Danube. Go to the old world, and on the gateposts of the European Continent you will find the inscription, “law and order,” in characters of blood and fire. Go and study it, and you will learn how beautiful it is, under the dazzling splendor of their strong governments; that sublime order of barracks, and that serene tranquility of grave yards. (Applause.)

You may tell me that I exaggerate, and that such things are far off. Perhaps I do exaggerate. I wish these things were farther off than many of you suppose. Take care lest unexpected events shake you up from your dreams of security. Do you not see the general government surrounding itself with all the paraphernalia of centralized authority? do you not hear the incessant cry of more soldiers, more ships, more money, more discretionary power? Do you not see a government determined to carry its point at all hazards? Do you not see the hideous monster of the constructive treason doctrine lurking behind the supreme bench?

Do you not see those petty pro-consuls, the federal district judges, who feel big when they can show their power? Did you never see them meddle with your domestic concerns, see them sneer at your state authorities and wantonly set your state laws at defiance. Ah, is your recollection so short! Did you never hear of the federal soldiery levelling their bayonets at the breast of the citizen in order to enforce — what? the fugitive slave law, a law by virtue of which, they may impress you and me as a police force to hunt up a man who has broken his fetters? Did your cities never resound with the crack of the federal musketry? Have you forgotten that federal army was sent to subdue the people of Kansas, who had the impudence to make laws for themselves? Have you never heard the threat, we will subdue you! Exaggeration, indeed; you have but to submit and acquiesce a little longer, and that power which rules over you, will teach you to tell truth from fiction.

Sir, do not set me down as an advocate of disorder and disunion. Oh sir, I have spent many a midnight hour over the awful problem, how human liberty can be brought in accordance with the strictest order of the social machinery; how the conspiracies of lurking despotism can be disarmed without a struggle and the rights of man be placed above all dangers of collision and conflicts. — I long to see descend to us that sublime order which reigns in regions above, where different solar systems rotate side by side, in eternal harmony, undisturbed even by the wanderings of the comet which draws its irregular lines across their spheres. But since that cannot be, since error and prejudice and passion stand in the way of human perfection, I do not want to see the safe guards of our rights and liberties surrendered without a struggle. I rejoice to see collision and conflicts unavoidable, when our highest good is put in danger.

Disunion! I am asked — will not with your doctrine of co-ordinate powers, the union be “a rope of sand.”

Sir, it is better that this union be a rope of sand around those who are willing to stay together, than a rope of hemp around the neck of Liberty. [Loud cheering.]"

"Do not think that we who are born in foreign lands watch its progress and safety with less solicitude than you. If possible, still deeper anxiety fills our hearts. For you know only what this union is worth to yourselves; but we who mourned over the downfall of liberty when we first saw the light of day, we know what it is worth to the world! [Applause.]

May I never behold the day when the people of this country, setting on the ruins of their greatness, their hearts full of grief and sorrow, will, with wistful eyes, look back on times gone by, and scrutinize the pages of their history, and say: — here we ought to have resisted, and there we ought to have stood firm and so we ought to have stemmed the current of centralizing power, and all would be well now!

May never the dismal word, too late! darken the annals of this country. May this nation, in time, remember the old battle cry, “We must preserve our liberties, or perish in the lost ditch!” [Loud Applause.]"

 

[Hermanthegerman]

Well, Carl Schurz was an interesting Charakter. Freedom fighter for democracy in Germany, imigration in his early 20s to the USA. Later General and Senator, for him the USA was a living dream, a real democratic utopia.
When I am writing about german troops, than I mean the german imigrants had the highest numbers and also the highest numbers in the US army in the beginning of the civil war. There was a lot of volunteers regiments nearly complete 100% with german officers and soldiers. Later more mixed.

 

[geneva_sativa]

Fascinating finds, gentlemen !

Abolitionist and intrepid defender of liberty, Lysander Spooner's poignant piece on the similarities between highway robbery and taxation.

"The government does not, indeed, waylay a man in a lonely place, spring upon him from the roadside, and, holding a pistol to his head, proceed to rifle his pockets. But the robbery is none the less a robbery on that account; and it is far more dastardly and shameful.

The highwayman takes solely upon himself the responsibility, danger, and crime of his own act. He does not pretend that he has any rightful claim to your money, or that he intends to use it for your own benefit. He does not pretend to be anything but a robber. He has not acquired impudence enough to profess to be merely a “protector,” and that he takes men’s money against their will, merely to enable him to “protect” those infatuated travellers, who feel perfectly able to protect themselves, or do not appreciate his peculiar system of protection. He is too sensible a man to make such professions as these. Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do.

He does not persist in following you on the road, against your will; assuming to be your rightful “sovereign,” on account of the “protection” he affords you. He does not keep “protecting” you, by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that; by robbing you of more money as often as he finds it for his interest or pleasure to do so; and by branding you as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy to your country, and shooting you down without mercy, if you dispute his authority, or resist his demands. He is too much of a gentleman to be guilty of such impostures, and insults, and villainies as these. In short, he does not, in addition to robbing you, attempt to make you either his dupe or his slave. " -Lysander Spooner

 

[billycw]

Dig the find, geneva_sativa. So many amazing people, places and times in history...

Sometimes you have to light one up just to take it all in, Thanks for sharing...

Philadelphia Evening Bulletin 1964

 

[billycw]

Peking Opium Pipes, Beijing, China 1917-19

 

[billycw]

“Aunt Betty Arnett lived 87 years of her life unable to read or write; she lives far back at the headwaters of Licking River in Magoffin County, KY. She is now doing well in the first grade in literacy classes offered in the mountains.”

Photo caption by George Goodman - 1939 photo describes ‘The Education Project,’ a WPA sponsored literacy program.

 

[billycw]

When asked how much hemp used to grow in this region one farmer responded by saying,

"Do you see these rice fields?" pointing to the vast checkerboard of rice fields we'd been cutting and bundling, "before the war, we didn't grow rice here, we grew hemp."


- Poli Kondo (local farmer in Miasa-mura, Japan)

Asakogi: pulling up by the roots , Hemp harvest (Miasa Mura, 1944)


Japan's "Beautiful Hemp Village"

Right outside Nagano, Japan lies a picture perfect little village with thousands of years worth of history right under foot. The History of the town lies in Hemp...

The Japanese town is named Miasa-Mura, which literally translates to the "Beautiful Hemp Village"...

Haotoshi: Stripping the leaves with a sickle (Miasa Mura, 1944)



For at least 2000 years the people of Miasa-mura have farmed hemp. The hemp from Maisa-mura was highly sought after and was called 'yamanaka asa (Hemp from the Mountains)' prized for its high quality...

Hoshikaeshi: After yorihoshi put the stems in the fields for 3-4 more days, then store them in barn until December (Miasa Mura, 1944)


In 1948, right after WWII when Japan was not a sovereign country but still under American occupation, the United States passed a oppressive new law...

Taima Torishimari Hô (the Cannabis Control Act)

Under this new law imposed by a occupying force, Cannabis became illegal in Japan...

Hemp producing villages were forced to abandon thousands of years of hemp history to producing legal crops like rice to survive...

After becoming a sovereign country, this law stayed on the books continuing America's occupation on Cannabis...

Asakaki: peeling bark off the stalks (Miasa Mura, 1944)

Hemp fibre ready for shipment (Miasa Mura, 1944)

 

[billycw]

Mr. Nakamura's 300 year old hemp house in Miasa Mura, Japan. Built in 1698


They huffed, We puffed, Hemp held the House Down

In 1698, let me repeat that, In 1698 Mr. Nakamura's ancetors build his family house in Miasa-mura, Japan. Incredibly the house is still standing today. The houses secret to lasting more then 300 years? Almost the entire house is made out of Hemp...

Unlike the 3 little pigs, Mr. Nakamura's family used hemp to make a house to stand the test of time. With wooden beams serving as the structural support, Hemp ropes would bind the supports together.

Beams and roof tied with hemp ropes


Hemp bundles fill the walls for insulation while the hemp stalks tied together like a mat serve as both a wall (think drywall made of hemp mat's)and pleasing decoration.

Hemp stalks are then piled in a thick layer on top of the roof beams forming the roof. Tied down, the edges are then trimmed to complete the decorative look.

Bedrooms for visiting Samurai

View of Hemp stalked roof

Hemp stalks piled together form the main foundation of the roof. Hemp stalks at the base of thatched roof.