RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1426

Copyright © Harry Rinker, LLC 2014

Celebrations and Anniversaries: A 21st Century Perspective

After a one-day appearance at the Randolph Street Market in Chicago on Saturday, May 24, 2014, Linda and I flew to Orlando on Sunday to spend a few days at our condo in Altamonte Springs.  Prior to our visit, I did an internet search for Memorial Day activities in the greater Orlando area.  We thought it would be fun to attend an old-fashioned Memorial Day Parade.

I have fond Memorial Day memories from growing up in Hellertown, Pennsylvania.  The day began with two firing squads—one from the American Legion and another from Sons of the American Revolution—visiting cemeteries in Hellertown and the surrounding townships and firing a round of three volleys followed by taps.  During my sophomore, junior, and senior year, I served as the bugler for the American Legion firing square.  The closeness of the cemeteries often resulted in the two groups hearing the firing exchanges and taps of the other.

The American Legion squad consisted primarily of World War II veterans.  The group took pride in the precision of their volleys.  The discharge pattern of the Sons of the Revolution squad was such that the American Legion squad referred to them as the “Squirrel Hunters.”

The afternoon began with a parade down Main Street, starting in the First Ward and ending at the Union Cemetery.  As a member of the Hellertown-Lower Saucon Joint Junior Senior High School, I marched in six of those parades.  Occasionally, a second band, such as the Bethlehem American Legion Post Band participated.  Every local organization from the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion to the Boy Scouts marched.

At the Union Cemetery, the mayor and other dignitaries held the official Memorial Day ceremony.   The program included a recitation of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” by students from the local high school.  The American Legion squad had the honor of firing the volleys.

The balance of the afternoon was devoted to backyard family picnics or an outing at a nearby park.  Flags flew everywhere.  The Korean War was over.  The Cold War was in full swing.  Patriotism reigned.  Flash forward 55 years.

Expecting to find several Memorial Day parades in the greater Orlando area, I was surprised when I found only one, the Sanford, Florida, Memorial Day Parade & Remembrance Ceremony.  The Sanford parade is billed as “the only Parade in Central Florida.”  Since Sanford is a 15-minute drive from Altamonte Springs, Linda and I decided to attend.  By 9:50 AM on Monday, May 26, Linda and I joined the crowd lining First Street to watch the parade.  The 2014 Parade included veterans from the USS Arizona/Pearl Harbor and two members of the “Tuskegee Airmen.”

The parade lasted about 40 minutes.  Parade participants included every official from the mayor to the local Congressman, the local and county sheriff’s departments, the fire department, and rescue squads, four or five high school ROTC units, veterans groups (most World War II and Korean War veterans riding in cars), motorcycle clubs, a stilt walking Uncle Sam, and the customary Boy Scout, Girl Scout, and other youth groups.  There was no band, even though the local high schools still were in session.  Also missing were parade vendors selling balloons, food, and souvenirs.

The estimated crowd was around 1,000.  Given the population of Central Florida and the number of retired veterans in the area, I expected to see more people.   I left the parade with mixed emotions.  I was delighted to relive a childhood memory.  Yet, I was saddened because I was witnessing the gradual decline of another of my childhood traditions.

Reflecting on my experience, I concluded that mid-20th century America was more celebration and anniversary conscious than present day 21st century America.  I do not want to play the “life was simpler then” card, although it appears to apply.  Family and community were the focus of the mid-20th century celebrations and anniversaries.  Today, families are scattered, continual movement required by job demands has shattered the sense of community, and national pride is represented more by words than actions.

As a member of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, a group that advises the Postmaster General on the subject matter and design for postage stamps, I have become increasingly conscious of anniversaries and how Americans have observed them in the past and how they do today.

What anniversaries deserve to be honored?   Is the 25th anniversary as important as the 50th or the 75th as important as the 100th?   Does anyone care about a 150th anniversary?   These questions have importance personally, nationally, and organizationally.

This August, Linda and I are traveling to Casselberry, Florida, to celebrate the 80th birthday of Hansmartin Hertlein, my bother in all ways but blood.  A week later, I am flying to Germany for his celebration in his homeland.  Starting with their 65th birthday, Germans tend to have a major birthday celebration every five years.  Although wedding anniversaries are normally celebrated at 25 and 50 years, my friends Inge and Udo Helmke had a major party on their 40th anniversary based on the premise that more of their friends will be alive then than on their 50th.

During the 50th anniversary of America’s participation in World War II, the United States Postal Service issued a World War II commemorative stamp pane each year between 1991 and 1995.  World War II still was memory vivid.  In 2014, the number of surviving World War II veterans is rapidly diminishing.   By 2041, there will be no World War II survivors.  Memory will reside in history books and on cable television.

April 2, 2017 will mark the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into World War I.   The anniversary is less than three years away.  Yet, there has been little to no publicity about organizing a 100th anniversary celebration.  World War I is in the distant past.  Will it ultimately be relegated to the history landfill similar to the Spanish-American War?

America is in the midst of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.  The United States Postal Service is in the process of issuing five panes of stamps, one each year from 2011 to 2015, to honor the anniversary.  Having lived through the celebration of the 100th Civil War anniversary, I find the lack of interest in the 150th Civil War anniversary celebrations sobering.

[Trivia Quiz:  In 1926, America celebrated the 150th anniversary of the founding of the nation.  The American Sesquicentennial Celebration was a World’s Fair.  Where was it held?]

The Civil War, World War I, and World War II had specific start and end dates.  The same does not applied to Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.   American involvement ramped up gradually as did its withdrawal.  A series of 50th anniversaries associated with Vietnam will occur over the next 15 years.  How will Americans celebrate them?  Will America celebrate them?

Forget 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, and 250.  These are obvious celebration anniversaries.  Since many of these appear to have lost focus in the 21st century, what importance should be attributed to 40, 55, 70, or 85 anniversaries?  Organizations use them to raise funds rather than as celebrations.

Anniversaries have become so commercialized that Americans are tired of them.  Businesses use any anniversary as an excuse to have a sale.  High school and college/university graduates are so pressured by other obligations that attending their class reunions is more trouble than they are worth, the exception being their 25th and 50th.  Given the scattered nature of the graduates and the rising costs of transportation, hotel rooms, and other expenses, attendance at the 25th and 50th is also questionable.

Are Americans too busy to celebrate their past?  The answer appears to be yes.  The current focus is on the present and the future.  The Millennials emanate the ME generation.   Commemorating our past is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

Finally, celebrations and anniversaries create souvenirs, memorabilia that ultimately becomes collectible.  I left the Sanford, Florida, Memorial Day parade having purchased nothing because there was nothing to purchase.  This is not a memory I want to recall when someone asks me what I think about the future of collecting.

Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet.  Check out www.harryrinker.com.

You can listen and participate in WHATCHA GOT?, Harry’s antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, on Sunday mornings between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Eastern Time.  If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT? streams live and is archived on the Internet at www.gcnlive.com.

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