“Some battles are long and hard, and you have to have staying power. Firecrackers go off in a flash, then leave nothing but ashes. I prefer a pilot light—-the flame is nothing flashy, but once it is lit, it doesn't go out. It burns steadily, and it burns forever.” John Lewis, Walking With The Wind

Time. During a pandemic, time runs differently. Adapt. Wear a mask, two. Do your part to preserve and protect health. Your own and all others. Listen to science; find small businesses and solutions to keep going. Read. Listen to music. Find a movie, series, inspiration. Be patient. Reach out and call, text, check in. People are not okay and kindness matters. Browsing through photographs captured about a year ago, and the beauty of a framed image of three horses as seen inside the Stevens-Frisbie House during a holiday open house; the building is headquarters of the Cromwell Historical Society in Connecticut. Curious about the artist, sent a query via Facebook. Here is the reply (thank you!): “The painting was done by Harriet Coe Frisbie and we believe that it was done as a study of ‘Pharaoh's Horses.' This was a common practice of art students around the turn of the 20th century. Hope this helps!”

“While searching for African American voices for this book, I found an article about the service of a black infantry regiment in Key West and went looking for the author, Debra Jackson. My office was at Columbia University, and Google whispered to me that a scholar by that name worked down the hall.” — Mike Pride, Acknowledgments, Storm Over Key West: The Civil War and the Call of Freedom (Pineapple Press, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group 2020).

As a reader, words inspire and illuminate. Connect.

You can read a nice dollop of "Storm over Key West" here. https://t.co/axsjKtWF7u

— Mike Pride (@HomerGlick) December 8, 2020

So grateful that this little dude’s dream of being a doctor (and fixing hearts) came true. Yours can, too!
Keep pushing! We are here to help you. #BlackMenInMedicine @UTSWNews @NationalMedAssn @DoctorDaleMD pic.twitter.com/uraJUasawe

— Quinn Capers, IV (@DrQuinnCapers4) December 18, 2020

For a writer, pages add up as a catalyst for story between the unseen and made visible. An author's dedication reveals more. A story well told can wipe away the time that stands between then and now. Apply yourself and gain understanding, context for the way things are. People who change the world with quiet calm and staying power.

An entrepreneur can bring ideas into being. Writing catches an idea and calls a story forth. Reporting and curating news builds muscles because what is impossible — distilling life's immediate event whether that be zoning changes or breaking news, to the first day of school in pre-pandemic times, and bricks of a community such as bus schedules, land transfers, police logs — becomes second nature possible. Write, get it out, own the errors, publish corrections. Keep going. Pasteup from melted wax and boards to digital to web, a wealth of language that can cross sectors. Experience to aid understanding and bridging divides. Now researching photographers, stitching together mud. Get the words out. Discipline.

Fresh pine and a waft of perfume, the scent of aftershave and shaving cream. Scotch tape, rip and rustles of wrapping paper. Colorful lights, reflections on shiny ornaments, music. Anticipation. Even in a pandemic, recollections enrich and memories are made. Life can change in an instant. Sidelined, not extinguished. Eye pushups and stretches, telehealth for coaching to get better. Rest but also do the proscribed regime. Listen. seek find excellence.

A year ago, but so far away. Reading. Decision to drive to an open house. Park and walk to the festivities, open the door and savor the scents and sounds inside. Mingle, observe, ask questions, tour the rooms, go up the back stairs and see the collections. Look out the windows at Main Street, a different perspective than passing by all those years as an editor for the community newspaper, then a statewide business magazine. In mind's eye, can see the various vehicles that carried me to the office and out to interviews, events, hunting the news, meeting people, capturing life for pages and pages. Hello there from here. You'd never believe the journey. Seeing what looked like my old USAF recruiter across the street at the Memorial Day parade through the camera lens, then looking up. Can this be? Yes.

Curiosity and reading, twin energies that propel a life, work, business. In Cromwell, Connecticut, inventive creativity intertwined with community intersected inside a yellow Italianate structure at the corner of New Lane and Main Street. Topped with a cupola and dressed for the season, the Stevens-Frisbie House, now the home of Cromwell Historical Society (CHS) in pre-pandemic December.

Toys. Play. Tinker. Figure things out. Look at how it is made. Look again at the objects displayed.

From Mechanical Bank Collectors of America (MBCA), this “The Cromwell Historical Society, Inc., 395 Main St., Cromwell, Connecticut is currently using the Frisbie Home as its Museum. Highlights include: J. & E. Company photos, Russell Frisbie's desk from the factory, his bedroom as it was when he lived there, photos of the Frisbie family, an original screw-driver used to assemble banks (donated by Dr. Z), etc. At the bottom of the drive behind the house is the carriage house and Frisbie workshop building.”

From the house display about the company: “The Italianate houses along Main Street in Cromwell serve as testimonials to the vast financial success of the J. & E. Stevens Company and the changing economy of the town in the mid-19th century. When John Stevens built this house in 1853 for $8,000 ($300,00 in 2015), the estimated value of the J. & E. Stevens Company was in excess of $35,000 (.5 million in 2015). Other important members of the company including Edward Stevens Coe, Joseph Waters, and Elisha Stevens built similar homes.”

Not shown here but near a framed image inside the house: “Russel Frisbie (1822-1898). In 1868, the J. & E. Stevens Company reorganized into a joint stock corporation, and Russel Frisbie, a talented designer and inventor was brought in and named superintendent and president. He immediately turned the company’s manufacturing focus toward the production of toys and banks. In addition to his work with the J. & E. Stevens Company, Russel had several other business interests including the Middletown Banking Company, Dime Savings Bank of Cromwell, Cromwell Plate Company, and the Meriden & Cromwell Railroad Company…”

Photographs. “Elisha Stevens and his brother, John were sons of a Bristol blacksmith. They moved to Middletown in the 1830s and were involved in several small manufacturing ventures before they founded the J. & E. Stevens Company in 1843…”

A painting of John Stevens (1806-1892) artist unknown. “…born in Haddam, Connecticut, and moved to Middletown in the 1830s. In 1843, he and his brother, Elisha, from the J. & E. Stevens Company. He founded the Cromwell Plate Company…

Framed photograph of Charles Brown Frisbie (1849-1935). Then one of “Russell Abner Frisbie (1874-1968). …educated at the Wesleyan School in Wilbraham, Mass., specializing in drafting and design. His business career began with the designing and selling of bicycles but his interests eventually turned to the manufacturing of automobiles. After building several motor cars in the 1910s, Frisbie began to specialize in marine engines and established the Frisbie Motor Company in Middletown. This venture proved very lucrative for Russell and he retired from the business in 1915. After spending 10 years in southeastern Connecticut, he returned to Cromwell and began work as a consulting engineer for the J. & E. Stevens Company. In this capacity, Russell made his greatest contribution to the company by improving the design of toy cap pistols…”

From Connecticut Digital Archive:

“A Guide to the J. & E. Stevens Company Records, 1888-1898. Toy company of Cromwell, Connecticut, specializing in the manufacture of cast iron toys, especially mechanical iron banks and cap pistols. Collection consists of one financial ledger of the company listing expenses, suppliers and customers, including Montgomery Ward and Gimbel Brothers. Call Number 2008.0024. Language, English. Finding Aid prepared by Laura Smith. (March 2008). Preferred Citation: J. & E. Stevens Company Records. Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries. Acquisition information: This collection was purchased from a manuscripts dealer in March 2008. Access restrictions: The collection is open and available for research.”

And: “History. The J. & E. Stevens Company was formed in Cromwell, Connecticut, in 1843 when John and Elisha Stevens established a factory to manufacture cast iron hardware, hammers and simple iron toys. In 1859 it produced its first fire cracker pistol and by the mid-1860s the company focused almost exclusively on the production of toys. In 1869 the company produced its first cast iron mechanical bank and it was soon nationally known for its innovative designs of mechanical banks, as well as still banks, or the traditional ‘piggy' banks cast of metal in the shape of animals, buildings, or other figures, with a slot to insert the coins. The company produced a great many other types of toys, including toys stoves and cannons, but by 1928 it devoted itself exclusively to the production of cap pistols. During World War II the company closed due to the shortage of iron and the company was sold to Buckley Brothers of New York in 1950.”

(And yes, deep time. More about that in another story.)

More images here. Additional voices and sources on our Resource page. Note: This story was revised 12/21/2020; while on a journey of recovery and re-discovery.