Carleen Hutchins, who I’d never heard of until today, died this past Friday at 98. What an interesting woman! After receiving a BA in biology from Cornell in 1933, she followed the then-common career path for college-educated women: teaching degree and marriage. But her life took a thrilling turn in 1947 when — unhappy with the viola she was playing — she decided to build herself a violin and became an innovator in the field. But my favorite story about her is when she stole a shelf from a phone booth at Columbia U with her friend Dr. Virginia Apgar (creator of the Apgar score), who thought it would make the perfect back for a violin. It did.
LINKS:
On my recent vacation, I learned that toothpaste cleans silver! The concierge, Marie, at our motel (okay, she’s the owner’s daughter and it’s a mom & pop outfit, but she’s the best concierge I’ve ever known), admired my earrings and I told her they were a little tarnished. She told me to try toothpaste and it worked like a charm. Who knew? Here are a few other travel-related uses for toothpaste: