A Berger Bite: Enhancing daily life with regional history

While the uncertainties of contemporary life can be disconcerting, such as the price of a bushel of crabs or whether the lights on Route 1 are properly timed, reflecting upon our regional past can have a decidedly calming effect and help ground us.

Consider the following five history-related examples.

Although they are often called “the boys of summer,” it is in April that players mark the beginning of the baseball season in the United States. Among those teams scheduled to begin competition this month is the Lewes Vintage Base Ball Club. It plays by the rules of 1864 which, not surprisingly, are significantly different from those of today.

For instance, infielders are not allowed to wear gloves. Catching the ball on one bounce is an out. That would seem to be a more advisable course of action than trying to snag a whizzing hardball out of mid-air bare-handed. And, the pitcher throws the ball underhandedly (an observation on style, not morality).

Moving from the sandlots to lots of sand, Rehoboth Beach bills itself as “The Nation’s Summer Capital,” based on the high number of tourists who visit from Washington, D.C. While the exact date of the origins of that moniker are lost somewhere in Foggy Bottom, there is no denying that Rehoboth Beach still proudly upholds that designation. These visitors from the nation’s capital are not to be confused with the denizens of the United States Capitol, i.e., Congress. Despite the similarity in spelling and their geographic proximity, the nature and objectives of their respective inhabitants couldn’t be further apart.

The past is inseparably entwined with our younger days, and, in that vein, we can all rejoice that House Bill 53 will continue to allow the sale in Delaware of “paper caps used in toy guns.” Despite my childhood memories of playing with such guns, only recently did I learn of their true significance to my psycho-social development.

As noted in an online sales description of a toy pistol set, owning such side arms contributes to “imaginative play” by encouraging “problem-solving and fine motor skills, language development and socialization with other children.” I’ll leave it to your imagination (and that of the manufacturer) as to how pistol play achieves these worthy goals.

This month we begin to look forward to the annual Chautauqua visit in June. Originating in Chautauqua, New York, in 1874, Chautauqua assemblies became enormously popular for the entertainment and culture they brought to isolated communities. Incidentally, Chautauqua, New York, is not to be confused with Chappaqua, New York, which, of course, is famous in its own right as being home to the world’s best-known private email server.

Modern day Chautauquas continue to provide entertainment, but emphasize education and historical re-enactment. Those historical figures can be as diverse as Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart and the Lone Ranger. The connection between the last named lawman and the previously discussed House Bill 53 is too obvious to discuss further.

Finally, some mention needs to be made of the Kalmar Nyckel, the merchant ship that brought mid-17th century Swedish settlers to our shores. The Kalmar Nyckel was unique among colonial vessels in that it made four successful round-trip voyages from Europe to North America. That feat would probably have earned it recognition by Guinness World Records but for the fact that that reference work didn’t exist until two centuries later.

In any case, a replica of the Kalmar Nyckel, named the Kalmar Dyme (just kidding!), was launched in Wilmington in 1997 and regularly visits our region. For the first 16 years of the replica’s existence, it was home to a cat named Toolbox, a reference to the site of her birth during construction of the ship.

Since she lived on the Kalmar Nyckel, Toolbox enjoyed the distinction of simultaneously being both an indoor and an outdoor cat and she accumulated more sea time than any member of the human crew, rising to the rank of “Captain’s Assistant.”  Not bad for a cat who began life competing for space with a collection of hammers, saws and screwdrivers!

Mike Berger is a freelance writer and retired university administrator with a home in Lewes. Contact him at edadvice@comcast.net.