The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 55

THE SUN 6D FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1994 .4 Book explores forgotten Americana that used to fit like a glove couldn't find a single source that covered the history of the American Selective Service System." It was the same with shoe-fitting fluoroscopes, those clunky machines that graced most shoe stores in the 1950s and measured customers' feet with X-rays. "Nobody who ever used them has thought about them in 30 years," Ms. Nissenson said, "and nobody who didn't use them could even imagine what In the world they were." The women finally found references to the machines by researching radiation. Fluoroscopes were legislated out of use in the late '50s, They discovered the history of carbon paper by working backward from modern-day copying machines. They never did find documentation on sanitary-napkin belts.

Lamented losses They wrote about such things as cavities, private men's clubs, leisure suits, polio and rotary phones, none of which are completely gone but are disappearing. And they wrote about the demise of the sadly missed automats, soda fountains, American elm trees, family farms, the nuclear family. "We did a piece on the smell of burning leaves," Ms. Nissenson said, "which in some ways is a paradigm. Everybody sort of misses that nice neighborhoody feeling that standing around a bonfire on an autumn night evokes.

But the reason there aren't those kinds of bonfires more Is because they polluted the air. So you win some, you lose some. "To the degree we had a philoso' phy or an overarching point of suppose It was that. Some things get better, some things get worse, and things that seem to be 100 percent one way or the other very often i aren't." What Ms. Nissenson misses most" is the days when baseball stayed with one team for their entire career.

"I think it's nice that athletes make more money now, but I do'' miss those days when they stayed with the same team for years, in that period before the reserve clause was abrogated and athletes could make' -their own deals," she said. "It's verjr confusing for a fan. The guy who was your left-fielder last year is playing for the opposing team this year. I don't feel the same kind of fan loyalty to my team." Although she was raised In Penh-' sylvania, the Brooklyn Dodgers was her team, and she remained loyal, until the New York Mets came Into being in the early '60s. Ms.

Jonas, on the other hand, Is' nostalgic about the passing of drive-, in theaters, many of which were torn down because developers coveted the big tracts of valuable land and be- cause folks stayed home and played rented movies on their VCRs. were the uniform of women," The discovery of those aging gloves set the two women on a mission, remembering other things that had disappeared from daily life. At the end of the day, they had thought of 30 candidates to research. It was the beginning of "Going, Going. Gone: Vanishing Americana" (Chronicle Books, The softcover book is a chronicle of 71 Items or events from automats to blue laws, men's garters to wedding-night virgins what they meant in their heyday, why they disappeared and why it matters that they passed, or are passing, on.

And they are illustrated with handsome black-and-white period photographs, The stuff of everyday life "We didn't want to do a book that was Just about nostalgia," Ms. Jonas said. "Before long," Ms. Nlssenson said, "some ground rules suggested themselves. We were interested In the second half of the 20th century, and we were Interested In things and social patterns that were small so that they would've been part of everyday life.

But we were interested in things that told us something about our lives. "We didn't want to Include things like Pet Rocks that had been created just to be fads. We wanted stuff that people really thought was going to be around forever and so took for granted." Ms, Nlssenson is 55, Ms. Jonas is 56. The history of their friendship dates to Wellesley College, where they were In the Class of 1960.

Their parents were acquainted and insisted that the girls meet when school started. They did, but moved In different circles. It wasn't until they both settled In New York City, married writers, had daughters and worked In the media (Ms. Nissenson produced documentaries for network TV; Ms. Jonas was a deputy picture editor at Time) that they became close.

They're now neighbors In Manhattan. They usually work at Ms. Jonas' place. Their first collaboration was the 1990 coffee-table book "Cuff Links," about men's Jewelry. Then it was 'The Ubiquitous Pig," a coffee-table book about pigs, and their current project is "Snake Charm," a well, you get the picture.

"Going, Going, Gone" was a departure, and they have a good start on the sequel: inner tubes, newsreels, skate keys, movie double features, etc. Coming up with possibilities is easy. Researching the histories of such things as sanitary-napkin belts is not. "Since we were writing about very small things," said Ms. Jonas, "often there really was nothing, and we had to patch them together.

The draft, for instance. To our surprise, we By Dixie Rdd McClntchy News Service It started when Susan Jonas found a pair of white cotton gloves, tucked In their original tissue, the threads Joining them as a couple, never clipped. They had been in an oak tomb of bureau drawers for three decades, forgotten. "I started thinking about them, where they were from," Ms. Jonas said.

"I remembered that In the late '50s and early '60s, when I was a young woman, the day-time sort of uniform for women was a suit, matching purse and shoes and short white cotton gloves." A proper woman simply didn't go out In public without her gloves. Ms. Jonas was living in New York City at the time, working as a secretary for Time magazine. She wore white cotton gloves between April and Labor Day, when she put them away for the season. "So I would trudge to work every day wearing those stupid gloves, and it didn't matter if it was 104 out, you just wore them.

You wore them In the subway. You wore them as soon as you left the building," she said. Ms. Jonas' friend and colleague, Marilyn Nlssenson, chimed in. "All over America, we wore them.

I grew up in a small town In Pennsylvania, and Susan grew up in Pittsburgh, and our moms wore them. They SWITCH: Delay annoys some broadcasters Networks won't move till January From Page ID month 'out' with ABC." Mr. Alexander yesterday denied that WJZ was trying to hang on to ABC, adding that CBS also wanted to switch on Jan. 2 rather than Aug. 29, as Mr.

Stolz claimed. "in talking through the Issues relative to the Jan. 2 date, CBS agrees with the Group logic and Is on board," Mr. Alexander said. George F.

Schweitzer, the CBS senior vice president for marketing, confirmed that yesterday, saying: To go into this huge change in January rather than In Just four weeks gives us a tremendous advantage In the marketplace. We know the market Baltimore is very Important to us. "It has to be handled the right way, and that's why we're looking for this additional time." When told what WBAL and WMAR were saying, Mr. Schweitzer said: "That's what competitors say. What are they going to do, say it's a smart move? That's why they're called competitors." The Group decision also involves other markets, each with its own set of conditions.

So, it's not solely based on the dynamics of Baltimore. As for the confusion factor, Mr. Alexander and Mr. Schweitzer say the delay means less confusion for viewers, while Mr. Stolz and Mr.

Lewln say it means more. "Look," Mr. Stolz said, "September is traditionally a time when programming changes are made. All the syndicated switches like Sally Jesse Raphael joining us are made in September, so that's a natural time to do this. Now, there will be two periods of change one in September and one in January." Cleveland, a market undergoing similar affiliate upheaval, is making its changes in September, before the start of the new season, Mr.

Stolz noted. "I would like to do this as soon as possible so that we could reduce the confusion and the angst among viewers," said WMAR's Mr. Lewin. "If we can do this right away, just get on with it, there would be far less confusion than there surely will be In coming months with all of us talking and worrying about it." COMICS: Superhero brings super price at auction began firing air traffic controllers r. who had gone out on strike.

TEN YEARS AGO: Actor Richard 7 Burton died at a hospital In Switzerland, at age 58. At the Los -Angeles Olympics, Joan Benoit won 1 the first Olympic marathon for womj -en, finishing in 2:24:52. FIVE YEARS AGO: Five Central American presidents met in Honduras to discuss a timetable for dis-y mantling Nicaraguan Contra Associated Press 2'Z back when auctioneer James Collin-gridge knocked the Superman down to them. This was Christie's first comic book sale in London and the first such big sale at any auction house here. But Mr.

Collingridge proceeded briskly with unruffled elan, selling Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk as suavely as he sells Rubens, Degas or Picasso. Comic book connoisseurs noted a certain inexperience with grading and estimates. Many lots went for less than their estimates, Including Mr. Carr's Superman, which Christie's thought might go for from $22,575 to $30,000, without its 10 percent fee. These are really encouraging results for our first sale of comics," says Aubrey Green, a Christie's representative.

Sam Carr couldn't have been happier. "I think we were lucky because I found a four-leaf clover," he says. THIS DATE IN HISTORY: AUG. 5 In 1861, the federal government levied an income tax for the first time. In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Admiral David G.

Farragut Is said to have given his famous order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" as he led his fleet toward Mobile Bay, Ala. In 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bed-loe's Island in New York Harbor. In 1914, the first electric traffic lights were installed, In Cleveland, Ohio. In 1924, the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," by Harold Gray, made its debut. In 1953, Operation Big Switch was under way as prisoners taken during the Korean conflict were exchanged at Panmunjom.

In 1954, 24 boxers became the first inductees into the Boxing Hall of Fame, including Henry Armstrong, Gentleman Jim Corbett, Jack Dempsey, Jack Johnson, Joe Louis and John L. Sullivan. Inc. THE ALMANAC In 1957, "American Bandstand," with Dick Clark, made its network debut on ABC. In 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, was found dead in the bedroom of her Los Angeles home; her death was ruled a "probable suicide" caused by an overdose of sleeping pills.

In 1969, U.S. space probe Mariner VII flew by Mars, sending back photographs and scientific data. In 1981, the federal government FURNITURE GOLDEN OAK DANISH PECAN Complete 4 piece bedroom mite Dreiser, Mirror, Headboard Frame (Olnl NlehMwitf Oprtwtaf) 'J WL--. 1 FU 3 Pc. CURVED mmmwmv first I VT-i Fobricj SECTIONAL ALL -e t-- RDAMn RAM: Haiti band's voodoo rock forms the sound of resistance Mid Atlantic Medical Services, time OPTIMUM CHOICE INCORPORATED HEALTH CARE INSURANCE.

Small Group Reform Comes to Maryland From Page ID was willing to go up to 25,000 pounds ($37,625, There's only about a hundred of these In existence." He may well have gotten a bargain. A fine, nearly mint, "Action Comics No. 1" went for $190,000 recently in the United States. Mr. Carr's copy has had some restoration and will need some more.

The cover was torn slightly during a viewing before the auction. Nobody knows who did it. But Mr. Carr says it didn't affect his bidding. "It's a good investment," he says.

He's been a fan since he was about Sam's age. "I'd still have a collection even if they weren't a good investment." Sam was bouncing up and down in his seat while his father was vying for Superman, mostly with a bidder on the telephone. "I got quite nervous," Sam says. He gave his father a big pat on the ated voudon houngan (voodoo priest) and an economic cross-section of Haitians, not all of whom can read or write. While some of the band's songs have been banned outright from local radio and people have been beaten for singing "Fey" (Faith) one of the band's pro-Aristide tunes in public, RAM still draws huge, politically diverse crowds to its twice-weekly shows in Port-au-Prince.

The shows go on uninterrupted, though a concert in the southern coast town of Jacmel two weeks ago was a tense affair in which local police roughed up band members and the crowd was afraid to dance. On several levels "it is powerful music," says Dr. Fleurant, himself a voudon houngan. And all Haitians are touched by the style of RAM's music because they grew up with voodoo music, he explains. The purpose of ceremonial voodoo music is to "clear the air, to put people in contact with the loa spirits to enhance possession by the spirits," he says.

"How it Is working it's magic on you, I don't know but it is power-ftil." rrAr. rr OPPORTUNITY WOSXIHS 75 YEASS 19191994 All Store locctkruCotl 247-3500 Em in July! BEDDING SALE OFFERED! may vary 3 PC. DINETTE Sim I hr ai ahewn t.e iM.klu m.Ui 5 Pc. Mf oho mJfobta P'n flnhh irlr' mil oa le 4 t. lectin Mii4 7154 AMBASSADOR RD.

695 West Exit 17 944-3330 9 5 'ii i lift mm POSTUtti SHIES 'S, From Page ID makes mizik razin, or roots music, a mix of modern music with basic rhythms that survived into the New World through the African slave trade. RAM's Haitian-American leader, Richard Morse, founded the group in 1990 with his wife Lunise, a Haitian dancer. The son of an American Yale professor and Emerente de Pradines, a famous Haitian dancer who studied with Martha Graham, Mr. Morse came to Haiti in 1985 fresh from Princeton on his own sort of mizik razin search. In the meantime, he has learned Haitian Creole and earned the furrowed brow one gets after years of working in the difficult Haitian system that has included 15 governments since Mr.

Morse arrived. Mr. Morse supports himself by running the creaky, gingerbread Olaffson Hotel crash pad for writers, movie stars and now the stage for RAM's weekly performances, which literally make the floorboards rumble as an amazing mix of people cram onto the veranda. "I came to Haiti to mix pop rhythms with voodoo," says Mr. Morse.

"Our music came from Africa jazz, blues, rock and roll all evolved from black cultures. We're taking what evolved in the United States and mixing it with its pure form that survived in Haiti. "I had to get people who knew the pure form," he says, noting that the band "is the masses," including voodoo ceremonial drummers, an initi tt ft sixmo A JEWELRY ALWAYS SALE PRICED lCT horn $1990 Choose from hundrfds of dumondj ft settings. All reparn on premise. All Dumonds Jtwehy SoM With Appraisal Certificate.

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