The subject of this post is a peculiar association of Maxwell House with
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. Remember the Maxwell House slogan, Good to the Last
Drop? Of course, you do, who could forget? Well, it is often claimed that Teddy
Roosevelt, in 1907, coined the slogan after the coffee was served to him at the
Hermitage, a famous Nashville resort that was originally Andrew Jackson’s home.
Pendergrast, in his book, doubts that Roosevelt ever said those words. However,
the company itself claimed differently in advertisements such as this one,
below, from the 1920’s:
Teddy Roosevelt Gave Popular Slogan To Maxwell House Coffee
Theodore Roosevelt, while president of the United States, and touring the
South, made a stop at Nashville, Tennessee, where he was, of course, received
with glad acclaim. he was then served with Maxwell House coffee. Taking a
second cup, and drinking it all, he good humoredly and in his characteristic
style exclaimed, “Good to the last drop.” The saying stuck. It was indeed too
good to pass. The slogan was adopted, “Good to the last drop,” right on the
spot. It has been heralded practically around the world. Maxwell House coffee
is used far and wide, and those who once enjoy a cup readily and heartily agree
with Theodore Roosevelt—”Good to the last drop.”
Maxwell House coffee is the largest selling brand of high grade coffee in
the world. It is to be found at leading hotels. Wherever introduced, it meets
with rapidly increased sales, because of its genuine high quality.
The Cheek-Neal coffee Company, of Houston Texas, marketers of Maxwell House
Coffee, are among the leading concerns of the South, as to progressiveness,
substantiability, and aggressiveness. As an attest of their splendid
enterprise, Maxwell House coffee, “Good the last drop,” is now to be found at
the leading hotels of New York and throughout the East, as they are opening up
that territory. Southern folks will be pleased to learn this, and to know their
favorite coffee can be found wherever they travel.
-----Original Message-----
From: dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sun, 8 Aug 2021 15:26:05 -0700
To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: RC paper and fixer questions. Also a sink
update
Sistan is apparently a mixture of thiocyanate and a wetting
agent. So, its used in place of a wetting agent as the last step
where it will not be rinsed out by a subsequent bath. One
complaint about it had to do with establishing the concentration
of the chemical remaining in the emulsion. If the stuff works it
has some advantages over toning.
I am drawing a blank on the brand of coffee widely advertised
on radio in the old days "Good to the last drop".
On 8/8/2021 3:13 PM, Richard Lahrson wrote:
Sistan is no longer made. But
I have several bottles on hand,
someone on this list sent me
(maybe Janet?). Mixed with
distilled water its the last bath
before the drying rack. Apparently you
can use Sistan to the last drop, I'll
say it, just like alcohol!
On Sun, Aug 8, 2021 at 2:57 PM `Richard Knoppow
<dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Most toners are somewhat toxic. T-8 is no more so that other
"sepia" toners but does emit some hydrogen sulfide gas so has
that "rotten egg" odor and should be used with good
ventilation.
One advantage of polysulfide toner is that it affords
protection without full toning. I don't know the minimum
amount
but it should provide protection before causing a noticeable
color change.
T-8 is slow but since one is only partially toning that
may
be an advantage.
Kodak published a couple of combination toner formulas
which
have posted to this list in the past. These are a mixture of
Kodak Brown Toner (T-8) and KRST. I think it was sold as
Polytoner. I found it acts very quickly, perhaps due to the
carbonate in it. One must use a stop bath of sulfite. Wash aid
works for this. That also removes any orange or brown stain
left
by the toner.
As far as gloves, I agree they are a bother but I would
avoid
getting my hands in most photographic solutions. In any
case use
tongs.
I don't know the shelf life, probably very long.
Note that any sulfide toner will provide protection but
other than T-8 the toning should be carried out to completion.
Same for Selenium toner and Gold toner. Partial toning does
not
work.
I have heard reports that Agfa Sistan does work but have
still not seen any research on it. Sistan does not affect the
color or structure of image, which makes it useful for
microfilm.
On 8/8/2021 9:58 AM, Richard Lahrson wrote:
> I never liked the feel of RC paper.
> Most of the darkroom workers on the list
> don't do analog darkroom prints commercially.
> Considering the hassle we go through setting
> up the darkroom, I see no reason, at least for me,
> to use RC paper.
> I got a question about Kodak T-8 polysulfide toner:
> How long does it take to provide archival protection?
> It takes 20 minutes to change color without heating.
> Plus how toxic it T-8? Do I need gloves? Gloves are
> a hassle.
>
> On Sun, Aug 8, 2021 at 12:20 AM `Richard Knoppow
> <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>> wrote:
>
> Try fishing, good way to use up worms.
> I will try to answer the question about RC print
> flatness. It
> depends on the weather. Because of the way RC paper
is made it
> seems to be more sensitive to humidity. I found that in
> very dry
> weather RC tends to curl up tightly and then relax when
> there was
> more moisture in the air. I don't know a good cure
for this.
> My technique with fiber paper is to flatten it
in a dry
> mounting press. This was originally a part of the
procedure
> I use
> to dry mount pictures. One step is to dry out the
mounting
> materials and the print using a heated dry mount press. I
> make a
> sandwich of the print with a layer of release tissue
over the
> emulsion side and clean construction paper as an
absorbent
> layer
> on the support side. This sandwich is placed in the
heated
> press
> and the press closed by not locked and left for
perhaps two
> minutes. Then I take the sandwich out and place it
under a
> flat
> weight, preferably one made of metal, and let it
cool. I find
> this will flatten the print and for some reason it
stays flat
> despite variations in humidity. The trick does not
work on
> RC I
> think because there is no way to change the amount of
> moisture in
> the support.
> BTW, the traditional way of drying fiber also plays a
> part in
> keeping it flat. That is drying on screens with the
> emulsion side
> facing the screen. This tends to equalize the rate of
drying
> between support and emulsion. If a fiber print is
just hung in
> air the emulsion side will dry much faster than the
support. I
> think something similar happens with old fashioned
blotter
> books.
> The emulsion faces the glassine sheet and the support is
> against
> the blotter. Blotter books work pretty well but I
don't use
> them
> because there is too much chance of contamination. At
least
> with
> screens, especially plastic ones, one can wash them.
> I agree that RC is much faster to work with than
fiber,
> mostly because the wash time is so short even when a wash
> aid is
> used for the fiber paper. BTW, wash aid is not necessary
> for RC
> and probably should not be used.
> I don't know what the current thought on print
life is
> but
> RC probably is nearly as long lived as properly processed
> fiber.
> If I had to make prints for archival purposes I think
I would
> still use fiber.
> It seems to me the degradation of the images on
RC due to
> decomposition of the brightener in the support is
very much a
> thing of the past. However, for either kind of support
> treating
> the prints with a polysulfide toner is still good
practice.
> I don't know about the shelf life of wash aid. It
probably
> depends on how well the bottles are sealed. In general, I
> don't
> like old chemistry. At least with developer you can
tell if it
> works but its not so simple with other stuff except that
> probably
> sodium fixer will last for ever.
> I would consider inks a can of worms. I am sure
there are
> research papers on ink life. I see degraded paper more
> often than
> faded ink but my experience is quite casual. I will be
> interested
> in what others think.
>
> On 8/7/2021 10:02 PM, mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> <mailto:mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
> > Ok, it is time to open the preverbal can of worms
question.
> > Just how long will an RC print last. Trying to find
> reliable
> > data seems to be a problem. One one side you get
its trash,
> > and on the other it will last 70 years or so. One
side says
> > fiber base will last 500 years, but some of the
really early
> > prints are less that 200 years old.
> >
> > I also know that outgassing was a real problem with the
> early
> > RC prints. No doubt about that, but I also know the
> technology
> > has improved. If RC has improved to a 70 year
life, and our
> > current variety of (gasp) digital prints are in the
70 year
> > range (and I read something about inks outgassing as
> well), why
> > do art galleries seem to accept a digital print,
but an RC
> > print with roughly the same life is scorned.
> >
> > RC prints have so many advantages from an ease of use,
> that its
> > tough not to consider them. It's also possible my data
> is flat
> > out wrong. It is also possible that art galleries
> perception
> > is also not in touch with reality. Though a
painting can
> last
> > for hundreds of years without issue, photography
isn't so
> > fortunate.
> >
> > In Fort Worth the Kimball Museum of Art has paintings
> from the
> > 1400s that look like they could have just dried. I
doubt
> any
> > form of photography can touch that. Like many I sang,
> please
> > don't take my kodachrome away, but they didn't
listen. For
> > fiber to actually last longer, it has to be
properly fixed,
> > washed and toned. RC is far more tolerant of mistakes,
> and yes
> > we all make them. Be interested on all your thoughts.
> >
> > Question 2 I have some Ilford Rapid fix that I
have had
> for a
> > long time. One has been opened but not been mixed into
> > solution. It is still in the original container, but
> just not
> > used. The other is still sealed. Is either any good?
> >
> > BTW I have some Heico wash aid that I still have
from a long
> > time ago. Again the container has been opened, but the
> > chemicals have not been mixed with anything. Not
sure how
> > sensitive either fix or a wash aid might be to such
> conditions.
> >
> > Finally a sink update. Its almost complete. I
have one
> door
> > on the unit to build and install, but other than that
> > construction is complete. It worked out that I
have three
> > levels and the sink. The levels are rock solid and
can be
> > extended out to make it easier for one to proceed
to the
> next.
> > There is about 8 inches between levels. Should allow
> rooms for
> > my hands to work in the gap if needed. A 16x20
tray fits
> > perfectly. Give a developer, stop and fix tray,
with the
> sink
> > being a wash or holding station of just water. For
fiber
> > prints or toning, I had to accept a reset. That way I
> can use
> > a wash aid, toning and final wash. Anything bigger
than
> 16x20
> > will need to be single tray processed. That is
ok. I can
> > build a tray for the larger sizes if needed.
Truthfully I
> > think its probably unlikely.
> >
> > Today I got the water ready, and tomorrow the drain
> system will
> > be dealt with. I had to use a normal faucet,
instead of a
> > system I came up with that as soon as hot water got
to the
> > sink, it would be the same temp as it was when I last
> shut it
> > off. A conventional faucet was more practical, but
I did
> get a
> > side sprayer to help with clean up. I think the wife
> will like
> > this much better. We all know happy wife, happy life.
> >
> > None of it was particularly hard for me, but it was the
> type of
> > work that can be frustrating. A 16th too long in one
> place and
> > it hits on a support. Push to hard, and the nails
bend.
> None
> > of that was a surprise. I knew up front I was
working with
> > warped wood and scrap many would have discarded. Yet I
> find a
> > sense of satisfaction of making what would have been
> trash into
> > something useful, even if it isn't fine furniture.
> >
> > Yes its taken time, but I have added a great deal of
> storage,
> > made the darkroom more efficient and made the wife
happy
> in the
> > process. That makes the time and effort worth it.
Looking
> > forward to using the 4x5 field camera soon
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks for your comments in advance
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > KG5VE 73
> >
> >
> >
>
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> --
> Richard Knoppow
> dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ;<mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
> WB6KBL
>
>
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--
Richard Knoppow
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
WB6KBL
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