Archival Steele Canvas Tote

I'll be honest:  I'm not into guys carrying tote bags.  Girls with totes?  Great.  But at the risk of being unpopular I have to admit that for guys, I think they're kind of....well....soft.  They're a little too much like a purse, maybe?  Don't get me wrong, if you're on a boat, or at the beach, or the flea market, or out shopping for locally grown produce at the neighborhood farmer's market, I get it.  You need a bag.  We have one of those extra large L.L. Bean numbers for family beach/pool trips and it's great.  That's a family bag.  But I don't see why a guy on the street needs a tote.  But I live in Tennessee.

That being said, if I was going to buy a tote bag for a guy who boats/goes to the beach/flea market/farmer's market I would probably get this one.

For one, I really believe in what those crazy kids at Archival Clothing are doing and I want to see them keep on doing it.  They haven't announced a product that I haven't thought was great.  Also, the "U.S." stenciled on this bag suddenly makes it much more than a tote.  It's a utility bag with a military feel.  It's a bag for an American guy who needs to accomplish some American things.  Great for running into Trader Joe's to pick up some gluten-free pasta on the way home from the office, but even better for building a country with your bare hands.  And lastly, this is a Steele bag.  If you've spent much time in an industrial/warehousing environment like I have, you are no doubt familiar with the durability of Steele canvas products.  They're tough.

Steele at work in my life.

Now if you're someone who is already familiar with the Steele family of products, you may be asking yourself, "What's the difference between this special edition Archival Clothing tote for $65 and the standard canvas tote available directly from Steele for prices ranging from about $30 to about $40?" (Pictured below.)

I asked the same question.  Only I asked Archival Clothing via twitter.  And here's the answer I received:

"Tweaked dimensions.  Longer handle.  Internal pocket. Super stout #4 duck.  Not stock #8 duck.  U.S. stencil logo."  

So there you go.  It's different.  Is it $25 different?  I don't know.  I'm sure it's tougher.  And I love that U.S. logo.

So guys, if you had one of these what would you fill it with and when would you carry it?

Is there a doctor in the house?

I don't normally don't bother with soft drinks, mainly because I hate the thought of all that high fructose corn syrup.  But this Dr. Pepper is made with real Imperial Sugar and it tastes delicious.  (There's no indication on the packaging that this is part of the "Heritage" or "Throwback" movement in soda pop sweetening.)  I'm pretty sure this was bottled in Temple or Abilene, TX rather than the more famous Dublin, TX bottling plant but either way it's pretty hard to find in my neck of the woods.  I ran across this six at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma last weekend and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was the best Dr. Pepper I have ever tasted.  I enjoyed it at 10, 2, and 4.

Good Mail: Archival Clothing Belt

Grab one of these.  In a word: tough.  In two words: tough and handsome.  Made in Springfield, OR, it's what your pants are missing.

Eye-Catcher: LL Bean Signature Boots FW2010

So far, these boots have been the only offering from the forthcoming LL Bean Signature collection that I have looked twice at.  Now, if only they were being made stateside.  (But then they'd be more than $149.)

Sunday Sightings: Ford Edition

Spotted a few vehicles of note while out and about in Nashville today.  As it happens, they were all Fords.

While I was gassing up in the Woodbine area I noticed this 1979 Ford Custom with its original topper (filled with fishing rods.)  This thing was hauling a pretty nice boat and its owner was decked out in matching stars & bars t-shirt and shorts.  He and the family were packing the cooler for a day at the lake when I stopped to comment.  I don't care for those wheels but otherwise, this truck is boss.

In Berry Hill, I pulled over for this 1959 Thunderbird.  It had a couple of rear lights missing but other than that it was mint inside and out.

And finally, on the way back home I passed this duo from 1961:  a Falcon sedan and a mildly hot-rodded Ranchero.  Both in decent shape but not so slick that they would fetch top dollar (as go Falcons and Rancheros.)

Thoughts On Fox Hunting // Melvin Poe

Watch the full documentary here.  (WARNING: Be prepared to see a fox get torn apart by dogs.)

A Southerner Discovers The South: Jonathan Daniels and Alfred Eisenstaedt

A month ago, I was poking around the LIFE photo archives searching for old shots of Charleston, SC and I ran across a series of pictures that absolutely knocked my socks off.  All I knew is that they had been taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt and that each one bore the tag "Jonathan Daniels Southern Trip Charleston, Plantations."  Naturally, I dropped that into Google to see what it was all about.  I found this excellent essay by Jennifer Ritterhouse of George Mason University and I also checked in with my city library.  I HIGHLY recommend the aforementioned piece but I've also summarized it below.

Map of the original Jonathan Daniels journey (from Southern Spaces)

In 1937, native North Carolina newspaper editor and writer (and later White House Press Secretary to FDR and Truman) Jonathan Worth Daniels embarked on a ten-state, five-week road trip through the American South, stopping at points of interest along the way and keeping the travel journal that would make up what he later referred to as the discovery of "one man's South."  The resulting 1938 book, titled "A Southerner Discovers The South" would form in its time one of the most definitive accounts of the depression-era South and its release introduced the rest of the country to an honest glimpse of a region that President Roosevelt only days before had declared to be "the nation's No. 1 economic problem" in a letter to the National Emergency Council.

Your local library probably has a copy.

In his original trip, Daniels had not included any photography for his book but in 1938 (perhaps in response to the photo documenting being done at the time by WPA and FSA photographers like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange) he returned to parts of South Carolina with LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt.  Trust me when I say that there are more good photos in the archives than one blog post could contain.  (Perhaps there will be a part two tomorrow.)  I've included the ones that initially jumped out at me when I ran across them.  A few of the photos below are of duck hunting but most of them are of a larger, mixed-gender hunting party, complete with an outdoor meal: