Usually when I write, I am thinking “only in America.” This morning I am thinking, “Only in L.A.”

It is October 19 and this first photo is typical of the scene in most communities right now.

But across the street is this house… All set for a winter time commercial. I assume they will take down the witch who knocked herself out on the front door, and I’m not quite certain why they didn’t cover the bushes with cotton when they did the other prep, but over the course of the day, I’ll be checking it out.

There’s something magical about living where the town’s business centers on creating magic. One day I may just take all this in stride but right now I find it great fun to open the door to something totally new happening down the block.

So Happy Whatever Holiday from Hollywood!

This photo shows the clear line between the neighbors’ home and the home for the commercial.

With Steve Jobs’ death this evening, the world has lost a genius. The innovations created and pushed forward by Apple are nothing short of amazing. While the iPhone was just one of many inventions, 2011 is certainly the year of iPhone dominance so it’s a good time to remind Americans how far we have come since the invention of the first cell phone in 1973.

To read about Martin Cooper’s invention, click through to “Can You Hear Me Now? The Story Behind the First Cell Phone.” And for more information about “phones of old” check out the newsletter “Thinking Back to Number Please.”

Thank you to Steve Jobs for all he conceived of that advanced communication and technology.

The other day I came across a great website that I want to share with you. Next autumn (2012), the state of Oregon will celebrate the centennial of women gaining the right to vote. To mark this occasion, a consortium of history professionals has put together a wonderful website to serve as a resource on women and suffrage.

As you may know, most of the west had given women the right to vote before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which provided for women’s suffrage nationally. Oregon had brought suffrage for women to a vote five times previously, but as they approached 1912, the supporters felt they had momentum. Oregon’s neighboring states–Washington, Idaho, and California–had all given women the right to vote; Oregonians felt November 1912 would be their time.

It was. By a vote of 52 percent in favor, the word “male” was removed from the paragraph describing voting privileges in the Oregon constitution. Ethnic and racial barriers still remained: first-generation women (and men) who migrated from Asia were prohibited from becoming naturalized citizens and could not cast a ballot. Native American women, except those married to white men, were also ineligible for U.S. citizenship until federal legislation in 1924.

Check out the Oregon Century of Action site, and for more on women’s suffrage read Penny Colman’s book, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship that Changed the World. (Read more about it here.) Or for more information, read “Little-Remembered Stories of Women and the Vote.”

The reason I so enjoy maintaining this website is because I always learn something new–and its usually something quite different from what I expected to learn. This month’s newsletter is no exception.

Autumn means the start of a new school year for families, so the subject of the newsletter revolves around school. When I think of my own childhood I remember the Dick and Jane readers, so you’ll find interesting information about these books that were a part of so many childhoods. But the second story–about handwriting–was the one that really fascinated me! My parents used to talk about learning the Palmer handwriting method, and in reading about Palmer, I was struck by how very important handwriting was in business up until about the 1950s when office typewriters became more plentiful. Up until that time, legibility and speed-of-writing really mattered. That concept seems so foreign in a world where even our phones have keyboards!

If you’re on the American Snapshots mailing list, you’ll get your newsletter on Friday. If not, then take a peek at what I learned about “Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmetic.”

And please write and tell me your favorite book from childhood. I’d love to know: [email protected].