Super Commercials

Except for the Pro Bowl, football is finished, although the hangover for one of the most exciting Super Bowls is lingering just a bit.

It was a great game and the Cinderella team just about made it home from the ball before the fancy royal coach shrunk back into a wilted pumpkin. The Steelers have long been one of my favorite teams, but I was pulling for the underdog Cardinals because it would be a better story if Cinderella was able to parade around the stadium still wearing a glass slipper.

So pholks, the last of the guacamole has been scrapped from the bowl and the chicken wing bones have been tossed in the garbage. There probably are some cheese wedges in zip lock bags in the fridge and other snacks still to be enjoyed and football pool winnings still to be collected or spent.

I watched the game at a couple of locations, checking out the food and snacks and watching and listening to the hollering and screaming, especially when the Cardinals made a great comeback and nearly scored a major Super Bowl upset. I estimated that 80 percent of the phans were pulling for the Cards, based on the amount of cheers when things went their way.

I have to admit I didn't get to see all of this year's Super Commercials and didn't get my hands on a pair of those 3-D glasses needed for several ads but I heard a number of pholks react favorably. One gal said she jumped when a bug jumped out of the screen but otherwise thought the 3-D thing was pretty neat.

Bridgestone Tires, Budweiser, Doritos and Audi were atop my favorites' list. The Clydesdale ads for Bud were first class, as always, even for non-beer drinkers. Once again, a couple didn't compute with me including the E-Trade promotion, partially due to my lack of concentration at the moment. The Coke ad was clever with the insects swiping the bottle and all.

Even though General Motors passed this year and auto and truck ads in general were more scarce than normal, the commercials kept up their tradition as being something special. At $3 million per 30 seconds, they darned well ought to.

CHRISTINE ROWLAND THINKS IT'S SUPER having her Christine's Travel office now at 618 W. Willow, right across from the Visalia Police Department and Fire Department Headquarters.

After three thefts or break-ins in a week at her office around the Thanksgiving weekend and a police SWAT standoff situation a few weeks earlier near her long-time headquarters on West Center Street, Christine says she now feels a little safer and more secure.

ANOTHER SIGN OF THE OLDER TIMES is coming more into focus bit by bit, says Tulare County historian Terry Ommen, referring to his initial peeking into the origin of what he is convinced is a billboard painted on the east wall of the mostly brick building at 400 N. Johnson St. facing Willis.

The sign, which has been there for decades, was exposed to view when an adjacent wooden structure at Willis and School was demolished several weeks ago and reads “Wagons, Farm Implements, Grain,” under a smaller painting of “L Guggenhime dealer.”

Ommen's preliminary research turned up no L. Guggenhime in county records, but a fellow historian jumped on the search wagon and found an L.Guggenhime, a wagon dealer listed in San Francisco in the 1890s directory. He also uncovered the fact that a person of that same name was listed as a partner in the Quines Creek Gold Mine, apparently a San Francisco-based mining claim.

Ommen is continuing a search to find out more about the Pioneer Warehouse which was the building's use when the wall was painted. Ommen is convinced the sign was a billboard-type advertisement mentioning items made or marketed by L.Guggenhime who may have had no other Visalia connection.
I'll try to keep you posted.

Miles can be reached at mshuper@valleyvoicenewspaper.com