I’ve Been Tagged!

Over the weekend I was tagged by Anne at The City Sage  to share seven random things about myself.  Since my blog is relatively new I haven’t been asked to participate yet in these tag games, so I’m happy to have joined the game!   So here are my seven randoms:

I am told that my great-grandfather was the artist who created the Pegasus logo for the old Mobile gas stations.  I’m still checking into the authenticity of this.  But, here’s a short history of it.

The Pegasus symbol was used by the Standard Oil Company of New York in the earliest days of oil refineries and filling stations. The logo first appeared on their gas pumps and petroleum products in 1911. When the Standard Oil Trust was broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911, two of its divisions, Standard Oil Company of New York and the Vacuum Oil Company merged. The former brought with it the Pegasus logo, the latter brought the Mobilgas name.

The Pegasus appeared on Mobilgas products beginning in 1911, but it was in 1931 with the forming of Socony-Vacuum that it was officially adopted as a trademark. The flying horse was first colored red by an artist at the Mobil Sekiyu division in Japan. A major makeover was done in the 1930s by the commercial illustrator Robert “Rex” Elmer. Not only was it given a cleaner and more graphic appearance, but the horse now flew from left to right, as opposed to from right to left. Through the years there have been gradual changes made to the rendering of the red horse, but the symbol itself has stood iconic for Mobilgas. The Pegasus symbol is still used today by ExxonMobil.

I was born on April 14^th, which is the same day Abraham Lincoln was shot. April 14^th is also the same day the Titantic struck an iceberg and met her icy fate. However, on a more positive note, I share my birthday with some interesting notables, British actor Julie Christie, Sir John Gielgud, Anne Sullivan (Helen Keller’s teacher), and Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom (daughter to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert).

When I was a child, I named my favorite cat Molly and later in life I would meet a real-life Molly, who became the Godmother to my firstborn. I also had a cat named Tom, who was a man I was crazy about until my husband came along. Spooky, huh?

Books and tea are comforts in my life. Without them, life would be markedly less interesting and enjoyable.

One of my relatives, Dr. Kierstead came over on one of the first colonizing sailing ships to America. 

One of my greatest pleasures in life is my 400 threat count sheets which sits atop my memory foam mattress topper on my bed. Every night when I get into bed, I wonder why I don’t spend more time there! It’s SO comfy!

I loved the “I Dream of Jeannie” television show SO much as a child, that I asked my Mom to make me a new Jeannie costume three years running for Halloween – every year a different color.  Sorry Mom!

I’m going to tag Vicki at French Essence, Eddie at Eddie Ross, Ronda at All The Best, Kristin at Simply Grove,  Danielle at The Style Files, Ashley at Decorology and Claudia at The Paris Apartment.

Thanks for participating!