Straw poll The first polls were elections held by counting heads, for pol, polle in Middle English simply meant “head.” One still goes to the polls to cast ballots in elections. The first so-called “straw” or unofficial polls were held in the United States in 1824. They consisted chiefly of man-in-the-street interviews or door-to-door canvassing by newspaper reporters. Since the mid-1930s, with debacle of the Literary Digest mail poll, which predicted a victory for Landon over Roosevelt, techniques have been greatly improved. Now, such polls as the Gallup, Harris and Roper surveys are used not only to gauge probable election results but also to test public reaction to new products and the like.

I worked on the designs of a line of furniture that we called Darby, which included a lounge chair, ottoman, dining chairs, bench, sofa, and settee. It started with the lounge chair before I was there, and then I worked on the rest. I made full-scale cardboard models of the dining chairs and bench. Back legs of the chair are laminated cardboard, to illustrate the curves. That's my only experience with Darby. We had a CFO named Joan.

Well, I have a Hobson's choice! There was some tinkering with my computer and my login info to the Kitchen Table was deleted and now I can't get back in under my Stacey_mb user name. So either I don't participate on this site at all or, Hobson's choice, I do participate but no choice but to accept the anonymous numbered identity Houzz has assigned to me instead of my own name.

I knew what a widow's peak was but had no idea that it foretold an early widowhood. I guess that should make me relieved that I only have a cowlick.