Open Thread – Things as They Ought to Be.
The first time I ever saw a billiken, I’ll admit to being a little creeped out. I stared at the impish pointy-headed topless pseudo Buddha-like critter, and I wasn’t quite sure if it was friend or foe. So, when I saw this collection of them in the Juneau State Museum, I was a little startled at first, but decided to read up on the billiken. I was pleasantly surprised.
Suddenly the vaguely disturbing outer appearance melted away, and I became aware of the wonderful symbology beneath. The billiken, I found out, is the best god ever. Forget Neptune, or Bacchus, or Aphrodite… This unlikely form represents the “god of things as they ought to be.” The world needs more billikens.
Here’s what the information card in the museum had to say:
“Hundreds of ivory carvings of this Buddha-like creature were sold by Eskimo carvers. The original billiken, the “God of Things as They Ought to Be,” was the official patron saint of the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition in 1909. A souvenir billiken figure, imported to Nome shortly thereafter, became a prototype for the Eskimo artists. While billikens have faded in popularity among contemporary ivory carvers, they are symbolic of culture change and intercultural borrowing in 20th century Alaska.
William Sale amassed one of the largest collections of billikens, of which sixty-six remain as a group. These include a double-billiken, a female billiken (known as a milliken), and a miniature, carved under a magnifying glass.”
Test: for Tell me Something Good, Chaka Khan/ Rufus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWcAUxlgXxc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWcAUxIgXxc
I always thought the Billiken was a purely Alaskan “thing”. When I grew up here we had them and you were supposed to rub their bellies for luck. Mine had a gold nugget belly button.
Billikins; the Wisconsin in me.
How’s business and how are the chocolate truffles?
Wednesday “soft” opening. Truffles good, macaroons not so good. Tnx for asking!
I noticed one of them things resembles me quite a bit. Hint-it is wearing a smile.
There you go again….
And where are your pants might I ask!? Heehee!
I am going to make an IttyBittyBillikin out of clay to take me back to the sixties.
Thank -you AKM for a bit of fun (o:
Wisconsin protesters, you ROCK! Superb signage!
“Teachers will clean capitol for $7.5.”
“Walker, Come Smell Our Dairy Air”
“Heard on the street: “If you live in Wisconsin, don’t forget to turn your clock back 50 years this weekend.””
Nice photos of WI here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/12/955694/-WisconsinCan-we-throw-a-protest-rally-or-what!-%28Photo-Diary%29
Interesting how all signs but one are spelled correctly…and some of them even use big 50 cent words! Amazing how a little education shows through clearly, even on a protest sign!
Thanks for the Billiken history.
I used to have a billikin from the mid 60’s, it has been lost. The ones from that period had evolved into being minimally carved, it was said that it was a good way to utilize the end of the tusk.
I might still have somewhere, if I haven’t tossed them, a couple of portable electric heaters from the drive-in, they were provided to each vehicle at admission. They had a non-standard plug to discourage people from taking them.
I still have a number of ivory Billikens in my ‘what not’ antique cabinet that holds many old goodies tha include a variety of Hummels and other ivory/Alaska objects. Your article made me get into the cabinet which stirred up memories of long ago.
A diary of color for those of us still cloaked in the whiteness of winter… (bonus pet photos) I enjoyed this comment and attached photos: “It’s been a week of seasonable weather” by Ed in Montana on Sat Mar 12, 2011 at 09:02:18 AM EST ~ “And she knows she was bad, but couldn’t help herself. Guilt is a terrible thing for a labradog.”…
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/12/955378/-Saturday-Morning-Garden-Blogging-Vol-73
Just got done planting over 100 flower bulbs in the garden before work!
merry, come here and let me smack you just a little bitty bit.
smack away! 😀 I have been standing at the window looking.out.at my.garden waiting for it to get warm enough and stop raining or snowing long enough for me to get my hands in the dirt.
My garden starts going in on Monday 😀
getting back to more serious matters like the unending hypocrisy of Sarah the victim. Commenting to Hannity, she was properly miffed that she is going to be portrayed by Julianne Moore in the upcoming movie about the “08 election called “Game Change”. she said that all of the women that are making money pretending to be her should help her out with buying braces for her kids’ teeth. Poor thing can’t afford braces for her kids.
Wonderful that Julianne Moore is playing Palin – she’s a liberal!!!! Palin is utterly a b—-! Yea, she can afford the braces…if any of the kids even need them…all appear to be pretty straight to me. She’s so full of her own rhetoric!
As soon as I read that Julianne Moore was going to play SP, I held my breath in anticipation of the furor. Ms. Moore is nt he movie “The kids are all right”, about two lesbians raising a family together.
I can’t wait to see Ms. Moore as Palin.
Oh, that Julianne Moore must be a bully to portray the purple-wearing Ether-Queen of Quitta from Wasilla. Oh my goodness… I wonder how Wisconsin workers and the rest of the diminishing middle-class and working-class feel about this ‘news’.
Sorry,I couldn’t resist this. Getting back to the less serious side of Sarah as victim,someone had mentioned a while back that Sarah needed a show like QVC so now we got Quitter,we got Victim and we need a channel.
Hi guys-
I don’t know if I have been missed or what I have missed.
Did a bunch of hearts this week- 6 to be exact.
I miss this place. Have totally dumped myself into my own professional (perfusion) blog.
Not trying to pimp this place- because this is all medical- but trying to get an International thing going in terms of heart surgery around the world.
The people that have visited over the past 3 weeks (4,700 +) are all perfusionists that are science and medical guys and girls.
A blog is odd to them. So I need your help. Some interaction if possible?
You that know me- know that I am a Konstant voice to depend on.
This is NOT about $. It is about getting the 10,000 of us across the world that do on a daily basis – and teach us to communicate in real time-
Please say hello 🙂
http://circuitsurfers.com/2011/03/11/saturday-morning-brunch-2/
Hey I tried to get to your site from IM, but it tied up my computer for way too long. Maybe I’ll try it here…
Maybe you would be the perfect professional to ask,what’s with all the seeming heartless people of a different political persuasion? And how is it they seem to thrive and multiply without seeming to have hearts.(rhetorical)
Mike, you are truly hilarious.
Thank you,but, this can’t be- my sense of humor is still in rehab and apparently will be for quite a while.
Does your hospital ER and ambulances stock activated charcoal for drug overdoses and certain poisonings?
I don’t often see The Colbert Report (no cable TV chez moi), but hero Congressman Anthony Weiner sent me this clip, and I know you’ll enjoy it:
http://www.anthonyweiner.com/blog/109-colbert-you-want-to-interrupt-and-belittle-people-get-your-own-show-on-fox
re: Clarence Thomas recusing himself (or not) on healthcare.
Thanks for the link on Clarence Thomas’ conflict of interests in the health care law. Colbert is right It seems that the Supreme court can do whatever they want with no limits. They are in there for life. Certainly Thomas wants to rule on this because his wife is intimately involved with the issue. The only one who can recuse him is himself. He has shown that he has no personal drive to do the right thing.
Doesn’t seem quite fair that the judges cannot be pulled off the Supreme Court for wrong doing! The laws should be changed in that regard.
They can be impeached by congress. Like that’s ever gonna happen!
From Michael Moore: “11am (CST) Parade of (pi$$ed-off) Farmers and Tractors around Capitol” and “Noon-2pm Gather for demo on Capitol grounds… 3pm Mega Rally… ‘Nite (w/ a prayer for Japan)”
live streaming from Madison will be available at:
http://www.michaelmoore.com
a tweet from Madison: “Farmer Tod Pulvermacher, 33, drove manure spreader 7 hours from Bear Valley to Capitol”
Ya mean Walker did not have the national guard or his troopers stop them?
Thanks scout. I needed that.
Speaking of the way things ought to be (thanks for more museum pix, and I’d never heard of a billiken before today, AKM), check out this video starring Daniel Craig as Bond and Judi Dench (voiceover only) as M, in honor of International Women’s Day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkp4t5NYzVM
Yes, it does feature Daniel Craig in drag. He can walk in high heels quite well!
So little has really changed for women.
Last night, I was called out to go help the daughter of a friend with a domestic violence situation. The APD officer that responded was very disappointing, to say the least. He minimized the violence that the young man engaged in, minimized the damage that was done, and did not offer her any assistance. He was clearly annoyed by my presence and my questions.
It reminded me of the way the police handled DV calls 40 years ago — if they did not see the crime, they would not arrest anyone, even if the woman was hauled off to the hospital in an ambulance.
Meant to add – thanks for posting this, it was sobering to watch.
Murkowki is so complex- good on her for this one!
Things as the ought to be:
“Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has come out in opposition to the House’s attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, making her the first Republican senator to specifically support the beleaguered organization.
“I believe Planned Parenthood provides vital services to those in need and disagree with their funding cuts in the bill,” Murkowski wrote in a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Vice Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). “I ask you to consider these programs going forward to determine if there is room for allowing continued funding.”.snip……..
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51155.html#ixzz1GOs2uByz
I know little of her. Could she figure the funding is already lost,so she can score brownie points with the home crowd with a safe,mostly symbollic vote?
Good for Lisa. Hope she means it for all the right reasons.
Fukushima Update
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/12/955578/-Fukushima-Update?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29
I would love to have a Billikin. I could put it beside my Venus of Willendorf, who has been said to be pregnant with possibilities. How could you go wrong with those two? Now this all reminds me of the song Plastic Jesus. I introduced one of my coworkers to the lyrics one day and he was just tickled pink with it.
Milliken? that’s so funny- I read it as Milkmen the first time and it made no sense. 😉
A God of the way things ought to be. Sounds like my kind of deity.
Anyone who’s been kicking around Anchorage for a while is familiar with the name Billiken. Who the heck didn’t go to the Billiken drive in movie theater and ask what were they thinking building this in Alaska?
I remember watching Paint Your Wagon at the Billiken. Alas, it was torn down, and Totem Theaters eventually went up, leaving us with the Billik-Inn bar and liquor store over on the east side. I think it eventually went by the wayside, and the Billiken slipped in to obscurity. Thanks for reviving the spirit.
LOL- A drive in theater in AK? Too funny! In the summer it’s light out all the time and in the winter, it’s too cold! When was this, and how long did it last?
Cold? At a drive-in? How could you possibly be cold at a drive-in?
The insanity didn’t stop there. We actually had three drive-in theaters in Anchorage. The Sundowner Drive-in was behind the now defunct Fireweed Theaters. Cinema 360 was a drive in with a bunch of small screens in a circle. It was where Huffman Carrs now stands.
The above post was correct. It was too light for most of the summer, and in the winter it was so cold, that you had to keep the car running. All the fumes and exhaust made things a true treat.
A run to the rest room or concession stand was not for the faint of heart.
The triumph of human optimism over reality.
Some photos of the Billiken Drive-In Theater in Anchorage from 1963-64. Looks like a fun place to hang out in the 60s.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42332889@N07/sets/72157622314711685/
I found that in a link from http://cinematreasures dot org (slash) theater (slash) 26112/
Also found the comment:
“Here is an item in Boxoffice magazine, October 1963:
The Billiken, a new 550-car drive-in operated by Ed and Marie Hanby, opened in Anchorage, Alaska on September 1.”
What a great slideshow! I did love the drive-ins when I was a kid. Hard to imagine enjoying the movie where it’s not dark, but it looks like a fun place.
Thanks, Elsie!! Looks like perhaps they might not have re-built after the earthquake. About 12 years before my time!
Back in the late 60’s,as a teen, we had a drive-in theatre right North of Cherokee,Iowa on US hiway 59. We called it the “Passion Pit” for some forgotten reason and they used to have buck night where you could stack bodies in a vehicle until they were popping out the windows and still only cost a dollar per carload. Oh to be 16 or 17 again and dumb as a rock.
Mike or hide them in the trunk or under blankets lol
Thanks for posting. I didn’t have any pictures of the old Billiken. That brings back memories.
I’ve been on a crab boat named the Billken. I always liked that name for a boat.
I remember, from my fishing days in SE, there was a Billiken Bar, In Sitka, or maybe Petersburg…
Billikens have a definite Asiatic appearance suggesting early generations of Alaskans may or did cross from Russia. I think I read somewhere that Apache Indians are somehow related to Inuit peoples. Bilikens,taken as a whole are kinda cute and good for you,too.
Mike, as the irish would say, you staggered it but you didn’t knock it down. The Navajo and Apache people of the Southwest speak a language that is part of the Athabaskan linguistic group. They are thus related to the Athabaskan people who range across Alaska and Canada. Navajos and Apaches call themselves Dineh and something like Tineh respectively, which as you can see is quite similar to tribal entities in Alaska such as Denaina or Tanana. Athabaskan people came into what we now think of the Southwest in the 15th century. The Navajo and Apache believe they have always lived here. And in a sense they have – the land changed them so much that they “became” Dineh and Tineh. Their new identity was formed by the landscape, and thus the two peoples have always lived here as Dineh.
That’s me,always leave ’em wanting(and needing) more.Oh my god,I’m turning into you know who and have to have someone clean up my messes. Thanks for the major-league assist. Would you kindly tell them two royals to do the deed and get out of the headlines. I can’t take anymore. PS wasn’t there something involved about these tribes not wanting to eat fish?
Good for you! Navajos and Apaches don’t eat fish. I think it’s because humankind actually were fish in the First or Second World (we are now in the Fifth). As desert people, neither group would’ve traditionally had much cause to eat fish, of course, but there’s a strong moral/religious prohibition on it nonetheless. The northern Athabaskans rely on fish, however. It’s a strange world, fifth or otherwise.
As for the young royals – ah, we have to give the kids their day in the sun.
Mike, you need to understand that billikins never were real Native symbols or art. They were invented as a novelty item by a lady in the lower 48, and Native carvers took them up as a popular item they could carve for sale to tourists. I know that some Native artists did or still do object to them being marketed as Alaskan Native art.
I have Buddhas all over my house (just into them, nothing spiritual) so I would love to have a Billiken too.
On another note…this Celebrity gossip site has Ms. Palin’s number:
http://celebs.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979133844
I’ne got The whack job’s number and it is in code. Hint-its the middle of five digits and the longest one as well.
I’ve noticed a definite lack of news coverage on anything but her rants or attacks lately. While I miss the recreational value of her latest and craziest, I couldn’t be happier at the lack of attention she is receiving. She must be going mad!
Thanks for posting, OMG! Too bad the only comment was from a Palinbot (maybe a family member?).
I read the comment too, but took it as satire. Especially the part about casting blond, tall Katherine Heigel instead of Moore. 😉
Thanks for posting a writer who “gets” $arah.
Love the link. They definitely have Sarah’s number. That movie is something beyond her control and she hates it. Now, maybe if they offered her some money for it, she’d be a little less critical.
Dear Sarah,as you are a starving American icon down on your luck because you are really no one special.I would gladly send a small donation(money order) to a qualified outreach program that would put your children in foster homes so they have some semblance of a normal life,which you unfortunately can not or will not provide for them. Have a nice day. Sincerely,Me.
Did you know that St. Louis University’s mascot is a Billiken? It is! Here is a bit from the page about how it came to be the mascot.
A national magazine for college-bound students recently tapped it as one of the “coolest” campus mascots in the country. But just what is a Billiken anyway?
The history of Saint Louis University’s mascot — and how it became affiliated with SLU — remains debatable to this day.
Several details seem to be certain. Everyone agrees that the Billiken is a good-luck figure who represents “things as they ought to be.” The designer of the Billiken also seems to be fact. Florence Pretz, a Missouri art teacher and illustrator, patented her “design for an image” of the jovial creature in 1908.
It’s also known that the Billiken was manufactured in the early 1900s as a bank and statuette and was the national rage for about six months — kind of that period’s pet rock. During this time, the Billiken was turned into all sorts of things: dolls, marshmallow candies, metal banks, hatpins, pickle forks, belt buckles, auto hood ornaments, salt and pepper shakers and glass bottles.
That’s about where the certainty ends, however.
For more: http://www.slu.edu/readstory/more/699
Thank you for the nice way to start my day. Troubled times, and it is right to think of things as they ought to be.
“God of things as they ought to be…..” How simple and fitting.
Sweet, especially once you told the story behind. Thx!
Hope you’ve been able to get some rest since all your travels.
There is a Bud Biliken Parade each year on Chicago’s South Side. The Chicago Defender sponsors the event and has done so for many years. The Defender is the newspaper founded by Robert Abbott that encouraged blacks to migrate to the north for greater economic opportunities.
http://budbillikenparade.com/
The thought of things as they ought to be. Thanks for the biliken info.