I've been working on the railroad
All the live long day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Can't you hear the whistle blowing
Rise up so early in the morn
Don't you hear the captain shouting
Dinah, blow your horn
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow your horn
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow
Dinah, won't you blow your horn
Yes, the classic American folk song, “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” was one of the dozens of songs that helped pass the time away for this someone stuck in the kitchen.
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen I know
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Strumming on the old banjo
Singin' fee, fie, fiddly-i-o
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o-o-o-o
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o
Strummin' on the old banjo.
It was satisfying to put a face to a name after all these years. Some might say Old Dinah was simply full of hot air (back in the day, circa 1894, Dinah worked very, very briefly as a steam tractor), but I found her backstory added an interesting layer to the history of Death Valley and my own childhood memories. Yes, she was a bit
The Pacific Coast Borax Company, the next generation of the now defunct Harmony Borax Works, was the sole advertiser for Death Valley Days. As the story goes, in 1892, Stephen Mather worked in sales for Pacific Coast Borax, the same Mather who eventually went on to be appointed the first director of the National Park Service in 1917. But I digress.
At his urging, Mather convinced company President Francis Marion Smith to hire a reporter from the New York Sun to visit unique desert area and write a book detailing the history of Death Valley (and borax, of course). Sales improved considerably as the American public embraced their past, and borax.
In 1904, sixteen years after the last mule-driven freighter had hauled its last load out of Death Valley F.M. Smith went one step further, propelling history off the page and into the streets with the debut of his 20-mule team at the St. Louis World’s Fair. The mules and borax cleansers became one and the same, both the product of a rugged pioneering spirit that had shaped this country.
Here’s a charming piece of that past from the early years of television, followed by
Today, borax is used in (1) detergents, soaps, and personal care products such as cosmetics, teeth-whitening and eye solutions (3% of world demand); (2) insulation fiberglass, textile fiberglass and TFT/LCD heat-resistant glass (43% of world demand); (3) ceramic and enamel frits and glazes, ceramic tile bodies (19% of world demand); (4) agricultural micronutrients (10% of world demand); (5) other uses that run the gamut from amorphous metals to epoxy, pest control, swimming pools and wood treatments (25% of world demand).
Today the 20 Mule Team Borax brand is manufactured by the U.S. soap firm Dial Corporation. Who knew?
In 1956, the Pacific Coast Borax Company merged with United States Potash Corporation to form U.S. Borax, which in turn was acquired by Rio Tinto Minerals (Rio Tinto Group) in 1967. As a wholly owned subsidiary, the company now is called Rio Tinto Borax and continues to supply nearly half the world’s borate, operating the largest open-pit mine in California next to the company town of Boron, in the Mojave Desert east of Mojave, California.
As for Old Dinah; I think she should consider a dose of her own medicine. I’m convinced a boron bath would eliminate that rust. Go on girl! Blow your horn!