In its heyday of the '60's, '70's and 80's IBM had a huge internal education system. 

It rivaled the system of most states all the way through graduate level studies. The 

creme de la creme of the IBM system was the Systems Research Institute which, at my 

time, was in mid-town Manhattan on 52nd street. I was lucky enough to be selected to 

attend SRI in the mid-70's. Of course, the unlucky part was spending a little over 

two months living in NYC during January and February. Walking in the dirty snow. 

Stepping over the homeless and the winos in the street. Being awoken most every day 

by the clanking of the garbage trucks in the wee morning hours.

Be all that it may, the school was great and I spent many many off hours walking and 

looking. Gawking is more the word!

One weekend as I wandered through the city I ended up in China Town. Early deliveries 

of produce had been made and the boxes/crates were stacked on the sidewalks awaiting 

movement into the businesses. One stack of crates caught my attention. As I looked 

more closely, there, stamped on the crates, was the lettering "Franklin Crate And 

Basket Company, Micanopy, Florida". 

Now, I ask you...what are the odds that a country bumpkin like myself who grew up just 

to the southwest of Micanopy and who heard Franklin's mill whistle multiple times a 

day as a boy would stumble upon crates made by Franklin in New York City? 

Let no one say it's not a small world.

(More on the Franklin mill's whistle can be seen at Uncle Andrew And The Mule)



James Mixson, November 2010