Mackinac/Mackinaw

I couldn't readily find the origin of the name "Mackinac/Mackinaw" but I suspect it's French because the French have a way of swallowing the letter "c" when it's the last letter in a word so that you almost don't hear it. The straits and the island are spelled "Mackinac" and most other usage of the name is spelled "Mackinaw", but it's pronounced "Mackinaw" either way.  Mackinac island was a favorite gathering place of the local Native Americans long before the French arrived on the scene, and it remained an important trade center during the French and English occupations.  It's strategic location also gave the island military importance, and the old Fort Mackinac is still a popular tourist attraction to this day.  Lake trout used to be called "Mackinaw trout", and there is also a plaid woolen jacket called a "Mackinaw", although it was actually invented in nearby Canada.  Suffice it to say that the name has been around awhile, so it's quite possible that it could be used to describe peaches from as far away as Oregon.

One would think that hard core Trumpists would have been screened out in the jury selection process for the Manafort trial. Then again, none of the charges against Manafort had anything to do with Trump, so maybe not.

I remember seeing street peddlers in my early childhood, but they were phasing them out at the time, and I don't remember seeing them during my teens, except for the "ragsaline man" who operated until my army days.  We called him the "ragsaline man" because that's what we thought he shouted as his horse drawn wagon with iron rimmed wheels clattered down our concrete alley driving our dogs nuts.  I found out years later that what he really shouted was "rags and old iron" because he was a junk man.  Some of the old timers called him the "rag sheeny" or the "sheeny driver", but I don't know the origin of the "sheeny" part.

I knew most of what Old Dog reported about peaches and apples, and also that the Hapsburg rulers tried to stamp out the Czech language and culture, but I didn't know about the puppets.  Cool!