Everyone knows that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated during the final year of the Civil War, and subsequently succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head.
We have only known the man by way of historical facts and
stories, and unblinking colorized photographs… until now. However, in recent
months, I have come across an innovative new technology which is capable of
creating ten second animations of ancient celluloid pictures.
As a result, one photo which I have animated is that of a
well-known portrait of Abraham Lincoln. It is as if I had the opportunity to
sit in the seat of that time machine made famous by the movie of the same name,
and journey back in time, and spend a few moments with the 16th
President of the United States.
I suppose if old Abe had had the benefit of a time machine,
and the knowledge which such a conveyance would have afforded him, he might
well have avoided visiting Ford’s Theater that fateful evening in 1865. For
that matter, had he set the dial for a much later date, he would have noticed
that his countrymen ultimately commemorated him with a copper coin bearing a
representation of his countenance.
Speaking of the Lincoln penny, if “Father Abraham’s” time
machine had unexpectedly conked out on August 5th, 2021 at
approximately 1:43 PM on the outskirts of Winter Haven, Florida on a street
called “Shadow Wood Lane,” he would have noticed an old guy, (much older than
he was when he left us), with a name very similar to my own, bending over the
left front tire of a 2015 Nissan Altima, and measuring its tire depth with a…
2019 Lincoln penny.
Lincoln has always, and by all accounts, been thought of as
the greatest president who ever graced the expansive White House at 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue in our nation’s capital. Perhaps he would be pleased to realize that we
are still carrying his image in our pockets, and measuring the tires of a
vehicle unknown in his time with his copper caricature. Old Abe is definitely
the gift that keeps on giving.
by William McDonald, PhD
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