Mother's Day 2020

Today, May 10, is celebrated as Mother's Day holiday in the U.S. It's been a number years since I visited the history of this holiday; this is a rehash and update and I wanted to share with everyone. (I'm nice that way.)

Sadly, both our mothers are deceased; Grenville's for over 45 years and mine for more than 5 years. If you're fortunate to have your mother, celebrate her everyday. 

(Of course, in some cases, sadly there have been mothers who may not be as fondly remembered.)

Mother's Day This 'n That

Mother’s Day has become one of the biggest holidays for consumer spending. More people buy flowers and plants than for any other holiday, except Christmas and Hanukkah.

Anna Jarvis, the woman credited founding Mother’s Day was never married and was also childless. She established the holiday to honor her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis.

The correct placement of the apostrophe is Mother’s Day. Jarvis, was very specific — “mother’s day” is a singular possessive referring to a single mother (yours), not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers.

The U.S. Congress rejected a 1908 Mother’s Day proposal from Jarvis for a national holiday. Jarvis garnered public support and, by 1912, every state observed Mother’s Day.

President Woodrow Wilson has been called the father of Mother’s Day.

Jarvis urged people to stop buying gifts and flowers for Mother’s Day, upset that it had become over-commercialized within 6 years of the 1914 holiday proclamation. 

Mother’s Day marks the highest U.S. phone traffic of the year. More phone calls are made this day than any other day of the year; phone traffic often spikes nearly 40 percent.

Hallmark Card sales show that most people do not make homemade greetings as its founder had proposed.

Jarvis died in 1948 and is buried next to her mother in a Bala-Cynwyd, PA cemetery.

Way Back Where It Began

The origin of Mother’s Day pre-dates the Civil War (1861-1865). In 1868, Ann Reeves Jarvis (called Mother Jarvis) started mothers’ day clubs in West Virginia teaching women how to care for their children. Jarvis had 13 children, only 4 survived to adulthood. Epidemics were common; up to 30% of infants died before their first birthday.

These clubs became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. Throughout the war, Mother Jarvis, a peace activist, had organized many women’s brigades, asking women to do all they could without regard for which side their men had chosen.

Anna Jarvis, Mother's Day Founder

After her mother’s 1905 death, Anna Jarvis considered that a Mother’s Day holiday could honor sacrifices mothers made for their children. Jarvis wanted to set aside a day to honor not only her mother, but all mothers.

The first Mother's Day was celebrated May 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia at the Methodist church where Anna Jarvis taught Sunday School. While not there, Anna sent 500 white carnations, her mother’s favorite flower, to be to represent the purity of a mother’s love and be worn by sons and daughters to honor their mothers.

Jarvis had financial backing from retailer John Wanamaker. That day, thousands attended a similar event at Wanamaker’s department store auditorium in Philadelphia, PA.

Following the success of these events, Jarvis resolved to see the holiday added to the national calendar. She started a letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood.

In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday joking they would also have to proclaim a “Mother-in-law's Day.” 

In 1912, she trademarked the phrase, Second Sunday in May, Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis, Founder, and created the Mother's Day International Association to promote her cause. She appealed for public support with letter writing, country-wide promos (this was way before TV, radio and internet). Financial assistance came from backers such as retail magnate John Wanamaker and entrepreneur H.J. Heinz. 

Jarvis devoted herself full-time to the promotion of Mother’s Day and argued that U.S. holidays were slanted to male achievements. She urged the adoption of a special day to honor motherhood and recalled her mother's words, in a 1978 Sunday school lesson on Biblical, There are many days for men, none for mothers.

It worked. By 1912, states, towns and churches observed it as a local holiday. The first in 1910 was West Virginia, her home state. President Wilson signed a proclamation in 1914

President Woodrow Wilson

making Mother's Day a national holiday honoring mothers on the second Sunday in May.

What Happened Later

Commercialization, as always, flourished after Mother’s Day became a national holiday as florists and others capitalized on its popularity. By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards, the oldest and largest U.S. manufacturer of greeting cards was marketing Mother's Day cards. There was a huge profit margin in this new holiday. 

Jarvis, at first, worked with the floral industry. Her version of the day was to wear a white carnation as a badge and visit one’s mother or attend church services. She argued that appreciation of mothers should be through handwritten letters of love and gratitude, not store-bought gifts and cards.

In retaliation, she organized Mother’s Day boycotts and threaten to issue lawsuits against companies, spending most of her personal wealth in legal fees. She railed non-stop against Mother’s Day profiteers, speaking out against confectioners, florists and even charities.

In 1923, Jarvis protested at a candy makers' convention in Philadelphia and in 1925 at a meeting of American War Mothers. Carnations, her mother’s favorite flower, had become associated with Mother's Day. Selling carnations to raise money angered Jarvis, who was arrested for disturbing the peace.

She launched countless lawsuits against groups that were using the name “Mother’s Day.” By the time of her 1948 death, she had disowned the holiday, and lobbied the to see it removed from the U.S. holiday calendar.

Today, Mother’s Day is way more popular than Jarvis imagined. Just check out any greeting card rack to find cards to honor any mom-like figure in your life.

Our Mothers before they were moms — Clara Rose & Mary Elizabeth 💐

Friday Funnies

We've been going outdoors as often as possible, weather permitting, as being indoors all the time is confining. Hopefully, many of you are doing the same, if possible. 

Humans are not the only ones capable of practicing social distancing these days. 

On a walk in a city park earlier this week, we spotted this pair of Canada geese doing the same. The mallard duck was also keeping a safe distance.

Not to be outdone, we noticed this pair of kayakers were also distanced apart.

State parks in NH are open and there are 93 total which includes campgrounds, historic sites, natural areas and beaches. Reservations for camping, pavilions and historic sites are put on hold until further notice. NH Governor Chris Sununu said he has no plans to put new restrictions in place even though cars filled parking lots on a mild weekend recently. The governor said that while cars were not distanced, hikers, monitored by park staff, were doing so on the trails.

Park visitors are requested to follow all precautions, which include maintaining social distancing, washing hands often, limiting groups to less than 10, and staying close to home. Under the NH stay-at-home order, this type of outdoor activity is allowed. The governor has said he encourages people, who have been confined indoors, to get outdoors for exercise and fresh air, but with proper spacing. The caveat is that if behavior changes on hiking trails, then state parks could possibly be closed.

Mine Falls Park is the largest city park here in Nashua encompassing 325 acres. It's within walking distance of our mill apt residence. We go there often and did so earlier this week. 

During our visit, there were a number of other walkers, cyclists, kayakers out as well, all social distancing

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

Go for a walk in a neighborhood or park

Nashua's Canadian Ties

In recent weeks, we've been doing a lot more walking around the City of Nashua, NH. As regular readers of this blog may know, we live in a building that once housed a major New England textile mill. (This blog has featured many photos from our 5th floor river view. This post presents a different view, one with a history.)

Clocktower Place apartments, the former Nashua Manufacturing Company, was part of the city’s original textile mill empire. The first major building, Mill No. 1 was built in 1825 and was in operation a year later. Several mill buildings followed in later years.

This view was taken in a pocket park located between a parking area and the banks of the Nashua River, a very short walk from the mill apartments. The parks official name is Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Francaise, but it's locally called Renaissance Park or simply the French Park. It's dedicated to French-Canadian immigrants who settles here in the 1800s and worked in the textile mills. 

The first wave of French-Canadian immigrants arrived in Nashua between 1870 and 1872. By 1936, 14,560 of Nashua’s 31,938 residents were French-Canadian immigrants who worked in Nashua’s textile mills. They expanded their new community by building schools, churches and establishing new businesses to meet the needs of the growing population. The immigrant workers quickly learned the trades needed to support the rising demands of the textile industry.

The park features a small flower garden that's part of the city's parks department, but is maintained by a couple of our neighbors who tend to it on a regular basis. Currently, it has a variety of tulips and daffodils in bloom.

But, the park's centerpiece is not the flower garden, it's a 6-foot bronze statue, La Dame de Notre Renaissance Francaise” (The Lady of Our French Renaissance). It is situated on a 3-foot base and depicts an 1870s millworker and her young son. 

The woman has an arm around the boy and is wearing a cross around her neck. She has a weaving shuttle in her left pocket. The boy is looking up at her and holding a book written in French.

This art was the first full figure erected in Nashua in a century and the first in New England to recognize and honor Franco-American culture by recognizing women and children who worked in the mills during the first half of the 20th century. It was privately funded by the Franco-American community. (Unfortunately, graffiti has marred the plaque detailing its history.)

At its May 2001 dedication, the sculptor's creator, Christopher R. Gowell said that

she was proud to have had the chance to sculpt the figure of a strong French-Canadian

Christopher R. Gowell

woman. 

Gowell, who has sculpted the human figure for 40 years, is the Director/Owner of Sanctuary Arts, a realist art school in Eliot, ME. She has a bronze casting facility and teaches figure sculpture and technical sculpture workshops. Her public commissions also include a bronze firefighter’s memorial in Manchester, NH.

The Nashua Manufacturing Company was a major cotton textile manufacturer in operation from 1823 to 1945. It created roads and churches and opened a bank in 1935 to pay mill workers in its own currency. Others mills operated in the same period, but the Nashua Manufacturing Company was always the largest.

Photo Credit: Nashua Historical Society

Like most New England textile mills, the company struggled during the Depression and shut down after WW II, when much of the industry moved South for cheaper labor and land. In 1945, the mill was acquired by Textron, Inc. and, in 1949, was again shut down. A cluster of diversified industries, including an electric company and toy company later occupied the expansive properties and also ceased operations. The former Nashua company properties are listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.

Friday Funnies

Most everyone (especially guys) knows that duct tape is useful for lots of home repairs. 

But, did you know that it's also used for home auto repairs? 

Anyone ever used it for this type of repair? As for myself and Grenville, we have not yet (or possibly ever).

Thanks to everyone for the comments on yesterday’s masking up post. Your viewpoints were well taken and I enjoyed reading them. We may not all agree all the time, that’s OK as I appreciate and learn from other views.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone
If you see a light at the end of the tunnel, make sure there's no train

Are You Masking Up?

At the risk of starting some serious controversy, I'm just wondering how fellow bloggers are reacting to the new realities of masking up and/or wearing gloves. I expect and respect that your opinions can and may differ.

Please don’t misunderstand or leave nasty comments (which will be deleted). The opinions expressed here are part of a personal rant for lack of a better term. 

Note this excludes wearing a mask when inside a store; mandatory in some places.
I'm just wondering if fellow bloggers are masking up and/or wearing plastic gloves when being outdoors and not in close proximity to others. 

Also, medical professionals working in the field, care givers or others in similar positions are excluded from any of these opinions. 

Internet source

Constantly seeing masked faces everywhere is a bit unsettling (at least for me). Oddly, it brought back memories of a long-ago TV western series, The Lone Ranger, which starred Clayton Moore as Ranger John Reid. This show, which ran from 1949-1952 and 1953-1957 during my (ahem) younger days, was one of the most popular TV westerns back then. Reid always wore a mask, although his was much was different than current ones and covered mainly his eyes. Anyone else remember this show without revealing that we are both of "a certain age"?

Yes, we dutifully don face masks when entering grocery store trips, these trips are done much less often than before. And, I mask up in the local post office when I walk there to send cards and notes which friends have said they enjoy getting. Interestingly enough a Canadian friend emailed a late thank you for her birthday card. She told me that she had just opened the card after it was in a period of quarantine. I should add that April has recently undergone cancer surgery and is now undergoing radiation treatments. Her actions were understandable and necessary precautions due to a possibly comprised immune system.

I get it. People with underlying health issues, seniors and so many others need to be diligent even to the point of being over-cautious, better safe than sorry in those cases.

However, I've seen many folks masked and gloved when walking outdoors for fresh air. After being cooped inside, it would seem that being unmasked/ungloved would be welcomed. Unfortunately, I've also seen what happens when folks remove them.

Photos taken on a recent downtown walk

Surprisingly, many medical experts and healthcare providers agree that gloves don't give added protection against the risk of coming into contact with germs. And, gloves won't lower the risk of contracting COVID-19 as it doesn't transmit through skin contact on hands, but when bacteria enters the system through mucous membranes or via respiratory droplets in close proximity. 

For example, If you wear gloves while shopping, then itch your nose or rub your eyes, it defeats the purpose. Anything gloves touch can get infected especially your face. Experts say that washing hands and using hand sanitizer after touching things, is more effective and accomplished the same thing. 

Before anyone jumps up, I'm not saying that folks with medical issues who want to be outdoors shouldn't take precautions. They should for their own safety and peace of mind. 

That said, we ventured out to a park area near our apt last Saturday on a gloriously warm and sunny day. We saw and spoke to several people, all mask-less like ourselves while all social distancing. It was really great not only to have human interaction, but to see a face.

We saw folks, much younger than ourselves who passed by wearing masks. No photos were taken as that would've been inappropriate even though it was outdoors in a public space. It wouldn't be right to single anyone out for taking what they feel are necessary precautions just to get a photo opp and I wouldn't do that.

Again, just wondering if you've seen people wearing a mask while driving, even when they are the sole vehicle occupant. Is this really necessary?

Some experts claim it can create other dangers, like reducing the field of vision or oxygen levels. Last weekend, a NJ driver involved in a single-car crash is thought to have passed out behind the wheel due to insufficient oxygen intake/excessive carbon dioxide due to wearing an N-95 mask too long. The car was heavily damaged after hitting a utility pole; the driver was unhurt.

Like many others, I follow multiple news reports, but only once a day. Here's a few things I recently found out from various sources including The New York Times and The New England Journal of Medicine:

• It's not advised to wash produce and fruit with soap. Ingesting soap can trigger nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or forms of gastrointestinal distress that could mimic symptoms of COVID-19. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that all you need to do is gently rub the produce while rinsing with running water. 
• It’s not necessary to change clothes/take a shower when coming in from shopping.
• It's OK to wash clothes with regular detergents and then place in a dryer.
• It's OK to read a paper or open a package or mail. Be sure to wash your hands after. (Some sources advise to let mail and packages sit for 24 hours before handling.)
• It's not necessary to wipe your shoes after coming inside.
• It's safe to go outside mask-less if not in a very crowded place. (There's so few of those around now anyway.)
• Wearing gloves to the supermarket isn't needed, if you don't touch your face and wash your hands immediately after you return home.

OK, this rant is over and Thanks for "listening." Right now, everyone has his/her gripes. Just wondering if anyone wants to express his/her own in the comments below. 
Go ahead, no judgements here. We're all social distancing friends.

Grenville and I are doing well, maintaining our social distancing even in a large apt complex, wearing masks as appropriate and, most importantly, washing our hands often.

We're watching a lot of classic B&W movies, especially the film noir genre. You may be able to find some of these streaming online. Here's some Alfred Hitchcock good ones to see: Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Suspicion, The 39 Steps and The Maltese Falcon. 

More good films: Orson Welles's The Stranger and the classic Citizen Kane. Humphrey Bogart is excellent in The Big Sleep, To Have and Have Not, and Deadline U.S.A. A couple of our all time favorite actors, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, are in several of the above-mentioned films. These films and others like them are binge-worthy.

We've watched many documentaries films and more through the free streaming service, Kanopy, available from our local library (mentioned in a previous post). It has a wealth of these and The Great Courses too. We've managed to avoid binge-worthy Netflix dramas.

Reaching out to a minimum of 3 others daily is helpful to you and others according to a recent article. I've been upping that total by calls, emails, texts and sending notes and cards. (Thankful that USPS employees remain working, especially now.)

Floor signage at the post office and 2 supermarkets

Like many others, we miss basic human interactions: to visit, give a hug, shake a hand, see a smile, kiss a loved one, spend time together, say goodbye (sadly). We realize that many precautions are necessary. One day we can all do these again and more.

Wash your hands, maintain social distancing, wear masks in enclosed spaces.

Most importantly, be well and stay as safe as possible. 

Clearing the River View

Like so many other folks, we've been walking more, during the day and then after dinner in the early evening hours. Last week on a windless night, just after sunset, here's a view of the former textile mill that houses our apt. This photo was taken from the Main Street bridge. That white dot in the Nashua River is the site of one of the two river fountains that hopefully will be re-started in the coming weeks.

Most likely, you've noticed the river bank work and equipment on the right.

There's been an ongoing river bank cleanup over the past couple of months. It started in late March with the posting of several signs.

As stated, the purposes of this project are to provide open views, more safety and better access. Before this project started, many invasive and non-native plants had obscured or narrowed the river walkways.

The project is part of the Nashua Riverfront Development Plan and recommendations include connected walkways, landscaping, enhanced access to the waterfront, historical and natural resource protection, lighting, alternative parking solutions and amenities. There's also the potential for new construction and ongoing maintenance.

This project has been removing clearing the river banks in a multi-phase project. First most of the overgrowth was cut down and that also involved trimming cutting down many trees, a few too in the opinion of some folks.

The plan represents a vision for dramatically improving the way the Nashua River  Downtown riverfront looks and to make it not only an asset for the city, but and a destination for others to visit.

• Create a continuous riverwalk that connects downtown Nashua and surrounding neighborhoods with improved connections to Main Street.
• Manage invasive specie and maintain riverfront vegetation.
• Create visual and physical opportunities to access the river with a priority on a new dock structure and fountains.
• Preserve existing and add new green space within the river corridor. 
• Create opportunities for recreation in, on and around the river.

Sure, these projected improvements will take time, perhaps years. We're looking forward to seeing them develop (especially from our 5th floor viewpoint) and ultimately hope to enjoy them. However, we miss these seasonal views from our window, taken during the nearly 4 years we've lived in Nashua.

No question about it, the best season for a spectacular window view was autumn. It will be quite a while until we see anything to match these fall colors.

The river front clean-up is continuing despite shutdowns in many other parts of the city, and we have (a lot of) time to wait, especially now.

Friday Funnies

Truly social distancing with inanimate objects (unlike some humans have not been doing).

We hope that everyone is doing well in these very unusual times on non-contact. Get out and go for a walk if you can. This shot was taken during one of our recent walks around the neighborhood.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

How to Watch for FREE

Spoiler Alert: I make no claims as to the usability and content of the streaming sites mentioned here. I’ve used Hoopla and Kanopy which offer Free streaming through my library and no ads and have tried a few sites as noted below. (No links in this post, you can search online for the sites.)

Budgets are being stretched more than ever now, but did you know that you can stream FREE movie and TV entertainment ? 

Now that we have unlimited home time, I've been online quite a bit a lot and have learned a lot too. Like others, we have paid subscriptions to streaming services, Netflix, Acorn TV and Amazon Prime, but who doesn't like something that's totally Free?  And, there's plenty of other things to spend $$ on these days — hand sanitizer, gloves, masks to help keep us safe in this current COVID-19 crisis.

That's right, there's no $$ needed and, better yet, some sites don't even require a sign-in account. There are no-cost, totally Free alternatives, that offer legal movies and TV shows that you can watch on smart TVs, media streamers and mobile devices.

OK, you may forego original, exclusive content that paid services provide and ads may come with many of these viewing choices. After all, commercials are how these services pay their costs. On the plus side, ads will let you get some popcorn and snacks. 

Hoopla and Kanopy are two streaming services that let me stream free with my library card through the Nashua Public Library. Your local library may offer a similar service.

Hoopla bills its digital media services as having your public library at your fingertips, anytime and anywhere. Usage requires a library card, then you can borrow movies and TV shows to watch on a computer, tablet, cell phone or TV, also music, books, audiobooks and comics. There’s a lot of titles.  After borrowing a title, I have 72 hours/3 days to watch. The library sets the number of monthly borrows; mine has a limit of 4. Hoopla's mobile apps have a download option for offline viewing.

Kanopy is another streaming service available to holders of a public library card. This commercial-free service, which started in Australia, has a large catalog of ad-free critically acclaimed movies, documentaries, indie films, award-winning foreign films, TV shows, and choices for younger viewers. Its library includes titles from the esteemed Criterion Collection. A new Kanopy Kids section allows unlimited plays. Like Hoopla, there's a monthly limit, which my library sets at 10 and my  watch list carries over to the next month. The monthly viewing allowance resets at the start of each month. Check the website to see if your library offers Kanopy.

The Internet Archive is home to all things in the public domain, including a lot of great vintage feature-length movies. Public domain basically means old and/or mostly black-and-white, which makes this site ideal to find classic films, such as His Girl Friday, The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers and Suddenly. There's no cost to use the service, no account is needed, but creating one lets you mark favorites. The library contains classic full-length films, to daily alternative news broadcasts, cartoons and concerts uploaded by Archive users. Some videos are available for free download. I've been watching episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a show from the mid-1950s.

Tubi features thousands of free commercial movies and hours of streaming video content

from the libraries of Warner Brothers, Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM and more than 20,000 titles. There's no subscription fees, but commercials are included. You can watch movies and television shows anywhere, including classic TV shows (Bonanza, Dick Van Dyke, Family Affair, Father Knows Best, Unsolved Mysteries are a few. The drawback is that not all seasons are available. Other fun categories include: Not on Netflix, Only Free on Tubi, Highly Rated on Rotten Tomatoes, and Movie Night. You can stream Tubi online or on Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Xfinity X1, Xbox, Samsung Smart TVs, Sony Smart TVs, PlayStation. To make a watch list, you need to create an account, but it's not needed to just stream. I watched a movie online last week with only 1 commercial break in the 90-minute film, but unsure if this holds true for all.

Crackle is available in the U.S. and Australia. This ad-supported video entertainment network includes full length movies, TV shows and original programming. Some titles include Catch & Release, Friends With Money, The Jane Austen Book Club, Julie & and Julia. It's available on several platforms, including connected TVs, mobile devices, video game consoles and online. I've watched a few episodes of a 1960s TV show, Fantasy Island on this site.

Pluto TV is owned by Viacom and has more than 100 live and original channels, including Paramount Movie Channel, CNN, NBC News, and on-demand movies in partnership with TV networks, movie studios, publishers and digital media companies. It’s available online and on Roku, Apple TV, iPhones, Android TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Sony, Samsung and Vizio smart TVs. I checked it out briefly and didn't like that movies and shows were shown at scheduled times like TV viewing.

Watchyour.tv will appeal to fans of classic TV shows and movies. This free, ad-supported service is from TVS Television Network, which claims to be the fourth oldest commercial TV network in the country. The site is organized by "networks" based on interests and genres, such as sports, movies, entertainment, and kids and family, and subcategories. You can watch older movies and classic TV shows, including Andy Griffith, Bonanza, My Favorite Martian, and The Beverly Hillbillies. It’s available on many devices including iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Amazon Fire TV, Roku players and televisions, Apple TVs, and Android TVs. The format is similar to Pluto TV. I checked out this, but disliked it for the same reason as Pluto TV.

Vudu requires no contract or subscription to watch movies and TV shows with limited commercials. Users can choose from thousands of free movies, like Maid in Manhattan, Three Men and a Baby and Gravity, to watch on a mobile device, TV and computer. Like some other sites, you need to create an account to watch a Free with Ads film. I didn't create a sign-on to try this site.

Popcornflix bills itself as being created for people who want to watch Great Movies. Free. These films include Stuck in Love and Paris, Je T’Aime which are available on this streaming service, supported on Apple TV, Roku, Google Play, Xbox, Amazon and iOS devices. Users don’t need to register or create an account. Just select a movie or show and hit play to watch on the ad-supported site. I started a 90-minute movie and 3 short ads came on after the first 15 minutes, under 2 minutes total. The same ads reran after another 15 minutes. Since I didn't watch the entire film, unsure if these same ads continued throughout. 

Roku Channel is where TV and movie goers can enjoy an “always-changing selection of free movies, shows, live news, kids’ TV and more.” Apart from free films on the weekly watch list, Roku offers live television streaming like ABC News and Cheddar News. Stream on Roku with devices that connect to a TV or on Roku TVs that have the streaming experience already built in. If you want to watch from a laptop, you need to create an account to watch online.

IMDb TV (Internet Movie Database), which began as a movie database once called Freedive, allows U.S. users to watch TV shows and movies for free on IMDb and Fire TV devices. The database is owned and operated by IMDb.com, an Amazon subsidiary. IMDb TV videos include ads that run before and/or during playback and can’t be skipped. You must create a sign-on via Facebook, Google, Amazon or IMDb to view. I didn't create a sign-on to try this site.

YouTube is a great site for free movies and TV shows with no sign-on required. The site also provides show and movies which users can purchase to view. This week, we've watched Alfred Hitchcock classic movies in glorious B&W: Strangers on a Train, Rebecca, and Shadow of a Doubt. It's so true that sadly they don't make films like these now!