Every now and then there is a news story on tv about how poorly our schools are doing which then usually shows people who either can't find their town on a map or do so with great difficulty. Geography isn't one of  America's strong suits. Well, as we all know "there is nothing new under the sun." Even some of our great-grandparents had similar problems. Case in point: in 1906 the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis incorporated itself as a city and had a watch fob made up to comemorate the event. The reverse of the fob proudly features the new city seal which had only one minor problem; the name West Allis was misspelled as one word. What about the obverse? Like most fobs of the era the state seal was called for and the manufacturer picked a really good one with a knight's helmet on top and two bears at the sides. I guess they must have thought that West Allis was really in Missouri. I wonder who had to grin and bear it that time ?