Clik here to view.
No Historical Figures were Harmed in the Writing of this Book: A Review of...
On the night of January 19, 1897, illusionist and recent widow Adelaide Herrmann stood before a firing squad at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. In front of a large crowd of people that I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Controversial Christmas Merry-Making
It’s that time of year once again. The giant balloons have bobbed down 6th Avenue leading Santa to Macy’s on 34th. The door buster Black Friday deals (many of which now start on Thanksgiving Thursday)...
View ArticleClik here to view.
That’s How it Could Have Happened.
It all started with a dinner party. In the early 1940s, musician Anthony Pratt made his living performing concerts at hotels throughout the English countryside. The popular evening entertainment of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Santa Claus: A Fat, Jolly Kleptomaniac with a Raging Coke Addiction
In 1931, Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom was approached by the Coca-Cola Company to reinvent the image of Santa Claus. The artist had a lot to work with. The legend which had begun with the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the Shelf of Rarely Used Things
In a dark, unfinished corner of my basement there is a set of rough wooden shelves where we keep things we’ve nearly forgotten. The bottom two shelves are mostly crammed with recently refilled boxes of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Going Tiny in a Very Small Way
In a few weeks I will celebrate the third anniversary of moving into my current home. This most recent move, from Salem, Oregon, was the fifth in my fifteen years of marriage, and I’m sincerely hoping...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Dark Days of Pinball: How I Nearly Took a Sledgehammer to a Snowman
Seventy-four years ago, on January 21, 1942, Fiorello La Guardia, then mayor of New York, finally got around to addressing what can only be described as a scourge on the good citizens of his city. Long...
View ArticleClik here to view.
That Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze
Chances are if you’ve been to a circus at some point, you’ve seen people risk their lives. It’s part of the thrill of the show. There are fire-breathers, lion-tamers, high-wire walkers, and sword...
View ArticleClik here to view.
St. Louis Goes Big, Warts and All
In 1874, Richard Compton, a sheet music publisher from the St. Louis area, hatched a large-scale plan to promote the city he called home. He was attempting to capitalize on an artistic trend in which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Just Please Don’t Tell My Husband
When I got married, more than 15 years ago now, my mother gave me some sage advice. “Sarah,” she said, “whatever he’s really good at, you let him do it, and you never ever learn how.” There’s a great...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Pizza of the Future: Naming of the Newest Planet X
For then eleven-year-old Venetia Burney, March 14, 1930 started out very much like any normal day. She was eating breakfast with her mother and grandfather. Her grandfather, Falconer Madan (who in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Longest Shortest Month Ever
In 46 BC, just a couple years before the arrogant and power-hungry Roman Emperor Julius Caesar had a really bad day in mid March, he decided to tackle the problem of the Roman calendar. Before then,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Nation So Blessed, Our Dogs Have Love Handles
If you read this blog very often, or if you’ve read the “About This Blog” page, then you know, I don’t do politics in this space. I only rarely even skirt the edge of controversy, because there should...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Famous First Words: Of All the Things They Could Have Said
Today marks the 140th anniversary of a momentous occasion in the history of human communication. March 10, 1876 was the day Alexander Graham Bell, the sort-of inventor of the telephone, uttered into...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Spring Break Disappearing Act
This week my children have been on Spring Break, a time of staying up late, sleeping in, and generally making their mother panic about how to fill the many hours of a rapidly approaching summer break....
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Truly Tragic Streetlamp
Yesterday was leftover day at my house. Actually it’s pretty much been leftover week. Because whenever we host a major holiday, we somehow wind up with all the food. Everyone comes with full hands and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bloggy McBlogface: Appeasing Poseidon and the Boat-Loving Internet Trolls
This week I was reminded that even in the era of Donald Trump, people are still capable of taking voting seriously. Because a few days ago my attention was drawn to an exciting ongoing voting process...
View ArticleClik here to view.
One Super Hip Aunt and The Brownie Express
When gold was discovered there in 1848, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the area that would a couple years later become state of California. Some struck it rich right away. For some it took...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Greatest Post Since Sliced Bread
On January 18, 1943, the head of the War Food Administration, Claude R. Wickard, instituted a ban on the sale of sliced bread in the United States. It was a move that didn’t make him a lot of friends....
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Bear with no Face and a Clean-Shaven Pharaoh
When we moved into our current house a little more than three years ago, we gained more than a new home and a lovely new set of neighbors. We also got a new family mascot. A wooden bear guarded our...
View Article