We take great pride in our ancestor’s innocence, the concept becoming a tenant in our mythical past. If we let the shootings go on, our innocence is gone forever. Thoughts inspired by the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings.
Christmas Ghost Stories: The Ghost of Christmas Past Goes Further Back Than You Might Realize
Philipsburg Manor in Winter, Sleepy Hollow, New York “When I returned to the drawing-room, I found the company seated around the fire, listening to the parson, who was deeply ensconced in a high-backed oaken chair, the work of some cunning artificer of yore, which had been brought from the library for his particular accommodation. From […]
The truth about Thanksgiving and the creation of an American myth
Thanksgiving is the most Norman Rockwell of all our holidays. Rockwell’s painting shows us a mythologized past of America in the middle of the twentieth century. For some of us it’s not far off the mark, but for most, it’s an America which never existed. Yet like America, the holiday is a melting pot of […]
Daily Life in the American Colonies: Sleeping Patterns in the Pre-Industrial Era
Modern technology sounds a death knell for old ways. This has been true since the stone age gave way to the iron age I’m sure. But is it possible that modern conveniences screw us up, as much as help? Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island holds Candlelight Evenings each December. While most of the […]
Daily Life of the American Colonies: The Production of Flax, Linen and My Bloodline in the Colonies
William Atterbury, my namesake was born in England ca 1700-1710, and was a laborer living in London, somewhere in the area of St. James Church and Westminster Abbey. Around the end of 1731, or the beginning of 1732, William went bad, and was nicked stealing five yards of linsey woolsey – a cloth made from […]
Daily Life of the 19th Century: Patent Medications and Homeopathic cures at Washington Irving’s Sunnyside
When you’re touring a historic home museum, keep an eye out for the little details which speak volumes about the people who lived there. Sunnyside was the home of American author Washington Irving, who wrote most famously, the short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Rip Van Winkle. Irving was a renowned man of […]