Posts Categorized: 19th century
Hi! While my writing pals and I are in the midst of fast draft (you can check last week’s post for more details by clicking here), I thought you would enjoy a post I wrote 5 years ago, about the beginnings of women’s collegiate basketball. See you next week, Kathy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The game of…
With stories in the news lately about hackers from China breaking into corporate computers and stealing proprietary software and information (for example, this 60 Minutes’ feature: The Great Brain Robbery), here’s a little historical gem about Robert Fortune (1812-1880) who accomplished the reverse. The low-tech version. From 1845-1848, this Scottish botanist managed to acquire China’s closely-guarded…
Hi everyone! I’ve decided to start off 2016 with something fun and interactive. You all read my stories (thank you!); now I’d love the chance to read yours. As you may know, much of my primary research comes from the 19th century newspaper archive, Chronicling America. I often stumble upon fun little gems that I didn’t…
…and you thought folks were prudish in the 19th century. Ah, the magic of mistletoe. For the young, and the young at heart. Go, Grandma! Careful who you kiss under the mistletoe, however: Was he letting people kiss his wife so he’d have an excuse to kiss the girl? Hmm. Mistletoe was a…
‘Tis the season for buying gifts, and books are among the best gifts out there! (So sayeth the book lover). If you go on Amazon (which got its start as an online bookseller back in 1994) and look for best-selling book suggestions, you’ll see something like this: But what did readers – and those…
The more ad-weary among us have wondered if the spirit of Christmas is shopping, but after a few cleansing breaths we can see that it’s really about stepping outside ourselves to serve others in some way. Whether it’s a bottle of Aunt Gertie’s favorite perfume, donating a turkey dinner, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or…
To all of my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a re-post from one I wrote a few years back, about the similar ways in which Thanksgiving was celebrated a hundred years ago. Food, football, helping those in need…notice that Black Friday is conspicuously missing. Enjoy your holiday, Kathy ————————————————- Check out these snippets of late-19th/early-20th…
Happy Halloween, everyone! In our neck of the woods, the trees are getting really pretty, there’s a nip in the air, and I’m scouring Pinterest for decor ideas and recipes to enhance the Halloween fun here at Casa Owen. Our cat Tora is starting to snuggle on my lap for longer stretches of time as…
