I voted. It’s still a thrill, 32 years after I first registered to vote in the presidential election between encumbent Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. (Yeah, I know, I’m old). I’ve voted in nearly every election since then – not just the presidential ones – in the three different states in which I’ve lived. Whether(…)
Other historical periods
Coney Island, 1905
Welcome to Flashback Friday, where we take a look at an interesting bit of history. A writer friend of mine, Anne Paris, sent me a rare, silent film clip of a school outing to Coney Island. It is a group of girls from Miss Knapp’s Select School (a boarding school). The super-cool thing, for me,(…)
The Stork Club, by Jan Whitaker
Welcome to Flashback Friday! The title above had you guessing a bit, didn’t it? Maybe I’m running amok and reviewing some chick-lit book about new mommies? First dolphins, then storks…what’s next, faeries and unicorns? Bwahaha… Well, thanks to restaurant historian Jan Whitaker – who is graciously allowing me to re-post her fabulous material – you(…)
Hedy Lamarr, Hollywood Bombshell…and Inventor
Fans of old movies know Hedy Lamarr, star of 1930s and 40s American films, such as Ziegfield Girl, and Samson and Delilah. She was dubbed “the most beautiful woman in the world,” and worked with such Hollywood greats as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Jimmy Stewart, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Louis B. Mayer, and Cecil B. DeMille.(…)
Labor Day re-post: 100-year anniversary of the Triangle factory fire
Labor Day was declared a federal holiday in 1894. Its purpose was to honor the American worker, in a time when labor unions were fighting to make conditions safer and wages/working hours fairer. The legislation to make it a holiday had been pushed quickly through Congress, in response to the overwhelming negative reaction to the(…)
Winston Churchill, Nazis, and the (almost) exploding chocolate bar
The year was 1943, and those crafty Nazis had come up with another plan to assassinate Winston Churchill. They decided to prey upon the Prime Minister’s fondness for expensive chocolate, and began work on a bomb hidden in a pound-slab bar of Peter’s Chocolate. How it was supposed to work: The chocolate bar was made(…)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, pt 2: the novel that made Christie’s career
SPOILER ALERT: WE’RE REVEALING THE MURDERER… REALLY…STOP NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!! Okay, I warned you… The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) This was the novel that established Agatha Christie’s mystery-writing reputation. As mentioned in my earlier post (part 1 – Product of a Golden Age), Christie had written five mystery novels before(…)
Flashback Friday: 19th century waitresses in bloomers (courtesy of Jan Whitaker’s blog)
Here at Flashback Friday, we love the chance to talk about edgy stuff! I love this piece by Jan Whitaker, a 19th century historian who specializes in restaurants and department stores of that era. She has graciously allowed me to re-post this excerpt from her blog “Restaurant-ing Throughout History.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike
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