Laudanum, from the opium poppy was a drug of choice for the romantic poets. Many thought it brought them closer to enlightenment, but all too often it left them ravaged by addiction. White price are you willing to pay to know the mind of the gods?
The right to bear arms, the right to regulate guns, both guaranteed by the second amendment – a guarantee of conflict
The reason the debate over gun control is all screwed up, is because if you look at the issue historically, both sides are right. The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives citizen the right to bear arms, especially in the case of forming militias, to both protect and if necessary, hold the government accountable. […]
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 […]
