Is your neighbor being annoying? Too loud? Coveting another neighbor's wife? What do you do about it? |
...also known as Swedish gingerbread cookies! As I was rolling out dough for pepparkakor last weekend, I realized I didn't know anything about the distinctly thin and crispy cookies I've been cutting out and eating every year. So, I decided to look into what I could find about the history of Swedish gingerbread and share my favorite recipe, which comes from an almost-antique 1986 Allt Om Mat. Enjoy and God Jul! |
Read my profile of Eli Smith on OZY.
This past April, I had the opportunity to attend the Brooklyn Folk Festival in New York City's most hipster borough. The event was co-founded and is produced by Eli Smith, the multi-instrumentalist string band musician of the Down Hill Strugglers. The music he booked was a curated experience of great folk and traditional bands from New York and across the country. His music is deeply rooted in the history of folk and traditional music in the United States, and he brings in the complexity of that history when he books other acts too. And through this type of music, he wants people to create, think, and resist. |
I always loved finding old greeting post-cards when I worked at the archive. What better day to share some of my favorites?
While searching through the Levy Collection at in the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries Special Collection for witch images, I came across "The Witch Behind the Moon," and it was so complex that I thought it deserved it's own post. |
It's October! That means we can start with Halloween-themed posts, right?
The Celebrated Witches Dance crops up in sheet music archives across the country, especially this edition transcribed by Wm. Vincent Wallace, and printed in New York City in the 1850s. Originally titled "Le Streghe," or The Witches, it was published in 1813 for violin accompanied by piano. (You can hear and see a performance of the original arrangement here.) The flighty staccato notes and quick runs punctuated by longer, more melodic sections definitely evokes what the cover to the right depicts. This edition was published by William Hall & Son in New York City. Hall seems typical of sheet music publishers during the mid 1850s - he not only published this Americanized European classical music, but sold the instruments (pianos, guitars, melodeons, and woodwinds) to play it. |
Everyone is in place, waiting. Money and honor are on the line. The gate comes up. Bang! They're off!
In 1947, the town of Crisfield decided to host a hard crab race outside of their post office as part of a summer Fishing Fair, highlighting their seafood bounty. In Maryland, summer is synonymous with eating blue crabs out on a deck by the water, and Crisfield, located on Eastern Shore between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, is a town that revolves around watermen and fishing culture.
I came across these great clips from WMAR-TV's coverage of the 6th annual crab race via the University of Baltimore's archives, which got me to look into the history of the event a little more.
Wait, what? Easter? Witches?
Don't worry, they are mostly friendly witches! These photos from Nordiska Museet. |
Come in, the stacks are open.
Away from prying eyes, damaging light, and pilfering hands, the most special collections are kept in closed stacks. You need an appointment to view the objects, letters, and books that open a door to the past.
Here, pieces of material culture are examined in the light. The stacks are open. Read the stories behind objects and ephemera found in private collections, archives, and museums.
Archives
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2020
March 2020
January 2020
August 2019
July 2019
March 2019
February 2019
December 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
July 2017
June 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
February 2015
December 2014
October 2014
September 2014
February 2014
December 2013
Categories
All
16th Century
17th Century
18th Century
19th Century
20th Century
21st Century
African American History
African History
Alcohol
Alcohol History
America
Animal
Appalachian
Art
Bad Science
Baltimore
Banjo
Banjo Collector's Gathering
Banjo History
Banya Obbligato
Banya Prei
Books
Canada
Cancer
Cat
Celebrations
Chesapeake Bay
Chicago
Christmas
Circus History
Civil War
Clown
Cold War
Colonial History
Communism
Conjoined Twins
Cook Books
Crab
Creole-bania
Culinary History
Devil
Drumming
Dutch History
Easter
England
Eugenics
Exhibits
Fiddle
Film
Food
Food History
France
"Freak Show" History
German American
German History
Goucher College
Halloween
Hockey
Hollywood
Hospital
Human Development
James Ford Bell Library
Jewish History
Lincoln
Lost Baltimore
Lost History
Lying In
Lying-In
Magazine Covers
Map
Maritime History
Maroons
Maryland
Maternity
Medical History
Medical Procedures
Medicine
Metropolitan Museum
Midwifery
Minstrelsy
Monsters
Museum
Music
Native American History
New Jersey
New Orleans
Newspapers
New York City
Obstetrics
Ozy
Patent
Photography
Plain Weave
Political History
Politics
President
Print
Psychology
Public Transportation
Science
Sheet Music
Skansen
Skeleton
South American History
Sports
Stedman
Streetcar
Suffragettes
Suriname
Sweden
Swedish History
Theater
The Knick
Third Reich
Traditional Music
Traditions
Transportation History
Tri-racial Isolate
Typeface
Typography
U.S.
USA
U.S. History
Valentine
Vegetarian
Vegetarianism
Victorian
Violin
Virginia
Vodou
Weaving
West Africa
West Virginia
Winti
Wisconsin
Witch
Witches
Women
Women's History
World History
World War II