The Notes They Left
In the lower level of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan, you can find an old typewriter ready and waiting for customers to leave their thoughts. And they do. Love…
Glory Comes From Brave Beginnings.
I’ve always identified with the biker culture, and its romantic, early 20th century predecessor, the biker subculture, because a motorcycle says a lot about who you are and the way…
America’s First Barbecue Critic
George Washington was more than the Father of this Country. He was the Father of Modern Barbecue. His diaries are filled with juicy references to that "succulent boar" we gorged…
Liminal
Who better to share observations on the collections inside The Metropolitan Museum than the staff members who know those collections inside and out? They share their thoughts in the museum's…
A Ticket into the Past
February 21, 1804, Penydarren ironworks in South Wales. A steam locomotive pulled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil, and the world's first steam-powered railway journey in the world…
At the Picture Show
The hats are smaller now (when we wear them at all) and the movies louder, but these theatre slides from silent-movie days prove that movie-going always had a few challenges.…
Circa 1906
I was delighted, once, to come across a certain small detail of life from long ago—a pair of fawn-colored spats. I had no intention of reproducing the spats for sale;…
Electric Cars in 1908?
Electric cars are suddenly the cars of choice. Baker Motor Vehicle and Columbia Automobile Company are making some of the most popular models. Oldsmobile and Studebaker start life as successful…
Crocus Focus
In modern gardens it is spring-flowering crocuses that capture our imagination. Small wonder when they provide weeks of vivid colour, which brings whole stretches of the garden to life. They…