In the early 19th century, Nathanial McClure, a frontiersman in Garrard County Kentucky, had a problem. Open sores or abscesses were growing on his neck. Local physicians didn’t have the answer for his problem, diagnosed as the King’s Evil or scrofula. He learned about the cures of Richard Carter, a frontier herb doctor. According to … Continue reading What is scrofula? Can it be cured?
The word “camping” often inspires nostalgic summer memories in the outdoors or dreams of future escapes to nature. However, camping as a fun and relaxing activity is a new concept in the long history of human experience. Camping isn’t always a vacation for everyone. Originally, a camp was the place where military troops were located, … Continue reading Camping: A Night Under the Stars is Not Always a Vacation
Old picture postcards are primary source records of places. Postcards document the natural landscape as well as the built environment- buildings, gardens, parks, cemeteries, and tourist sites. Postcards also commemorate major events, popular humor, and many other aspects of daily life – transportation, entertainment, sports, work, religion, or advertising. Collectors and all types of historians … Continue reading Old Postcards: Messages about the Past
In the 1320s, a Franciscan friar left Ireland to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Friar Simon Fitzsimons journeyed from Ireland, through London, Canterbury, Paris, to Venice, where he and his companions took a ship to Alexandria, Egypt. They toured the sites around Cairo, and then traveled overland through the desert to Jerusalem. … Continue reading What Amazing Egyptian Chicken Hatcheries Can Tell Us about Perceptions of Other Places
What’s a shoat? Before the Civil War, cookbooks included dozens of recipes for shoat. Today, this word for pork only appears glossaries for journalists covering agriculture. A shoat (also spelled shote) is a young pig under one year old. Antique words and old recipes, like antique tools or technology, illustrate changes in daily life. Weird old … Continue reading What’s a shoat?
Clothing patterns from the past century reflect changing fashion – from long, ruffled hemlines to mini-skirts, corseted waists to pant suits, pinafores to prom dresses. Vintage clothing patterns also tell the story of changing technology, communication, and transportation. Dress making before the 1850s Before the mid 19th century, average American women sewed their own clothing by hand. The … Continue reading Dress Patterns: A Fashion Revolution
What did you do on your summer vacation? Teachers often start the school year by asking students about their summer vacations. Modern media is full advice about how, when, where, and what to do on a vacation. Vacationing is such a popular media topic that it appears everyone takes a vacation. But many families are unable … Continue reading The problem with asking students “What did you do on your summer vacation?”
Did bundling, as pictured in the movie The Patriot (2000) really happen in colonial America? Yes! Examining historical relationship etiquette can provide students with insight into their own behavior. In 1811, an English dictionary described “bundling” as “a man and woman sleeping in the same bed, he with his small clothes, and she with her … Continue reading An Eighteenth Century “Date”- Bundling