From the 1850’s to the 1930’s, more than 250,000 orphans from New York City and Boston were sent westward. The train made many stops along the way as married couples picked out the boy or girl they wanted. Michigan was one of many middle western states to take in 12,500 children from 3 to 16 […]
Amazing film from 1956 of an eyewitness of the Abraham Lincoln Assassination. The panelists on this show were, left to right (in order of appearance): Bill Cullen, Jayne Meadows, Henry Morgan, and Lucille Ball. The host was Garry Moore. Samuel Seymour was only five years old when he saw President Lincoln assassinated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB4LNKNDhS8 A Milwaukee Sentinel […]
Did you know that…. In olden days, proof of ownership of large animals that roamed freely in the woods was difficult made. The farmers slit or notched their animals ears to identify them. Thus the meaning of the term “Earmarked” WHERE DO I START? Hints and Tips for Beginning Genealogists with On-line resources
Mad as a hatter is not from Alice in Wonderland like I once thought. Mad as a Hatter comes from the fact that in the 18th and 19th centuries hat makers treated hats with mercury which became a hazardous occupation. This was known to have affected the nervous systems of hatters, causing them to tremble […]
Face the music means to accept the unpleasant consequences of one’s actions. The source of the phrase is not clear. Some believe that ‘face the music’ originated from the tradition of disgraced officers being ‘drummed out’ of their regiment. A second popular theory is that it was actors who ‘faced the music’, that is, faced […]
Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart disappeared in 1937 on an attempted round-the-world flight. People have been searching for her remains and her plane ever since A recent news report announced that a piece of riveted aluminum found in 1991 may likely be from her plane. Sophisticated imagery, not available […]
Today the phrase, Good as Gold, usually refers to a person or child being well-behaved and obedient. The phrase comes from the time when banknotes were first introduced they weren’t considered to be money in the sense we now think of them, but were promissory notes or IOUs. Gold or silver was real money as it had intrinsic […]
Since hand labor is still necessary for the production of the blemish-free fruits and vegetables that consumers demand, migrant workers shift from place to place picking fruits and vegetables to feed a hungry nation. Although invisible to most people, the presence of migrant farm workers in many rural communities throughout the nation is undeniable. Today, between […]
She was world famous star, but was very shy, had few friends, drove around in a battered old car, and only spent around a hundred dollars a week of her $7,500 weekly salary. Do you know the name of this famous actress? Here are some additional clues. Her father died when she was fourteen, leaving […]
The Great Depression and drought hit the people of Missouri, the ‘Show Me” state, hard just as in other states. However, the people found a way to survive in the rural sections. Some of the ways they made do with whatever they had is pretty amazing. These photographs ‘show’ how life was in 1936 for many […]
