Mind your own beeswax – today it means “mind your own business” or “it’s none of your business. There are many ideas circulating about the source of the idiom. The most prevalent is: This idiom came from the days when smallpox was a regular disfigurement. Fine ladies would fill in the pocks with beeswax. However when the weather was very […]
The United States government required residents to have a steady job The United States government required residents to have a steady job, making between $1,000 and $2,500 a year – that would be $16,000 to $40,000 today to become a resident of the Resettlement community of Greenhills, Ohio in 1938. This stipulation kept many of […]
This recipe comes from a canning recipe book from 1946 so it makes a large amount. APPLE CHUTNEY 36 medium-sized sour apples 18 medium-sized green tomatoes 6 sweet red peppers 6 small onions (white) 6 cupfuls sugar 3 pints cider vinegar 3 tablespoonfuls salt 3 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 3 scant teaspoonfuls allspice 1 teaspoonful ginger 3 […]
Circleville is the county seat of Pickaway County, Ohio. Christopher Gist, was the first recorded European explorer to the area. When he arrived around 1750, he found ten families of the Delaware Indians from Pennsylvania in a settlement named Maguck. Town was named after Native American Hopewell culture earthwork More European settlers by 1810 and they […]
You’re no Spring chicken – Before incubators, chickens couldn’t be raised during winter. New England growers found that those born in the spring brought premium prices in the summer market places. When these Yankee traders tried to pass off old birds as part of the spring crop, smart buyers would protest that the bird was “no […]
Asbestos wall board was used in building this town The photographs below reveal that asbestos wall board was used in building this town in Ohio. The men working on the Greenhills Resettlement project in 1937 were exposed to asbestos. I wonder if they became ill later and if the wallboard has been removed. Greenhills alone cost $11.5 […]
Creamed Oysters Recipe from 1897 Drain 50 oysters: wash by pouring gradually over them a pitcher of cold water; put them in a saucepan stir carefully until they reach the boiling point; drain again, this time saving the liquor. Measure, and add to the liquor thus obtained sufficient milk to make one pint. Put two […]
Mules, tractors and shovels built this town When construction started on the town, there was no heavy equipment to move the earth, only tractors and men with shovels and the project provided work for them. The village of Greenhills, a greenbelt community in northern Hamilton County was built by the federal government as part of President Franklin […]
The idiom IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE is from the Bible – 1 Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Three historical fiction novels by Donna R. Causey or All three […]
Light-Colored Gingerbread from 1875 recipe Fresh butter, melted, ½ lb., flour, dried and sifted, 1 ¼ lb., brown sugar, 1 ¼ lb., bruised sugar, ¼ lb., 9 eggs, the yolks and whites beaten separately, rosewater, two tablespoonfuls, white wine, two tablespoonfuls Mix all these well together. Bake one hour. Then with a spoon spread it […]
