Did you know that…. In olden days all kinds of food went into a big pot for cooking. If you sat down to a meal with a family you often had to take ‘pot luck’ and could never be quite sure what you would be served. Sometimes what was in the pot might be […]
This is a very confusing saying that doesn’t seem to make sense. How would anyone get an actual frog in their throat? Medieval physicians believed that the secretions of a frog could cure a cough if they were coated on the throat of the patient. It may be unbelievable, but a frog was placed in […]
Don’t ever have a heart attack when traveling! by Jean Butterworth An adventure you don’t want to have to have is to become ill in a foreign country! My next door neighbor, Erle and Virginia have in their lifetime traveled all over the world, either with the Friendship Force of Birmingham or with travel […]
Paper Money Health Risk was considered a health risk. The Constitution only authorized the federal government to issue coins, not paper money. “Article One of the Constitution granted the federal government the sole power “to coin money” and ‘regulate the value thereof.’ However, it said nothing about paper money. This was largely because the founding […]
(This story by a contributing author brings me back to the days of spending the night with my cousins in the country. What great times?) MEMORIES by Bob Doherty When I was a young boy growing up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi during World War 2, I was very lucky. There were six houses on one block […]
In olden days, after ladies had their hair styled by a servant, they would have a servant fill a bellows with powder to powder it. To contain the powder, there was often a small room set outside for this called the Powder Room. Thus, the name of the powder room came into being. VINEGAR OF THE […]
This town is known for clock making, which started in 1803, when Eli Terry established a factory in the town. Terry brought mass production to the clock making industry, helping to reduce the cost of clocks. He introduced and patented the shelf clock in 1814 which reduced the cost of a clock from $25 to […]
‘The apple of my eye’ is very old and first appears in Old English in a work attributed to King Aelfred (the Great) of Wessex, AD 885, titled Gregory’s Pastoral Care. Originally it means the central aperture of the eye. Figuratively it is something, or more usually someone, cherished above. WHERE DO I START? Hints and Tips for […]
Kisses XXX SYMBOL at the end of a letter – In medieval times, when most people were illiterate, “contracts were not considered legal until each signer included St. Andrew’s cross after their name.” (Or instead of a signature, if the signer couldn’t write.) To prove their sincerity, signers were then required to kiss the X. […]
Circleville, Ohio in 1938 was trying to recover from the Great Depression when these photographs of downtown street scenes were taken by Ben Shahn. Permanents were in vogue at the local beauty shop during this time. Downtown Circleville Coney Island hotdogs. Circleville reminisences: a description of Circleville, Ohio (1825-1840) ; also an account of the 115-year […]
