Beyond the pale means unacceptable; outside agreed standards of decency. The pale has nothing to do with whitish color it was the area around Dublin in Ireland. The everyday use of the word ‘pale’ is as an adjective meaning whitish and light in colour (used to that effect by Procol Harum and in countless paint adverts). […]
Did you know that George Washington Parke Custis actually built Arlington House to honor his step-father President George Washington? Arlington House pre-1861 Born in 1781, George Washington Parke Custis was the grandson of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington through her first marriage. After his natural father, John Parke Custis, died in 1781, George Washington Parke Custis […]
Onion Bouillon from 1900 recipe (Transcribed from The Centreville Press April 5, 1900, Centreville, Alabama) ONION BOUILLON One cup each of finely chopped cracklings, onions and cooked dried apples or peaches, one-half cup rice, tea-spoonful of salt and one-half teaspoon pepper. Boil in three pints of water until it can be pressed through a sieve; […]
She began her film career at the age of twelve, with the encouragement of her mother. After the film, her mother gave her a make-over, bleached her hair platinum blonde, then she used false identification, and she got a film contract for her daughter. When the deception was discovered, a short time later, she was fired. Do you know […]
Today, ‘Loose cannon’ means an unpredictable person or thing, liable to cause damage if not kept in check by others The phrase is actually a nautical term. It derives from the days when sailing warships were armed with enormous cannons on wheels; if a tethered cannon broke loose it could do enormous damage to the ship. […]
President Harding suddenly died in office in 1923 while talking to his wife in a hotel room. He had been ill for weeks and rumors surrounded his death. Some people even accused his wife of poisoning him. Watch the films below and draw your own conclusions. President Warren G. Harding Vintage film from 1920s shows President […]
Mush sticks from 1900 recipe (Transcribed from The Centreville Press April 5, 1900, Centreville, Alabama) MUSH STICKS Make stiff cornmeal mush, season a pint with a saltspoon of pepper and half-teaspoonful of salt and pour into a mold. When cold, cut into sticks one inch thick and six inches long, roll in melted butter, place […]
Son of a gun seems to be a very strange phrase. A prevailing theory is that it comes from the 1800s, when British sailors took women along on extended voyages. When babies were born at sea, the mothers delivered them in a partitioned section of the gundeck. Because no one could be sure who the true fathers […]
A Spinster is an unmarried woman today, but once the word had a different meaning. Originally a spinster was simply a woman who made her living by spinning wool on a spinning wheel. However it was so common for single women to support themselves that way that by the 18th century ‘spinster’ was a synonym […]
I can understand now why they thought it was the end of the world – sitting in the dark for hours, day after day – it’s hard to imagine Sallisaw, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma drought farmers. “Nothing to do. These fellers,” said one of them, “are goin to stay right here till they dry up […]
