Vintage Films and Photographs of American Veterans

A longer post is coming shortly, but here's a couple snippets of history for you to enjoy in the meantime.

Click the links below to see a

1852 Photograph of a Revolutionary War Soldier

1905 Film - Funeral for the Last American Veteran of the War of 1812

I'm on Pinterest!

 Well, I just pried myself away from Pinterest.  It's pretty dangerous to have so many old photos on a single page, with hundreds more just a click away!  I've categorized my boards into eras and/or decades for users like me who enjoy finding chronological archives.

Take a look!

Browse my Boards at "Pin the Past"

Tradition of the Month - New Year's Resolutions

We are nearly through the month of January, yet I am still excited about the arrival of 2013. Today, instead of presenting the history behind the long-held tradition of making new year's resolutions, I'm going to share how I'll be living out and preserving history in the coming months. Below are some of the goals I've set for myself. Feel free to laugh; I know they're a bit unconventional.

Finish learning Morse Code.

Despite the number of Morse Code enthusiasts found on the internet, it certainly isn't commonplace for 21st century Americans to communicate via dits and dahs. Being the history lover that I am, this is one of the treasures of the past I find worth keeping alive. With almost all the alphabet down pat, I just have to learn punctuation to be on my way to world of telegraphy.

Improve my cursive handwriting.

As a young student I learned to write in cursive, but I eventually began to adapt a style that wasn't quite correct. Now I wish I'd kept to the way I was taught, and am going to try to improve it this year. Surely you've heard the talk, though. Schools are beginning to stop teaching the art of penmanship. Technology has its place in the world, but I feel pens and paper do, too.

Implement one old-fashioned, traditional idea into as many holidays as I can this year.

Things such as my own Valentines or handmade Christmas decorations are good ways to go back in time during the holidays. I'd love any vintage ideas you can give me for this goal of mine. Hopefully you will be seeing pictures of the projects I decide on in future “Tradition of the Month” posts!

Well, there you have it. Three of my 2013 resolutions. Care to share what you'll be working on this year?

Happy new year, all!

It's Christmas!

I had so many plans for Christmas-themed blog posts this year. However, having resigned to the fact that December 25th is … well … tomorrow, I better move on to writing about the new year. I will have lots to share about this beautiful season in 2013, though!

So without further ado,

A Peep Through the Keyhole

1959 Western Electric ad. The "future" phone wasn't too far off from what they actually turned out to look like!

Image cutified through picmonkey.com

Tradition of the Month - Pumpkins

Well, I finally convinced my life to slow down just long enough for me to peck this article out. I've been caught up in an autumnal whirlwind of job hunting, goal planning and other transitions taking place, just as the leaves are. Fall is such a beautiful season, even if in Texas the color-changing of leaves equates to turning a dead, brown color.

Yes, fall is upon us and that brings me to our subject of discussion, pumpkins. The very word 'pumpkin' brings to my mind whimsy. Maybe you imagine pie, Charlie Brown, Cinderella, a jack o' lantern, or the Thanksgiving holiday. Pumpkins have been ingrained in our culture. I don't celebrate Halloween and so have never carved a jack o' lantern, but these gourds also have their place at fall festivals. They make a fun addition to one's porch, too, carved or not. The point is, pumpkins are a big thing in America.

The pumpkins we all know and love are big, round, and orange. But pumpkins, which hail from the gourd family, can also be short or long, and green, blue, or yellow. In fact, there are 30 different kinds of them.

They Used Them for What?

Although they are today grown on six continents, pumpkins are originally from Central America. The Native Americans are well known for using something to its full capability, and pumpkins were no exception. Food of all sorts and even medicine could be made; shells could be dried and kept as containers and bowls.

This valuable plant and its many uses were kindly passed on to the Pilgrims who arrived in 1620. What is the food one's mind conjures up when imagining the First Thanksgiving that following year? Yes, of course corn...but what else? Pumpkins! They were able to be dried and stored throughout the winter months to come. Don't forget they had pumpkin beer! The following verse proves just how important pumpkins were:

For pottage and puddings and custards and pies
Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies,
We have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon,
If it were not for pumpkins we should be undoon."

Pilgrim verse, circa 1633

Did your mother ever place a bowl on your head to make for an even haircut (for any kids reading this, no I'm not kidding)? Early New Englanders implemented the same concept, but instead used pumpkin shells. They were thus nicknamed "pumpkinheads." In the 19th century, New England residents thought they were useful for another reason. They believed pumpkins could remedy snake bites, freckles, and facial wrinkles, among other things.

Pumpkins Today

Americans still love to eat pumpkins. It is partly out of tradition I'm sure, but pumpkin pie has become a staple at our dinner tables during the Thanksgiving holiday. There is no short supply of them, either. In America alone, pumpkin farmers grow an astonishing 1,500,000,000 pounds of the orange-fleshed gourd each year. That sounds like a ton, but consider that one grower's pumpkin weighed in this year at over a ton (2,009 lbs).

Of course another use for smaller versions of these comes into play around Halloween with the long-held tradition of carving faces into pumpkins. Jack o' lanterns, as they are called, come from early Celtic practices. A person would light a piece of coal and place it inside a hollowed turnip that had been carved with a scary face meant to ward off spirits.  People in this region carried the tradition down through the years and then over to America where pumpkins took the place of turnips or beets.

I prefer to decorate with pumpkins and eat pie with lots of whipped cream on top. What about you? Do any of your harvest time traditions involve pumpkins?

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Want a great family movie about pumpkins?  My family enjoyed "Growing the Big One."  Check it out here.

Sources:

history.com

pumpkinnook.com

allaboutpumpkins.com

ufdc.ufl.edu

Pictures are in the Public Domain:

publicdomainphoto.net

publicdomainpictures.net

History Mystery - the Answer

I decided to give you an extra day to come up with the answer to this question:

"On this day (October 13), exactly 140 years apart, the cornerstones of two monumental U.S. government buildings were laid. What are they, and in which years do these anniversaries lie?" [see previous post for a clue]

Okay, I'm really just late in posting this. :)  Did you guess correctly?

Cornerstone laid in 1932

Cornerstone laid in 1792

*Both images are in the public domain.  Supreme Court photograph by Jeff Kubina, 2006.