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Five Unconventional Uses for Bread Boxes
On March 6, 2019 by ElyseYou might recognize the bread box as a kitchen staple and the first line of defense against mold and stale toast. Or, if you grew up in the era of added preservatives and plastic bags like I did, you might have to google it. Either way, you can be forgiven for assuming a bread box
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Presidential Pardon
On February 20, 2019 by ElyseEven if you didn’t have the day off work, the onslaught of mattress sale commercials should have reminded you that this past Monday was Presidents’ Day. Along with National Thank a Mail Carrier Day, it’s a busy month. In honor of the holiday, let’s explore a footnote in the administration of one of the U.S.’s
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You’ve Got Mail
On February 6, 2019 by ElyseHope your National Thank a Mail Carrier Day celebrations were first class! If you didn’t know this was a thing, perhaps your invitation was lost in the mail. In honor of this underrated holiday, I have for your reading pleasure an anecdote about a dead—that is to say, undeliverable—letter belonging to Henry Ward Beecher. If
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The Twin with the Nine Toes, Part Two
On January 23, 2019 by ElyseWelcome back! Pull up a chair, and if you’re reading in a region as cold as the one I’m writing in, settle in by a warm fire with a piping hot drink. And I do mean settle in—it’s a long one. When we last heard from Alfred Oliver in Part One, it was February 1914,
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The Twin with the Nine Toes, Part One
On January 9, 2019 by ElyseUpon seeing the front page of the Day Book on the morning of February 23, 1914, Chicago readers could have been forgiven for rubbing their eyes and wondering if they were still dreaming. They weren’t the only ones who might have reached for a cup of coffee to jolt themselves awake. A real-life Comedy of
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A Guide to Healthy Eating
On December 26, 2018 by ElyseIf your holiday festivities were anything like mine, they were filled with delicious meals and celebratory drinks, quickly followed by a painfully tight belt buckle and a fervent promise to eat better next year. But before we resolve in 2019 to say goodbye to snacks, sweets and other indulgences, the early 20th-century press has a
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Dear Santa
On December 12, 2018 by ElyseThe holiday season is upon us—and has been upon us since before you unwrapped your first piece of Halloween candy—which means Santa Claus and kids all over the world are making their lists and checking them twice. The children of yesteryear were no less excited than their modern-day counterparts about a stranger breaking into their
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Insults from Ipswich
On November 28, 2018 by ElyseThese days, everyone from presidents and celebrities to CEOs and your cousin’s girlfriend’s ex-best friend can—and often do—trade barbs over social media in full view of their fans and detractors. However, my newly discovered favorite gossip rag shows that publicly airing grievances, dirty laundry and other entertaining unpleasantness isn’t a 21st-century fad but rather the
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Missing Person’s Report
On November 14, 2018 by ElyseMore than 100 years ago, a young woman disappeared under mysterious circumstances. However, the police can’t help solve this cold case. If you’re an historian who sits in front of your television night after night watching reruns of “Law & Order: SVU,” dust off your archival gloves and put on your “Rocky” soundtrack because this