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Just Like Us, Part 2
On November 29, 2023 by ElyseDo you ever stare at your boring bread box, your insipid ice cream or your uninteresting underwear and wistfully wonder how the other half lives? Wonder no more: the truth is, the experiences of the rich and famous are just as commonplace as yours and mine. If you couldn’t get enough of celebrities being ordinary
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The Un-Odyssey
On September 20, 2023 by ElyseWhat would’ve happened if, after the Trojan War, Odysseus had simply given up and not made the long, perilous journey home? The answer might lie in an anecdote from Scotland. . . Some short time ago, in one of the villages on the Firth of Forth, lived a lady whose husband had long before gone
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Clip of the Week: May 31, 2023
On May 31, 2023 by ElyseWe know what happens to a marriage when a wife has 35 cats, but what about when she has 27 dogs? Answer: the unauthorized sequel to “One Hundred and One Dalmatians.” Dogs to sing a chorus and harmonize domestic infelicity, was an arrangement advised by Magistrate Breen in West Chester police court yesterday. The idea
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Clip of the Week: April 5, 2023
On April 5, 2023 by ElyseBefore there was Beyoncé, there was the original single lady: Old Polly Thompson, of Camberwell Workhouse, is the “oldest lady in the land,” for on Monday she celebrates the 107th anniversary of her birthday, and is still hale and hearty. A photograph of the old woman was taken the other day and forwarded to her
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Romeo Gone Wrong
On February 8, 2023 by ElyseIt’s that time of year again: cliché greeting cards, overpriced supermarket chocolate and for Second Glance History readers, cringeworthy tales of all the ways love can turn sour. History teaches us that all it takes is a misplaced coffin, one small yawn at your wedding or a passing resemblance to your mother, and you might
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Clip of the Week: November 2, 2022
On November 2, 2022 by ElyseAnd you thought your family was weird: A Colorado man married his deceased wife’s mother and a New Jersey man has married his grandfather’s widow. England can’t beat that. – The Bryan Morning Eagle, October 15, 1907 They aren’t the only ones in need of a matrimonial agency: . . . As well as a
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Clip of the Week: September 7, 2022
On September 7, 2022 by ElyseLadies, pull out your wallets: Why should any woman be without a husband when by the expenditure of a small amount of money she can be put in the way of having one or many? At least the experience of a Chicago woman goes to show that potential husbands are waiting on every other corner
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The Perfect Foot
On March 30, 2022 by ElyseFolks, put on your comically oversized nightcap—or pour yourself one—because this week, I have another Cinderella-esque fairy tale to read you. Since this blog is not yet available in podcast form, you’ll have to imagine my dulcet tones and/or high-pitched squeaks as you go along. Once upon a time, in the not-so-faraway land of Chicago,
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5 Times Love Didn’t Conquer All
On February 16, 2022 by ElyseHere at Second Glance History, it’s tradition at this time of year to share stories of love overcoming insurmountable obstacles, again and again. But in the immortal words of Patty Smyth and Don Henley, sometimes, love just ain’t enough. I’m not alone in having learned that the hard way. Patty and Don may not have