This year, more than any other in my lifetime so far, will certainly go down in history. As Covid-19 struck the U.S., frustrations wrought by an abrupt economic downturn, closures of businesses and even schools, and the roiling stress on families was juxtaposed with the usual mild social unrest that builds throughout an election year,…
Recently, I have seen this clever image floating around. This is funny, but laundry isn’t unique in being a repetitive household chore. We wear and wash the same clothes over and over, but we also use and clean the same bathrooms, dishes, and floors, mow the same grass, etc. What is it about washing clothes…
My blog . . . a New Year’s resolution that started strong and then dissipated within months as my personal life got very demanding for a prolonged period. Things have finally calmed down and I’ve wrestled with how—or whether—to resume writing the blog. I started a few posts and abandoned them, none seemed right. I…
This has been an exceptionally mild winter here in northern Illinois. It figures—after 6 winters with a long, rural commute, I finally work from home, and there have been no days with treacherous road conditions and only a handful with polar temperatures. Still, a mild Midwestern winter is a rare treat (or perhaps the beginning…
I’ve been loath to take the plunge into a topic about which I am really a neophyte and try to tell others something about it, but I also want to learn more myself, and I like to share what I learn in my research. I have experienced a couple of unrelated things having to do…
Knitting is one of my top hobbies, and there is a very rich history related to something that was common in the lives of our ancestors and has lasted up to the present day. Knitting, like a lot of activities people do to further their livelihood and comfort, has evolved right along with the whims…
We eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s day. I vaguely know this to be for good luck in the coming year and to have some historical linkage to the American south. But let’s explore this tradition a little more. The black-eyed pea’s association with luck could be traced as far back as the Talmud, according…
I plan to start work on this blog in earnest after the holidays pass, but as I made my Christmas fudge from a recipe my grandmother passed down, I started thinking about kitchen history. This is one of the aspects of American home life that I want to cover with the book project I hope…
The Home History Project 