Here you see a picture of a most unusual lady — this is one Ruth Belville, right outside the Greenwich Observatory in London in 1908. And Up until her 80s, she made her living selling time.Belville was of a certain moment in history, right on the cusp of the so-called “Second Industrial Revolution,” which was […]
Ruth Belville and Arnold Watches Read More »
Time is relative: Einstein taught us that. What scientists measure with careful instruments and observation we know intuitively — our brains carefully examine novel experiences and gloss over the ordinary, so that even our own sense of what takes longer or shorter is subjective.Ainissa Ramirez posits that the malleable nature of time can also appear
Nature of Time in Musical Culture Read More »
This is a post about two Irish songs that deal with memory. 1994 was the release date of The Cranberries’ “Zombie” and Sinead O’Connor’s “Famine,” and both emerged out of The Troubles, a period of about thirty years (late 1960s to 1998), when tension in Northern Ireland between forces that favored independence and those who
Irish Songs of Memory and Activism Read More »
Who could showcase the spirit of American trust in mid-20th-century corporate capitalism more than Walt Disney? His ambition and vision propelled him to wild success at a myriad of ventures in his lifetime. One of these great ideas failed to pan out however, and you see that portrayed here. These watercolor images are mock-ups by
Walt Disney’s City of Tomorrow Read More »
Yesterday’s post featured a successful entrepreneur (Walt Disney) whose Utopian community failed to come to fruition. Today I am looking at a Utopian community which grew into a successful corporate enterprise, almost despite itself. And here I am talking about Oneida, the New York-based silverware company (see second image for vintage silverware photo). And incongruously,
With its emphasis on individualism and a legacy of folks who have imagined what a “perfect” society ought to look like, America has been a fertile ground for numerous Utopian communities. Here you see a picture of the first rural hippie commune in 1969: this was Drop City, Colorado.Formed in 1965 when three people —
Drop City, Colorado Read More »
Witchcraft and werewolves have appeared in folklore across world history. This wooden statue by the Navajo/Diné artist Robin Willeto (born 1962) is called “Skin Walker,” and refers to evil witches thought to be able to shapeshift into coyotes. The place of coyotes in Navajo culture is unique — often sinister, they are classic trickster figures.
The Coyote, Werewolves, and Skin Walkers in Navajo Culture Read More »
“The Long Walk” is a Navajo experience of great devastation committed by the U.S. government, especially officials Kit Carson and General Carleton. This mural, “Return from the Long Walk,” by Navajo artist Richard Kee Yazzie, portrays the resilience and renewed shared values of the Navajo survivors of the Fort Sumner internment camp. During the period
The Navajo Long Walk Read More »
This is a photo from about 1930 of the “Relay Assembly Test Room,” from the factory known as the Hawthorne Works, operated by Western Electric and site of a famously studied phenomenon in psychology called “the Hawthorne Effect”.Starting in 1924, Western Electric sponsored a series of experiments on the effect of lighting and efficiency in
The Hawthorne Effect Read More »
It’s always super fun to look at eccentric Victorians, and I think the extreme Egyptian-philes of the 19th century take the cake. On that note, might I introduce the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn? Pictured here are two of the most (in)famous members, Aleister Crowley (he trained there before breaking off to start
The Society of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Read More »
“Worked up to desperation, he applied the wires of the battery and put the apparatus in motion, whilst a demonic laugh of derision appeared to ring in his ears, and the surrounding mummies seemed starting from their places and dancing in unearthly merriment . . . .” These are the first words in English to
Jane Loudon’s “The Mummy” Read More »
Many, many places have I loved in London, but Highgate Cemetery has a special place in my heart. Construction began on this Victorian burial ground in 1839, when the city had long outgrown real estate for the dead. Only the very wealthy afforded tombs and mausoleums there. Tourists today can seek out the graves of
London’s Highgate Cemetery Read More »
Located in downtown Philadelphia’s iconic South Street, Philly’s Magic Gardens is an artistic spectacle. It’s a dazzling outdoor-and-indoor labyrinth crammed from top to bottom and all around with the mosaics of local artist Isaiah Zagar. If you walk around South Street, you will no doubt see other mosaics by Zagar, who has made it his
The Magic Gardens in Philadelphia Read More »
Humorous, whimsical, profound, and thought-provoking — these are some of the major reactions to viewers exploring the 42 acre Seward Johnson “Grounds for Sculpture.” Seward Johnson founded the open-air museum in 1992 as a way to promote contemporary sculpture to the general public. Seward, part of the Johnson & Johnson family, never cottoned onto the
Seward Johnson “Grounds for Sculpture” Read More »
Today I got to tour the Barnes Museum, which houses an amazing collection of art with particular highlights of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Modernist works. The paintings reside in a relatively recent (2012) building in Philadelphia. The museum’s decor is spacious and allows for a great deal of outside lighting and comfortable seating in a glass-and-cement
The Barnes Museum of Philadelphia Read More »
Last on a series of posts on Victorian Egyptomania. One of the ways Victorians enjoyed themselves a good mummy was from the mummy unwrapping parties that became popular, beginning in 1821 when a man named Giovanni Belzoni did a highly publicized event near Piccadilly Circus that attracted over 2000 people. The fad took off from
Victorian Egyptomania Read More »
In the most remote parts of central Pennsylvania there are a string of state game lands that go by the name of “St Anthony’s Wilderness”. And on a mountain ridge, accessible only by hiking in, are the ruins of a small coal-mining community around the village known as Yellow Springs. An identifying sign along the
Dore Gustave’s “Garden of Eden” Engraving Read More »
Here’s a reconstruction of the oldest European mummy, called Ötzi, named for a region where he was found in the Alps back in 1991. His body had been preserved by his glacial environment for 5,300 years, and has been extensively studied by scientists who have put together a fascinating picture of the Iceman and his
This is “Arctium lappa,” aka burdock. Originally from Eurasia, it is now an invasive species in North America — this beautiful specimen was flowering yesterday in the Shenandoah National Park, and July and August are typical months when the spiny bulbs blossom in lavender and purple. Although burdock root has long been used in cuisines
Burdock in Shenandoah National Park Read More »
There are many 19th-century paintings like this — where there are seemingly hundreds of minute figures, and you have to concentrate on the small patches of action in order to understand at all what is going on, instead of getting an impression of the whole and then spending time appreciating the details. This one is
