In 1969, my father took me to Shea Stadium to see the third (and final) playoff game between my beloved New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves. At some point in the game, the Braves, who were losing, brought in Cecil Upshaw, a forgettable relief pitcher with an unforgettable name. Although Upshaw didn't give up …
Topic: Culture & Society
Exploring Americana artifacts and other obscure areas of US history
Could today's #stampoftheday be the unmade sequel to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" I ask because the plot of that delightfully goofy 1988 film turns (spoiler alert) on the villainous Judge Doom's plan to have Cloverleaf Industries purchase and demolish the Red Car Trolley Line, which, in turn, would force people to drive on the freeway he …
I'm a longtime member of the intramural softball team fielded by Tufts University's Art History Department. But, as anyone who knows me can attest, I do not have a strong sense of design. This is salient because today's #stampoftheday was the first US stamp to feature an abstract piece of art. A 5-cent stamp honoring "the …
When you are travelling in Ecuador, there's no good reason to read Carl Hiaasen's "Stormy Weather," a dark and humorous novel that, like all his books partially takes place in the Everglades, which are the subject of today's #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp issued on December 5, 1947. But that's what I did in 2011 (back in …
"Isn't it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years." This striking observation comes from "Oh Pioneers," a 1913 novel by …
Sometimes a thin stamp contains layers of meaning. Today's #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp issued on December 9. 1948 that pictures Joel Chandler Harris, is one of those stamps. Before I started writing this post, I didn't know who Harris was. But it turns out I am indirectly familiar with his work because Harris, who was born …
"I know all about refugees," Sesame Street's Grover tells "Deputy Secretary Tony Blinken from the State Department," in a marvelous, now-viral video made in 2016. (Google it if you haven' seen it!) "You do?" asks Blinken, who President-elect Joe Biden will nominate to be the next US Secretary of State. "Of course I do," Grover replies. "They …
I haven't thought about Jean Shepherd for a long time. But there was a time - I think it was when I was in junior high school - when, like many adolescent boys in metro New York, I couldn't get enough of him. You may know Shephard are the voiceover of and inspiration for the movie …
Poor John Jay. He's an important founding father. But he's often overlooked or forgotten. And today he's displaced by poinsettias, the Christmas season's ubiquitous potted plants. You see, today's #stampoftheday was going to be a 15-cent stamp, issued on December 12, 1958 that pictured Jay, who was born on December 12, 1745. I would have written …