Growing up, Shea Stadium was almost a religious shrine for me. Little did I know, that the really important - and still quite timey—shrine was less than two miles away. My feelings about Shea were so strong that I would get excited when we went past it as we drove from our home in New Jersey …
Topic: Culture & Society
Exploring Americana artifacts and other obscure areas of US history
"Is this heaven?" Shoeless Joe Jackson asks in "Field of Dreams." "No," Ray Kinsella replies. "It's Iowa." I know the line - and the movie - are hokey. But I love them anyway because they touch on many things I love and value including the power of love and hope; having the faith and strength to follow …
"A History of Ranching," Buck Winn's largest painting, is a 280-foot-long mural commissioned in 1950 that hung for decades in the "Corral Room," at Pearl Beer's brewery in San Antonio. At the time, it was the world's longest mural. His smallest painting was the basis for today's #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp, issued on December 29, 1945 …
Do kids still learn about Betsy Ross and the first American flag? When I was a kid, I learned that Betsy Ross, a woman in Philadelphia, made the first American flag. I don't recall learning how she came to have that job or how we knew that she carried it out. I just knew it was …
Somewhat amazingly, today's #stampoftheday honors an organization that reportedly has spent more than $1 million to boost David Perdue's reelection campaign. The organization is the American Bankers' Association (ABA), which represents entities that hold over 95 percent of the $13.5 trillion in assets held by US banks, and employ over 2 million people. In addition …
Happy birthday, Alexander Hamilton! Given all the attention he's gotten in recent years, I don't think I can add much to the already rich narratives about Hamilton and his meaning for the 21st century. But I'll try. As the images of today's #stampoftheday show, Hamilton - who was an advocate of a strong national government, a powerful …
I grew up singing many of Stephen Foster's well-known songs, particularly "Oh Susanna," "Camptown Races," and "Old Folks at Home" (aka "Swanee River"). But I don't remember ever thinking about (or being asked to think about) what I was singing, only that they were catchy and fun songs. But I digress and want to go back …
I grew up with many vestiges of classic Americana. I was a Boy Scout for many years and even worked for two years as a counselor at Camp Glen Grey, a Boy Scout camp in Oakland, New Jersey). I played for two years in my high school marching band. When I was in junior high …
My late brother Neil was very smart and talented. But I find it doubtful that he actually wrote a letter – in exemplary cursive handwriting, no less – to the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) in late 1955, when he was 3½ years old. And while my sister Nancy, who was born a year and a …