In 1975, like many in the cast, I grew a beard for our high school's production of "Fiddler on the Roof." (I played the rabbi.) Except a few brief interludes in the late 70s, I've had a beard ever since. Beards change the way people look, and, presumably how they are perceived. That's dramatically illustrated by …
Topic: Culture & Society
Exploring Americana artifacts and other obscure areas of US history
For about two decades, maybe longer, we've ended our Passover Seder by singing "Amazing Grace." It's always late and we're full - of food, spirit, love, and hope, and other good things. Obviously not a traditional Jewish song, its message of hope and redemption resonates in way that makes it the perfect ending for the …
I have no idea why a stamp honoring "American Sokol," an obscure gymnastics organization was the popular stamp issued in 1965. But I do know that Sokol has a pretty interesting history. In 1965, stamp collectors sent more than 12.5 million separate items - mainly special envelopes - to the different post offices around the country …
"Baker shut up. Able isn't who you think he is," was the "punchline" of one of the few stories my father would tell about being a soldier in World War II. (Or at least that's how I remember the story). When he was 19, my father was the radioman in a mobile reconnaissance unit from the …
What do Robert Louis Stevenson, Sally Rand's Nude Ranch, monkeys racing tiny automobiles, Diego Rivera, and Indiana Jones, all have in common? The answer is that they are all connected to the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, which opened on February 18, 1939 on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. The start of that event was …
Drive into many towns in America and you'll see familiar sight: a gold and blue circular sign that says, "Rotary International." While I've seen these for years, I confess I don't know much about Rotary International. I have a vague sense that Rotary's local clubs have been a mainstay of local town life, a place where …
My childhood was filled with people who served in the Merchant Marine. I didn't have any relatives who had served (that I know of). And while I'm sure that some of the adults I knew had served as mariners, I didn't know about it. But others, who were important to me did serve. Popeye, for example, was …
"Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat," was the opening line of "ABC's Wide World of Sports, which illustrated the agony with ski jumper falling off the side of the ski jump hill. I watched the show regularly in the late 60s and …
If, as I've done many times, you walk up the wide paved path from the Park Street MBTA station to the Massachusetts State House, you will pass a great work of art: "The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment," a bronze relief sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. And if you are like me, …