In early America, Boston was the main centre of the book trade (including bookbinding), followed by Philadelphia and, by a distance, New York. As most early bookbinders worked anonymously, it is difficult to put a timeline to developments. [Read more…] about Anthropodermic Bibliopegy Skills of A Brooklyn Bookbinder
Manhattan ‘Flash’ Culture: Madams and Sporting Men
Throughout the nineteenth century, prostitution was rife in American cities. In 1820 there were an estimated two hundred brothels in New York, growing to more than six hundred after the Civil War. By the early 1840s the city was the nation’s whoring capital, its own Gomorrah.
Most houses of assignation before the Civil War were owned and controlled by women. Some madams made spectacular careers, nobody more so than Fanny White whose Mercer Street brothel was, from 1851 onward, a meeting place for Congressmen, dignitaries and diplomats – a Manhattan whoreocracy. [Read more…] about Manhattan ‘Flash’ Culture: Madams and Sporting Men
Showmanship: The Master of Brass Meets The King of Waltz
The era of “Monster Concerts” started in Vienna in 1839 when Beethoven’s pupil Carl Czerny organized a performance to raise money for victims of a flooding of the River Danube.
Twenty pianists at ten pianos performed a program of four-hand duet pieces. In the history of musical entertainment, the tradition was raised to a new level after the end of Civil War in America. [Read more…] about Showmanship: The Master of Brass Meets The King of Waltz
Veeder (Vedder) Family in New York, Rome and Yokohama
Young Alexander and Elihu Vedder were raised in Schenectady, New York. The family had Dutch roots (their parents were cousins). The elder brother was a physician, the younger a painter. In their career choices they showed an outward-looking attitude, cherishing the challenge of foreign experiences while assimilating the riches of cultural exchange. [Read more…] about Veeder (Vedder) Family in New York, Rome and Yokohama
Banjo Pickers and Harlem-On-The-Seine
The modern banjo derives from mid-1600 instruments that had been used in the Caribbean by enslaved people taken from West Africa. The original version was made from a hollowed-out (hard-skinned) gourd and a varying number of horsehair strings. [Read more…] about Banjo Pickers and Harlem-On-The-Seine
Museums, Grave Robbing & The Dissection of Boxing ‘Giant’ Charles Freeman
Grave robbing has a long history in religion and science. As monasteries and churches were repositories of relics, religious institutions competed to take possession of bones, teeth, or skulls. Members of the clergy supported grave robbers – long before the word came into circulation – if a body, or parts thereof, were worthy of reverence. [Read more…] about Museums, Grave Robbing & The Dissection of Boxing ‘Giant’ Charles Freeman
Lipstick & Lady Chatterly: Modernism, Feminism, and Cosmetics
Chaja Rubinstein was born in December 1872 in a Krakow ghetto, the eldest of eight girls. Having escaped from an arranged Orthodox Jewish marriage, she would become a dominant personality in business circles in London, Paris, and New York. [Read more…] about Lipstick & Lady Chatterly: Modernism, Feminism, and Cosmetics
New York’s Pirate Utopia: From Pearl Street to Execution Dock
Over the past few years piracy has reappeared with various attacks in the shipping lanes off the East African coast. In early modern history it was a major threat to seafaring nations. The first recorded executions in legal history were those of pirates. In London and New York the final public hangings before abolition of the practice were also of pirates. [Read more…] about New York’s Pirate Utopia: From Pearl Street to Execution Dock
MicroHistory and Migration: From Moltrasio to London, New York and Montreal
Switzerland may not a member of the European Union, but it is part of the Schengen border-free travel zone. Checkpoints between countries are put up only during emergencies. The recent influx of refugees led to a decision for the border to be sealed, making Lake Como a migrant frontline. Those with the means to do so have turned to locals to help them cross the Alps on their journey towards Germany or Britain. [Read more…] about MicroHistory and Migration: From Moltrasio to London, New York and Montreal
Edward McKnight Kauffer: The Artist As Wanderer
Early modern capitalism invented outdoor commercial advertising. Urban walls became prime spaces of communication; posters underpinned an emerging commodity culture. Modernist expression took hold of the street and Edward McKnight Kauffer stood in the forefront of developments. [Read more…] about Edward McKnight Kauffer: The Artist As Wanderer