At least since Roman times oysters were associated with sex. The most obvious reason for this association is the oyster’s resemblance to the pudendum. Raw oyster was praised as an aphrodisiac. Giacomo Casanova boasted to have eaten fifty at breakfast together with a lady of his fancy.
European painters used oyster as a symbol of fertility and sexual pleasure. Aphrodite (Venus), the Goddess of love and lust, was blown over sea on an oyster shell landing at either Cythera of Cyprus (both islands were regarded by the Greeks as territories of Venus). In “The Birth of Venus” Botticelli painted her approaching the shore on a giant oyster (clam) shell. By then, the associations with female beauty and physical love were well established. [Read more…] about Jonathan Swift’s Oyster Test: Oysters, Sex and Culture
The John and Alice Coltrane Home in the Dix Hills neighborhood of Huntington, on 
In 1780, a young man traveled from his provincial hometown in Baden-Württemberg to London to meet his elder brother who had settled there two years previously as a wooden instrument maker. The many small states that constituted Germany at the time had a reputation for developing and producing musical instruments. The export of technology was an important feature of German design and many craftsmen had migrated to London (and eventually to New York and other American cities).
On September 11th, 2021, the traditional Last Night of the (BBC) Proms took place at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Away from the usual and rather bizarre jingoism, this performance was memorable for the “revolutionary” introduction of an accordion on stage.
In 1719, Étienne [Stephen] De Lancey built his house on a site at 54 Pearl Street on the corner of Broad Street which had been given to him by his father-in-law Stephanus van Cortlandt, New York’s Mayor. The small yellow bricks used in its construction were imported from the Dutch Republic.
In cities with growing populations and increased prosperity during the eighteen and nineteenth centuries, the demand for amusement venues rose dramatically. Leisure became an economic factor and show biz took off with a bang.