History
Roman Dice Tower
“You can just see the dice tower on the table, it has a little set of stairs for the dice to roll down.” – @RomanCaerleon, http://twitpic.com/7rxa04 This device prevented cheating by providing a uniform way by which the dice were thrown.
Pointing Out the Emperor’s (lack of) Clothes
Say you’re reading a new non-fiction book. Say you’ve met the author. Say the topic is a special subject of yours. Not that you, like, obsess over it. Much. Not enough to make your relatives worried. You’ve just read every single piece of primary source material that you can find….
First Massachusetts Coffee License
Look! It’s a piece of coffee history, one of my favorite kinds of history. And the honor of possessing the first coffee & chocolate license in Massachusetts – possibly in the colonies – goes to a woman: Dorothy Jones in 1670. Yay for enterprising colonial women who know the value…
Most Unique Use of Figural Cat Ceramic Ever
Chinese urinal 1830-1850 Container; Medical ceramic: hard paste porcelain, underglaze cobalt enamel, overglaze black enamel, iron slip Historical Deerfield
Remembrance Day 11-11-11-11
I originally published this Veteran’s Day/Remembrance Day post 2 years ago. Figure it could use a re-run, especially as this Remembrance Day is 11-11-11-11. ——————— The Red Poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day, 11 November. Remembrance Day was started in 1919 as Armistice Day, to honor the end of The Great War. The War to End Wars.Which came to…
Dick’s Swell Coffee
From: http://gogd.Tjs-labs’ Dick’s Swell Coffee Eight O’Clock Coffee is still sold in grocery stores in the US, I think. I am going to have to go buy some JUST BECAUSE of this ad. In fact, I want to believe that men secretly gather together and drink coffee from full china/silver…
Song from The Coffee House
Who hasn’t wanted to sing a song about coffee? The original scan was blurry, so this is the best I could do, but those of you who can read sheet music can at least hum or play the melody even if the words are difficult to decipher.
Perspiration Is Serious Business
From: http://gogd.tjs-labs.com
Remember the Fifth of November
If you think of Guy Fawkes, you probably think of this mask. You might think of a man “who died for what he believed in.” (per Fawkes from Fallout 3) You might not realize his fame comes from, as Wikipedia puts it, “a failed conspiracy by a group of provincial…