Taking a little break today, only one post for person, place, and thing for the day, instead of three.
One of my top favorite living authors, my favorite southern storyteller, Rick Bragg, wrote a book a few years ago called The Best Cook in the World. It was about his Mama and the family meals and the family stories that went with cooking and eating. It's a cookbook, kind of, but you won't find anything like Julia Child's recipes. His Mama used no definite measurements, no recipes; she just cooked what they were fortunate to have. There's a lot in the book to relate to for southerners.
And if you're looking for recipes for squirrel brains and eggs or possum and sweet potatoes, this is the book for you.
Happy Mother's Day to my mother, grandmothers, aunts, and cousins who always knew how to make do and did.
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Person.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
As far as Hollywood is concerned, only Italians were in organized crime in the first half of the 20th century. However, there were actually three distinct ethnic crime organizations: Italian, Irish, and Jewish. Sometimes they clashed, sometimes they worked together toward a common goal, especially the Jews and Italians.
In the years leading up to America's entry into WWII, one of those goals that united Jewish and Italian mobs was fighting American Nazis. ( Even though Italy was allied with Nazi Germany, Italian mob leaders were anti-Mussolini.) There were several large groups of pro-Nazi German-Americans in the US. They held rallies and parades, dressed in brown shirt uniforms, wore swastikas, and swore allegiance to Hitler. The largest was the German-American Bund, or Brotherhood
Their activities disgusted many Jewish organized crime figures, including one of the most important crime figures in history, Meyer Lansky ( 1902-1983). Called "the Mob's accountant," he and his Italian partner, Lucky Luciano, basically created the modern organized crime syndicate in the U.S., but, in the 1930s, he had an additional mission. He organized Jewish and Italian mobsters into goon squads that would attack pro-Nazi meetings and rallies, inflicting major injuries on Bund members.
The new book, Gangsters vs. Nazis by Michael Benson, lays out the history of Jewish mobster activity on the home front. (Watch for a Histocrats review soon, and a 7 Questions with the author on Friday )
Lansky also worked with US naval intelligence during the war, organizing the mob to be in the hunt for German spies and saboteurs and to guard shipyards in the northeast. According to some sources, Lansky also controlled FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (who laughably claimed there was no organized crime in America) by blackmailing him with photos and films of Hoover with his constant companion, Clyde Tolson, the #2 man at the FBI.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
As far as Hollywood is concerned, only Italians were in organized crime in the first half of the 20th century. However, there were actually three distinct ethnic crime organizations: Italian, Irish, and Jewish. Sometimes they clashed, sometimes they worked together toward a common goal, especially the Jews and Italians.
In the years leading up to America's entry into WWII, one of those goals that united Jewish and Italian mobs was fighting American Nazis. ( Even though Italy was allied with Nazi Germany, Italian mob leaders were anti-Mussolini.) There were several large groups of pro-Nazi German-Americans in the US. They held rallies and parades, dressed in brown shirt uniforms, wore swastikas, and swore allegiance to Hitler. The largest was the German-American Bund, or Brotherhood
Their activities disgusted many Jewish organized crime figures, including one of the most important crime figures in history, Meyer Lansky ( 1902-1983). Called "the Mob's accountant," he and his Italian partner, Lucky Luciano, basically created the modern organized crime syndicate in the U.S., but, in the 1930s, he had an additional mission. He organized Jewish and Italian mobsters into goon squads that would attack pro-Nazi meetings and rallies, inflicting major injuries on Bund members.
The new book, Gangsters vs. Nazis by Michael Benson, lays out the history of Jewish mobster activity on the home front. (Watch for a Histocrats review soon, and a 7 Questions with the author on Friday )
Lansky also worked with US naval intelligence during the war, organizing the mob to be in the hunt for German spies and saboteurs and to guard shipyards in the northeast. According to some sources, Lansky also controlled FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (who laughably claimed there was no organized crime in America) by blackmailing him with photos and films of Hoover with his constant companion, Clyde Tolson, the #2 man at the FBI.
Place.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
In the 1930s, pro-Nazi groups like the German-American Bund, the Silver Legion, and others claimed hundreds of thousands of members. These groups established at least 21 summer camps from coast to coast where German-American boys and girls were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology and physical training. They marched,they drilled, they studied Hitler's life, they practiced with weapons, etc. These pictures are all American kids, being trained as if they were the Hitler Youth in Germany. He most famous was Camp Siegfried in Long Island, New York.
A 1939 House Un-American Activities Committee hearing investigatingvtge camps uncovered disturbing accounts of pedophilia were not uncommon. Witnesses testified that a camp leader ar Siegfried, Theodore Dinkelacker, had told the boys that trying to have sex with the girls was a "noble endeavor." He was even caught in bed with an underage female camper from the Bronx. The camp director ordered silence about the incidence.
Gangsters vs Nazis is the story of Jewish mobsters who fought against American Nazis before the war and against German spies and saboteurs during the war.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
In the 1930s, pro-Nazi groups like the German-American Bund, the Silver Legion, and others claimed hundreds of thousands of members. These groups established at least 21 summer camps from coast to coast where German-American boys and girls were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology and physical training. They marched,they drilled, they studied Hitler's life, they practiced with weapons, etc. These pictures are all American kids, being trained as if they were the Hitler Youth in Germany. He most famous was Camp Siegfried in Long Island, New York.
A 1939 House Un-American Activities Committee hearing investigatingvtge camps uncovered disturbing accounts of pedophilia were not uncommon. Witnesses testified that a camp leader ar Siegfried, Theodore Dinkelacker, had told the boys that trying to have sex with the girls was a "noble endeavor." He was even caught in bed with an underage female camper from the Bronx. The camp director ordered silence about the incidence.
Gangsters vs Nazis is the story of Jewish mobsters who fought against American Nazis before the war and against German spies and saboteurs during the war.
Things.
As pro-Nazi groups held rallies and meetings and tried to fan the flames of anti-Semitism across America, a New York judge named Nathan Perlman had an idea. He reached out to known Jewish mobsters and encouraged them to go to war, so to speak, against the fascists. They jumped at the idea, seeing it as their patriotic duty, as Americans and as Jews. However, Rabbi Stephen Wise, who attended the first meetings with Perlman and mobsters, warned them that God would not condone killing.
A little - no, a lot disappointed - the mobsters organized squads of street toughs, gym rats, and brawlers, and dispatched them to meeting sites. Usually, some men would infiltrate inside, sometimes wearing American Legion caps as disguises, and the rest would man the exits. At a signal, the melee would begin. The mobsters were usually armed with pipes, brass knuckles, and blackjacks, and the Nazis usually ran. The unlucky ones were left with broken bones and bruises.
Read Gangsters vs Nazis for the rest of the story.
As pro-Nazi groups held rallies and meetings and tried to fan the flames of anti-Semitism across America, a New York judge named Nathan Perlman had an idea. He reached out to known Jewish mobsters and encouraged them to go to war, so to speak, against the fascists. They jumped at the idea, seeing it as their patriotic duty, as Americans and as Jews. However, Rabbi Stephen Wise, who attended the first meetings with Perlman and mobsters, warned them that God would not condone killing.
A little - no, a lot disappointed - the mobsters organized squads of street toughs, gym rats, and brawlers, and dispatched them to meeting sites. Usually, some men would infiltrate inside, sometimes wearing American Legion caps as disguises, and the rest would man the exits. At a signal, the melee would begin. The mobsters were usually armed with pipes, brass knuckles, and blackjacks, and the Nazis usually ran. The unlucky ones were left with broken bones and bruises.
Read Gangsters vs Nazis for the rest of the story.
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Person.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
Norman Lear, born in 1922 and still actively working at this writing, was the "Shonda Rimes of the 70s" for you younger folks, except Lear was more prolific, more controversial, and more of everything. Lear has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 television shows. But then, he has a few years in Rimes, maybe she'll catch up.
If you're my age or older, you know that if it was a sitcom in the 1970s, it was most likely a Norman Lear production. All in the Family, Good Times, Maude, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time - not enough characters allowed to go on. At 99, he is still actively engaged in creation and production
Norman Lear's shows were not only funny, but they also reflected real life in America for the first time, and the reflection was jarring at times, never shying away from controversy. His sitcoms dealt with racism, violence, child abuse, divorce, rape, cancer, politics, economics, war, draft dodging, drugs, alcoholism - you name it, he's done it and stuck it right in the middle of people's living rooms, generating controversy and conversation with some of the funniest, most acclaimed, and longest-running shows in history, many still running in syndication. His 1970s shows would not even be produced today because of fears of offending someone.
In 2014, when he was only 92, he published his autobiography, Even This I Get to Experience. I highly recommend it.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
Norman Lear, born in 1922 and still actively working at this writing, was the "Shonda Rimes of the 70s" for you younger folks, except Lear was more prolific, more controversial, and more of everything. Lear has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 television shows. But then, he has a few years in Rimes, maybe she'll catch up.
If you're my age or older, you know that if it was a sitcom in the 1970s, it was most likely a Norman Lear production. All in the Family, Good Times, Maude, The Jeffersons, One Day at a Time - not enough characters allowed to go on. At 99, he is still actively engaged in creation and production
Norman Lear's shows were not only funny, but they also reflected real life in America for the first time, and the reflection was jarring at times, never shying away from controversy. His sitcoms dealt with racism, violence, child abuse, divorce, rape, cancer, politics, economics, war, draft dodging, drugs, alcoholism - you name it, he's done it and stuck it right in the middle of people's living rooms, generating controversy and conversation with some of the funniest, most acclaimed, and longest-running shows in history, many still running in syndication. His 1970s shows would not even be produced today because of fears of offending someone.
In 2014, when he was only 92, he published his autobiography, Even This I Get to Experience. I highly recommend it.
Place.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
Norman Lear got his start in TV as a writer for Sid Caesar's Show of Shows, a live 90 minute variety show that ran from 1950 to 1954. Caesar followed it with Caesar's Hour from 1954 to 1957. Between the two shows, the writing room was the greatest collection of comedy writers to ever work in television. Between the two shows, writers included Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Selma Diamond, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart, Howard Morris, Norman Lear, and the only gentile in the room, Tony Webster, and several others. Nearly all of them catapulted from Sid Caesar's writing room to major roles, both in front of and behind the camera.
Can you even imagine what that room was like? Definitely a place to be a fly on the wall.
In 2014, when he was only 92, he published his autobiography, Even This I Get to Experience. I highly recommend it.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
Norman Lear got his start in TV as a writer for Sid Caesar's Show of Shows, a live 90 minute variety show that ran from 1950 to 1954. Caesar followed it with Caesar's Hour from 1954 to 1957. Between the two shows, the writing room was the greatest collection of comedy writers to ever work in television. Between the two shows, writers included Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Selma Diamond, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart, Howard Morris, Norman Lear, and the only gentile in the room, Tony Webster, and several others. Nearly all of them catapulted from Sid Caesar's writing room to major roles, both in front of and behind the camera.
Can you even imagine what that room was like? Definitely a place to be a fly on the wall.
In 2014, when he was only 92, he published his autobiography, Even This I Get to Experience. I highly recommend it.
Things.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
Part of one of the most recognizable television movie sets of all time, Archie and Edith Bunker's chairs from the Norman Lear iconic sitcom, All in the Family, are now the property of the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington DC as an exhibit.
In 2014, when he was only 92, he published his autobiography, Even This I Get to Experience. I highly recommend it.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
Part of one of the most recognizable television movie sets of all time, Archie and Edith Bunker's chairs from the Norman Lear iconic sitcom, All in the Family, are now the property of the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington DC as an exhibit.
In 2014, when he was only 92, he published his autobiography, Even This I Get to Experience. I highly recommend it.
Person.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
Melvin Kaminsky was born in 1926 in Brooklyn. He saw his first Broadway play at age 9 and announced that he was going to be an entertainer instead of working in the garment district. He started working as a poolside comedian at Jewish Borscht Belt resorts at 14, and as a drummer after lessons from Buddy Rich. He made his official stage comedian debut at 16. He became Mel Brooks.
Drafted into WWII, he participated in the Battle of the Bulge. When the war ended in Europe, he started organizing shows for the troops. In 1949, he started writing for Sid Caesar and his tv shows. There he met Carl Reiner, and they started improvising the 2,000 Year Old Man skit at parties. That led to tv appearances and comedy albums. He won an Oscar for best original screenplay for The Producers (1968), launching him in a trajectory to be one of the most successful moviemakers of the 1970s, with High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles. In the 1980s, he produced The Elephant Man and other dramas, and created Spaceballs and History of the World Part I, among others.
In 2021, at age 95, he published his autobiography, All About Me!
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
Melvin Kaminsky was born in 1926 in Brooklyn. He saw his first Broadway play at age 9 and announced that he was going to be an entertainer instead of working in the garment district. He started working as a poolside comedian at Jewish Borscht Belt resorts at 14, and as a drummer after lessons from Buddy Rich. He made his official stage comedian debut at 16. He became Mel Brooks.
Drafted into WWII, he participated in the Battle of the Bulge. When the war ended in Europe, he started organizing shows for the troops. In 1949, he started writing for Sid Caesar and his tv shows. There he met Carl Reiner, and they started improvising the 2,000 Year Old Man skit at parties. That led to tv appearances and comedy albums. He won an Oscar for best original screenplay for The Producers (1968), launching him in a trajectory to be one of the most successful moviemakers of the 1970s, with High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles. In the 1980s, he produced The Elephant Man and other dramas, and created Spaceballs and History of the World Part I, among others.
In 2021, at age 95, he published his autobiography, All About Me!
Place.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
At 14, Mel Brooks became a pool tummler. Tummler were comedians hired by Jewish resorts in upstate New York, in the Catskills, or Jewish Alps, or Borscht Belt. There as many as 500 resorts, accessible to guests of various economic levels. They flourished from the 1920s to the 1960s.
While the real entertainment was in the ball rooms and clubs, tummlers would roam around the hotel cracking jokes and doing physical schtick to keep guests entertained all day. Brooks worked poolside.
While working as a tummler, Brooks met drumming legend Buddy Rich, who was from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn. Rich taught him to play, and Brooks was a paid drummer as well as a tummler. While a drummer at a gig at 16, the MC got sick, and Brooks got his first taste of being a stage comedian.
In 2021, at age 95, he published his autobiography, All About Me!
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
At 14, Mel Brooks became a pool tummler. Tummler were comedians hired by Jewish resorts in upstate New York, in the Catskills, or Jewish Alps, or Borscht Belt. There as many as 500 resorts, accessible to guests of various economic levels. They flourished from the 1920s to the 1960s.
While the real entertainment was in the ball rooms and clubs, tummlers would roam around the hotel cracking jokes and doing physical schtick to keep guests entertained all day. Brooks worked poolside.
While working as a tummler, Brooks met drumming legend Buddy Rich, who was from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn. Rich taught him to play, and Brooks was a paid drummer as well as a tummler. While a drummer at a gig at 16, the MC got sick, and Brooks got his first taste of being a stage comedian.
In 2021, at age 95, he published his autobiography, All About Me!
Thing.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
As of 2022, Mel Brooks is one of 16 EGOTs in the world - winners of an
Emmy - guest spot in Mad About You
Grammy - 2000 Year Old Man comedy album
Oscar - original screenplay, The Producers
Tony - The Producers
In 2021, at age 95, he published his autobiography, All About Me!
May is Jewish American Heritage Month.
As of 2022, Mel Brooks is one of 16 EGOTs in the world - winners of an
Emmy - guest spot in Mad About You
Grammy - 2000 Year Old Man comedy album
Oscar - original screenplay, The Producers
Tony - The Producers
In 2021, at age 95, he published his autobiography, All About Me!
Person.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history.....
Moses Harry Horwitz (1897-1975) was the fourth of five sons born in Brooklyn to Solomon and Jennie Horwitz of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. As a child, he was a voracious reader and was bullied, saying " I used to fight my way to school, in school, and back home from school." He started skipping school to watch movies and eventually dropped out. He changed his name to Moe Howard and began running errands for a Brooklyn movie studio. Then he joined his older brother Shemp (Samuel) in performing in bars and on the street and got a few bit parts in films.
In 1929, Moe, Shemp, and a classically trained violinist named Larry Fine created a Vaudeville act with Ted Healy. They made a couple of movies as Ted Healy and His Stooges before Shemp went solo in 1933, and Jerome Horwitz replaced him as Curly. From 1934 to 1957, The Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, and Shemp or Curly alternating) made 190 comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures.
Curly died in 1952, and Shemp died in 1955. The third spot was filled by a few Joes, Joe Palma, Joe Besser, and Joe DeRita (Curly-Joe). The Three Stooges continued working and making live, film, and tv appearances until Larry suffered a major stroke in 1970.
Moe's autobiography is called I Stooged to Conquer.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history.....
Moses Harry Horwitz (1897-1975) was the fourth of five sons born in Brooklyn to Solomon and Jennie Horwitz of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. As a child, he was a voracious reader and was bullied, saying " I used to fight my way to school, in school, and back home from school." He started skipping school to watch movies and eventually dropped out. He changed his name to Moe Howard and began running errands for a Brooklyn movie studio. Then he joined his older brother Shemp (Samuel) in performing in bars and on the street and got a few bit parts in films.
In 1929, Moe, Shemp, and a classically trained violinist named Larry Fine created a Vaudeville act with Ted Healy. They made a couple of movies as Ted Healy and His Stooges before Shemp went solo in 1933, and Jerome Horwitz replaced him as Curly. From 1934 to 1957, The Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, and Shemp or Curly alternating) made 190 comedy shorts for Columbia Pictures.
Curly died in 1952, and Shemp died in 1955. The third spot was filled by a few Joes, Joe Palma, Joe Besser, and Joe DeRita (Curly-Joe). The Three Stooges continued working and making live, film, and tv appearances until Larry suffered a major stroke in 1970.
Moe's autobiography is called I Stooged to Conquer.
Place.
Columbia Pictures was the home of the short subjects from the 1930s to 1950s, producing 529 "two-reel" comedies. 190 of those starred The Three Stooges, and other famous comedians of the time like Buster Keaton. In the early days of television, Columbia sold them to television stations, and they became standard fare, bringing new audiences to the Stooges. However, none of the performers, including the Stooges, received a cent in residuals or royalties. They were paid a small fee per film when the films were made, and nothing else.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history.....
Columbia Pictures was the home of the short subjects from the 1930s to 1950s, producing 529 "two-reel" comedies. 190 of those starred The Three Stooges, and other famous comedians of the time like Buster Keaton. In the early days of television, Columbia sold them to television stations, and they became standard fare, bringing new audiences to the Stooges. However, none of the performers, including the Stooges, received a cent in residuals or royalties. They were paid a small fee per film when the films were made, and nothing else.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history.....
Thing.
Moe Howard was always recognizable because of his particular bowl cut haircut. It all started, he said, because his mother refused to have his hair cut as a child, and it grew to shoulder length. Little Mose Horwitz suffered constant teasing and bullying as a result. Finally fed up, he took a bowl and shears to a shed and gave himself the haircut that he made famous.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history.....
Moe Howard was always recognizable because of his particular bowl cut haircut. It all started, he said, because his mother refused to have his hair cut as a child, and it grew to shoulder length. Little Mose Horwitz suffered constant teasing and bullying as a result. Finally fed up, he took a bowl and shears to a shed and gave himself the haircut that he made famous.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history.....
Person.
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (1890-1977) was born a n a room above a 78th St. butcher shop on Manhattan's Upper East Side, a neighborhood teeming with immigrants in crowded tenements. His mother, Minnie, was a a Jew from northern Germany, and his Jewish father was from Alsace in France.
His mother's brother was a successful vaudevillian, and his mother wanted Groucho and his brothers ( Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, and Gummo) to follow their uncle into show business. Groucho wanted to be a doctor but was forced to drop out of school at 12. Like Moe Howard, he was a voracious reader and an auto-didact.
Minnie first molded the brothers into a singing group that got some work on stage, but when they started cracking jokes on stage to amuse themselves, they realized that the audiences liked them much better as comedians. Each brother adopted a unique stage character and name, and their stage career took off. They headlined New York's Palace Theater, the ultimate vaudeville stage, and then they took their musical comedy act to Broadway and became huge stars.
Hollywood came calling, and the Marx Brothers made 13 movies together; Groucho made another 13 solo and then went on to carve out a successful career on radio and television.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history....
Raised Eyebrows is a biography of Marx written by a huge fan who became Marx's personal assistant in his last years.
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (1890-1977) was born a n a room above a 78th St. butcher shop on Manhattan's Upper East Side, a neighborhood teeming with immigrants in crowded tenements. His mother, Minnie, was a a Jew from northern Germany, and his Jewish father was from Alsace in France.
His mother's brother was a successful vaudevillian, and his mother wanted Groucho and his brothers ( Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, and Gummo) to follow their uncle into show business. Groucho wanted to be a doctor but was forced to drop out of school at 12. Like Moe Howard, he was a voracious reader and an auto-didact.
Minnie first molded the brothers into a singing group that got some work on stage, but when they started cracking jokes on stage to amuse themselves, they realized that the audiences liked them much better as comedians. Each brother adopted a unique stage character and name, and their stage career took off. They headlined New York's Palace Theater, the ultimate vaudeville stage, and then they took their musical comedy act to Broadway and became huge stars.
Hollywood came calling, and the Marx Brothers made 13 movies together; Groucho made another 13 solo and then went on to carve out a successful career on radio and television.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history....
Raised Eyebrows is a biography of Marx written by a huge fan who became Marx's personal assistant in his last years.
Place.
The Marx Brothers became the kings of Broadway when they took their musical comedy act to the Palace Theatre, on Broadway, facing Times Square. Opened in 1913, the Palace, dubbed "the Valhalla of Vaudeville," was considered the ultimate venue by vaudeville performers until 1929. Only the best of the best acts played the Palace. The Marx Brothers dominated the scene before Hollywood called.
It became a movie palace, the RKO Palace Theatre, in the 1930s, with occasional vaudeville acts through the 1950s. It was opened as a Broadway theater in 1966.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history....
Raised Eyebrows is a biography of Marx written by a huge fan who became Marx's personal assistant in his last years.
The Marx Brothers became the kings of Broadway when they took their musical comedy act to the Palace Theatre, on Broadway, facing Times Square. Opened in 1913, the Palace, dubbed "the Valhalla of Vaudeville," was considered the ultimate venue by vaudeville performers until 1929. Only the best of the best acts played the Palace. The Marx Brothers dominated the scene before Hollywood called.
It became a movie palace, the RKO Palace Theatre, in the 1930s, with occasional vaudeville acts through the 1950s. It was opened as a Broadway theater in 1966.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history....
Raised Eyebrows is a biography of Marx written by a huge fan who became Marx's personal assistant in his last years.
Thing.
Groucho Marx's signature look was bushy eyebrows, mustache, and hair with glasses. It made him instantly recognizable. In the early 1940s, novelty Groucho glasses were first sold, and they've been sold ever since.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history....
Raised Eyebrows is a biography of Marx written by a huge fan who became Marx's personal assistant in his last years.
Groucho Marx's signature look was bushy eyebrows, mustache, and hair with glasses. It made him instantly recognizable. In the early 1940s, novelty Groucho glasses were first sold, and they've been sold ever since.
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. And you may pick up on a trend in my reading history....
Raised Eyebrows is a biography of Marx written by a huge fan who became Marx's personal assistant in his last years.
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Person.
On May 14, 1804, 45 men set out from St. Louis with the mission of exploring the Louisiana Territory, just purchased from France. (Sacajawea did not join until November.) They were under the command of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. After traveling more than 8,000 miles, the expedition was completed two years later, having produced invaluable maps and identifying 120 animal species and 200 plant varieties.
One of the most valuable men in the expedition was an enslaved man named York, the first black man to cross the continent. York belonged to Clark who inherited him from his father. He was strong and hardworking, and he proved to be an able hunter, supplying a lot of meat for the expedition, but his greatest contribution may have been during contact with Indians who had seen few white men before and no black man ever. For the Indians, York was a sensation. He was often front and center in the first meetings, and the Indians were amazed. Children followed him around, men licked their thumbs and attempted to rub the black "paint" off of his skin. He was called "Great Medicine" or "Great Black Bear." Among some tribes, it was not unusual to offer wives to honored guests, and York had more than his share of offers.
After the expedition, his life is mysterious. Clark was angry that York apparently expected freedom as a reward and that he wanted to stay in Louisville Kentucky, so he sold him according to one story. Twenty years later, though, Clark told Washington Irving that he had freed York and set him up in a hauling business, but he had died of cholera. There were also credible reports that a black man, who claimed to have been with Lewis and Clark, was living with the Crow in what is now Wyoming, with four wives and treated like a chief
On May 14, 1804, 45 men set out from St. Louis with the mission of exploring the Louisiana Territory, just purchased from France. (Sacajawea did not join until November.) They were under the command of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. After traveling more than 8,000 miles, the expedition was completed two years later, having produced invaluable maps and identifying 120 animal species and 200 plant varieties.
One of the most valuable men in the expedition was an enslaved man named York, the first black man to cross the continent. York belonged to Clark who inherited him from his father. He was strong and hardworking, and he proved to be an able hunter, supplying a lot of meat for the expedition, but his greatest contribution may have been during contact with Indians who had seen few white men before and no black man ever. For the Indians, York was a sensation. He was often front and center in the first meetings, and the Indians were amazed. Children followed him around, men licked their thumbs and attempted to rub the black "paint" off of his skin. He was called "Great Medicine" or "Great Black Bear." Among some tribes, it was not unusual to offer wives to honored guests, and York had more than his share of offers.
After the expedition, his life is mysterious. Clark was angry that York apparently expected freedom as a reward and that he wanted to stay in Louisville Kentucky, so he sold him according to one story. Twenty years later, though, Clark told Washington Irving that he had freed York and set him up in a hauling business, but he had died of cholera. There were also credible reports that a black man, who claimed to have been with Lewis and Clark, was living with the Crow in what is now Wyoming, with four wives and treated like a chief
Place.
On May 14, 1804, 45 men set out from St. Louis with the mission of exploring the Louisiana Territory, just purchased from France. (Sacajawea did not join until November.) They were under the command of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. After traveling more than 8,000 miles, the expedition was completed two years later, having produced invaluable maps and identifying 120 animal species and 200 plant varieties.
Fort Mandan (replica in photos) was the expedition's 1804-1805 winter camp on the Missouri River about 12 miles from present-day Washburn, North Dakota. The exact location is not known and is thought to be underwater now. It was triangular in shape, built of cottonwood lumber. They stayed here from November 1804 to April 1805, with temperatures as low as -45 degrees Fahrenheit at times.
The camp was close to several Mandan and Hidatsa villages, and relations were friendly. It was here that Lewis and Clark met Sacagawea and Charbonneau, and she likely gave birth to her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, there on February 11, 1805.
On May 14, 1804, 45 men set out from St. Louis with the mission of exploring the Louisiana Territory, just purchased from France. (Sacajawea did not join until November.) They were under the command of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. After traveling more than 8,000 miles, the expedition was completed two years later, having produced invaluable maps and identifying 120 animal species and 200 plant varieties.
Fort Mandan (replica in photos) was the expedition's 1804-1805 winter camp on the Missouri River about 12 miles from present-day Washburn, North Dakota. The exact location is not known and is thought to be underwater now. It was triangular in shape, built of cottonwood lumber. They stayed here from November 1804 to April 1805, with temperatures as low as -45 degrees Fahrenheit at times.
The camp was close to several Mandan and Hidatsa villages, and relations were friendly. It was here that Lewis and Clark met Sacagawea and Charbonneau, and she likely gave birth to her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, there on February 11, 1805.
Thing.
For their journey, Meriwether Lewis designed a galley-type keelboat that was constructed in 1803 in Pittsburgh. It could be towed, poled, sailed, and towed as necessary. It was 55 feet in length, and it was accompanied by two smaller boats called pirogues. The expedition used the boat in 1804 and sent it back to St. Louis, loaded with specimens, artifacts, maps, and reports in 1805.
The keelboat left Fort Mandan on April 6 and returned to St.Louis in just 43 days, with everything intact. Meanwhile, Lewis and Clark's corps continued overland to the Pacific. Amazingly, it is not known what happened to the keelboat once it reached St. Louis. It is supposed that it was auctioned off to the highest bidder.
For their journey, Meriwether Lewis designed a galley-type keelboat that was constructed in 1803 in Pittsburgh. It could be towed, poled, sailed, and towed as necessary. It was 55 feet in length, and it was accompanied by two smaller boats called pirogues. The expedition used the boat in 1804 and sent it back to St. Louis, loaded with specimens, artifacts, maps, and reports in 1805.
The keelboat left Fort Mandan on April 6 and returned to St.Louis in just 43 days, with everything intact. Meanwhile, Lewis and Clark's corps continued overland to the Pacific. Amazingly, it is not known what happened to the keelboat once it reached St. Louis. It is supposed that it was auctioned off to the highest bidder.
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Person.
On May 14, 1787, delegates assembled in Philadelphia for the purpose of revising and amending the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they decided it was unworkable and tossed it out. Over the next five months, they argued and compromised until they had completed the Constitution.
There are numerous books about the constitutional convention. One of the most readable is Decision in Philadelphia.
One of the most important delegates present is all too often overlooked, Gouvernor Morris (1752-1816). From New York, he was of a wealthy family. He studied law and served as a member of the Continental Congress, and he represented Pennsylvania at the constitutional convention. There, he spoke more than any other delegate, 173 speeches. Many of those speeches were in opposition to slavery and in favor of religious freedom. He wrote much of the final draft of the Constitution, including the preamble.
Besides accomplishment, he may have been one of the most colorful founding fathers. His left leg was amputated below the knee after a carriage accident, and on at least one occasion, he was known to take off his peg leg and wave it around for emphasis. While in France, he carried in an affair with a married noble lady who lived in an apartment in the Louvre. She was also seeing French diplomat Charles de Talleyrand at the same time. He first married at age 57 and became a father at 61. He was instrumental in imposing planning and order on the physical growth of New York City, and he was a major proponent of the Erie Canal.
His death is rather gruesome. He attempted to treat his own urinary tract infection by using a piece of whale bone as a catheter. It resulted in greater injuries and infection, and he died a few days later.
On May 14, 1787, delegates assembled in Philadelphia for the purpose of revising and amending the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they decided it was unworkable and tossed it out. Over the next five months, they argued and compromised until they had completed the Constitution.
There are numerous books about the constitutional convention. One of the most readable is Decision in Philadelphia.
One of the most important delegates present is all too often overlooked, Gouvernor Morris (1752-1816). From New York, he was of a wealthy family. He studied law and served as a member of the Continental Congress, and he represented Pennsylvania at the constitutional convention. There, he spoke more than any other delegate, 173 speeches. Many of those speeches were in opposition to slavery and in favor of religious freedom. He wrote much of the final draft of the Constitution, including the preamble.
Besides accomplishment, he may have been one of the most colorful founding fathers. His left leg was amputated below the knee after a carriage accident, and on at least one occasion, he was known to take off his peg leg and wave it around for emphasis. While in France, he carried in an affair with a married noble lady who lived in an apartment in the Louvre. She was also seeing French diplomat Charles de Talleyrand at the same time. He first married at age 57 and became a father at 61. He was instrumental in imposing planning and order on the physical growth of New York City, and he was a major proponent of the Erie Canal.
His death is rather gruesome. He attempted to treat his own urinary tract infection by using a piece of whale bone as a catheter. It resulted in greater injuries and infection, and he died a few days later.
Place.
The constitutional convention was held in Philadelphia's Independence Hall from May to September 1787. It was originally completed in 1753 as the Pennsylvania State House and later served as the meeting place of the second continental Congress. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and approved there.
Once the delegates realized the Articles of Confederation couldn't be improved, Convention President George Washington decreed that everything the delegates did and said had to be considered top secret. If word got out that the men were meeting with the purpose of creating a new government, less than a decade after the Articles were put into effect, the public would likely consider them as conspirators plotting to stage a coup.
Washington, always conscious of optics and appearances, ordered heavy curtains to cover the windows and appointed sentries to keep the curious away from the building. He ordered the delegates not to remove any papers from the building and not to discuss anything in public. Aware of Benjamin Franklin's outgoing nature, he even appointed handlers to accompany Franklin in public in order to keep him from talking too much.
The constitutional convention was held in Philadelphia's Independence Hall from May to September 1787. It was originally completed in 1753 as the Pennsylvania State House and later served as the meeting place of the second continental Congress. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and approved there.
Once the delegates realized the Articles of Confederation couldn't be improved, Convention President George Washington decreed that everything the delegates did and said had to be considered top secret. If word got out that the men were meeting with the purpose of creating a new government, less than a decade after the Articles were put into effect, the public would likely consider them as conspirators plotting to stage a coup.
Washington, always conscious of optics and appearances, ordered heavy curtains to cover the windows and appointed sentries to keep the curious away from the building. He ordered the delegates not to remove any papers from the building and not to discuss anything in public. Aware of Benjamin Franklin's outgoing nature, he even appointed handlers to accompany Franklin in public in order to keep him from talking too much.
Thing.
This chair was used by George Washington who served as President of the constitutional convention.
It's also the object of a famous story told about Benjamin Franklin and his optimistic observations about the chair as an omen for the new government in the last hours of the convention.
The original story, as written into the federal record by James Madison, appeared as follows:
"Whilst the last members were signing it [i.e., the Constitution] Doct FRANKLIN looking towards the Presidents Chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that Painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. I have said he, often and often in the course of the Session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun."
This chair was used by George Washington who served as President of the constitutional convention.
It's also the object of a famous story told about Benjamin Franklin and his optimistic observations about the chair as an omen for the new government in the last hours of the convention.
The original story, as written into the federal record by James Madison, appeared as follows:
"Whilst the last members were signing it [i.e., the Constitution] Doct FRANKLIN looking towards the Presidents Chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that Painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. I have said he, often and often in the course of the Session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun."
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