The Civil War Comes to California

As was mentioned in a post last week, Americans will be marking the 150th anniversaries of the great events of the Civil War over the next four years.  Many of the battles, commanders and regiments of that conflict have become legends, and the narrative of a nation split apart, brother fighting against brother, remains compelling.  ...

The Acquisitions Table: The New Pretty Village

The New Pretty Village. Church Set. New York: McLoughlin Bros., 1897. The McLoughlin Brothers dominated both the picture book and game markets in late 19th-century America, and The New Pretty Village is a wonderful example of McLoughlin’s halcyon era. This segment of the ideal suburban village includes cardboard models of a church, a stately house, a ...

This Week in the Civil War, Illustrated: “Cash or curses” as payment for foraged food

There has been much interest in the Civil War of late.  The increased coverage makes sense given that next few years mark 150 years since the conflict that divided our United States.  Here at Past is Present, we would like to highlight another side of the war years.  Rather than focusing on the battles or ...

The Acquisitions Table: No Rose Without a Thorn

No rose without a thorn. New York: Nathaniel Currier, [1838-1856] Shown with "My Master's Wife" When he started his business on Nassau Street in New York City, Nathaniel Currier offered for sale lithographs of news events, historic images, local views, and pretty women. He also occasionally produced narrative genre scenes such as this curious depiction of ...

The Acquisitions Table: The First German-American Cookbook

David Whitesell, curator of books, reports on a recent acquisition: Die Wahre Brandtewein-Brennerey, oder Brandtewein- Gin- und Cordialmacher-Kunst:  wie auch die a?chte Fa?rbe-Kunst, Blau, Roth, Gelb und Gru?n zu fa?rben, auf Baumwalle, Leinen, und Wolle … [Reading, PA?: Gottlob Jungmann and Carl Andreas Bruckmann?], 1802. Very rare third of four recorded editions of what might be ...

The Diary of Patty Rogers

With wedding season upon us, and love and relationships at the forefront of many minds this time of the year, it's fun to wonder what courting, love, and relationships were like, and how they've evolved over the past couple hundred years.  We all have ideas in our minds,  probably placed there through novels and films.  ...

City Living, or “One Vast Masquerade Entertainment”

It must have been personal interest that drew my eye to this one item on the shelf, "The Temptations of City Life: A Voice to Young Men Seeking a Home and Fortune, in Large Towns and Cities,"  Tracts for the Cities -- No. 3 (New York, 1849) [AAS online catalog record].  While I am not ...

Lee Pardon Aldrich and the Trial of Daniel Sickles

In February of 1859, a scandalous event shook Washington D.C., involving two prominent politicians, betrayal and murder most foul.  How intriguing! Hon. Daniel E. Sickles, Congressman from New York, shot and killed Philip Barton Key, U.S. District Attorney (and also, interestingly enough, son of famed composer Francis Scott Key), after discovering an affair between Key and ...