Old black & white photographs of the ports of Baltimore bring to mind a gritty and sooty place; smog and ship steam and oyster shells. It is harder to imagine the loads of colorful & sometimes fragrant cargo coming into the port: tomatoes, bananas, coffee, citrus fruits. Much of it was headed to the city’s…
In 2018 I’m hoping to branch out to some of the interesting archives and historical collections in other parts of the state outside of Baltimore. The Historical Society of Harford County has Saturday hours once a month so I nervously planned a visit. As a “not a real scholar” I often feel out of place…
“All the tea I drank in Russia was delicious. It is brought overland from China, and always sold fresh; and not, as in this country, after it has lain for two or three years in warehouses.” – Sir James Edward Alexander 1830 in “Travels to the seat of war in the East, through Russia and…
After making the fudge recipe, I thought I’d delve a little more into the background on the “Favorite Receipt Book and Business Directory,” published in 1884 by the Ladies Aid Society of the Church of the Holy Comforter. Unlike other charity cookbooks, this one doesn’t even name any of the women who might be involved…
“The Baltimore Sun is trying to coax the Governor of Maryland to appoint a yankee festival…Why don’t our Governor move in the important matter of appointing a day for thanksgiving? Pumpkin pies are coming from all quarters, and no day set apart yet.” – The Baltimore Sun, 11/15/1837 The Baltimore Sun was in its infancy…