by Kate Dolan | Sep 11, 2021 | Articles, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History, Toto's Tale
You know you’re a true history geek when you want to know about the history of a fake historical thing. Last year, I researched the history of fanciful tiki culture and this year, I started wondering about the origin of the Renaissance festival. Yes, the origin of the...
by Kate Dolan | Aug 11, 2021 | Articles, Latest Posts, Living History, Romans, Toto's Tale
Dogs often do not appear to enjoy the dog days of summer. It’s hot, and they’re stuck wearing a fur coat that they can only shed one hair at a time. They can’t even sweat to cool off. But the term “dog days” has nothing to do with fur or even dogs. The origin of the...
by Kate Dolan | Apr 17, 2021 | Articles, Colonial America, Latest Posts, Living History
Some are terrified by the disease, and others are more frightened by the new vaccine introduced to produce immunity to the disease. While I could be talking about today’s reaction to COVID-19, I’m referring to the situation 300 years ago in Boston. In the spring of...
by Kate Dolan | Feb 14, 2021 | Articles, Holidays, Living History, Romans
February 14 is a day associated with disappointed expectations and heart-shaped boxes of candy. I don’t think the disappointment needs any sort of explanation. Or, frankly, the chocolate (although you can check out my blogs about growing chocolate and the history of...
by Kate Dolan | Dec 22, 2020 | 19th Century America, Articles, Holidays, Latest Posts, Living History
I intended to write about why we sing the song “Jingle Bells” at Christmas, but after doing some research, I now wonder why we sing the song at all. If people knew the origin of Jingle Bells, it would disappear faster than you can say “cancel culture.” Jingle...
by Kate Dolan | Mar 13, 2020 | 19th Century America, Articles, Faith, Latest Posts, Living History
Since I did not write the blog post I’d planned for Black History Month, I thought I’d cover February and March (Women’s History Month) with a few words about Amanda Berry Smith, who was born in rural Baltimore County in 1837. Amanda’s parents were enslaved to the...
