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 | Jul 4, 2021 | Colonial America, Holidays, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History
When I first started working at the local chamber of commerce, my boss told me the most common question I’d get from people is “What day is the 4th of July?” It wasn’t that people couldn’t count, but they wanted to know whether the parade and fireworks were being held...
by Kate Dolan | Jun 21, 2021 | Latest Posts, Living History, Pirates and the Caribbean
The names of most inept pirates are long forgotten because they didn’t really succeed in scaring anyone or taking much of anything. However, there is one infamous pirate who really was known for his stupid mistakes more than anything else. Stede Bonnet was born to a...
by Kate Dolan | May 22, 2021 | Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History, Pirates and the Caribbean
The best pirates in history are not funny. Pirates who were good at their jobs took other people’s property by threatening violence, and they were prepared to carry out their threats. Even if they spoke in a funny pirate drawl and all looked like Johnny Depp,...
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...
