by Kate Dolan | Jan 20, 2019 | Articles, Colonial America, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History, Servants, Travel
The immense popularity of the British series Downton Abbey in the U.S. shows that despite our commitment to the concept of equality, many Americans are fascinated by the lifestyles of those living in a society where the accident of your birth could grant you a life of...
by Kate Dolan | Oct 27, 2018 | Colonial America, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History, Travel
With a name like Boiling Springs, I expected Vincent Price to be dangling victims from a hook over steaming waters. Maybe not every day, but this close to Halloween, I was looking for morbid stories. However, when we arrived in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, we...
by Kate Dolan | Aug 21, 2018 | Articles, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History, Travel
Most of us think of amusement parks with thrill rides as a modern concept, but they have actually been popular destinations for well over a century. However, while people now drive hundreds of miles to go to one or two parks, back then, people traveled to hundreds of...
by Kate Dolan | Jul 24, 2018 | Articles, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History, Travel
Shortly after we arrived at the beach, my daughter and I headed straight for the boardwalk. And I started to wonder why our society puts collections of shops, restaurants and amusements on a length of boards where the ocean meets the sand. We don’t put...
by Kate Dolan | Feb 11, 2018 | Articles, Food, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Travel
Chocolate has been on my mind a lot lately. We see great big heart shaped boxes of the stuff starting the day after Christmas. And I always try to eat as much as I can before the start of Lent, when I usually give up chocolate for 40 days as a reminder of...
by Kate Dolan | Dec 19, 2017 | Articles, Holidays, Kate Dolan, Latest Posts, Living History, Pirates and the Caribbean, Travel
This year everyone may be trying to find the perfect ugly Christmas sweater, but popular winter fashions certainly change with time. One winter about 150 years ago, instead of ugly Christmas sweaters or Santa hats, the women of Key West all wanted red shawls. At that...