American History
Another Book That Sat on the To-Be-Read Shelves for Far too Long: Fast-Talking Dames
Fast-Talking Dames by Maria DiBattista is both a study of and homage to the fast-talking heroines of Hollywood comedies in the 1930s and 1940s. Like me, DiBattista discovered the women she writes about in her early teens, when she watched old movies after school and late at night. Like me, she saw them as a…
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Uncle Sam Wants You: The Man Behind the Poster
Illustrator James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) keeps popping up in places where I don’t expect him. Each time I have to look him up, because I don’t remember who he is. Each time he looks a little more interesting. Most recently I stumbled across him on HathiTrust. I had given into the temptation to search for…
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From the Archives: Road Trip Through History: Memorial Day near Omaha Beach
Here in the United States, we are heading into the Memorial Day weekend. My Own True Love and I always find a way to honor the war dead on Memorial Day. We’ve gone to services in small towns and distant suburbs, usually put on by local VFW chapters with a Boy Scout color guard. We’ve…
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