Three Squares a Day

No, it’s not a wolf, and it’s not a cayote; it’s an American Indian dog. These working companion animals were almost lost to history after our American Indians were segregated onto reservations, and often left without the resources necessary to maintain the ancient breed. There is now growing interest in restoring the old lines of [...]

What an opportunity passes by 99% of all Americans each year with the coming and going of Thanksgiving! In our own homes we could be learning about the slave trade of that era (1621), or the pirates, or the Wampanoag Peoples, none of which are “boring” topics in the least!
Yet, because Thanksgiving has been [...]

Earlier today we sent out an Antique Thanksgiving Recipe email that included a history mystery:  One of the 1893 recipes shared in the email called for the use of a “tin pudding boiler.”  I had never heard of, and had been unable to determine what the heck a “pudding boiler” was!
(The 1893 Thanksgiving recipes are [...]

One of the fun ideas offered in The American Patriot’s Treasury of Historical Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas, is playing period English card games for Thanksgiving.  We are finally getting the hang of two old card games, but recently we discovered an interesting way to enhance the historical gaming atmosphere.
After we went to press this season I came across a source for Old-English phrases, [...]

The following tips and instructions will have a family of eight on their way to 1621 for Thanksgiving, all for less than $50! Consider going potluck, so everyone can play more. More great at-home living history ideas can be found at our sister site, www.IdeasThanksgiving.com, and in our handguide The American Patriot’s Treasury of Historical Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas . [...]

As birthday and other family get-together opportunities come up, we get a kick out of playing historical games together.  Recently, while explaining a couple of old English games that would have been familiar to the Mayflower pilgrims (1620), husband Dave asked me if the word “hoodwinked” could have come from one of the games called Hoodman’s Blind.  It seemed a slight possibility, and we were [...]

The use of ear candles to clean supposed wax from the ear canal dates back possibly as early as 2500 BC.   Egypt, China, India, Tibet, and the Mayan and Aztec cultures all used similarly designed pottery cones to achieve desired ear wax removal.  The beeswax coated cotton cones (shown) plausibly date back almost as far, [...]

Recently, while researching the customs of serving Victorian tea, I thought to refer to my 1873-74 copy of “The House-Keeper’s Manual,” written by Harriet Beecher-Stowe and her sister, Catherine E. Beecher. (Harriet is best known for authoring Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published in 1852.)

I was astounded to discover that Ms. Stowe believed hot [...]

By Carrie Franzwa and Leonia Meek
The most sure way to make history learning fun at any age, is to employ the three easy stages of The Alluring Approach to History. This teaching approach puts academics last, and creative arts first, and is based on the observation that young and old alike invariably derive [...]

For those Americans who love our country, and who hunger to see the real history of Thanksgiving restored to our annual holiday, here’s a simple and historically accurate project that will spark curiosity and conversation at your next Thanksgiving get-together.
As detailed in The American Patriot’s Treasury of Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas (*1), the English pilgrims [...]

As a family, learning the foundations of our American history is fast becoming a matter of adventure and play.  The more fun I have researching Thanksgiving, and “how they did stuff way back when,”  the more my kids get a kick out of doing things a little different than normal.
I recently completed the writing of [...]

In-Home Reenactor’s Guide Sparks New Thanksgiving Fire
Lebanon, Oregon – Home educator and history enthusiast Carrie Franzwa is releasing the first at-home guide for re-introducing historic authenticity to Thanksgiving.  The unique guide is titled “How to Re-create an Authentic 1621 Thanksgiving,” and offers an eye-opening look at the historical foundations of our national holiday, and challenges [...]

As I have spent the last couple months immersed in the study of America’s colonial beginnings, I spent a great deal of time pondering issues related to the influence of early European slave trading.  I was saddened to learn that the practice threatened peace in this nation from our very opening moments, when slave traders embarked in [...]

We recently learned that the former National D-Day Museum, now the National World War II Museum, located in New Orleans, Louisiana,  is planning a major expansion.  Originally the museum represented only the European D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, but popular demand has prompted the museum to aim for representing every facet of America’s global [...]

The History of Dandelions as Food in America
As I have been researching what modern food equivalents might be used in recreating an authentic 1621 Thanksgiving meal, I discovered that those pesky dandelions which plague my western U.S. yard, are not / were not indigenous. They were introduced to the American natives on the east coast by the English in [...]