And You Thought T-Shirts Were Not An Important Part Of American History

Nine-one percent of Americans claim they own a “favorite T-Shirt”.

That, of course is no big deal…I have a favorite pair of socks, shoes, even salad fork.

continue reading »

The Queen Mary has been a permanent feature in Long Beach, California for a couple for decades and is one of the most famous cruise ships of all time. The ship has become a hotel, museum and popular tourist attraction, and the historic ship is internationally recognized and attracts thousands of visitors every year. Besides the living guests, the ship is said to play host to several ghosts. It has been speculated that the Queen Mary might be one of the most haunted places in the world. Reports say that as many as 150 known spirits have taken up residence and lurk in various locations all around the ship.

The Queen Mary sailed her maiden voyage on May 27, 1936. Built in Scotland to be used as part of a two-ship express service from Southampton to Cherbourg to New York, the Queen Mary is 1,000 feet long, and in her day was said to be bigger, faster and more powerful than the Titanic. She also held the record for the fastest-ever North Atlantic crossing. The historic ocean liner’s passengers included the most celebrated people of the time, including royalty, top entertainment figures and important world leaders.

continue reading »

Questions:

1. What is the primary language of most residents of Montreal?
A. English
B. French
C. Canadian
D. Montrealese

2. During what century was swimwear revolutionized?
A. The 20th century with the birth of the bikini
B. The 19th century with the transition from swimming as therapy to swimming as recreation
C. 18th century when lead weights were sewn into the hems of bathing suits
D. 4th century when the first two-piece bathing suit was featured

continue reading »

If you were to travel to Blue Mountain Lake, New York, you would come across a very unique museum called the Adirondack Museum. According to experts that run this museum, the Adirondack chair originally went by a different name - Westport chair, which was after a small nearby town nestled in the Adirondack Mountains. Thomas Lee first created the design of the Adirondack chair in the early 1900s. Determined to develop a chair that would be appropriate for both indoor and outdoor use, as well as a chair that was highly comfortable, he started to work using standard boards and nails.

He completed his prototype, asking family and friends for their honest opinion. Although the design looked anything but comfortable, the consensus was that this chair was actually very comfortable. Today, the Adirondack chair is still one of the number one choices, often associated with beachfront property, seating around a swimming pool, or sprawling lawns. Regardless of where you place your Adirondack chair, you will not be disappointed with your choice.

continue reading »

An early alcoholic drink, rum has been around since ancient times. Nothing if not old, it is practically forced to walk with a (sugar) cane. Though it wasn’t first distilled in plantations until the 17th century, rum is believed to have existed thousands of years prior in the form of brum, a drink made by the Malay people. In the 14th century, Marco Polo (the explorer, not the swimming pool game) wrote about a wine made of sugar, giving further credence to the belief that rum was around before the 1600’s.

When the first distillation of rum began, it began in the Caribbean when plantation slaves realized the molasses, left over from sugar refinement, could be turned into alcohol. This alcohol, however, was not well received…at least not at first. Like the beginning of most things, the beginning of rum was a little shaky and the spirit was dispirited to learn that it was initially thought to be a terrible tasting liquor.

continue reading »

If images of the kahuna (experts) ritualistically chanting to the Gods to bring the waves, protect men and women who rode them, bless the carved wood boards, kings and queens battling for wave rights and integration between man and the magic of the sea brings images of the history of Surfing to your mind’s eye, then you must be filled with Aloha, as the Polynesians intended. The history of surfing dates back centuries before the first written account of observing ‘the sport of kings’ in 1779 by Lt. James King in the ship’s log of Captian James Cook’s Discovery.

He scrutinizes the sport as existing purely for sport and amusement; “The Men sometimes 20 or 30 go without the Swell of the Surf, & lay themselves flat upon an oval piece of plan about their Size and breadth, they keep their legs close on top of it, & their Arms are us’d to guide the plank, thye wait the time of the greatest Swell that sets on Shore, & altogether push forward with their Arms to keep on its top, it sends them in with a most astonishing Velocity, & the great art is to guide the plan so as always to keep it in a proper direction on the top of the Swell…”Surfing was created as a royal pastime, embedded in the codes of the kapu (taboos) as governed by the Hawaiians.

continue reading »

The earliest recorded method of water filtration dates back to 2000 B.C. where hieroglyphics depict methods of boiling water, placing hot metal instruments in water and filtering water through charcoal and sand. These early methods are thought to have been instituted to make water taste better, thus, cleaning it. Water filtration was further developed with the advent of the microscope, which made it possible to see foreign particles and contaminants in water that would have otherwise been considered to be pure and clean. Most notably, the microscope was responsible to identify cholera bacteria in drinking water during a disease outbreak in 19th century London. The outbreak was rampart in all areas except those areas where drinking water was filtered through sand. Chlorine was also discovered to be an effective, chemical disinfectant capable to rid the infectious water of cholera. It was further discovered that the chemical, chlorine, when used in combination with sand filtering, was effective in combating cholera as well the water borne diseases, typhoid and dysentery.

In an effort to achieve drinking water purity, chlorine disinfection and sand filtering became prominent methods of municipal water treatment throughout Europe, and then, the US. These primitive methods of disinfecting and filtering water to achieve purity have been studied and evaluated with the use of technology. Chlorine, despite its history of ridding water of contaminants, is a poison. It has since been found to exhibit side effects that aggravate and induce respiratory complications, such as asthma. The poisonous chemical vaporizes at a faster rate than water, making it dangerously harmful when inhaled, especially during showering. Fluoride has since been added as an additional chemical disinfecting agent, but also has side effects of dental damage and other health complications in young children. Lead and other chemical contaminants and by-products further compromise drinking water during the piping and delivery of treated water.

continue reading »

Silver is a natural element that can be found in nature in great quantities. Its features and properties have always fascinated people, who were willing to test the medicinal properties of pure, colloidal silver. This is the main reason why various cultures, in distinctive eras used this substance as a prevention method or in order to restore health.

It all starts from the Greeks, who used only silver vessels, especially for water. In other cultures, silver coins were placed inside the drinking milk, in order to prevent the occurrence of spoilage organisms.

continue reading »