Author Archives: corvusfugit

1906: The Union Butcher Shop

Posted on January 28, 2018 by corvusfugit

The Union Butcher Shop. A non-union man entered a butcher’s shop in which was conspicuously displayed the card of the meat cutter’s union. The following dialogue ensued: Mr. Non-Union—I see by that card you run a union shop. Butcher—Yes, sir; … Continue reading →

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1953: A Piece of String

Posted on January 28, 2018 by corvusfugit

The most celebrated of all British practical jokers was William Horace De Vere Cole…He was a citizen of substance and had a large house in a fashionable section of London. One day he was hanging some paintings in his home … Continue reading →

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17th Century: The Dog-Headed Saint

Posted on January 28, 2018 by corvusfugit

In Eastern Christian Orthodox iconography, Saint Christopher sometimes appears with the head of a dog. As a consummate outsider who would become the patron saint of travellers, Christopher came to be associated with tales of far-flung peoples who blurred the … Continue reading →

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1945: The Book of Alfred Kantor

Posted on January 27, 2018 by corvusfugit

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day—Yom HaShoah Alfred Kantor was 22 when he was sent to Theresienstadt, the ”model ghetto” 40 miles north of Prague that the Nazis had created for Czech Jews. He was then sent to Auschwitz and, later, … Continue reading →

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1812: I Awoke in the Greatest Agitation

Posted on January 27, 2018 by corvusfugit

On May 11, 1812, John Bellingham, a disgruntled Liverpool merchant, assassinated British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the lobby of the House of Commons in London. In his autobiography, the civil engineer Sir John Rennie (whose company built the London … Continue reading →

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1915: Sugar Factory

Posted on January 26, 2018 by corvusfugit

Daniel Putnam Brinley: Hudson River View (Sugar Factory at Yonkers) (1915)

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2009: A Trade Union for Trees

Posted on January 25, 2018 by corvusfugit

Look at a single tall tree standing proud in the middle of an open area. Why is it so tall? Not to be closer to the sun! That long trunk could be shortened until the crown of the tree was … Continue reading →

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1874: Lost Beauties

Posted on January 25, 2018 by corvusfugit

A few entries from Charles Mackay’s Lost Beauties of the English Language: An Appeal to Authors, Poets, Clergymen and Public Speakers (1874): Airt, the quarter from which the wind blows. “Helter skelter from a’ airts, In swarms the country drives.” … Continue reading →

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1889: Clouds

Posted on January 24, 2018 by corvusfugit

Marie Triepcke Kroyer: Clouds (1889)

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1666: Too Stars Fighting

Posted on January 24, 2018 by corvusfugit

In the same moneth [September, 1666] was seen a strange prodigy near us, Grace Butler my near neighbour that saw it told me of it, togather with several of James Brookesbankes family, it was too stars fighting, they struck violently … Continue reading →

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