A Historian’s Guide to Summer-The Beer Edition

By Tina M. Kibbe

Now that I am back in my home state of Texas after being gone for several years, I wanted to write about a topic that might touch upon summertime, gender, and the history of medicine . . . so obviously, I decided to write about beer! Beer and barbeque in the Texan summer are about as ubiquitous as heat and humidity. While I’m not really going to focus on the summer specifically, I primarily wanted to use it as a springboard of sorts to begin this post on the history of medicinal beer.

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-Infant care in 1831.
-The restaurant of the future (circa 1920).
-The radical working-class roots of improv.
-Seasonal cycles of suicide.
-Sex and witchcraft in Early Modern Europe.
-New York City used to be really, really dirty.
-Banned from the pub: Mugshots of Edwardian female drunks.

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich
-Going through menopause? Blame men?
-Mussolini’s gay island.
-Scientists sequence DNA of medieval leprosy.
-What happens to women who are denied abortions?
-26 diseases and how they got their names.
-Disappearing Americana: roadside rest stops.
-11 vintage celebrity PSAs.

Tan, Wet, Happy, and Fat?

By Cheryl Lemus

When you look at old photographs of yourself, there are many that deserve to be burned and others that inspire a giggle or two. The constant shifts in fashion have meant that you may have stashed away some unflattering pictures that include neon colors, ugly prom and bridesmaid dresses, polyester, big hair, shaved heads, and velour jogging suits. A lot of these pictures spur laughter and some just leave you puzzled and wondering, “why in hell was I wearing that?!?” Then there are those you may be hiding for one reason or another: if you are blinking and look like you’re drunk or you just woke up after a night of partying and your best friend decided to capture your messed up hair, smeared lipstick, and bloodshot eyes as a Kodak moment. Those are not too pleasant, but after a while, although you might not show them readily, you chuckle when you look at them. However, there are pictures that never see the light of day. These pictures can be of anything, but I venture to guess that many of the photographs you bury remain hidden because you believe you look fat.

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-Astronauts kept safe by bra designers?
-1930s public health film on bathing and dressing children.
-‘Mother’s Little Helper’ turns 50.
-1970s pictorial on teen pregnancy.
-Study reveals new health benefit of anti-depressants.
-Stalin and Churchill – drinking buddies?

A Historian’s Guide to Summer – The TV Edition

By Jacqueline D. Antonovich

Ah, summer. There is so much to love about this bewitching season. The long, warm evenings on the porch, the tinkling of ice in a cold beverage, vacations to exotic locations, and a slower pace of life that seems to magically rejuvenate the soul. I think F. Scott Fitzgerald stated it best when he wrote, “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” Who am I kidding? Summer is also about kids out of school and underfoot, the dreaded bathing suit shopping trip, vacations to not-so-exotic locations (Dollywood, anyone?), and temperatures so hot and muggy that certain portions of skin stick together abnormally. Let’s be honest, summertime is a mixed blessing.

An old photo of a group of men and women cross dressing, with they stand in a line, showing left sides

Cross-Dressing: An American Pastime

By Tiffany K. Wayne

Whether we like it or not, clothes and fashion are important markers of status, class, gender, and sexual identity. Just ask any high school student who is trying to present their own personal style or identity and comes up against the rules and judgments of parents, teachers, and society. Most schools today have dress codes regulating the length of skirts and banning t-shirts with offensive images and drug or gang references. Some schools also have gendered dress codes, such as the Virginia school which prohibits “any clothing worn by a student that is not in keeping with a student’s gender and causes a disruption and/or distracts others from the educational process or poses a health or safety concern.”