A Bountiful Heart

With Thanksgiving rolling around, I take a bit of time to reflect on what's considered the "traditional" Thanksgiving meal. We have in this current century elevated this holiday fare to gargantuan proportions. A reasonable meal just will not be considered. Something about abundance and the bountiful buffet, as it were.

Probably the Thanksgiving meal of the 18th Century was quite different. I'm sure the historic meal between the Colonists and the Indians was cause for celebration, but not to the extent of today's enormous spread.

The most common foods in the Colonies were corn, maple sugar and berries. Meals were planned around the workday, with the mid-day meal being the largest. Meats were generally roasted or dried, and there were pickled goods as well. A tasty treat was molasses, and cider or beer was offered. One-pot stews were also big, with various root vegetables added in. Of course, ground meal breads were made probably daily.

And so, I provide a recipe below for the good of the day, a simple "Indian pudding", a recipe from the American Cookery book, published in 1796. It includes "3 pints scaled milk, 7 spoons of fine Indian meal, stir together while hot, let stand till cooled; add 7 eggs, half pound of raisins, 4 ounces butter, spice and sugar; bake one and a half hour."

Granted, it got a lot of cholesterol going on in there, but what with working the fields on a daily basis, you probably could get away with it. I would go for cinnamon and some clove as the "spice" component, and the sugar should be raw, or brown, at least, or better yet, molasses.

This year, try to keep things simple, and put the greatest amount of effort into a bountiful heart.

 

The Selfie Craze

This week, the Oxford Dictionary picked their annual word of the year, and this year's entry is "SELFIE", for self-portrait. The Selfie has risen to new heights with technology, especially with celebrities who love to post pictures of themselves in "everyday" situations, so that the general voyaristic public can watch their every move. The latest celebrity selfies range from drinking a Starbucks to taking a bath!

Well, the self-portrait is nothing new, only magnified by technology, instantaneous and wide-reaching. In the 18th Century, the selfie was generally painted, by artists, who captured themselves on canvas or by etchings or drawings. Of course, they took time to produce, and were seen by people close at hand, but the artists indulged themselves here nonetheless. Everyone likes to take stock of themselves, look in the mirror, see photos or videos of themselves now and again.

Below is an interesting one: Artist Carriera's self portrait along with a smaller portrait of her sister, 1709.
And, below that one of Gilbert Stuart in a rather pensive mood, 1785. And, one of Gabrielle Capet with brush in hand, 1783.
Finally, one of me, taking my own picture....I couldn't resist!

Lord Nelson - A Health Report

After blogging about Kennedy and Washington's health, I decided to look into another historical favorite of mine,  1st Viscount Lord Horatio Nelson, Admiral of the British Royal Naval Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars.

Here again was someone that though a great hero, suffered from poor health all his life. He was considered puny and of slight stature when he was a boy. His uncle stated that he couldn't understand why anyone would suggest Horatio for naval service.

At sixteen he was a midshipman in the HMS

Seahorse in the East Indies, and contracted malaria. He suffered recurring bouts of the disease. The climate was conducive, and he was seriously debilitated. Not too much later, about 1786, he is thought to have gotten cholera, but symptoms suggested typhoid. Here again, he suffered miserably. Doctors prescribed a strict dietary treatment along with therapeutic baths at Bath, drinking of the waters there. Though he rallied once again, these illnesses left lasting damage. By 1790 it is said he suffered from gout.

Of course he also suffered many wounds from battle, and their resulting pains and on-going difficulties. In 1794 he lost his eye to gun shot that sent splinters into his face. Later at the Battle at Teneriffe in 1797, he lost his arm. Amputation procedures of the times were rather crude. His face held many bruises and scarring from cuts, and he began suffering angina at age 38.  Several concussions left him in what condition we would now consider a pre-mature senility or dementia. Think of the recent reports of NFL stars; the recognition of the high price to be paid for repeated head injury.

Of course, eventually Horatio lost his life at the famed Battle of Trafalgar, in 1805. He is England's greatest hero, stopping Napoleon's advance and ending the war. Throughout his life, he battled on, never giving up. He is the stuff of legend!

Nelson once wrote of himself, later in life,  "Wounds received by Lord Nelson: His eye in Corsica, His belly off Cape St. Vincent, His arm at Teneriffe, His head in Egypt....Tolerable for one war!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          

 

 

 

To be or not to be HEALTHY!

Last night I watched the PBS American Experience special, JFK. Of course, John Kennedy is immortalized, or rather frozen in time, as one of the great presidents of the 20th Century. The times were much different than today, when all, and I mean ALL, is revealed by social media.

There was great mention made in the TV special, that Kennedy was never truly a healthy individual, beginning from childhood. He was considered rather puny, suffered infections, bouts of sickness. And then, he was diagnosed with Addison's Disease, an endocrine disorder. The medication he was given had terrible side effects including destroying his bones, which led to his chronic back problems as a adult. In fact, when he met with Nikita Khrushchev at the famous Vienna Summit, Kennedy was shot up with amphetamines and various pain killers in order to make the appointment! No one knew too much about this side of his life. These things were kept mostly hidden, and he, when he ran for office, made the great effort to appear young, strong and vigorous. I wonder if he would have gotten elected at all if these problems were truly made known at the time.

It got me to thinking about our first president, George Washington, and what I may find out about his health. Granted, more people suffered various diseases and illnesses more commonly as there were no real medications to work with. It was just a fact of life that people lived with maladies. But, I did find an interesting chart that shows Washington's age and corresponding illness and year. He is shown to have recurring bouts with malaria, tuberculosis and dysentery. We all know he suffered from rotting teeth, eventually having to use dentures. As they say, bad teeth can be a sign of bad health.

Age Year Disease --- ---- -------  ?? ???? diphtheria 18  17 1749 malaria  19 1751 smallpox  19 1751 tuberculosis  30 1752 malaria  33 1755 dysentery (+)  35 1757 dysentery (*)  35 1757 tuberculosis (*)  39 1761 malaria (**)  39 1761 dysentery (**)    Age Year Disease --- ---- -------  47 1779 quinsy  52 1784 malaria  57 1789 carbuncle  58 1790 pneumonia  59 1791 carbuncle  66 1798 malaria  67 1799 epiglottitis[?] + = multiple episodes * = simultaneous illnesses * * = simultaneous illnesses It was lucky for us that Washington's health was comparatively good during the Revolutionary War (1776-1783)!

The Whale of a Tale

I spent the better part of last weekend on the couch, with a dull headache plaguing the base of my skull, enough so that when I woke up on Saturday morning, the minute I stood up, my stomach did not fare well at all, to put it as discreetly as possible. And so, being relegated to the couch, when I was not sleeping, I tried to watch some TV. I happened upon “Moby Dick, the 1956  classic with Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, and Richard Basehart as Ishmael.

When I was forced to read these American literature classics in school, I must admit I truly missed their greater meaning. I guess it was a subject not of particular interest to me, and hence I dutifully read, and after being tested on the subject, quickly forgot the story.

Watching the movie, which was probably not as good as Herman Melville’s original book, I was intrigued, captivated. The story caught my greater imagination. I would now like to know more, and I will probably get the book for my library.
The story takes place in the 1800’s, but meanwhile, I looked into whaling during the 1700’s for the good of this blog.

Before the 1600’s, whaling was primarily done by indigenous people for basic needs. It was not until much later when faster ships were employed and better methods of butchering developed  that commercial whaling became more popular. The first commercial ventures were organized in Europe, with England beginning whaling expeditions in Greenland in 1610.

In the New World, whaling operations were in full swing from 1600-1700 in Cape Cod. Throughout the 1700’s the industry exploded in the American Colonies with 1789 being a major year.  Advancement in weaponry included the shoulder gun and darting gun. With these developments a huge expansion in whaling began, almost like a gold rush, people making great fortunes at the trade.

But this led to the danger of whales being killed off in greater and greater numbers, almost to extinction. Today, whaling is monitored by almost every nation.  Of course, as in all business, the notion of supply and demand rule, and eventually, profits were not made as readily, costs increased, too much effort was expended in voyaging out to find the whales, and the trade lost its appeal.
Well, either things need to change, or as they say, all good things come to an end.

Swing your partner round and round, and off with their head!

Recently I attended the Pride, Prejudice and Zombie Ball, part of the Halloween experience for this year. It really was a kick, with most participants in Regency style attire. I was Proud and Privileged to wear an ensemble my daughter (http://dressedintime.blogspot.com) designed for me.

I was discussing this outfit with a friend who reminded me of the Bals des Victimes, or Victim’s Ball, that were put on by dancing societies after the Reign of Terror! I had to do some research!!!

To be a part of these societies, you had to be a relative of someone who faced the guillotine during the Terror. What a distinguished honor, ha ha! These dances hit their peak after the death of Robespierre, the first held in early 1795, mentioned in popular writing by 1797. History now suggests they were merely rumored to have occurred, but I think they were more than invention. At least I’d like to think so.

Though they began as a rash of merriment, they assumed a greater significance, with participants acting out the emotional impact of their family’s executions, and the resulting social upheaval. Attire included mourning clothes, with crepe armbands, gowns plain but scanty in the wake of the impoverished, or Greco-Roman dress with bare feet. Women wore a red ribbon around their neck as an homage to the guillotine blade. The preferred gown color was ghostly white, worn along with long red shawls, and men were said to bow to one’s partner with a jerk of the head, sharply downward, imitating the lopping off of one’s head. Ouch!

Sometimes we think we have the jump on the “ghoulish” today, but I think these Bals Des Victimes just cap it off!