Tag Archives: history

Miscellaneous Monday…NEW stuff i gotta share

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tulips1

Happy Monday! I hope you all are enjoying the beautiful SPRING!

Well, the NEW things I want to share this week are some very random things I learned recently at a genealogy conference I attended.  So…in genealogy, we strive to find birth dates, marriage dates, death dates etc…and any additional historical information about marriage customs might just help us do that.  I didn’t previously know what ‘Bundling’ was.   However, now that I know, it probably won’t help me break through any genealogical brick walls, but I have to say it is interesting!

Did you know that sweethearts in the 18th century were not only allowed to sleep together before marriage, but were encouraged to???  It was known as ‘Bundling’ (check out Wikipedia OR This Blog)

I also learned of the history of  the Italian infant abandonment system and its name-assignment practices.  (Terrific article HERE)  I found it so sad that unwed mothers could anonymously abandon their babies in a rotating wheel that was on an outside wall of a hospital!  Wow.

That’s it for that random stuff.  Have a great day! Do or learn something NEW!

 

 

 

 

two NEW book ratings

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RentCollector_cover-673x1024The-Island-at-the-Center-of-the-World-9780786268351

Oh my goodness!  When I have a book to read…NOTHING else gets done around here! 🙂  I think my family must cringe when they see me walking in from a trip to the library….thinking,  “Great!….Now how am I supposed to get Mom’s attention if I need her!?!”  HaHa!  Here are my latest reads.  I’m giving them both 4 out of 5 stars.  (Just so you know, I RARELY give out 5’s).

The Rent Collector is fiction based on real people.  I was hesitant to read it, thinking I wasn’t interested in a depressing story about extreme poverty, but that was not the focus at all.  It focused on learning and how the mother became literate even though she lived in a municipal city dump.  Very good book!  I recommend it!

The Island at the Center of the World is a longer read, but very interesting.  It’s a history book about the Island of Manhattan in the early 1600’s.   I don’t know about your history teachers, but mine didn’t even mention the Dutch colony….all I was taught was the English colonies….the pilgrims, the puritans etc.  I might be a bit more interested in this book than the average reader because I’ve been doing a fair amount of New York family history.  But if you like history books, this one is very good!

Again, I give them 4 out of 5 stars.  Learn or DO something NEW today!