Skip to content

Posts from the ‘history’ Category

Aug 7

3 Comments

Furniture find with an accent

This morning, Sarah and I discovered two things:

  1. Saturday does in fact start before 8am.
  2. This old English hall wardrobe.

Getting up early works for birds hunting worms, so we figured the same strategy might work for poor kids searching for bedroom storage on the cheap. Kind of like the Ethan Allen cabinet we recently found and painted.

When our usual hot spots turned us down cold, we stepped into a consignment shop in Frisco. That’s where we spotted this ol’ chap standing in a corner.

It’s a hardwood English wardrobe most likely from the 1920′s – 1950′s. It’s called a “hall” wardrobe because at just over 5 ft. tall and 18 in. deep, it’s diminutive size is well-suited for an entryway or hallway. Or, in our case, it’s perfect scale for our cozy apartment.

And after a little discussion with the proprietor, we ended up with a petit $84 price tag to match.

Our original plan was to find something we could paint or refinish. But, with it’s beautiful hardwood inlays, scroll work and quaint hardware, we find the English accents charming, indeed!

Like it? Share it!
Add to DiggAdd to FaceBookAdd to Google BookmarkAdd to Twitter

Like This!

Jul 27

Paris Lady



Paris Lady

A compass rose is embedded in the cobblestones below my feet. It’s fitting decoration for a place where the course of history has changed direction so many times since work began on Notre Dame in 1163 — work that took nearly  200 years later to complete.

They say that women love drama — and Our Lady of Paris is no exception. Dramatic moments at Notre Dame include:

  • The third crusade was launched from here.
  • Henry VI of England was crowned king of France.
  • Napoleon was named Emperor.
  • The cathedral bells signaled the Allied liberation of Paris during WWII.
  • Philippe Petit walked a tight rope between the two towers. And presumably scared his mother to death.

Speaking of change….Image this. Construction of this western façade alone took 80 years. That’s why the face of the building is layered like tiers on a wedding cake. None of the architects in charge of the building project lived long enough to see it to completion from start to finish. When the architect changed, so did the creative vision for the structure. Progress was too slow in to keep up with the latest 12th century masonry fashion.When a new archetect came on board, new creative direction was given.

Changing her mind is Our Lady’s prerogative, I suppose. And though this massive cathedral was centuries in the baking, it’s eclectic tiers of stonework make it a multi-layered slice of public history.

Jul 12

Old Country Church

Location scouting for an upcoming shoot when Mandy drove us by this Allen, Texas gem, built in 1887. Read about its history here…

Jun 3

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Europe
1 Comment

The man below me and to my right

Deliberately, each of his withered fingers wrapped around the arms of his wheelchair one by one until the old warrior’s claws trembled.

When Pastor Chuck began to pray, every head bowed and every eye closed. Except mine.

Read more

May 1

Live: The Rambling Grad & History Tour

We’re scooting along through east Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Because we can. And to celebrate our man Tres’ graduation. Track us live…at the party…on the road…and of the wall…

The Rambling Grad & History Tour

Aug 13

Can you help identify this mystery chief?

Someone brought a vintage photographic plate into my parent’s print shop this week, and we’re looking for any clues regarding the subject of the portrait it contains. What tribe is he from? Do the garments indicate any specific dates or regions where this Native American may have lived?


Here’s what I do know

The image to the right is a scan and inversion of the plate, showing what a print made from the plate would look like. Judging from the material of the plate, I’m guessing it’s a Tintype (also known as a Ferrotype) plate. Tintype caught on as a photographic method in the US around the mid 1800′s. Although still in use as a novelty as late as the 1950′s, Tintype was eclipsed by better technology by about 1910. If this is in fact a Tintype plate, the date of this image would most likely fall between 1854 and 1910.

That’s almost 60 years of history spanning the Civil War until the years before WWI — a very wide span. We’re going to have to rely on the subject of the portrait to narrow the scope.

Here’s what I’m guessing

I am not very knowledgeable about vintage Native American attire, but I think the eagle feather headdress our mysterious subject wears is a warrior bonnet and indicates he is a chief. It could also be a clue about his tribe.

Elaborate ceremonial head wear was common to most native tribes, but the particular style of mystery chief’s bonnet seems to resemble that of the Plains Indians. To me, it looks very similar to the headdress worn by the Sioux chief American Horse in this photo from c. 1900. The Cheyenne also wore very similar garments, as seen in the photo below, also from around the turn of the 20th century.

In the mystery photo, it seems that a portion of a teepee can be seen over the shoulder of the chief. If so, that would further confirm a connection to a Plains Indian tribe.

In her email to me, my mother describes some further details in from the plate scan:
I got to handle the plate for the photo! It was a piece of art in itself. The owner wants to believe he is a medicine man because she can’t see an arrowhead on the shaft. When I scanned the plate and inverted the image in photoshop then adjusted the levels, I’m seeing a pretty good sized arrowhead…do you? There is a tee pee a bit blurred in the background behind his headdress and I believe human hair on his shaft [of the lance in his hand]…The scalloped edge of his sleeve and the 4 point beaded star at his temple are all clues.


Beadwork was common to all Plains Tribes, but the geometric star pattern at his temple appears to be one of the best unique identifying marks in the image. From my research so far, both the Sioux and Sans Arcs were known to incorporate star patterns into their geometric bead designs.

Here’s what we’ve done so far

We’ve combed the Library of Congress online image archive and scanned the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives with no matches. Both collections are extensive, so we’re hoping some of our history-loving friends can narrow things down.

Any ideas or insights are appreciated! We’ll keep you posted.



Aug 11

Ever wikipedia’d your alma (doesn’t) mater?

Are you one of those people who didn’t buy a school ring because nobody will have ever heard of your alma mater when you tell them the name? Raise your ringless hand. Me, too. Those of you who’ve attended a school with a name people recognize don’t have this problem. Texas? OK. Arizona State? Yep. Oklahoma Baptist University? Umm, is that one of those print-your-own-diploma jobbies?


Well, if you ever wonder if anyone that matriculated at your no-name school amounted to much, try doing an online search for a list of notable alumni. I did, and I found a cool list of some crazy characters that once haunted the same halls of learning at OBU. Kind of a fun way to catch at bit of school spirit…and see whose paths you’ve unknowingly crossed!

I guess I’m ok with being a Bison…
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 35 other followers