 #RockSolidHistory from Northern New Jersey!
Contrary to popular belief, Halloween’s roots are not founded in devil worship. It is quite the opposite. Halloween, a word derived from All Hallow’s Eve, follows a British and Irish tradition where it was believed a portal for spirits opened on the night of October 31. Halloween is actually a way to keep the good spirits, but to scare away evil spirits with frightening costumes and creepy carved vegetables like turnips and pumpkins. Boo! Historian say Halloween is also a mixture of Gaelic, Pagan, Christian, and Celtic (Samhain) traditions. Whatever the origin, enjoy this Halloween! #Halloween2025 #halloweenhistory #allhallowseve2025 #HalloweenTraditions
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#RockSolidHistory from Tribeca, New York City, NY!
Here you see Firehouse, Hook, and Ladder Company #8. It was just a regular firehouse until a little 1984 movie called “Ghostbusters” used it as an exterior shot. Apparently, Ghostbusters actor Dan Akroyd knew the area and chose the building for the filming. It was built in 1903 in the Beaux-Arts style, meaning it has elements of old and neoclassic French architecture such as the long and large windows that are rounded on top and framed with cast iron. (Grand Central Station has the same architecture.) It is still an active firehouse and responds to local emergencies. Co. #8 nearly closed in 2011, but Mayor Bill de Blasio and actor Steve Buscemi, (a former NYC firefighter), raised funds to save it. It now does an annual fundraiser for Ghostbusters Day, June 8th. #FunFactFriday, the interior of the firehouse in the “Ghostbusters” movie was a set in Los Angeles, as well as a decommissioned firehouse, Fire Station No. 23, in LA. #NYfilmhistory #Ghostubstersfirehouse #FDNY #FDNYNo8 #Ghostbustersmovie #Ghostbusters #1984Ghostbustersfilm #TribecaFilmHistory  #RockSolidHistory again from Mackinac Island, Michigan!
Pictured here is the Marquette Statue, with Fort Mackinac looming on the hillside. It commemorates Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary who founded the first European settlement in Michigan – Sault Sainte Marie – which is in between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Later he established St. Ignace and briefly tried to live on Mackinac Island, but winter was coming and there was little food there. He also explored what is now Wisconsin and Illinois and helped found the place we now call Chicago. #ExplorerHistory #JacquesMarquette #SaultSaintMarieHistory #ChicagoHistory #MackinacIslandHistory #IllinioisHistory #WisconsinHistory  #RockSolidHistory and #WhoKnewItWednesday from the Somerville Barn in Mason, Michigan!
This unique bank barn, meaning it is built into the hillside to help easily move items out of the second floor, won Barn of the Year in 2025. This designation, from the Michigan Barn Preservation Network, celebrates bans that are preserved for future generations. Sommerville Barn was built in 1881 by attaching two older barns together. It is 90 feet long. Its original use was for dairy farming, but it has also been used for Shropshire sheep breeding and honey processing. You can still see inside bark-covered, hand-hewn logs that framed this building. The barn remains within the same family that built it. And they are also my family through marriage! #SommervilleBarn #CaltriderBarn #MichiganBarnPreservationNetwork #MichiganBarns #BankBarn #BarnHistory #MichiganBarnHistory #oldbarn  You may have heard precious jewels were stolen from Le Louvre in Paris. Well, these weren’t just any jewels - they once belonged to Empress Eugenie, a person I just finished a historical fiction about. (And am shopping around…)
This novel I wrote focuses on one of her jewels. And this item resides at the Louvre today. I think. The New York Times reported a 212-pear tiara, diamond studded belt, diamond brooch, sapphire tiara, and emerald necklace and one matching earring were taken in broad daylight. The item I wrote about was a three-pearl tiara, shown here. It seems it still lives at the Louvre. Yay! That means I may see it someday. Perhaps you too! Eugenie was a fascinating person and worthy of a second thought. Her jewels were not just royal nonsense. She was considered the most fashionable woman of her day. Here are some other surprising facts you may not know about Eugenie:
Now you know more about the woman whose jewels were taken for nefarious reasons. I hope they are recovered. Her greatness should live on at the Louvre. #LeLouvre #LouvreMusee #EmpressEugenie #Eugeniejewels #Napoleonicjewels #historicalroyaljewels #jewelhistory #historicalfiction #GetEugeniesjewelsback #HistoryLost  #RockSolidHistory from Mackinac Island in Michigan!
The small and automobile-free island churns out about 10,000 pounds of fudge every day during the peak season (summer). The history of this candy-making goes back more than 100 years. Originally a place where Native Americans and fur traders lived, the island became a destination during Victorian times, and enjoyed indigenous maple candy. Fudge followed soon after. In the 1880s, the Murdick family opened the first official candy shop and put fudge-making on display. The idea caught on. Here is a recent picture of the fudge making on display a Murdick’s. Today, there are 13 fudge shops in all on the island! #mackinacisle #UPMichigan #mackinacfudge #UpperPenninsula #Michiganislandlife #MichiganLakeLife #MichiaganUP #MichiganUpperPenninsula #UPNorth  #RockSolidHistory and #MuseumMonday from the Moist Towelette Museum in Lansing, Michigan!
While I visited recently on a Sunday in summer, and it was closed, this little-known museum at Michigan State University features a large collection of unopened towelettes from around the world. This collection is said to be the brainchild of university worker John French. While I am unclear if it is housed in the planetarium or across the street in the chemistry building, somewhere in there is a neat little museum worth visiting. The amount of technology that goes into creating effective and sanitary wipes is also worth considering. Here I am in front of the planetarium. #MoistToweletteMuseum #nonwovenhistory #Wipemuseum #Wipeshistory #Whatwouldwedowithoutwipes #NonwovenTechnology #NonwovenHistory #NonwovenScience #Spartans #MichiganStateUni #ToweletteHistory #ToweletteScience  For #FolkloreFriday, and #RockSolidHistory from Michigan, let’s talk about #PaulBunyan.
Believe it or not, Paul is not thought to have been real, nor was his blue ox, named Babe. According to researchers, Paul was a mixture of old French-Canadian tales told by loggers, natural feature explanations (it was thought he dug the Great Lakes for Babe to drink from, Babe’s hoofprints made the smaller Minnesota Lakes, and Paul’s axe was accidentally dragged to form the Grand Canyon), and embodies the American spirit of conquering nature and Westward expansion. Pictured here is a slightly larger than life-size statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe at Castle Rock in St. Ignace, Michigan. Paul Bunyan’s lore is rampant in the Midwest since the days of frontierism (the exploration of European fur traders and settlers westward), but some say even a little earlier. What do you think? Real or not real? Is there any truth to Paul Bunyan? #MidwestLore #FrenchCanadianLore #PaulBunyanLore #Babetheblueox #MichiganLore #FrontierLore #StIgnace #CastleRock #MichiganHistory #MidwestHistory #modernlore  #RockSolidHistory from Michigan State University! The mascot of Michigan State is the Spartan, or Sparty, a Greek warrior. The original mascot of the college was “Aggie” because it was largely an agricultural school. But that changed in 1925. There have been many versions of Sparty over the years, such as a papier-mâché head created by a fraternity in 1955, to a fiberglass version molded for the Rose Bowl in 1956 and used for many years. The design for Sparty today, which is both muscular yet approachable, was created in 1989 by Real Characters Inc. Pictured here is a 1945 statue inside their football stadium (it used to be outside). It’s a lot fiercer than the Sparty many know and love today. #Sparty #MichiganStatemascot #MascotHistory #SpartanMascot #SpartyMascot #MichiganHistory #SportsMascotHistory   For #FolkloreFriday, and #RockSolidHistory from upstate NY, today we will focus on #BigFoot.
The annual Sasquatch Calling Festival, held in Whitehall, NY every September, highlights the sub-culture of people who believe in this large, elusive, hairy, human-like creature, also known as a cryptid. A main feature of the festival is a sasquatch calling competition. Many locals have heard this strange calling over several centuries at least. The local Native American people, members of the Six Iroquois Nations, also recorded it centuries ago, calling it a “Kiwak.” Big Foot is also regularly sighted today. Whitehall is so ardent that Big Foot is real, that there is an ordinance from 2004 against the hunting of this creature. It is considered a protected species. It is also the town’s official mascot. I went to the Sasquatch Calling Festival this year with family members who believe in bigfoot. I listened to some lectures, shopped in the creative vendors area, and ate out of some really fantastic food trucks. Overall, it was a really fun day in a beautiful area of New York. Events like this draw a great mix of people, most of them curious about it all. Do you believe? #AdirondackHistory #Yeti #Sasquatch #NYHistory #WhitehallNY #Kiwak #SasquatchFestival #SasquatchCalling #WhitehallCompetition #SasquatchCallingFestival #cryptid |
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July 2025
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