There is more to the fall tradition of bobbing for apples than meets the eye! Did you know that it was used by adult party-goers in the Victorian era to flirt and find love? Or that one version of the game was a fire hazard? It didn’t start out as a children’s game, far from [...]
Did you know that Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum wrote an entire novel on the life and times of Santa Claus? I had never heard this before and came across a reference to it while doing some online research on the history of Mother Goose. The novel, The Life and Adventures of Santa [...]
Happy Easter, everyone! All of us at Recollections hope that you have a beautiful weekend and we thank you for being readers and customers! Easter is a pretty holiday, isn’t it? Pastels, baby animals, painted eggs, and chocolate, what’s not to love? While a lot of the mainstays of the holiday have stayed firm through [...]
It has been such a fun year of writing for Recollections! About this time one year ago I did a lovely series on the delightful documentary A Very British Romance featuring one of my favorite historians, the fabulous Lucy Worsley. One of the things that I learned whilst watching the documentary is that at the [...]
The Victorians knew how to celebrate Christmas! During the reign of Queen Victoria, the holiday grew more popular with each passing year, becoming a national holiday in America in 1870. A good majority of the traditions we enjoy today were either started or popularized during the late 1800s and early 1900s, though in some ways [...]
The holidays are here, and boy, don’t we all need it? It’s been a year of struggles for all of us, and I can tell how much people are looking forward to being with their families and to enjoying some comforts as we wait for the fresh start of the new year. And some of [...]
Do you count down the days to Christmas with an Advent calendar? What kind? The Advent calendar is a holiday tradition with historic roots that seems to be increasing in popularity each year. There are now the beloved Trader Joe’s version, versions with tiny bottles of booze, luxury versions, numerous food Advent calendars, versions with [...]
There is something about mulled wine that sends me back in time. Maybe it is the special mix of spices I’m not used to drinking that makes me think of a fancy tea party. Or maybe it is because I enjoyed it for the first time at a very special Victorian-themed lounge in Greenwich Village. [...]
Our readers and customers really love Halloween. That is a delight to me, as it is my favorite holiday. I love the chance to dress up, go to parties, and have all sorts of festive fun without all of the pressures associated with the upcoming winter holidays. I also enjoy it because one of my [...]