January 13, 2017
When “Love Is a Drag” hit record-store shelves in 1962, it was decidedly not a sensation. Only a few shops carried the album, which featured jazz standards performed by an anonymous singer and band, and its label flopped shortly after the release. But beneath this mundane veneer, the record’s content was remarkably provocative, becoming the first major release to feature a male singer crooning love … (continue reading)
December 2, 2016
The 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense was thrust into the mainstream early in 2016, when Beyoncé paid tribute to the revolutionary group during her performance of “Formation” at Super Bowl 50 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The pop superstar and her dancers were decked in leather costumes, with the dancers wearing characteristic black berets and the singer herself sporting crossed bandoliers. … (continue reading)
November 9, 2016
A few months from now, millions of Baby Boomers will be seized by the same disorienting flashback, in which they’ll be hurtled through time and space to San Francisco in 1967, at the height of the Summer of Love. The trigger will lurk in the coverage of this cultural watershed by news organizations, magazines, and websites, all of whom will to be tripping over themselves to celebrate the 50th … (continue reading)
October 4, 2016
What’s the difference between a banjo and a lawnmower? You can tune a lawnmower. What’s the difference between a dead skunk in the middle of a road and a dead banjo player in the middle of a road? There are skid marks in front of the skunk. Speaking of which, how many banjo players does it take to eat a possum? Two, one to eat it … (continue reading)
September 16, 2016
Despite the oft-repeated mantra of America’s criminal-justice system—that one is innocent until proven guilty—mugshots suggest otherwise. Although these images simply document an arrest, for more than a century, the ubiquity of such photos in news coverage and entertainment media has implied guilt, deviance, and bad behavior. The subjects captured in vintage mugshots may have been brought in under bogus charges by corrupt officers, or arrested for crimes no longer considered criminal, like adultery, begging, or expressing communist beliefs. But mugshots often … (continue reading)
August 25, 2016
The minute Pascal tied my hands together, I knew was in trouble. Pascal is a big man with an even bigger laugh, one of two hardworking, and hard-drinking, bosuns aboard a French research vessel called the Marion Dufresne. For his birthday a few days earlier, the crew had given Pascal a ball gag. Pascal thought this was hilarious, and immediately strapped the sex toy over his mouth, … (continue reading)
August 15, 2016
The queens had finally had enough: In August 1966—fifty years ago this month—transgender and gender-nonconforming customers at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria stood up to years of abusive, discriminatory treatment by the San Francisco police. The all-night restaurant in the city’s impoverished Tenderloin neighborhood was an unwilling haven for queer residents, and after its management called law enforcement to remove a noisy table of diners, patrons frustrated with the constant profiling and police harassment started throwing plates, … (continue reading)
June 29, 2016
The name Aw Boon Haw is not usually uttered in the same breath as Walt Disney, but both men were wildly successful, marketing-savvy industrialists in the first half of the 20th century, and each is remembered for a theme park. Disney’s industry revolved around the antics of a cartoon mouse. Haw’s fortune was built upon the healing powers of a tiger, the mascot for a salve called … (continue reading)
June 16, 2016
Death was everywhere. From the slaughtering of animals to inexplicable epidemics to the fatal complications of childbirth, it’s hard to overstate the ubiquity of dying in 18th-century Europe. And yet, since few people understood the many potential failings of the human body, most simply held fast to their faith and left the rest … (continue reading)
June 14, 2016
The first time you heard the word “Oneida,” it was probably in the context of silverware. Perhaps it was before a Christmas dinner, when your mom or grandmother instructed you get out the “good silver” made by Oneida Limited. Even though it was only silverplate rather than sterling, your family probably stored it in a velvet-lined wooden case. Or maybe you saw an ad depicting an elegant table set … (continue reading)
May 10, 2016
Near a dusty stretch of train track on the outskirts of Barstow, California, the imposing Casa del Desierto—or House of the Desert—stands silent, its arched colonnade emptied of the railroad passengers, restaurant diners, and overnight guests who once visited its elegant hotel. The forlorn red-brick façade no longer greets crowds of visitors headed west to the California coast or east to the Colorado mountains, interrupting their journey for a respite … (continue reading)
April 13, 2016
Listening to music is a deeply personal experience. Some songs will always make certain people happy, while those same tunes will just as reliably make other people cry. Incredible as it may seem today, the mundane act of acquiring music also used to be personal, or at least required a personal investment: You’d hear a song on the radio or see a band at a local dive, decide … (continue reading)
March 23, 2016
Once, when I visited my brother, who lives in a small Texas town, he took me down a winding road to a turn-of-the-20th-century cemetery in a forest clearing. There, we found three tall tombstones in the shape of tree trunks, each stamped with an insignia reading “Woodmen of the World.” What were these strange things?
When I got home, I dug into … (continue reading)
March 14, 2016
Dance and architecture are kindred spirits in their devotion to the human form, whether it’s in motion or at rest, within or outside the confines of natural or manmade spaces. Each discipline is governed by a number of self-evident truths—at some point, the feet of even the fleetest dancer must touch the ground; spaces that induce claustrophobia are bad—yet both are deemed at their pinnacles when hoary conventions are … (continue reading)
March 8, 2016
Consider the sweet, intoxicating smell of a rose: While it might seem superficial, the bloom’s lovely odor is actually an evolutionary tactic meant to ensure the plant’s survival by attracting pollinators from miles away. Since ancient times, the rose’s aroma has also drawn people under its spell, becoming one of the most popular extracts for manufactured fragrances. Although the function of these artificial scents has varied widely—from incense for spiritual ceremonies to … (continue reading)
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How Jim Heimann Got Crazy for California Architecture
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How One Artist Makes New Art From Old Coloring Books and Found Photos
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Middle Earthenware: One Family's Quest to Reclaim Its Place in British Pottery History
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