Closing on a real estate deal is a lot of paperwork and promissory notes. Even if you pay “cash,” no one (except perhaps a mafia boss) will accept a suitcase filled with several hundred thousand dollars in cash. It’s just too easy to counterfeit. So, how did James Monroe and Robert Livingston, who concluded a …
Continue reading “How Did Americans Actually Transfer Money To France For The Louisiana Purchase?”
Having witnessed plague in London in 1665 and the famously calamitous fire of 1666, Penn wanted his Philadelphia to be ‘a greene countrie towne, which will never be burnt, and allways be wholsome.’ The way he proposed to achieve this was by planning the city so that it was ordered and regulated. Orderly space, Penn …
Readington Museums 114 Dreahook Road Lebanon, NJSeptember 8, 202410:00 am This program will be a little different from our ordinary brewing demos. I am going to not start a fire and we have plenty of beer that has been previously brewed. I am going to give a talk and go deep on some of the significant differences …
Continue reading “UPCOMING EVENT — A Talk on Colonial Brewing”
During the Revolutionary War, the American submersible craft Turtle attempted to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe’s flagship Eagle in New York Harbor. It was the first use of a submarine in warfare. The Continental Army out armed, outmanned, and outmatched by the British at almost every angle. This …
Continue reading “The Beginning of Submarine Warfare — September 7, 1776”
Samuel Wilson, a meat packer in Troy, New York, supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812. To segregate barrels that were shipped to the Army from those he shipped to his other customers, he stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States. Soldiers receiving the shipments began referring …
Continue reading ““Uncle Sam” and “G.I.” were Appropriated Terms for Ordinary Things.”
Readington Museums 114 Dreahook Road Lebanon, NJSeptember 8, 202410:00 am This program will be a little different from our ordinary brewing demos. I am going to not start a fire and we have plenty of beer that has been previously brewed. I am going to give a talk and go deep on some of the significant differences …
Continue reading “UPCOMING EVENT — A Talk on Colonial Brewing”
Potatoes are native to the Americas and were first brought to Europe by the Spanish Conquistadors during the mid-16th century. The English buccaneer, Sir Walter Raleigh, is known to have gifted them to Queen Elizabeth as an American delicacy. Since then, potatoes have become a staple food source for many people all over the world. We …
I am going to deviate from my normal focus on the 18th Century to discuss some brewing terminology that seems to be confusing people in craft brew pubs. The other day, my wife and I visited a brewery and her questions about the beer menu prompted me to clarify some jargon that are too often …
Continue reading “Basic Colonial Brewing #16 — Making Sense of the Beer Menu”
This year, I am adding a somewhat archaic bit of brewing equipment to the gear brought out by the Regimental Brewmiester. The yeast ring or gjarkrans is a piece of traditional brewing gear from medieval Sweden and Denmark. This tool resembles a complicated wreath of small pieces of whittled wood. Yeast harvested from one batch …
Readington Museums 114 Dreahook Road Lebanon, NJSeptember 8, 202410:00 am This program will be a little different from our ordinary brewing demos. I am going to not start a fire and we have plenty of beer that has been previously brewed. I am going to give a talk and go deep on some of the significant differences …
Continue reading “UPCOMING EVENT — A Talk on Colonial Brewing”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 