Today's post comes from Gregory Marose, an intern in the National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications. As the calendar turns to August and the summer heat sets in, no topic is hotter than the debt ceiling. Congress has voted to increase the debt limit more than 100 times since it was first established. How … Continue reading Patriotic posters and the debt ceiling
You may have seen some of these beards and mustaches before! The mug shots of prisoners at Leavenworth Penitentiary have been featured here and here. But the images above take facial hair to a whole new level! Staff at the National Archives at Kansas City got together and created Potatriot dioramas (inspired by this post). … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Prisons, Potatoes, Pipe Cleaners
I am excited to introduce this week's guest judge, Dominic McDevitt-Parks, who is working on several projects as our Wikipedian-in-Residence this summer. Surprised that we support Wikipedia? Well, it turns out that the Archivist is a big fan of the web site and its work! Congratulations to Andrew P! Check your e-mail for 15% off in our eStore. … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
“What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?,” our current special exhibition in Washington, DC, examines the Government’s effect on what Americans eat. Government influence was especially visible during wartime, when many food products were reserved for feeding the troops and our Allies. During World War I, the U.S. Food Administration, headed by Herbert Hoover, urged the American people … Continue reading World War I food conservation: “Pan de la libertad”
Today's post comes from Gregory Marose, an intern in the National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications. UPDATE: Capone's criminal case file has been digitized and is now online. Al Capone—the quintessential American gangster—headed the nation’s most notorious organized crime syndicate for more than a decade during Prohibition. Through smuggling, bootlegging, and a variety of … Continue reading The Taxman Cometh: U.S. v. Alphonse Capone
This week saw the 150th anniversary of the first Battle of Manassas, with hundreds of reenactors and spectators ignoring the extreme heat and coming to the Virginia battlefield. There was another, stranger Civil War anniversary today. On July 22, 1975, the House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to restore full American citizenship to … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Amnesty for this beard, 100 years later
Choosing the winner was as easy as falling off a log for our guest judge Andrea Matney, who has experience balancing guest speakers and programming for the Know Your Records series. Congratulations to the excellently named Ryan Tickle! Your caption tickled our funnybone and--combined with the oppressive heat this week--made us all long to be at … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
Today's post comes from Gregory Marose, an intern in the National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications. Sometimes sharing a good meal is the best way to resolve the differences you may have with another. For the United States and China, this strategy helped normalize relations during the peak of the Cold War. Today, the … Continue reading What’s Cooking Wednesdays: Dinner Diplomacy Thaws the Cold War
Did you know that in 1984, President Reagan declared July 15 as "National Ice Cream Day" and July to be the official "National Ice Cream Month"? In his proclamation, the President declared that "Ice cream is a nutritious and wholesome food, enjoyed by over ninety percent of the people in the United States." Ice-cream-on-a-stick production took … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: No ice cream for old men
Congratulations to Hugh Ryon, whose caption suggested both the possibility of danger and the silliness of the pose! Check your email for a discount code for 15% in the eStore. Your suggestions of spinning and vomit were not far off, gentle readers. And like Dorothy, this young man was probably trying to wish himself home when the … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest
