All posts tagged "folklore"
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3.5K2Arts and LeisureCabbages and Biscuits: New England Superstitions About Choosing a Husband
Choosing the right husband or wife was as tough for old-time New Englanders as it is today. Fortunately, there were plenty of...
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8.1K2Arts and LeisureThe Rise and Fall of Kumbaya — and of the Man Who ‘Discovered’ the Song
Left-wing activists would never have adopted Kumbaya as an anthem if a folklore buff hadn’t lugged wax cylinders to the Sea Islands. There,...
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7.7K3Religion and Social MovementsNew England Wedding Customs: Quilts, Mirrors, Quakers and Bees
New England wedding customs and superstitions in the 1700s mixed home-grown ideas and practices imported mainly from Britain. Some wedding customs, like ...
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5.4K2Arts and LeisureWhat They Say in New England About Local Characters and Customs
Henry Wheeler Shaw, the 19th-century humorist known as Josh Billings, said genuine proverbs are like good cambric needles: short, sharp and shiny....
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4.7K2Business and LaborHow July 4th Partying Cost the Life of Thoreau’s Maine Guide
Joe Attien was a Maine guide, logger and Penobscot chief who died in a logging accident. It probably wouldn’t have happened if...
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27.4K10MaineThe Smock Wedding, or Getting Married Naked in Early New England
Some brides in early New England actually got married while naked. Or maybe they just wore their underwear, or smock, which is...
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9.9K8Arts and LeisureHow To Make a Maine May Basket
An old New England tradition that perhaps deserves reviving is the giving of a May basket on May Day. It was popular...
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25.7K17Arts and LeisureBefore Groundhog Day, It Was Candlemas
Candlemas was always about two thing before it was about the groundhog: candles and the weather. For many Catholics, Candlemas was also...
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34.6K5MassachusettsWhat They Say About Snow in New England
New Englanders spend countless hours thinking about snow – analyzing it, predicting it, commenting on it. After all, New England gets a...
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12.6K4Business and LaborThe Hoosac Tunnel Disaster of 1867
The Hoosac Tunnel disaster killed 13 miners in 1867, but the tunnel took the lives of an estimated 180 workers during decades of construction....
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