Coffee and the Revolution of Daily Life

Excerpt of an article written by Peter Lummel, 2003, Open-Air Museum Domain Dahlem, City Museum of Berlin, Berlin, Germany. ALHFAM members can access the full text of this article and thousands more though the A.S.K. database. Not a member? Join today! Library of Congress Coffee and the Industrial Revolution The Industrial revolution transformed the world,… Continue reading Coffee and the Revolution of Daily Life

Colonial Cooking: When THEY Won’t Let You Use the Hearth

Excerpt of an article written by Clarissa F. Dillon, 2003, Past Masters in Early American Domestic Arts, Haverford, Pennsylvania. ALHFAM members can access the full text of this article and thousands more though the A.S.K. database. Not a member? Join today! There are many reasons why some colonial cooks are faced with sites that won't… Continue reading Colonial Cooking: When THEY Won’t Let You Use the Hearth

The Honorable Harvest

Submitted by Joel Johnson When I moved to the Pacific Northwest and began work as an agricultural interpreter at Fort Nisqually, about eighteen months ago, I was eager to learn about the region’s history of indigenous agriculture. I grew up in Tucson, AZ, where recent excavations have uncovered 4,100 years of continuous agriculture near the… Continue reading The Honorable Harvest

The Threshing Crew

Today's guest blogger is Ross Gould who contributed a post about the walking plough in September. Thanks Ross for sharing your stories! As an eleven year volunteer at Heritage Park in Calgary, and a farmer for 18 years in an earlier life, my favourite venue to interpret is the farm machinery shed. There are many stories that can… Continue reading The Threshing Crew

Do Visitors Think We’re Eating Our Pets?

Lately I’ve heard of negative visitor reactions to historic (and sustainable but open to the public) farm sites in regards to the animals they keep. It seems not everyone is comfortable with animals on farms becoming food or with the processes that turn these animals into food. Admittedly, it’s easy to dismiss their reactions with:… Continue reading Do Visitors Think We’re Eating Our Pets?

I’m thankful for . . . Lobster and Crab Cakes and Poutine

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. For my family it is a time to gather together to express our thankfulness for the blessings of the last year and look with hope towards the future. It is a time of togetherness and comfort . . . and food. One thing I am personally thankful for, every year,… Continue reading I’m thankful for . . . Lobster and Crab Cakes and Poutine

Westward Ho to ALHFAM 2014

During the 2013 ALHFAM annual conference, attendees visited Historic Kirtland Village in Kirtland, Ohio. They toured the restored houses and recreated rural industries (including a potash factory!) all originally built by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members between 1831 and 1838. They also toured the Kirtland Temple, built by Joseph Smith, Jr. and… Continue reading Westward Ho to ALHFAM 2014

Food, Glorious Food

Another blog post from our President, Dr. Debra Reid: I have heard the most amazing things at the Food History Conference I am attending at the moment. I have heard about how archaeobotanists have studied hundreds of sites in Europe, the Middle East and China to document the transfer of western crops (particularly wheat and… Continue reading Food, Glorious Food

Scenes From the Road, part V

Here is another post in the series of reports from our President, Dr. Debra Reid as she particiaptes in the AIMA conference in Estonia. July 2, 2013 Shelf after shelf of seed specimens, too old to germinate, may challenge agricultural museum curators. They may exercise their de-accession policies to reduce the number of fragile glass containers and… Continue reading Scenes From the Road, part V