That article finally dropped! Do you love #archaeology, #histmed, or #histpsych? Into the material culture of reform? Check out the full text of "All the Aids that Nature Can Afford: Horticulture, Healing, and Moral Reform in a Gilded Age Hospital" here:

It was believed in medieval times that hedgehogs had spikes so they could roll over fruit to carry home to their children, which is not true but is a really cute idea

George Mayerle's "international eye chart" (positive) ca. 1907. Invented by an immigrant living in 20th-century San Fran, the chart was intended to allow anyone to do an eye test regardless of nationality. See the negative version and buy prints here: https://t.co/aLoa1sfT8G

Who else’s phone photo album is filled with pictures of pages from academic books they couldn’t afford?

Good morning 🔥🐸🦇 * Japanese matchbox label, circa 1920.

Outcome aside, this bit of programming taught me an important lesson: do you know HOW FUN it is to walk around with a metal stick in each hand like a human metal detector? 12/10, would recommend.

Does this mean that dowsing is all myth and no matter? Not necessarily! But perhaps that matter has more to do with the instincts of the dowser and less to do with unseen forces (whether ‘spiritual’ or ‘scientific’) than some folks, past or present, believe!

Tons of folks participated but only a few were brave enough to record their hypothesis! At the end of the day, only one-third of our citizen scientists selected the most accurate plan — one that took the form of a small rectangular kitchen adjoining the south face of the cottage.

Folks used their copper rods to feel out where they thought the building had been located — just as folks did (and still do?) to find water, minerals, oil, and on the odd occasion, criminals.

All in all we had a couple hundred people participate. We set them up with dowsing rods and set them loose in an area where I’d pegged out three “ghost” structures — that is, three possible plans for a now-demolished addition to our Foreman’s Cottage (c. 1827).

This year we focused on early American superstitions which meant that I got to run the best citizen science initiative I can possibly imagine: a dowsing demo!

Lead my favorite seasonal celebration yet in my role as Manager of Historical Programming at @AllaireVillage yet — All Hallows’ Eve!

interviewer: where do you see yourself in 5 years? me:

Does anyone have any resources or policy examples about allowing interpreters to dress according to their preferred (not assigned) gender in the context of living history museums? I wish I didn't have to have justification for this but it's shaping up to be needed!

The so-called Foundling Barrel at the hospital of Residence Soufflot, Maçon. Parents who weren’t able to care for their children could put them in the barrel, which rotated into the hospital, preserving their anonymity and keeping the child out of the elements. A forlorn sight.

And I think that is absolutely beautiful.

Okay so I may be friends with one of the vendors at my workplace's monthly flea market because I identified a late 19th-century breast pump and now we both refer to each other as the "breast pump [person]" whenever we're trying to describe the other to other people.

who's gonna tell them

This looks excellent!