Forward, Into The Past
Sure, we should all eat dessert first, for life is short and uncertain. Even in our time as humans, we get many chances to delay some gratification for later enjoyment. It’s called discipline, or maybe virtue. It’s not universal, but I can think of two life forms that make us look like lifelong party animals. Meet the mayapples and cicadas.
The prevailing economy in 1914 caused many tight purse strings around Lafayette Square. For the winter holiday season, someone decided to take the frugal approach. He or she procured a Christmas goose from the apparent bounty of Lafayette Park.
Continue reading “1914: The Tough Old Birds Of Lafayette Park”Nature is wonderful stuff. I delight in watching the shifting strength of various woodland plants as they compete through the summer. I got to studying the mayapples of late spring, when the forest floor is covered with them. Each plant labors to create a single drooping fruit. Roots, shoots, fruits and all are mostly gone by July.
There isn’t much that first blossoms around here in September, but two exceptions are the goldenrod and white snakeroot. Both of these have the run of the place right into October, lining the edge of woods and walking paths. Their tiny flowers serve the vital function of providing late season nourishment to bees, butterflies and moths. The only other reason to deliberately plant it might be that its bitter taste deters deer and rabbits.
Continue reading “1840: A Case of Milk Sickness”
In July of 1896, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a handy reference, meant to remind the city’s young women of their social and personal safety rules. Interesting that they all began with the word “don’t.”
Continue reading “1896: Don’ts For The Summer Girl”
Lafayette Square’s ‘Sherwood Forest’, inaccessible for years and enclosed by chain link fence topped with barbed wire, never looked particularly friendly. In fact, there was a slow evolution going on in there, that played out over the years.
Continue reading “2021: Sherwood Forest”
Ever noticed the 5 story, vaguely moorish looking building pictured above?
Continue reading “1901: CF Blanke and the Aerial Globe”
Here’s the tale of three interlinked German-American newspapermen. They’re featured at the statue of The Naked Truth at Grand and Russell, and all three lived in Lafayette Square.
Continue reading “1857-1898: The German Newspapermen”Hi, thanks for dropping in. This blog serves as a distribution and sharing tool for my historical diggings. The Lafayette Square neighborhood is the center of concentric interests including St Louis, Missouri, and the American West.
