Perhaps today, you’ve come to admire paintings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As you walk down a hallway, you see two boys walking up a stairway, and you want to follow. You take the first step up. Then you realize you’ll get nowhere on this staircase. You almost bump your nose against “Staircase Group…
Movin’ on Up: Trompe L’oeil in ‘Staircase Group’
December 31, 2022
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"Staircase Group"American EssenceArts & CultureArts & TraditionBrightCharles Willson PealeTrompe l’oeil
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Profiles in History: George Moses Horton: The Slave Poet
Approximately 67 years before the end of the American Civil War, George Moses Horton was born. He grew up a slave to the Horton family in North Carolina. While working the tobacco plantation, his mind freely traversed the world of verse and rhyme. Using old hymnals, he taught himself to read, while also learning the…
This Miracle NICU Baby Defied All Odds to Bring Joy and Hope to Everyone Around Him
Savannah Chubb held baby Griffin tightly against her chest, as close to her heart as possible. She is blond with soft eyes and a gentle demeanor. Her husband Joseph, tall and slim with a week-old beard, peered at the baby with a gleam in his eyes. Grateful parents, that’s what they were. Grateful for their…
The Christmas Parade: Treasuring A Tradition That’s Kept the Community Spirit in America
His big ears gave him away! Elf, Brian Davis, wore a green hat that almost covered his huge, pointy ears, but they were still obvious. He was an elf, and there was no hiding it. And today, Elf Davis was on a mission. “We are having the Vestavia Hills Christmas Parade, and guess what?” Elf…
Profiles in History: James Edgar: The First Department Store Santa Claus
James Edgar (1843–1909) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. As a young boy, he apprenticed for a Scottish cloth merchant and worked hard, long hours only to make $50 a year. When he was 22, he immigrated to St. John, New Brunswick, in Canada. His financial returns, however, were not to his liking, which led him…
How Does NORAD Track Santa? With Fighter Pilots, Satellites, and a Jolly Team of Volunteers
For over 60 years, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a binational defensive agency that monitors U.S.–Canadian aerospace for threats, has faithfully tracked the movements of Santa Claus as he travels on Christmas Eve to deliver presents to boys and girls across the world. This unlikely responsibility is something of a Christmas miracle itself….
Of Love, Joy, and Simplicity: A Heart-Warming Story of An Unforgettable Childhood Christmas During the 1950s
Perhaps Christmas is magical to little kids because they hear that God came to Earth as the baby Jesus. But most likely, the magic comes from the story of Santa Claus. I know, because I was once a kid. I didn’t understand Old Testament prophecies fulfilled, a virgin birth, or redemption from sin. I didn’t…
The Christmas Keepers: A Tour of Colonial Williamsburg’s Festive Holiday Celebration
There’s no place like home for the holidays—except perhaps Colonial Williamsburg. Here, the air smells like gingerbread, the clip-clopping of horse hooves travels up and down the lane as they pull carriages, and the a cappella voices of a choir sing Christmas carols on the street corner. Christmas in Colonial Williamsburg Christmas is a feast…
An Insider’s Peek into the Doscher’s Candy Factory, Home to America’s Oldest Handmade Candy Canes
In some ironic twist of fate, it was a fellow by the name of Claus (yes, just like “that guy” in the red suit) who handcrafted the first candy cane in the United States. He was Claus Doscher, and back in 1871, after arriving in America, he opened up a candy shop on a downtown…
How Margaret Hamilton’s Brilliant Software Programming Brought America to the Moon and Beyond
In 1969, the world watched the Apollo 11 mission with bated breath. For Margaret Hamilton and her team, the view was a little different; they watched the landing from the monitoring room at MIT. Moments before the module was supposed to land on the moon, the computer started flashing warning messages. Everyone’s heart stopped as…
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