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  • Daily History Picture: Liberation German Prison June 29, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Liberation German Prison

    Hamelburg Prison, American Marines Louis K writes in late June: After reading your caption for the picture, I was mistified. According to my knowledge there was no (major) US Marines presence in the ETO (European Theater of Operations). And looking on the internet more or less confirmed that: So I wonder where the caption came […]

    Daily History Picture: Sherman Picnic June 28, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Sherman Picnic

    Sheltering under a Sherman tank on the Gothic line.

    Daily History Picture: Elfen Picture June 27, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Elfen Picture

    A Cruikshank pic: love the guy’s expression.

    Daily History Picture: Two Irelands June 26, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Two Irelands

    Love this. Late 19C British view of the two Irelands, Protestant and Catholic.

    Snowball Atrocities 7#: Ghostly Snowballs in Illinois June 26, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern
    Snowball Atrocities 7#: Ghostly Snowballs in Illinois

    Beach was awfully fond of his snowball tag, and was disappointed when he simply ran out of good snowball stories. Imagine his joy then to run into some ghostly snowballs in Skinner’s Myths and Legends of Our Own Land. The year is apparently 1849 Forty-seven years ago, in the township of St.  Mary’s, Illinois, two […]

    The Lost Canyon and the Impossible Buffalo June 25, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern
    The Lost Canyon and the Impossible Buffalo

    This fine ‘lost valley’ story comes from Texas, but the tale of the shepherd who accidentally walks through into a hidden dell or stumbles up, while chasing a lamb, onto an unknown plateau is probably as old as our Neolithic ancestors. This particular version was collected by J. Frank Dobie at the end of the nineteenth century. West […]

    Council Séance Over Haunted House June 24, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary
    Council Séance Over Haunted House

    Beach has only once been to Bedfordshire, a tiny English county near London. He got stuck in its chief town, Luton, took a room in a sordid pub (the bookshelf had a rack full of well-thumbed pornographic magazines – if only Tripadvisor had been around…) and missed his bus.* In any case, enough of Luton. […]

    Daily History Picture: Funny Face Stalin June 23, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Funny Face Stalin

    Serial Killer in Chief

    History Branching June 23, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Actualite
    History Branching

    Today is the anniversary of Britain’s vote, suicidal or brave as you see fit, to leave the European Union. Beach thought he would remember that day with a quotation that has more resonance with him than anything else he has read on the campaign because it describes a strange lived historical experience: the sense of […]

    Victorian Urban Legend: The Mourning Trick June 22, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern
    Victorian Urban Legend: The Mourning Trick

    This is a great story which appears with the heading, ‘Scotch Ghost Story’. We are in Glasgow. Beach has no doubt though that it is a Victorian urban legend. Let’s face it, the tale is so satisfying that if it ever actually happened it would have been abstracted and told to everyone who would listen. […]

    Daily History Picture: In Search of Roanoke June 22, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: In Search of Roanoke

    19C illlustration of the tree message

    Daily History Picture: Disc Player June 21, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Disc Player

    Old school

    Mumps Spell June 20, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern
    Mumps Spell

    Location: Ireland (Wilde 1888, 199), late nineteenth century Aim: To cure the mumps Ingredients: a piece of rope, an alarm clock, nine black stones, a torch, a holy well. Method: (i) go out with your torch before dawn and find nine black stones (ii) once the sun is up tie the rope into a noose […]

    Daily History Picture: Reagan Poses June 20, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Reagan Poses

    Sculpture class

    Daily History Picture: Radio and the River June 19, 2017

    Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical Pictures
    Daily History Picture: Radio and the River

    A girl, a radio…