Vintage articles and more in the 1800s category at Click Americana

How happiness can make you beautiful (1899)

The woman beautiful: The secret of charm Whether beauty be as evanescent as the legendary vapor which Psyche brought from Hades when sent there by ... Click to read more...

Meet Josephine Garis Cochrane, inventor of the dishwasher (1892)

The inventor of the dishwashing machine The patron saint of the emancipated woman of the future will be Josephine Garis Cochrane, the inventor of... Click to read more...

Alex Haley’s ‘Roots’ comes to life, and TV will never be the same (1977)

I am at loss for the proper word to use to describe what television has done with Haley's book Roots. "Enhance" will not do, nor is "heightened" sufficient. There is no word that is adequate.

Louis Gossett Jr. (Fiddler) and LeVar Burton (Kunta Kinte)

A guide to Roots: The TV miniseries, night by night (1977)

The story 'Roots' spans six generations and 100 years. Here's a day-by-day synopsis of Roots: The TV miniseries.

Vintage home exteriors: 18 colorfully-painted Victorian houses (1886)

Bold, rich coloring for houses of the era The day when nearly every building was painted white, and window blinds green, has passed away. It was ... Click to read more...

Statue of Liberty construction (1886)

It took years to complete the construction of the Statue of Liberty - also known as Liberty Enlightening the World - but here are some peeks behind the scenes into how it was done!

Victorian etiquette: 72 simple rules for men while at the dinner table (1889)

Victorian etiquette: Perhaps it is quite a simple occurrence to eat your breakfast, your dinner, or your supper, yet the gentleman or lady, and the low-bred man or woman, are not more strongly contrasted than when at the table.

The end of an era: New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel torn down (1929)

The doors of New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, a 36-year-old internationally-known institution, closed May 1, 1929. Noisy wreckers will clank in to tear it down. The old generation passes with a sigh. The new era enters with a roar.

Take a trip to Manhattan's magnificent old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

Take a trip back to New York’s original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

The luxurious original Waldorf-Astoria was among America's first big hotels. When it was built during the Victorian era, and for years thereafter, it was considered the finest hotel in the world -- and it soon became the most famous, too.

The amazing Annie Oakley, expert shot (1890s)

Annie Oakley once sent a shot right through the center of the bullseye - and then someone bet that she couldn't through the hole she had just made. You might be able to imagine what happened next.

Owney: How the world’s most famous dog traveled the globe (1890s)

Owney, the world's most popular dog has traveled almost around the globe. He made the journey around the world all alone and with only a tag about his neck -- and found friends everywhere. Here's the story!

Have you seen Tom Collins? Plus 5 classic Tom Collins cocktail recipes

A Tom Collins isn't a drink just named after some guy, somewhere. It's a drink named after nobody, nowhere. Ah, but there's a story to go along with it all. Find out the backstory of "Have you seen Tom Collins?" -- and get recipes for four original, old-fashioned versions of the Tom Collins cocktail!

Sutro Baths bathing pools - San Francisco

San Francisco’s Victorian marvel: The huge swimming pools at Sutro Baths

The size of San Francisco's great Sutro Baths seizes the imagination, yet it is not oppressive, owing to the lightness and airiness of the structure. Tier upon tier rise seats, while at their base, visible to everyone, are the swimming tanks. The sea water is supplied by an ingenious use of the ocean waves.

See the rooms at the elegant old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (1903)

The suite life: See the rooms at the elegant Waldorf-Astoria (1903)

New York City's old Waldorf-Astoria Hotel -- torn down in 1929 -- was a luxurious Victorian building that served overnight guests as much as Manhattan's social elite. Here, take a look inside the hotel rooms and suites, and see what accommodations would have looked like back in 1903!

A Phoenix, Arizona birds-eye map view from of the city from 1885

See Phoenix, Arizona in 1885: A birds-eye map of the city

Phoenix, Arizona was first settled in 1867, and here you can see an aerial view of the city as it looked back in 1885, when the population was estimated to be just 3,500, and was said to be 'one of the most beautiful and lovely cities in the West.'

John Logan with wife Mary Simmerson Cunningham Logan, son Manning Alexander Logan, and daughter Mary Elizabeth Dollie Logan (c1870)

The love story behind our first Memorial Day (1955)

When the flowers are reverently placed on the graves tomorrow, there will be many indebted to a tall, dark-haired frontiersman-soldier-statesman, General John Alexander Logan. Through his efforts, encouraged by his loyal wife, Memorial Day was founded.

American homestead summer by Currier and Ives 1868

Come to Kansas and homestead 160 acres of land for $10 (1863)

On the payment of ten dollars, and the office fees, any person, being the head of a family, or over the age of twenty-one years, may enter 160 acres, or a less quantity, of the unappropriated Public Land as his Homestead. The applicant must either be a citizen, or have declared his intention to become such.

Get laced up with more than 200 classic Victorian corsets

Throughout the 1800s, clothing styles for women changed considerably. Come take a trip through history with this gallery of more than 200 corset styles!

New Amsterdam to now: Images of New York in the Colonial days

Here are images showing New York City's growth from a frontier settlement known as New Amsterdam to the metropolis of the western world --through the Colonial times, and in the early days of US independence.

General Ulysses S Grant dies: The career of a soldier and a president (1885)

So far as General Ulysses S Grant is concerned, we are warranted in assigning him a high place among the great soldiers of the world, and the first place among the soldiers who have figured on the American continent.

America’s slave trade: Newspaper ads offering people for sale (1729-1800)

While books and articles on the American slave trade can provide important insights, actually seeing the ads that were placed in the newspapers of the era really brings it home.

How the railroads first crossed America (1968)

The most dramatic and best-known story of railroading in the United States is the connecting of the Atlantic and the Pacific by railroad in 1869, tying of the oceans together by rail across the heart of the United States

Photos from the day of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1863)

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address speech was so brief, history has no photographs of President Lincoln actually saying those oft-repeated words on November 19, 1863. But here are the pictures we do have of the President that day.

Home of Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt - Fifth Avenue New York City - 1894

See NYC’s stunning historical Fifth Avenue mansions (1890s)

Take a stroll back to the late 1800s and early 1900s to see some of the grand homes and mansions that lined New York City's famed Fifth Avenue.

Abraham Lincoln quotes: Famous sayings from a wise leader

Practically starting the moment he uttered the syllables, Abraham Lincoln's words of wisdom have served to illuminate the course of America, and to en... Click to read more...

100 years of classic mint julep recipes (1862-1962)

It seems that there are almost as many mint julep recipes as there are people who enjoy these frosty alcoholic beverages. We searched through newspaper and book archives to collect these nine julep how-tos that span a century. Take a look at what we found!

Tesla holding a phosphor-coated wireless light bulb

Nikola Tesla’s plan to give free electricity to everyone (1896)

Free electricity for everyone? It means that if Nikola Tesla succeeds in harnessing the electrical earth currents and putting them to work for man there will be an end to oppressive extortionate monopolies in steam, telephones, telegraphs and the other commercial uses of electricity

And they’re off! Look back at the history of the Kentucky Derby

How did the Kentucky Derby get started? Now, the famous Louisville horse race is the first part of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, but when it started, people didn't know how important and iconic the Derby would eventually become. Here's a look back at its history.

Looking back at the history of Chicago (1977)

It is hard to believe that only two centuries ago, Chicago was a lonely marshland of trees and tall grass, a place with an abundance of wild onions, from which the Iroquois gave it its name, Chicagou.

Til death did they part? Victorian divorce statistics (1898)

In the United States, divorce increased two and a half times as fast as the population, and 2/3 of the divorces were granted on petition of the wife. See more Victorian divorce statistics here!

Death of an outlaw: First account of Jesse James’ murder (1882)

Get the true story behind 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' from 1882 -- when, Jesse James, the Missouri outlaw, was killed by a boy twenty years old at his temporary residence on Thirteenth and Lafayette streets, in this city.