Hop in the time machine for a whirlwind tour of 20th-century hotel rooms that are like stepping into a living history book!
pennsylvania
Many well-known serial killers don’t quite compare to the exploits of Herman Webster Mudgett, alias Dr H H Holmes, perhaps one of the most fiendish mass murderers in American history. See diagrams of his infamous murder house, and images of his victims.
Drafted in secret during the summer of 1787, the Constitution of the United States established the government of the United States. Here, the original US Constitution text.
Vintage 40s diners were descendants of the railroad dining car, and often sported shiny metal on the outside and a long counter with stools on the inside. Take a ride back in time to see 40 examples of roadside diners!
Cowboy actor Tom Mix – the horse-riding hero of scores of western thrillers of the silent film era – left a lasting legacy after he died in a single-car crash on a highway detour in Arizona.
Have a look at beautiful vintage landscape photography featuring various natural wonders of the US — as seen around the turn of the last century.
Lithographed vintage travel posters like those shown here are now sometimes sold at auction for tens of thousands of dollars, but they began as ads for a burgeoning industry.
These vintage touch-tone phones – featuring push buttons, speed and musical tones – represented a totally new signaling system, and opened the way to increased versatility in communications.
What is scrapple, exactly – and how do you make it? Get a good old-fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch homemade scrapple recipe here, and find out about the history of this meaty mixture.
Did a lie and nine blank cartridges win independence for America? The war ended at Yorktown. It was there, on October 19, 1781, that Cornwallis surrendered to Washington. Find out more of the story here!
In the ’30s, Chicago gang leader Al Capone was imprisoned for income tax evasion, and served most of his time on Alcatraz, where he faced constant death threats.
Indoor malls might be fading, but what hasn’t faded is our fondness for this vintage relic. Take a nostalgia trip back with us to some of the best indoor malls of the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Cake baked in a pie shell… and a sauce that goes on at the top and ends up in a layer at the bottom of the cake. That’s Funny Cake – a Pennsylvania Dutch treat so intriguing, everyone who tastes it wants the recipe.
When it came to parenting the ’40s, were moms too easy on their kids? Was being a parent harder than the generation before? Here’s what people said in 1940.
Here’s a look back at 100 years of vintage Fostoria glass – from candelabra to stemware, in clear crystal or a rainbow of colorful hues – that people have been using and collecting for generations.
Though the name might not be up there in lights as bright as Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry, Bill Haley & His Comets certainly deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence. Here’s why!
The original vintage Slinky toy was an all-metal spring that thrilled kids by ‘walking’ down stairs. Invented by accident back in the forties, it’s one of the classic toys that has stood the test of time.
Antique early American weathervanes shaped like horses, cows, deer, roosters, angels, ships and even fish were hammered in metal and used as much to decorate rooftops as to note the direction of the wind
In the 1956 movie musical Carousel, Oklahoma stars Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae were again teamed up for a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic. Also see an interview with Miss Jones from the same year.
While today’s players make multi-million dollar salaries and play in front of upwards of 15,000 fans a night, Wilt Chamberlain’s record-setting performance took place in front of 4,124 fans at the arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Here is one theory about how the Liberty Bell was cracked, according to an old man who confessed to breaking the famous bell when he was just a boy.
While books and articles on America’s slave trade can offer important historical insight, seeing ads for slave auctions casually placed in newspapers of the era really brings the brutality home.
During a concert in 1975, a music reviewer wrote of Bruce Springsteen, ‘I have seldom if ever heard as long or as feverish applause for anyone anywhere as after his numbers.’
On April 1, 1996 – April Fool’s Day – the Taco Bell fast food chain announced they’d bought the iconic Liberty Bell, and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell.
What’s the history of Groundhog Day — February 2 each year — and what is the connection to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania? Find out here!
Look back at more than 200 vintage license plates issued through the 20th century – including ones for every American state & territory – plus some special plates, too.
After World War II, when the railroad companies had to transport troops around the country, they upgraded the service. Here’s a look back at some of what the railroads were offering to entice passengers back in the late 1940s.
If you haven’t heard of ‘Rocky’ or Sylvester Stallone, welcome back from Mars – about the only place where you could not see or hear about this movie about a boxer, and the rags-to-riches story of the guy who wrote it.
How to make oven-fried chicken – Texas recipe (1939) Oven-fried chicken is one of the dishes that is particularly simple to prepare. After the preliminary
See 20 vintage scenes in and around Philadelphia in the 1950s & 60s! There’s the city itself, landmarks, suburbs, skylines and more from yesteryear.
How was Independence Day celebrated in the past? It varied a lot over the decades, but early on, there was cannon fire, great communal feasts in the village green, and all kinds of noisemakers and thundering sounds.
Don’t waste gas, says Rube Goldberg GRANDMA (A), KNITTING PAIR OF SOCKS, PULLS LATCH (8), CAUSING JACK-IN-THE-BOX (C) TO POP OUT AND HIT TEETER —
