Springtime, with the trees and gardens blossoming all around us, is a perfect time to remember Clarissa Munger Badger (1806-1889), the Madison artist and poet who excelled in the 19th-century world of botanical illustration. From 1859 to 1867, Clarissa’s watercolor folios, along with her original poetry, were published as color lithographs bound into three volumes. The last of these three charming books, “Floral Belles from the Green House and Garden,” sold for $30 in its day - or about $475 in today’s currency. Her publisher noted the images were “…painted from nature by the patient a ..read more

Some of us will remember the scene in the 1967 film The Graduate where Dustin Hoffman’s character is taken aside while pondering his future career after graduation. He was cryptically advised to consider “one word — plastics.” One hundred years earlier, he might have received similar advice: “Ivory.” Traded for more than 1,000 years for its color, workability, durability, and abundance, ivory was at the center of a hugely profitable industry. Its value from the late 1700s through the 19th century grew exponentially, booming worldwide as increased societal wealth, conspicuous consumption ..read more

The Madison Historical Society has an impressive collection of swords and sabers once proudly owned by Madison men from the 1770s to the late 1800s. They are still shiny, and some have embossed or inlaid designs on their blades. As military weapons, they illustrate the skill and artistry of their makers and their potential lethality in the expert hands of a trained soldier. They also frequently reveal information about their owners and their personal stories. We are lucky to know who owned most of the sabers in our collection — and we might even know what the owner looked like. One of ..read more

Halloween season provides a fun opportunity to consider some of the old portraits at the Madison Historical Society’s Allis-Bushnell House on the Boston Post Road. Are those eyes really following you? Well, no — not even on Halloween. Scientists tell us that the he’s-staring-at-me effect is just an optical illusion. Because the painted-in perspective and shadows don’t change when viewed from different angles, your brain interprets the unchanging view as an indication the eyes are following you. Got that? Regardless of the science, some of the portraits in the society’s collection are striking ..read more

Before texting, cellphones, television, and commercial radio nibbled into our leisure time, two young Madison women shared a dream: to start a summer theater, one of the first in New England. Combining their aspirations, they created the “Woodland Garden Plays.” A wooded path behind the Wilcox home on Island Avenue led to an enchanted open place where the plays were performed. Constance Wilcox wrote the first garden play, Told in a Chinese Garden, especially for the setting. Staged in the summer of 1918, it raised money for wounded soldiers from the First World War. All t ..read more

Humans have been swimming for milennia — even a 10,000-year-old cave painting in Egypt shows nude swimmers. Then Victorian sensitivities in the 19th century made skinny-dipping not just unfashionable, but downright immoral, and both sexes, especially women, started wearing bulky beach attire. Women wore gowns from shoulder to knees, along with trousers with leggings down to the ankles. Beach shoes were also a must. The men were fully covered, too, although their suits were more form-fitting. In America, by the 1920s, men wore T-shirts and shorts at the beach, but ..read more

So summer is here — it’s hot, humid, sticky, and still. Luckily, most of us nowadays can seek refuge in some air-conditioned space, but how did people stay comfortable years ago before air conditioners were available? Throughout history until the mid-20th century, people lived without air conditioning — somehow! In places where summertime brought hot weather, humankind acclimated to the heat and simply accepted the discomfort as a seasonal part of life. What else could be done? Besides, it was better than the bone-chilling, life-threatening cold of winter. But hum ..read more

The Barbie Doll debuted in 1959 and, for decades since, has been the most popular doll in the world. Archaeologists digging in our landfills a thousand years in the future will be able to date the stratified findings as “AB” and “BB” — After Barbie and Before Barbie — by the numerous decayed plastic heads, arms, legs and torsos that begin to appear in the 1959 layer. So, what about dolls BB? Archaeologists have found toy dolls, with movable limbs and removable clothing, that date to at least 200 BCE. Doll forms used for ritual purposes date to well before that time. The Madison ..read more

Pity the poor adman at the beginning of the 20th century. No TV. No radio. No color magazines and no recordings. No internet or pop-up ads. What’s an advertising executive supposed to do to sell his client’s music? Since recordings were, literally, unheard of back then, people had to make their own music. Everyone could use their voice, a banjo, harmonica, guitar, or piano at home. Churches had organs and choirs, and fraternal organizations, firefighting companies, and clubs often had their own small bands. Sheet music was needed so people knew what to play or sing. Adverti ..read more

One of the most enjoyable aspects of photographing the artifacts in the collection of the Madison Historical Society is actually handling them and examining them closely. As the staff photographer, I work carefully with delicate objects, but I do not have to heed the “Do Not Touch” signs that visitors must respect. I have special dispensation to touch, and I deeply appreciate the privilege. Pre-contact era buffing stone used for finishing skins For instance, I remember my startled reaction when I grasped a pre-contact-period stone tool, once used for buffing skins. If I held it clumsily, up ..read more