US Culture: Thorne Miniature Rooms

 

When visiting the Thorne Miniature Rooms in the Chicago Art Institute, you are invited to peer through 68 windows that look into 68 distinctly different rooms — very, very tiny rooms. 

Constructed on a 1:12 scale, in other words, a scale of 1 inch (2.5 cm) to 1 foot (0.30 m), the Thorne Miniature Rooms are replications of rooms found in America and Europe from the 13th century to the 1930s. Even more spectacular, they are made primarily of the same materials as full-sized rooms.

In the 1930s, through the imagination of Narcissa Niblack Thorne, the creator of the Thorne Rooms, a total of 100 rooms were intricately designed by skilled Chicago craftsmen. There are 68 rooms at the Chicago Art Institute, with the remaining rooms in galleries throughout the country. 

I remember looking at these little rooms with fascination when I was a child, and I still feel the same enchantment today when I visit the Thorne Miniatures. 

February is Black History Month

The year 1976 marked the United States Bicentennial, the country’s 200th birthday. It was a time when citizens celebrated the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. Nineteen seventy-six was significant in another way: it was when the U.S. began its annual observance of Black History Month.

February is Black History Month, or National African American History Month, when we commemorate the achievements by black Americans and recognize the contributions of African Americans in U.S. history.

The accomplishments of African Americans have been valuable throughout our history
in every aspect and it's an honor to show appreciation for how the American culture has been greatly influenced by African Americans.

You can be a part of Black History Month in many ways:

Read the poem “I, Too, Sing America” by poet Langston Hughes and think about the poem’s vocabulary, rhythm, and meaning.

Bake sweet potato biscuits, a traditional soul food treat, with this delicious recipe.

Read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

See James Karales’s photographs of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches.

Examine these oral histories from elderly African Americans in Elbert County, Georgia, and Abbeville County., South Carolina on the National Park Service website.

Trace the history of the blues from its beginnings in the fields of the South to its global impact on today’s music. Visit the Kennedy Center to learn about B. B. King and other musicians.

View artist Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, which depicts the migration of slaves from the South to the North in search of a better life.

Learn about the history of hip-hop music, a genre that emerged in the Bronx, New York City, in 1970.

Who was the first African American tennis player to win the U.S. Open? Who was the first African American woman elected to U.S. Congress? Find out about many famous firsts in black history on Biography.

The Underground Railroad

When you hear about an Underground Railroad in the USA, what is your first thought? The subway, the tube, the underground? That’s what comes to my mind. Actually, from 1793 to 1860 there was an Underground Railroad in the United States but it wasn’t a form of transportation --- it was a passage to freedom for escaped slaves from the South to the North.

The Underground Railroad was a secret network of hiding places and people who attempted to help fugitive slaves escape from slavery and move them to and from safe places in a quick and secretive way. Their activities did not literally take place underground or via a railroad, nor was it an official organization.

People involved with the Underground Railroad had special words to describe participants, safe places, and other necessary information. People who guided slaves from place to place were called "conductors." Locations where slaves could safely find protection, food, or a place to sleep were called "safe houses" or "stations." Those who hid fugitive slaves in their homes, barns, or churches were called "station masters." Slaves who were in the safekeeping of a conductor or station master were "cargo."

It must be noted that while conductors and fugitive slaves were participating on the Underground Railroad, all of their actions were illegal. Today’s estimates indicate the number of slaves who successfully escaped reached 100,000, but there are many, many more who did not succeed. I live in the northern United States, in the state of Wisconsin, and there is an Underground Railroad safe house on the road where my mother lives and I was able to go inside it once. Even now, whenever I pass it, I think about life 200 years ago and the risks people took to get there.

Happy Fourth of July!

Today is a holiday in the USA, our Independence Day, usually known as the Fourth of July. It’s one of the best days of the summer in my opinion, celebrated with parades, picnics, barbecues, concerts, family reunions, carnivals, patriotic songs, and fireworks! This is the day to get out your red, white and blue decorations and clothes (the colors of the American flag) to display your national pride. It's also about summer fun. This week begins one of the busiest travel periods in the USA with many people embarking on their summer vacations, taking advantage of the extra holiday off.

On this day in 1776, the United States declared its independence from Great Britain with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The thousands of spectacular fireworks shows all over the country tonight represent the “rocket’s red glare and bombs bursting in air” from our battle against Britain as sung in our National Anthem.

Today I’m doing those exact things: barbecue, family, red, white and blue, fireworks. When is Independence Day in your country and what are your traditions?

American Kitsch: Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas

Kitsch is defined as art, objects, or design considered to be in bad taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic way. I love the nostalgia and humor of American kitsch and here is a kitschy place I've always wanted to visit: Las Vegas' Neon Boneyard.

One of the things that makes Las Vegas so spectacular are the glowing lighted signs that illuminate the town. They're huge, sparkling, and a singularly unique Las Vegas art form. As Las Vegas modernizes, the vintage electric signs that represent motels, local businesses, and famous casino resorts from throughout Las Vegas are collected and saved in a sort of outdoor museum called the Neon Boneyard.

For years this museum has been accumulating the old signs and marquees that used to light up Las Vegas, with some dating back to the early 1930’s, and the reason it’s called the Neon Boneyard is because it's considered a cemetery for old, unwanted signs; in reality, it’s a museum that offers a fascinating, colorful glimpse into the history of early Las Vegas with its collection of larger-than-life, kitschy memorabilia. Though not a glamourous place (the signs are not lit anymore), this vast and amazing collection of huge signage offers a view into the legendary past of Las Vegas and its most memorable art form.

Surf City USA

Although surfing is wildy popular in many parts of the world, the surf culture was a phenomenon that developed in southern California after World War ll and spread quickly during the 1950s and 1960s. Centuries ago, the sport was popular with Hawaiian nobility who practiced the ancient Hawaiian tradition of "he'e nalu", meaning "wave-sliding".

In southern California there are over 35 excellent surfing beaches, Huntington Beach (also known as Surf City), Malibu, and Hermosa Beach to name a few. In the hunt for great waves, surfers often become dedicated to their sport in a way that makes a more traditional life impossible. Surfing instead becomes their lifestyle.

The evolving California surf culture affected fashion, films, jargon (hang ten: to ride a surf board with all ten toes curled over the front edge; woodie: a station wagon with wood exterior paneling; bikini: you know what that is; baggies: loose, wide-legged shorts or swim trunks), and music, where the Beach Boys, among others, made the surf sound a national sensation.

The shaka sign, associated with Hawaii, is a common greeting in surfer culture. When I go to Hawaii, I regularly see people exchange the shaka greeting and I think it's cool. It's a constant reminder that in Hawaii, it is not typical to worry or rush. The shaka sign represents the philosophy of “island style.” It signals that everything is all right.

Surfing devotees follow waves all over the world but southern California will always be associated with the surf culture here in the USA. Go there, rent a surf board, and hang ten!

Cowboys of the American West

If you like riding horses and working outside, you might want to be a cowboy. You can do it. It’s not too late.
The basic characteristics of a cowboy include simple values, independence, friendship, hard work, and loyalty. A cowboy guides cattle in the open western lands of North America or performs many duties on ranches, traditionally on horseback. Historically cowboys settled the wild lands out West so people could travel from the East and begin new lives there, and today’s cowboys work on cattle ranches (cattle farms) in Western US states. These people cherish a lifestyle away from big cities. Exhibitions where cowboys show their riding and roping skills are called rodeos. Sometimes I see rodeos on TV and admire the fearlessness of these guys. Amazing!
A cowboy's typical wardrobe consists of cowboy boots, a western style shirt, blue jeans, a belt with a large belt buckle, and a cowboy hat, of course.
As much as America has changed, the American cowboy is still the same. Today I saw an advertisement for a man seeking a new life as a cowboy. His name is Jack: I am forgoing my success as a marketing executive in Las Vegas and looking to learn the ways of the ranch hand. I am a strong 35 year old single male with a full size truck and a well trained bird dog named Charlie. Not looking for much more than boarding and food. Ideal location would be mountainous area in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado or California. Hope someone can use my help. Good luck to you Jack! Yee-haaa!

Frank Lloyd Wright: American Architect

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of America’s most famous and original architects in the 20th century. He was born in Wisconsin in 1867 where he lived most of his life. His design philosophy uses nature to integrate form and function, which he referred to as organic architecture. He believed that good design makes people more aware and respectful of their surroundings and of nature. Wright designed office buildings, houses, neighborhoods, public buildings, churches, and museums, many in Wisconsin.

Frank Lloyd Wright is most widely known for his prairie style homes. He thought that rooms in Victorian era homes were boxed-in and confining so he began to design houses with low horizontal lines and open interior spaces. Rooms were often divided by glass panels and the roofs hung further away from the house than most normal homes. He used materials that were plain and simple. Prairie style homes were quite unique, and designed to blend in with the flat, prairie landscape.

Frank Lloyd Wright has over 500 completed works, and many who appreciate his style like to tour the buildings and private homes he designed (there are at least 40 examples in Wisconsin). Owning one of his homes is like living in a work of art every day of your life.

City Tavern

Imagine yourself dining in a restaurant so old that it was serving customers even before the Unites States was a country, and so old that George Washington, our first president, was a regular visitor. There is such a place, called City Tavern, and you can dine there today in very much the same way our Founding Fathers did. (The Founding fathers were the political leaders who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 or those who took part in the American Revolution to win independence from Great Britain, or who participated in writing the US Constitution in 1787-1788). City Tavern is old.

The City Tavern was constructed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1773. It was one of the finest buildings in the largest and most cosmopolitan North American city of the time.

Modeled after a London tavern, City Tavern, also called the Merchants' Coffee House, was the political, social, and business center of the new United States and it’s still in operation today, allowing you to replicate the true customs and food of 18th Century Colonial America. Using beer recipes from Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, even the locally produced beer is authentic. A dining experience there is a trip back in history.

Are there any really old restaurants where you live?

Mount Rushmore National Park

South Dakota is a midwestern state, once home to the Lakota and Dakota Sioux (pronounced like “soo”) American Indian tribes, and it is from those Indians that the state got its name. The majority of South Dakota’s land is covered by the Great Plains, a large area of flat land with few trees, and the Black Hills mountain range highlights the western part of the state.

Because of its north-central location and low population, a plan to bring tourism to South Dakota turned into something spectacular. The idea, conceived in 1927, was to symbolize America by carving large figures into the Black Hills mountains. These sculptures were originally planned to be Indian leaders and American explorers who shaped early America but were later changed to four of our greatest presidents, those who represent the first 150 years of American history:

George Washington, our first president, represents the BIRTH of our country.

Thomas Jefferson symbolizes the EXPANSION of the nation.

Theodore Roosevelt represents the DEVELOPMENT of our country.

Abraham Lincoln symbolizes the PRESERVATION of the nation in confronting the challenges of the Civil War.

Mount Rushmore was completed in 1941 and is visited by millions of people every year. Touring famous states like New York and California are unforgettable experiences and there is a lot to see between the coasts too. You can discover the American West, the history and life of American Indians, and the natural wonders of South Dakota. Mount Rushmore is just one fine example.

It’s Columbus Day!

Every year, on the second Monday of October, we celebrate Columbus Day to honor the Italian explorer who discovered America.

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. He wanted to discover a trade route to the East because India, China, and Japan offered many goods Europeans craved, but traveling around the southern tip of Africa to get them was difficult and dangerous.

Columbus believed there was a better route and proposed sailing west 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, thinking he would circle the globe and arrive in eastern Asia. At 2:00 a.m. on October 12, 1492, land came into view. Columbus did not realize that he had arrived in a new part of the world. He was convinced that he was in India. For this reason, he called the natives who lived there the Indians.

Columbus returned to the Americas three more times, each time believing that he was in India. During his life, he never realized what he had discovered.