EATING LIKE YOUR GREAT GRANDPARENTS

I’m not talking about old family recipes here. I’m talking about “bought foods” some from hundreds of years ago, still consumed today. These brands are still popular in the United States; people in other countries are no doubt eating and drinking like their own great grandparents, but I am focusing on the brands I know.

Breakfast

You may be starting your day off by eating (and caffeinating) just like your ancestors!

In 1850, William H. Bovee, the owner of the Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills in San Francisco, built a mill that allowed him to sell pre-roasted, ground coffee. In 1865, A. Folger became a full partner, going on to buy out the other partners and rename the company J.A. Folger & Co. in 1872.  Folger’s Coffee was born.

Farther east, in 1873, Joel Cheek left Kentucky to seek a new life in Nashville, Tennessee. Eventually he launched the Nashville Coffee and Manufacturing Company. In 1892, Cheek created a special blend of coffee that he named after the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, which was one of his biggest customers. Legend has it that in 1907 President Teddy Roosevelt visited Maxwell House, the prestigious Nashville hotel and after finishing a cup of their namesake coffee, he declared it was, “good to the last drop.”

eating Quaker Oats

Ferdinand Schumacher founded the German Mills American Oatmeal Company in the 1850s in Akron, Ohio. With Robert Stuart of Ontario, he opened the Quaker Mill Company in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national advertising campaign for Quaker Oats.

John Harvey Kellogg/W.K. Kellogg created Kellogg’s Corn Flakes at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan in 1894. Kellogg was supporting good health through a vegetarian diet. Accidentally invented as a breakfast food to counter indigestion, Corn Flakes, the first dry, flaked breakfast cereal, became the most popular dry breakfast cereal in the world.

Lunch

You can take a break at lunchtime by eating the same lunch your great grandparents enjoyed!

Wonder Bread is an American brand of sliced bread. Established in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1921, it was one of the first companies to sell sliced bread nationwide by 1930. Elmer Cline named the company after the wonder he felt witnessing the launch of hundreds of hot air balloons at the International Balloon Race in Indianapolis.

After working for many years in a Chicago sausage factory, Oscar Mayer opened his first hot dog shop in 1883. Events like the Chicago World Fair in 1893, World War I, the release of the Wienermobiles, and the Oscar Mayer Wiener song made these hot dogs a cultural phenomenon.

In 1898, a LeRoy, New York-based carpenter and cough syrup manufacturer named Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked a combination of granulated gelatin, sugar, and flavoring called Jell-O. The first flavors were strawberry, raspberry, orange, and lemon.

Baking

Many of the brands modern bakers use have not changed substantially in generations. Even when baking at home, you may be eating the same cake as your great-grandparents!

Pillsbury Flower eating

In 1790, Henry Wood launched a company specializing in importing and distributing English-milled flour in Boston. Henry Wood & Co started milling and selling American-grown flour in 1825, when the Erie Canal made distribution faster and more reliable. They launched a new product in 1895 called King Arthur Flour (the name inspired by the hit musical of the day, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table). 

In 1764, John Hannon and Dr. James Baker started importing cacao beans and producing chocolate in Dorcester, Massachusetts. For 15 years, the duo produced chocolate under the company name Hannon’s Best Chocolate. Hannon went on a cacao-gathering trip to the West Indies in 1779, and never returned. Baker changed the company name to Baker Chocolate Company.

Charles Alfred Pillsbury founded C.A. Pillsbury and Company along with his uncle, John Pillsbury, in Minneapolis in 1872. Pillsbury was the second company in the United States to use steel rollers for grain processing. The Doughboy didn’t come around until 1965.

Carnation Milk eating

Carnation is now a brand of food products, but Elbridge Amos Stuart began as a dairy farmer in 1908. In addition to selective breeding, Carnation Farms aimed to increase milk production through keeping their cows happy and stress-free. The brand was especially known for its evaporated milk product created in 1899, first called Carnation Sterilized Cream and later called Carnation Evaporated Milk.

In 1912, a group of California raisin growers created the California Associated Raisin Company, which became Sun-Maid Growers of California. So, while not as old as some, Sun-Maid Raisins have still been around longer than today’s consumers. 

Sauces

Even if the other ingredients change, the flavors of what you’re eating may not be very different from what your great-grandparents ate.

When Edmund McIlhenny and his wife Mary Eliza first settled Avery Island, Louisiana, in 1859, they made a mint harvesting salt and selling it to the Confederates. The Union Army ransacked his entire operation. When McIlhenny inspected his land after the war was over, he noticed something growing: a spicy pepper native to the Mexican state of Tabasco.  McIlhenny planted tabasco peppers all over the island, and started selling his Tabasco Hot Sauce, made with those peppers and Avery Island salt, in 1868.

The story of Heinz Ketchup began in 1876 when it was first marketed as “catsup” by Henry J. Heinz. In the Unites States, many assume ketchup is always tomato-based, but that is an American invention. Around the world, people have made ketchups with all sorts of main ingredients, for example, mushrooms or bananas.

Drinks

In addition to eating like your ancestors, there is a very good chance you’re drinking like them!

Johannes “Reginald” Beam, a Kentucky farmer, began producing whiskey in the style that would eventually become known as bourbon, and sold his first barrel of corn whiskey, which he called Old Jake Beam Sour Mash, in 1795.  Today this is Jim Beam Bourbon, of course.

On May 8, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton poured the world’s first glass of Coca-Cola at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in Atlanta, Ga. He served about nine drinks. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it didn’t catch on immediately. The first recipe for Coke contained both wine and cocaine, and was marketed toward upper class intellectuals.

Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, North Carolina, invented a concoction that he originally called Brad’s Drink in 1893. He changed the name in 1898 to Pepsi-Cola, to advertise that his drink got its flavoring from kola nuts and could treat dyspepsia. Though the original recipe did not have any pepsin, it did contain vanilla and sugar, which Bradham claimed would aid in digestion and boost energy.

Yuengling Beer is a product of D. G. Yuengling & Son, established in 1829, is the oldest operating brewing company in the United States. In 2018, by volume of sales, it was the largest craft brewery, sixth largest overall brewery, and largest wholly American-owned brewery in the United States. Its headquarters are in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

Thomas Lipton opened a small grocery shop in 1871 in Glasgow, Scotland. While traveling to source new stock for his store, he purchased tea gardens in modern-day Sri Lanka in 1890. He was able to control the entire supply chain, selling Lipton Tea in packets with the slogan “Direct from the tea gardens to the teapot.”

Snacks

Between meals, there’s a good chance you’re eating the same snacks as your great-grandparents. Though the recipes have no doubt changed, you may be reaching for the same brands and labels.

Encyclopedia Britannica

According to a taste test by Bon Appetit, the best potato chips today are Lay’s Classic.

The Rueckheim Brothers of Chicago, Il. trademarked the Cracker Jack label in 1896. However, coated popcorn and peanut mixtures had been around since at least the late 1850s and people were described eating them in articles dating from about 1857 to the 1880s. The contribution of the Rueckheim Brothers was largely to make the product less messy to eat by means of a carefully guarded process of processing. Circa 1899, Henry Eckstein joined Frederick Rueckheim & Bro, adding the packaging that would be familiar to anyone who bought Cracker Jacks well into the 1960s and beyond.

Not so old, but the Hershey Company is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. The name of the company has changed over time: Hershey Chocolate Co. (1894–1927), Hershey Chocolate Corporation (1927–68), Hershey Foods Corporation (1968–2005). Whatever the name, Hershey chocolates are classic.

Tootsie Rolls are a chocolate caramel candy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1907. It was the first penny candy to be individually wrapped in America. According to the company, they make over 65 million Tootsie Rolls daily.

Bottom Line: If the original product is good, subsequent iterations can go on indefinitely.

History of Valentines

For many the mention of February immediately brings thoughts of Valentine’s Day, Valentine cards, whether to send them, and to whom.

A Hallmark History

For many Americans, Hallmark has become synonymous with Valentines. Founded by 18-year-old Joyce Clyde Hall in 1910, Hallmark Cards is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the U.S. They got into the Valentine act in 1913, and began producing their own designs in 1916.

Hallmark store in Quebec

Hallmark offers approximately 1,400 Valentine designs in their catalogue. Valentines are their second biggest seller, after Christmas cards. Before Valentine cards, there were Valentine love letters.

Saint Valentine

Saint Valentine Valentines

The Catholic Church has sainted at least three men named Valentine or Valentinus, two executed on February 14 of different years. I prefer the Saint Valentine who was a 3rd-century Roman priest executed for performing secret weddings in defiance of the emperor’s orders. (Claudius II believed that unmarried men made better soldiers because they had nothing to lose, so he outlawed marriage for young men.) Legend says this St. Valentine wrote a farewell note to his jailer’s daughter, signing it “Love, from your Valentine.”

Writing Valentines

Lace and paper Valentines

Subsequently, the imprisoned Duke Charles of Orleans wrote the earliest existing Valentine love letter to his wife in 1415. Then followed, in 1477, love letters from Margery Brews to her future husband, John Paston, which contain the first known use of the term “Valentine” in written English.

People exchanged formal messages of affection in the 1500s. Sending handmade cards was popular throughout the 1700s and continued through the 1800s. Europeans exchanged love notes, often decorated with lace and ribbons. 

In 1797 London, printed Valentine’s Day cards, to be hand-colored by the buyer, appeared. They featured hearts (the traditional seat of emotions), flowers, Cupids (the Roman god of love), and lace. Because popular science of the day held that the avian mating season began in mid-February, many cards also featured birds as a symbol of the day.

Victorian Valentines

Mass-produced Valentine’s Day cards debuted in America in the 1840s, created by Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1879, she joined Edward Taft to create the New England Valentine Company. In 1881 George C. Whitney bought their company and combined it with the Whitney Valentine Company. Around 1900, German manufacturers introduced “mechanical” Valentines that folded out to create three-dimensional scenes, which came to dominate the market.

Not Just for Lovers

Today, the holiday has expanded beyond romantic partners to expressions of affection among relatives and friends. Even schoolchildren exchange Valentines now.

The latter is a relatively new development. As best I could find, around the 1950s school children began exchanging Valentine’s Day cards in large numbers in the United States. It has since become a popular school tradition. When I was in elementary school, each student brought a cardboard shoe box, cut a slit in the top, decorated it, and hoped to find cards from classmates, the more the better. 

My Funny Valentine

A current Hallmark ad reads, “Shop Valentine cards for all the people you love— spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, and best friends. Find funny Valentines…”

Vinegar Valentines
'Tis a lemon that I hand you
And bid you now "Skidoo,"
Because I love another - 
There is no chance for you!
Tis a lemon that I hand you
And bid you now “Skidoo,”
Because I love another –
There is no chance for you!

Unlike Valentines for classmates, humorous Valentine’s Day cards are nothing new. “Vinegar Valentines” originated in the Victorian era (the last 65 years before 1900) as mocking or comic Valentines. These cards were often insulting and could be sent to anyone the sender disliked, including landlords, salespeople, employers, and adversaries. The tone ranged from gentle to aggressive. They typically insulted a recipient’s physical appearance, character traits, or lack of a romantic partner. They sometimes mocked specific professions. These “comic” Valentines often included grotesque drawings that caricatured common stereotypes. As with all things Valentine, they have evolved.

Valentines by the Numbers

To the annoyance of many, Valentine’s Day has become highly commercialized. According to an article in Business Insider, Hallmark is among nine companies that turned Valentine’s Day into a national economic engine. (Others include sellers of jewelry, flowers, and chocolate.) According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Americans were expected to spend approximately $25.8 billion on Valentine’s Day in 2024. Though not all that money goes for cards, according to a 2023 National Retail Association survey, 40% of Americans planned to send cards.

Valentine’s Day celebrations in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Valentine’s Day is popular in at least 24 countries. Worldwide, the Greeting Card Association estimates that about one billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year. Guatemalans celebrate many varieties of love on Valentine’s Day, exchanging cards with friends and family. Many Germans exchange heart-shaped gingerbread cookies. The Japanese split the celebration into two days: women give Valentines to men on February 14th, and men return the favor on March 14th.

In the Philippines, February 14 is the most common wedding anniversary, and mass weddings of hundreds of couples are common on that day. Are cards for these celebrations two-fers, wedding and Valentine? Heads up, Hallmark!

Bottom Line: Giving Valentines may be a centuries-old tradition, but it’s still going strong!

CHOCOLATE: The Good, the Bad, and the History

I’m a confirmed chocolate lover. And I’m not alone here! Great taste, a reward after a tough day, a favorite holiday gift

Chocolate is the preferred choice of sweets for many. Which is what makes chocolate big business. The chocolate industry is worth over £100 billion. Chocolate is the most popular U.S. candy product, favored by 90% of consumers. Nearly half (47%) spend $5-$10 a few times a month buying chocolate at the grocery store. (FYI: Switzerland is the world’s top consumer of chocolate per capita.)

Consumers buy an incredible 90 million pounds of chocolate candy during Halloween week, giving it a strong lead compared to other holidays. Retailers sell almost 65 million pounds during the week leading up to Easter. Although 57% of Valentine’s Day gift-givers give candy, only 48 million pounds of chocolate are sold during Valentine’s week. This includes more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate every year for Valentine’s Day.

Of the $1.9 billion sold on Halloween candy each year, $1.2 billion was for chocolate candy and only $680 million for sugar candy.

And then there is the impact of the chocolate industry on other products! U.S. chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the almonds produced in the United States and 25 percent of domestic peanuts.

Chocolatey Celebrations

Chocolate is so popular that many days of the year are designated for its celebration in various ways.

  • 1/31 National Hot Chocolate Day
    • People originally consumed chocolate as a beverage. Thomas Jefferson was a big fan of a drink using stone-roasted cacao, sugar and spices.
  • 2/25 National Chocolate Covered Nut Day
  • 5/15 National Chocolate Chip Day
  • 6/16 National Fudge Day
    • Chocolate is only one option for fudge flavors!
  • 7/7 International World Chocolate Day
  • 7/25 National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
  • 8/4 National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
    • Ruth Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie in the 1930s. In 1939 she sold her recipe and the Toll House name to Nestlé, reputedly in return for a lifetime supply of chocolate!
  • 8/20 National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day
  • 9/27 National Chocolate Milk Day
    • According to the Smithsonian, an Irish botanist, Sir Hans Sloane, in Jamaica in the early 1700s, drank a cocoa drink that he found so bitter he added milk, thus creating the first chocolate milk mixture. He then left Jamaica and returned to England, where he sold the chocolatey concoction as medicine.
  • 10/13 National M&M Day
  • 11/7 National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day
  • 12/13 National Cocoa Day
  • 12/28 National Chocolate Candy Day

The popularity of chocolate is reflected in chocolate-themed Hershey Park, the largest amusement park in Pennsylvania, as well as Hersheytown. A huge new park is scheduled to open in 2027. In addition, there are more than 60 chocolate museums around the world, including in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Spain, and the United States.

Keep in mind that chocolate and cocoa are not the same thing. Essentially, chocolate is a processed version of cocoa that includes added ingredients like sugar and cocoa butter to achieve its smooth texture and appealing flavor. 

A Little Chocolate History

From the Codex Tudela, an Aztec woman pouring chocolate from one vessel to another

Historians credit the Olmec civilization of southern Mexico as being the first to roast the fruit from the cacao tree, then grind it down and mix it with water and other ingredients (but not milk or sugar). Archaeologists have discovered Olmec pottery with trace amounts of chocolate dating back to
around 1700 BCE.

During the Revolutionary War, medics would often dole out cups of hot chocolate to wounded and dying soldiers. Military leaders gave out hot chocolate mixes monthly to soldiers, and sometimes offered them in lieu of wages.

Milton Hershey of Lancaster, PA introduced the first Hershey milk chocolate bar in 1900. Foil-wrapped Hershey’s Kisses appeared in 1906. Ever wondered about that little piece of paper hanging out of a Hershey’s Kiss? That was the company’s way of flagging their candy so consumers would know that it was an original Hershey’s Kiss. The little paper tail is known as a plume.

Soldiers’ rations in the Spanish Civil War inspired Forrest Mars, Sr to create M&Ms: plain chocolate candies in a shell of hard sugar. Chocolate melts at 93°F, which is below the average human body temperature. Remember this slogan? “M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand!”

Mars joined Bruce Murrie (son of Hershey executive William Murrie) to produce M&Ms in 1941, marketing them as in response to slack chocolate sales in summer.

During World War II, M&Ms were sold exclusively to the US military because of their durability.

Hershey’s had an exclusive contract with the American military to supply chocolate for soldiers’ rations during World War II. They specifically created the D-Ration Bar to “taste a little better than a boiled potato” to discourage soldiers from eating only their chocolate ration and nothing else. The recipe for these emergency chocolate rations made a viscous liquid so thick that it clogged the regular manufacturing machines and required hand-packing into molds.

Hershey produced a Tropical D-Ration specifically designed to withstand the high temperatures in the Pacific Theater.

M&Ms were the first candies to go into space, sent with the crew of the NASA shuttle Columbia in 1981.

Chocolate Medicine

Chocolates are a popular form of self-medication.

In the 1800’s, physicians commonly advised their broken-hearted patients to eat chocolate to calm their pining.

Chocolate has been shown to improve depression and anxiety symptoms and to help enhance feelings of calmness and contentedness. Both the flavanols and methylxanthines are believed to play a role in chocolate’s mood-enhancing effects. The presence of compounds like phenylethylamine in cocoa can contribute to feelings of happiness and well-being as well.

Even the smell of chocolate can help you relax and reduce stress! A study conducted by psychologist Neil Martin at Middlesex University in Enfield, England concluded that the aroma of chocolate reduced attentiveness.  Also, there are at least six varieties of flowers that naturally smell like chocolate: Carolina Allspice, Columbine-Chocolate Soldier, Chocolate Daisy, Chocolate Vine, Cosmos -Chocolate, and the Oncidium Orchid. A chocolate alternative for aromatherapy, perhaps!

Approximately 70% of people in a cross-sectional survey were less like to report depressive symptoms if they had eaten dark chocolate within the last 24 hours.

Chocolate can’t replace traditional treatment options for depressive feelings with mood disorders, but science may support its role in your diet.

Other cocoa benefits, maximized by choosing minimally processed cocoa powder or dark chocolate with high cocoa content:

Cacao pods in varying states of ripeness
  • Antioxidant power: cocoa is packed with antioxidants, particularly flavanols, which combat free radical damage in the body and may protect against chronic diseases. 
  • Cardiovascular health: studies suggest cocoa can help lower blood pressure, improve blood vessel function, and potentially reduce the risk of heart disease due to its impact on blood flow. 
  • Improved cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
  • Brain function: cocoa may enhance cognitive abilities like memory and focus due to its influence on neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. 
  • Potential anti-inflammatory effects: cocoa’s polyphenols may help reduce inflammation in the body.

Chocolatey “Perks”

Chocolate’s reputation as a pick-me-up is greatly aided by the fact that chocolate is sweetened, so there’s a sugar boost along with the caffeine.

A one-ounce piece of milk chocolate contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of decaffeinated coffee.

Although a bar of dark chocolate has about 29 milligrams of caffeine, a small cup of regular coffee has about 94.

Dark chocolate has more caffeine than any other type of chocolate. Cocoa solids contain the caffeine. Cocoa beans harvested during a dry season contain more caffeine. The method of processing and roasting the beans also affects the caffeine content.

Chocolate type matters! Dark chocolate, with higher cocoa content, generally has more health benefits compared to milk chocolate, which contains more sugar and fat.  In fact, more than half of people in a recent survey from the National Confectioners Association described dark chocolate as a “better for you” candy.

Over-Indulgence

Beware too much chocolate! Addiction to chocolate is called “chocoholism.” It is not a scientifically recognized term.

Cocoa powder is naturally bitter, no sugar at all. The effects of added sugar intake from chocolate— higher blood pressure, inflammation, diabetes, and fatty liver disease — are all linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke.

Weight Gain
High calorie intake from chocolate can lead to weight gain if consumed excessively, especially when replacing healthier food options. 

Dental Issues
The sugar in chocolate can contribute to tooth decay if not properly brushed after consumption. 

Digestive Problems
Some people might experience stomach upset, bloating, or diarrhea due to the fat and sugar content in chocolate, especially milk chocolate. 

Cardiovascular Concerns
Regularly consuming large amounts of chocolate, particularly with high saturated fat content, might contribute to elevated cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease. 

Blood Sugar Fluctuations
The sugar in chocolate can cause blood sugar spikes, potentially contributing to diabetes risk in susceptible individuals. 

Caffeine Overdose
While the caffeine content in dark chocolate is lower than coffee, consuming excessive amounts can lead to sleep disturbances, anxiety, and jitters. 

Skin Issues
Some people experience acne breakouts after consuming large quantities of chocolate.

Individual Sensitivities
People with specific allergies or digestive sensitivities should be cautious with chocolate consumption and consult a healthcare professional if needed. 

Chocolate Dangers

And then there are heavy metals. Cadmium and lead—two heavy metals linked to a host of health problems in children and adults—are virtually unavoidable in dark chocolate. Consumer Reports scientists recently measured the amount of heavy metals in 28 dark chocolate bars, including Dove, Ghirardelli, Lindt, and Hershey’s, for lead and cadmium. All of them contained both metals. For 23 of them, just an ounce of chocolate violates California’s maximum allowable dose levels (MADL) for lead or cadmium.

Significant exposure to cadmium can cause lung cancer, birth defects, and other reproductive harm. Significant exposure to lead can slow children’s growth growth and development and damage the brain and nervous system.

The good news is that it’s possible for dark chocolate to maintain low levels of heavy metals: five of the 28 bars tested had levels of lead and cadmium within the California limitations.

Johns Hopkins Medicine toxicologist Andrew Stolbach told NPR “The [MADL] safety levels for lead and cadmium are set to be very protective, and going above them by a modest amount isn’t something to be
concerned about,” he said. “If you make sure that the rest of your diet is good and sufficient in calcium and iron, you protect yourself even more by preventing absorption of some lead and cadmium in your diet.”

Note: Chocolate can be toxic to cats and dogs because they can’t metabolize theobromine, a component in chocolate. 

Bottom Line: Moderation is key. Enjoying chocolate in moderation as part of a balanced diet is key to reaping potential benefits without experiencing negative effects.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU WEAR?

What might one infer from these clothes?

Well, yes and no.

There’s no denying that clothes are important. They are (arguably) the first thing people see when they see you—front, back, or sideways. People may infer a lot from your clothes, everything from socio-economic class to what you like. Are they accurate?

Sometimes. In my opinion, there are multiple factors that determine what one wears at any given time. Our clothing choices are not static; rather, they adapt to different circumstances. The way you dress for a job interview will likely differ from how you dress for a casual weekend with friends. Adaptability reflects our ability to navigate social situations effectively. We use clothing as a tool to project the desired image.

Factors Outside Yourself That Affect Clothing Choices

Socio-Economic Standing

As a child, I wore whatever my mother made for me, plus hand-me-downs from older cousins. Although places such as resale stores, Goodwill, and Ashland Christian Emergency Services may provide access to clothes one might not be able to afford otherwise, perfect tailoring, high fashion, and accessories such as fur just aren’t available to most working class/blue- or pink-collar people.

Accessibility

Related to socio-economic standing is the issue of what clothes a person is able to obtain and wear. Wealthy people can afford to have clothes tailored or even custom-made to fit, but everyone else is generally limited to what is available on the rack. Even trying to make or alter your own clothes requires skill, time, and materials. People with measurements outside the average often have to settle for what fits rather than what they like.

Though they have improved a bit in recent years, many clothing lines that cater to plus-size women still offer only dark colors, floral prints, boxy silhouettes, and outdated trends. Additionally, many brands simply scale up clothing designed for thinner bodies, making clothes that don’t fit at the shoulders and hips or don’t bend properly at the knees and elbows.

Exceptionally tall or short fashionistas face similar problems when trying to choose clothing. A friend who is very tall hates tunic style tops but often can’t find anything else long enough for her torso. Her equally tall husband generally settles for shirts too large in the shoulders because those are the only ones that don’t bare his navel. Another friend has to shop for footwear exclusively in the children’s section because those are the only shoes small enough for her feet.

Work

Although the line has blurred since the COVID restrictions made work-from-home and on-line-commuting common, most people can still look at their closets/dressers and identify which clothes are specifically for work—at least for Zoom meetings!

The most obvious work place attire is seen where uniforms are required: members of the military, nurses, fast-food workers, flight attendants, athletic teams, and the like.

But beyond such obvious uniforms, think about what you expect to see on a funeral director; priest, minister, rabbi, or mullah; fashion designer; orchestra member; member of Congress, etc. Although these (and many other) professions do not have a single uniform per se, nevertheless informal or even formal dress codes apply. At one time, when part of my job included overseeing secretarial and clerical staff who met the public, I told the employees (all female at the time) no cleavage, no pits, no crotch, and no jeans on the job.

Astronauts must wear clothing to keep them safe aboard a rocket ship or in the cold vacuum of space.

Some jobs require specific clothing styles for safety or convenience. Locksmiths need to wear shoes with steel toe caps and no laces where shards of metal could work their way inside. General contractors often wear cargo pants and utility belts with plenty of pockets to hold tools and materials. Anyone working in a kitchen is going to prefer shirts with closely fitting sleeves. People with particularly messy workplaces, such as auto mechanics and crime scene cleaners, may opt to wear a full-body coverall at work to protect their regular clothing.

Dress for Success

As jobs change, so does one’s clothing. As a college professor I wore tweeds, wool, boots, and almost no jewelry. For over ten years as an executive in association management and academic administration, I wore skirted banker suits, pearls, a moderate amount of gold jewelry, and two-inch heels with matching handbags and briefcase.

In late1970s and early ‘80s, John T. Molloy published many Dress for Success books. I suspect that his advice is outdated: today, I met with a female bank manager who wore slacks and a cable-knit sweater.

Still, the concept remains the same. Although the specifics vary, dressing for success is still a real thing. Proverbial wisdom says, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” And then there is this hint of who is striving: you can tell who’s on the way up by whose shoes are shined.

In Retirement/ At Leisure

This is where one is likely to get the clearest insight into personal clothing preferences.

No longer dressing for paid work, I wear flat black shoes, comfortable pants, casual tops, and lots of silver jewelry (usually earrings, necklace, bracelet, watch, and multiple rings on each hand). Even so, I’m a little more formal for symphony, opera, or theater. Society still has expectations about what people ought to wear. Regardless of work status, what one wears to a worship service is very likely different from what one wears to a ballgame. (All of the following factors still apply.)

Geographic Location/ Weather/ Season

Not to belabor the point: what is necessary in upstate New York in winter isn’t appropriate in South Carolina, and what is worn in South Carolina is likely inadequate in upstate New York. And all of America tends to dress more casually than the rest of the world.

Just look at traditional national costumes from countries with varying climates and compare that with what is considered socially acceptable now. Along with lightweight fabrics, society is more likely to accept bared shoulders, shorts, open-toed shoes in hot, humid climates. Going to work in a sleeveless shirt and shorts would likely cause raised eyebrows in Norway. Wearing a fur-lined parka to the beach in Thailand might cause heat stroke!

Ceremonies and Celebrations

Think funeral, wedding, employee party, anniversary, baby shower, Halloween party… Again, this is pretty obvious, although it differs over time and by peer group—and personal preference!

In September of the same year, I attended the weddings of my oldest and youngest daughters. For numerous reasons, including geography, I wasn’t involved in the planning of either event. My husband and I gave each daughter a check (for the same amount of money) and said, “Do what you will.”

The older daughter’s wedding was held in an historic meeting house in New England and involved a white dress and veil, 6 attendants in matching dresses, a sit-down reception, and dancing. I wore a dress suitable for the mother of the bride.

The younger daughter was married in the back yard of the house where she and her soon-to-be-husband were living, with baskets of flowers nailed to railroad ties. He wore a tailored green silk suit and shirt; she wore a white, spaghetti-strap mini-dress, a circle of daisies in her hair, and platform sandals. The reception was an outdoor barbecue. The guests sported leather, chains, denim, and tattoos. I wore casual pants and top.

Note: people who dress to the expected norms tell us much less about themselves than the rebels who defy expectations.

Clothes for Functionality

Sometimes, fashion is the result of function, clothing and accessories that allow the body to move and perform in ways otherwise impossible. Think of a soccer player’s cleats or a fly fisher with a many-pocketed vest and rubber boots.

Medically Adapted Clothes

Some people choose clothes for medical reasons rather than fashionable ones, though the two can sometimes be combined. People who use mobility devices like wheelchairs or crutches might choose clothing that drapes nicely when seated or has no chance of tangling. Those who have attached medical devices, such as chemotherapy ports, insulin pumps, or colostomy bags can buy or adapt clothing that allows easier access these devices. Compression tights can help with circulation issues. Nursing mothers are likely to wear shirts, dresses, and bras designed to allow feeding access.

Eyeglasses straddle the line between accessories and medical devices. Though more than 4 billion people worldwide rely on corrective lenses, it is usually possible to choose frames of a shape, size, and color that reflects one’s personal style preferences.

People with sensitive skin and those who spend a lot of time outside have an increasing range of options for sun protection. Long-sleeved swimsuits and UV protective workout clothes share shelf space with wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, and sunblock creams.

Hobby Clothes

The clothes you wear for your hobbies are likely very different from those you’d wear to work or an evening out with friends. If those hobbies are active ones, you may choose clothing that makes it easier to enjoy those hobbies.

A gardener wears gloves and sturdy pants for protection rather than fashion. A skier’s suit provides insulation but still allows movement. Leotards, running shorts, rock-climbing gloves, line-dancing shoes, and sweat bands all allow the wearer to move in comfort while enjoying their hobbies.

Clothes that Enhance

Wearing a dragon’s wings allows small children to take flight, as everyone knows.

And then there are clothes that allow the wearer to surpass their previous athletic or artistic performance. A ballet dancer wears pointe shoes not for the sake of fashion but because they redistribute weight and support her foot while balancing on the tips of her toes. Weight lifters wear friction gloves and intra-abdominal pressure belts, allowing them to lift heavier loads without injury. A marathon runner and a hurdler will choose very different shoes for competition, as shoe designs can provide athletes with different advantages.

Competitive swimmers faced controversy at the 2008 Olympics for wearing Speedo’s LZR Racer suits. These suits provided swimmers with extra buoyancy, reduced drag, and muscle compression. Ultimately, competitive swimming advisory boards banned these suits, claiming they were the equivalent of “technological doping” for athletes.

Artistic Performance

Belly dancers typically perform in costumes that accent their hips.

Performance clothes often mix fashion with functionality, chosen not just for the way they look but for how they enhance the wearer’s movements. A Chinese long-sleeve dancer wears a costume with sleeves extended far past her fingertips to highlight the graceful movements of her hands and arms. Tap dancers and Irish dancers might choose sparkly socks and shoe buckles to draw attention to their fancy footwork. A harpist or flautist might wear sleeves that flutter attractively when they play their instrument.

When Clothes Get Truly Personal

Overall, despite external expectations, clothes can still be a form of self-expression.

Style Choices

Whether you opt for a bohemian maxi dress, a tailored suit, or a vintage band t-shirt, your clothing sends a message about who you are and what you stand for. According to the fashion industry, there are several basic style choices in American clothing, including the following.

Classic/ Traditional

Gabrielle Union

If you would describe your style as classic or traditional, you choose plain fabrics, or maybe a discreet pinstripe at most. You like clean and crisp fabrics that have some structure. You are drawn to timeless fashion, preferring to invest in quality fabrics and timeless styles rather than jumping on trends. A person with a classic style typically has a rather formal wardrobe and always look polished and put together. Matching and co-ordinated looks are your preference over those that incorporate bold colors and prints. Your jewelry and accessory choices are not overbearing; they compliment your outfits without being the focal point.

Natural/ Relaxed

Tilda Swinton

Feeling comfortable in your clothes is most important to you, and your easygoing nature tends towards more casual outfits. Simple lines and designs are your preferred choices over anything too detailed or fussy. In keeping with this carefree attitude, you tend to buy easy care, wash and wear garments. You prefer fabrics such as denim, cotton jersey, and lightweight knits. Your jewelry choices reflect your minimal look, and you tend to wear basic and durable accessories. Your footwear also is chosen for comfort. You are not a pattern lover, but choose a stripe or check and sometimes a tweed. You like some texture and also are attracted to the colors of nature. Lots of denim, khaki, and button-front styling.

  • Gamine—a smaller/shorter version of sporty/natural. The gamin woman looks great in pixie hairstyles and sporty/natural clothing styles.

Dramatic/ Edgy

Lupita Nyong’o

If you have a dramatic streak, you will like brighter colors, big bold patterns, or high contrast patterns, perhaps fabrics with shine or a more structural appearance. You may also like animal prints, large and spectacular accessories. Wearing the latest fashion takes precedence over comfort, and you are willing to give most new trends a go. This means your wardrobe consists of many different styles and one-off pieces ready to make a statement. Your look is striking and well-thought-out. Details such a lip color and eye-catching shoes provide the finishing touch to your look. Jewelry and accessories in shiny metal finishes or bold one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces compliment your statement-making looks.

Artistic/ Creative

Josephine Baker

If you have a creative personality you may like patterns that are more about ‘wearable art’, abstract prints, or mixtures of prints and patterns all in one garment. Your way of dressing is innovative and individualistic, and you aren’t overly influenced by current trends or traditional rules. You use your clothing choices to reflect your personality and put together unique and interesting outfits with items purchased from varied sources. Different colors, textures, and prints fill your wardrobe, and your jewelry collection is bold while your footwear and accessories are usually statement-making.

Romantic/ Feminine

Zoe Saldaña

Women with this style prefer floral prints, or nature inspired ones (such as butterflies, or plants). If your style leans toward the feminine and romantic, you will choose soft, floaty fabrics that drape over your body. You may like sequins and beading detail on clothes. You have a soft appearance and generally prefer flowing silhouettes and muted colors. Your clothing choices are pretty, and include details such as bows, ruffles, pleats, and lace. Even with simpler styles, you will most likely choose them in pastel colors or with decorative details. Your footwear and accessory choices are delicate and minimal with fine necklaces and ballet flats among your staples.

If you think of yourself as Romantic, you like dressing with lots of fullness and softness. You choose large plaids, large printed designs on fabrics, and large details (Women like large ruffles, lace and bows; men like baggy pants and full cut shirts & sweaters).

“Timeline of Spring Fashions” by a-little-bit-lexical

Your style is much more than clothes or accessories. It includes all the little things that you do to make yourself look and feel good, from hair style and makeup to nail care and grooming.

Bottom Line: Be aware of what you wear. Within situational contexts such as those discussed above, clothes can reflect your personality AND how you want to be perceived. They may reflect social status, current activity, as well as your current mood or mindset.

OCTOBER IS FOR HORROR: VAMPIRES

The anthropomorphic personification of EVIL!

A friend recently told me that the horror villains we fear are subconscious stand-ins for things we’re afraid of in real life.  Vampires stand for a fear of change; zombies for a fear of crowds or strangers. 

Fear of clowns is a sign you’re a normal, well-adjusted, perfectly rational person.

Inquiring minds want to know!  I started with vampires—and I never got past vampires!

Why Everyone Fears Vampires

When I went online to learn what it means if we fear vampires, what popped up was an article by Ralph Blumenthal, “A Fear of Vampires Can Mask a Fear of Something Much Worse.”  He was writing in 2002 about villagers in Malawi believing that the government was colluding with vampires to collect human blood in exchange for food.

At the time, Malawi was in the grip of starvation, a severe AIDS epidemic, and political upheaval.  He cited Nina Auerbach, author of Our Vampires, Ourselves, to the effect that stories of the undead embody power ”and our fears of power.”

David J. Skal, author of The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror claims that a fixation on demons often accompanies periods of national stress.  “In times of social upheaval, the vampire asserts itself.”

In nearly every culture in the world, there is a legend of some variation of vampire-like creatures—the dead who reanimate and come back to feed on the living.  And there is general agreement that the roots of vampire legends are in the misunderstanding of how bodies decompose and of how certain diseases spread.

In an October 26, 2016 article in National Geographic titled “The Bloody Truth About Vampires,” Becky Little wrote, “As a corpse’s skin shrinks, its teeth and fingernails can appear to have grown longer.  And as internal organs break down, a dark ‘purge fluid’ can leak out of the nose and mouth.  People unfamiliar with this process would interpret this fluid to be blood and suspect that the corpse had been drinking it from the living.”

Paul Barber, author of Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality, made several telling points in the introduction to his book.  One is that there is little similarity between the vampires of folklore and the vampires of fiction.

The Modern Vampire

Modern images of vampires are pretty stereotyped: fangs that bite the necks of victims; drinking human blood; can’t see themselves in mirrors; can be warded off with garlic, killed with a stake (or silver nail) through the heart; are aristocrats who live in castles and may be sexy.  This image was popularized by Bela Lugosi’s portrayal of Count Dracula in the 1931 film adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name.  Unlike Bram Stoker’s description of the monster in the 1897 novel Dracula as a repulsive old man with huge eyebrows and bat-like ears, Lugosi showed audiences a mysteriously elegant gentleman in evening dress.

The 1922 film Nosferatu (on left), though an unlicensed adaptation, portrayed the vampire as described in Stoker’s novel.
Polish strzyga

In European folklore, vampires typically wore shrouds, and were often described as bloated, with a ruddy or dark countenance.  Specific descriptions varied among regions: sometimes male, sometimes female, might have long fingernails, a stubby beard, the mouth and left eye open, a permanently hateful stare, red eyes, no eyes, etc.  Fangs were not always a prominent feature, and blood was generally sucked from bites on the chest near the heart rather than the throat.

But perhaps the most important theme of Barber’s book is that, lacking a scientific background in physiology, pathology, or immunization, the common response of ancient societies was to blame death and disease on the dead.  To that end, the interpretations they came up with—while wrong from today’s perspective—nevertheless were usually coherent, covered all the data, and provided the rationale for some common practices that seemed to be otherwise inexplicable.

He’s the color of a rotting corpse, but cloth fangs are pretty harmless.

Should you ever be pursued by a vampire, fling a handful of rice, millet, or other small grain in its path.  The vampire will be compelled to stop to count every grain, giving you time to escape.  I found no information on how vampires came to be associated with arithmomania, but it endures: remember The Count von Count on Sesame Street?

At this point, I realize that getting into methods of identifying vampires, protecting against vampires, ways to destroy vampires, and cross-cultural variations on vampirism is way beyond the scope of this blog.  Instead, I refer you to books such as this:

Dreams of Vampires

And should vampires show up in your dreams, according to DreamBible: the answers to all your dreams, pay attention.  Their appearance could mean many things.

The yara-ma-yha-who in Australia drains a victim of almost all blood before swallowing and regurgitating the body, which then becomes a copy of its killer.
  • Seeing a vampire in your dream symbolizes an aspect of your personality that is parasitic or selfishly feeds off others.
  • Alternatively, a vampire may reflect feelings about people you believe want to pull you down to their level or convert you to thinking negatively in a way similar to theirs.
  • To dream of being a vampire represents a selfish need to feed off others.
  • To dream of being bitten by a vampire represents feelings about other people using you or feeding off you and being unable to stop it.
  • Vampires may be a sign of dependence, problems with addiction, social pressure, or ambivalence.
  • A dream vampire might be telling you that you need to start being more independent and relying less on others’ resources or accomplishments.
  • To dream of killing vampires represents overcoming dependence on others.
  • Repeated dreams of vampires hovering over your shoulder and correcting your spelling or suggesting topics for research and expansion is almost certainly a sign that you are writing a blog entry about vampires.

Bottom line for writers:consider whether a vampire is a fit metaphor for your character.

The soucouyant appears in the Caribbean by day as a harmless old woman, but she sheds her skin at night to hunt as a ball of fire.

JACK O’LANTERNS ARE IN SEASON

And if you are a true traditionalist, you will be carving turnips rather than pumpkins for your jack o’lanterns!

Legendary Jack of the Lantern

Jack o’lanterns originated in the fens (marshes) of rural Ireland. In the early 1600’s, the legend began of Stingy Jack (aka, Jack the Smith, Drunk Jack, Flakey Jack, and other names, used interchangeably).

The most popular version of the tale involves Jack first tricking the Devil into changing into a coin, then trapping him in his transfigured state. Some longer versions of the story have Jack tricking the Devil three or four different times. Eventually, Jack offered the Devil out of the deal in exchange for not taking his soul for ten years.

Jack died before ten years had passed. The angels didn’t allow him into heaven because he was such a dishonest trickster. The Devil kept his promise not to take Jack’s soul, so he couldn’t go to hell, either. Instead, the Devil tossed Jack a lump of burning coal from hell so he could have a bit of light. Jack carved out a turnip and stuck the coal inside, creating a lantern. Hence, “Jack of the Lantern,” has roamed the Earth with it ever since.

Jack O’Lanterns at Samhain

Traditional Cornish Jack O’Lantern

Many people in Ireland and Great Britain also continued the Gaelic celebration of Samhain, including a ritual of going from house to house in search of food and drink. (Thus the origins of Trick or Treating). Many carved turnips, potatoes, and other root vegetables, adding coals or candles to create makeshift lanterns to light their way. Occasionally, people carved these with faces.

Those who made the lanterns with faces said they represent spirits or supernatural beings. Sometimes, they used jack o’lanterns to ward off evil spirits they might encounter while walking at night. Alternately, Halloween celebrants used them to frighten people.

Traditionally, the veil between the living and the dead was thinnest at Samhain, leaving people in danger of supernatural threat. Celebrants sometimes set jack o’lanterns on windowsills to keep harmful spirits out of the house.

Carving Jack O’Lanterns

A jack-o-lantern (or jack o’lantern) is any carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin today. But instructions for carving less common jack o’lanterns are widely available online. Alternatives, other than turnips, include:

  • Melons
  • Red beets
  • Rutabagas
  • Eggplant
  • Potatoes
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Butternut squash
  • Acorn squash
  • Zucchini
  • Bell pepper
  • Grapefruit
  • Grapes
  • Apples (which can be dried, making shrunken heads)
  • Oranges
  • Pomelo
  • Pineapple
  • Melons
  • Gourds
  • Coconut

Mangelwurzel Lanterns

photo from The York Historian

On the last Thursday of October, children in South Somerset, England celebrate Punkie Night. They carve mangelwurzel roots into the shape of a lantern. In the words of one who has tried this, “It’s like trying to hollow out a block of wood with a spoon.” Children then dress in costumes and knock on neighbors’ doors to ask for a candle for their “punkie” — and threaten tricks if neighbors don’t comply!

According to legend, this tradition began in the 19th century when a group of [probably inebriated] men returning from a nearby village got lost in the foggy night. Their wives went out searching for their missing menfolk, carrying carved mangelwurzel lanterns to light the way. However, the men thought the approaching lights were the souls of unbaptized children and ran away, forever lost in the fog.

Jack O’Lanterns in America

European immigrants to America found a handy New World crop to celebrate Halloween, much larger and easier to carve than the root vegetables of home: winter squash, the most famous of which is a pumpkin.

If you prefer using pumpkins for your jack o’lanterns, consider a white one. New Moon Hybrid is perfectly uniform, 35-45 pounds, alpine white. Alternatively, grown for appearance and carve-ability rather than flavor, the Albino White Casper produces 12-15 pound pumpkins.

Halloween Postcard, 1901

Warning! A jack o’lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius) is poisonous. At the least, eating the jack o’lantern mushroom will make you very sick for a few days.

Bottom Line: Virtually any fruit or vegetable can be a jack o’lantern, especially if you allow painting as well as carving (although carving is necessary for a lighted lantern).

Heroes of the Night

Evidence for bat-like flying mammals appears as far back as the Eocene Epoch, some 50 million years ago.

Bat Cultures

Bats have had a long time to become steeped in cultural superstitions and myths. For example:

Australian folklore: A bat represents a human incarnation, and killing one can shorten your life or result in a heavy fine. 

Camatotz in Guatemala City

Maya religion: The Mayan bat god, Camazotz, appears as an anthropomorphized leaf-nosed bat in sculpture and stories. His name translates to “death bat” or “snatch bat”. 

Buddhism: Some Buddhists believe a small bat perched on the right shoulder signifies good luck, longevity, and happiness. 

Spiritual practices: Many practices associate the bat with themes of rebirth, intuition, and darkness. They are believed to guide people through difficult or frightening transitions. 

Chinese culture: The Chinese word for bat (福 Fu) sounds like the Mandarin word for prosperity and luck. Because of this, many feng shui practitioners include bat symbols in their decor. Red envelopes of money presented to children at New Year traditionally include five bats in their design.

Polynesian religion: While fleeing from her husband, the goddess Leutogi’s brother sent his pet bat to rescue her. When she became the goddess of fertility and night, she showed her appreciation by adopting the bat as one of her totem animals.

Modern Western Culture

“Ariel on a Bat’s Back” (1804) by Henry Singleton

In Western cultures, such as ours, people often associate bats with bad luck, death, witchcraft, vampires, and darkness. Some Westerners believe that a bat flying into the house is a sign of death or that the occupants will soon leave. As someone who lived with bats in the attic—literally—for years, I can personally testify that neither of those things happened.

Some believe that hearing a bat call while flying in the early evening is a sign of bad luck. Despite many close encounters with bats, I’ve been extremely fortunate!

So, darkness, yes. Death and bad luck, no. As for witchcraft and vampires, keep reading.

The real skinny on bats is that they are an important species that impact our daily lives in ways we might not even realize. Bats play important roles in their ecosystems as natural pest controls, pollinators, and seed dispersers.

Bat Pest Control

Most bats (about 70%) consume insects, like mosquitos, helping to control insect populations that can carry human diseases, or beetles, which damage agricultural crops. Economists have estimated that the pest control provided by healthy bat populations is worth over $50 billion!

Hibernating Indiana bat

Most North American bats are insectivorous. Insect-eating bats capture their prey by foraging on the wing, catching flying insects from a perch, or collecting insects from plants. Some species of bat seize insects with their mouths. Others use their wings or tail membrane to trap prey. Bats disable large insects with a quick bite, then envelop the insect in a basket formed by its wings and tail, and carry the insect to a perch for eating. Bats have sharp teeth to chew their food into tiny, digestible pieces.

Each night, bats eat thousands of insects!  Big brown bats fly at dusk, often using the same feeding ground each night. They fly in a nearly straight course 30 feet in the air, often emitting an audible chatter. One little brown bat can catch 600 mosquitoes or more an hour. The endangered Indiana bat, which weighs about three pennies, consumes up to half its bulk every evening. This insect-heavy diet helps both foresters and farmers. 

Carnivorous bat species—which are more rare and eat small animals like fish, birds, mice and frogs—also act as a natural control on their prey’s populations. 

Plant Helper

Golden-crowned fruit bat

Fruit bats and nectar bats are key players in helping local plants by dispersing seeds as they fly, which assists pollination. For example, the lesser long-nosed bat is the primary nighttime pollinator for the saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert, which spans from southern California and Arizona into northwest Mexico. Like a hummingbird, the lesser long-nosed bat can hover at flowers, using its 3-inch-long tongue — equal to its body length — to feed on nectar in desert environments.

Desert ecosystems rely on nectar-feeding bats to pollinate giant cacti, including the organ pipe as well as the saguaro of Arizona.

Without bats, say goodbye to bananas, avocados, and mangoes.  Over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination. Bats help spread seeds for nuts, figs, and cacao — the main ingredient in chocolate.  

Bats Inspiring Medical Marvels 

Illustration of bats’ echolocation

About 80 medicines come from plants that rely on bats for their survival. Research on bats has also led to advances in vaccines.

Donald Griffin, an American zoologist, coined the term echolocation in 1944. Griffin worked with Robert Galambos, a neuroscientist, to demonstrate the phenomenon and determine precisely how bats used echolocation. While bats are not blind, studying how bats use echolocation has helped scientists develop navigational aids for the blind.

Scientists have also been studying the secrets behind bats’ relative longevity. Biologists hope that understanding how the telomeres on strands of bat DNA protect cell growth may lead to breakthroughs in preventing or reversing aging and cancer growth in humans.

Vampire bats have a protein in their saliva that researchers have modeled to help stroke patients. Their anticoagulant property keeps the blood of prey flowing without clotting so the bat can eat its meal. This enzyme — named Draculin — has been found to break up blood clots in the brain that cause strokes in humans.  The opposite of frightening, vampire bats are a fascinating and important species that are contributing to science. 

Vampire Bats 

Vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) feeding on a pig

But what about bats feasting on human blood? Mostly just myth. First of all, only three bat species are blood-suckers—meaning 0.0025% of bats eat blood to survive—and they only suck the blood of other mammals and a few birds. These three vampire bat species live in Central and South America; none are native to the U.S.

The vampire bat feeds mainly on the blood of cattle, horses, and wild mammals such as deer and peccaries. The harm from such bites isn’t from blood loss, which is relatively small, but rather from the exposure of the livestock to secondary infections, parasites, and the transmission of viral-borne diseases.

Diphylla ecaudata, a bat native to northern Brazil, may have recently adapted to feeding on human blood. These bats, which primarily feed on several species of birds, have felt the effects of climate change making their preferred food source more difficult to find. When researchers tested the DNA of blood in these bats’ stomachs, they found cattle and human blood mixed with the expected birds. However, evidence points to D. ecaudata still relying primarily on their preferred birds for food.

Because the true vampire bat of Central and South America feeds on blood, a popular misconception has been to link it to the human vampire legend. The Eastern European tale of a vampire dates back to the Middle Ages. There are no vampire bats native to Europe or Asia. They weren’t even known to exist before the 1500’s, when explorers visited the New World and observed their unusual eating habits. Scientists named the bat for the legend rather than the legend originating with the bat!

Fascinating Animals

Besides being useful, bats are just plain interesting. This isn’t surprising, given that there are over 1,400 species of bats worldwide.  Only rodents have a greater number of species. Bats are native to nearly every climate except extreme deserts and polar regions.

Bats have amazing abilities:

Honduran white bat
  • Mexican free-tailed bats can fly 10,000 feet high.
  • Townsend’s big eared bats can pluck insects from foliage.
  • To reduce their energy needs, hibernating little brown bats can stop breathing for almost an hour.
  • The Honduran white bat, a snow-white bat with yellow nose and ears, cuts large leaves to make “tents” to protect its small colonies from drenching jungle rains.
  • The ancestors of the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat (‘Ope’ape’a) traveled over 3,600 kilometers from the Pacific Coast almost 10,000 years ago to become Hawaii’s state land mammal.

If you’ve seen one bat, you’ve seen one bat! Bats come in many colors, sizes, and shapes.

Spotted bat
  • The spotted bat, which lives in Texas, is black with a white patch on each shoulder and the rump.
  • Other bats have patterns so bright biologists call them butterfly bats.
  • Some bats, such as the Eastern red bat, have long angora-like fur varying in color from red to black and white.
  • The bumblebee bat of Thailand weighs less than a penny.
  • Some of the large bats known as flying foxes, such as those living in Indonesia, have wingspans up to 6 feet.
  • The eastern pipistrelle, which lives in most of the eastern United States, is also called the pygmy bat because of its small size. Its fur is yellowish brown, darker on the back. The back hairs are tricolor: gray at the base, then a band of yellow brown, and dark brown at the tip.

Flying foxes live only in tropical and subtropical areas including Australia and eat primarily fruit and nectar. Other species of bats are carnivorous, preying on fish, frogs, mice, and birds. As discussed above, the fabled vampire bat feeds on blood. All bats living in the United States and Canada eat insects, except 3 species of nectar-feeding bats living along the Texas-Arizona border.

Bats are Mammals!

Because they fly, many people think of bats as birds. Instead, bats share the characteristics of all mammals (hair, regulated body temperature, the ability to bear their young alive and nurse them). They make up a fifth of all mammal species on earth. 

Big-eared Townsend bat

Bats are the only mammals to truly fly.  Other “flying” mammals, such as the flying squirrel, only glide through the air for short distances. True flight requires a flight stroke, or flap of the wings, to thrust the animal through the air. Because of their unique wing structure, bats have great maneuverability — some say, even better than birds!

Bats may be small, but they’re fast little buggers.  How fast a bat flies depends on the species, but some can reach speeds over 100 miles per hour according to new research.

Bat Life

Procreation

A baby bat is a pup, and a group of bats is a colony. In many species, the males and females roost separately except when mating. In migratory species, mating occurs in the fall and winter. The female stores the sperm until spring when ovulation and fertilization occur.

Eastern red bat with three babies

Most bat mothers give birth to a single pup. However, the evening bat typically has two pups per litter. The eastern red bat averages two or three pups per litters. The seminole bat and the yellow bat can have three or four pups per litter.

In May or June, the females congregate in large colonies and give birth. Mother bats form nursery colonies in spring in caves, dead trees and rock crevices. Bats benefit from maintaining a close-knit roosting group because the group increases reproductive success, and it is important for rearing pups.

The female hangs head up as the young is born, feet first. She catches and holds the new born in a pouch formed by a special membrane. The baby bat, already large and well developed, crawls to the mother’s nipples to feed until they are 6 weeks old. Like other mammals, mother bats feed their pups breastmilk, not insects.

Bats have one of the slowest reproductive rates for animals their size. Most bats in northeastern North America have only one or two pups a year, and many females do not breed until their second year. Their relatively long life-span somewhat offsets this low reproductive rate.

Bat Growth

Baby bat

Newborn bat pups are blind and furless. In the evening when the mother forages for food, she may, for the first few days, carry the young with her. Later the baby remains behind, clinging to the wall or roof of the cave or shelter. The mother may return several times during the night to feed her young.

Young bats born in June or July reach their full size in 4 weeks and are usually able to hunt by mid-July. Females are mature at 8 months, and males mature in their second summer.

Aged Bats

Little brown bats

The longest-living bat is 41 years old.  It’s said that the smaller the animal, the shorter its lifespan, but bats break that rule of longevity. This may be because bats have a high number of genes involved in DNA repair and control of cell division. Although most bats live less than 20 years in the wild, scientists have documented six species that live more than 30 years.  

The little brown bat, common in North America and in West Virginia, is the world’s longest- lived mammal for its size, with a life-span over 32 years, although it is generally rare for a bat to live this long.

In 2006, a tiny Brandt’s bat from Siberia set the world record at 41 years.

Cleanly Bats

People might think bats dirty because they excrete guano, a prized fertilizer.  Far from being dirty, bats spend a lot of time grooming themselves, like cats. Some, for example the Colonial bat, even groom each other. Besides having sleek fur, cleaning also helps control parasites.

Hibernation and Migration 

Even though bears and bats are the two most well-known hibernators, not all bats spend their winters in caves. Some bat species like the spotted bat survive by migrating in search of food to warmer areas. Bats that migrate usually travel less than 200 miles, often following the same routes as migratory birds.

Hibernating bats

Many bats do hibernate through the cold weather when insects are scarce. Bats prepare for hibernation by putting on fat to last through the cold weather. When a bat hibernates, its body temperature drops almost to air temperature, and respiration and heartbeat become very slow. Throughout the winter, bats eat nothing, surviving by slowly burning accumulated fat.

Hibernating big brown bats

It is fairly easy to rouse bats from hibernation, and they may fly around for 15 minutes. However, disturbances that cause bats to awaken and use fat stores can be fatal. Hibernating bats should be left alone.

Unlike other hibernating bats, red bats may wake and feed, if temperatures rise above 55 degrees.

After females leave the hibernation sites, they gather in colonies varying in size from 10 to 100 or more, roosting in attics, barns, and other dark retreats. The males are solitary, roosting in hollow trees, under loose bark, and in other crevices. Bats may also move from nursery caves, suited for rapid growth of their young, to cooler caves with stable winter temperatures. Bats that hibernate use the same sites year after year.

Bat Habitats 

Roosting fruit bats

Habitats vary during bats’ life cycles. As discussed above, many bats dwell in caves or use caves for hibernation. Others, the Virginia big-eared bat, for example, live in caves year-round, but its winter home is typically different from its summer roost. These endangered bats live in only a few locations throughout Virginia and West Virginia.  

A group of small-footed Myotis made their home in an underground tunnel at an inactive nuclear reactor in the state of Washington. But more typically, bats live in abandoned mines, caves, on the underside of bridges, in trees, in crevices in old buildings and barns, in woodpecker holes in trees, occasionally in homes and attics, in bat houses constructed especially for them, or other protected places during the day.

Bats outside Bracken Cave

Colonial bats cluster in caves and mine tunnels. Over 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats inhabit Texas’s Bracken Cave, making it the largest known bat colony (and largest concentration of mammals) on Earth. 

Forest dwelling bats roost in trees or on the forest floor and many raise their young in the exfoliating bark of large trees. Some bats, like endangered gray bats, feed on insects over water and roost near streams and rivers.

Bats can also take up residence in human structures like old buildings, culverts, bridges, and attics.

Bat Eyesight

Blind as a bat? Not so much… Bats’ eyes are adapted for nocturnal life, and they can see well. However, sight is just one sense a bat relies on. Some bats, like most fruit bats, also use their noses to sniff out nearby treats. 

Bat Voices 

Echolocation is using sound reflecting off objects to locate them.  Many people have heard of bats’ ability to use echolocation to navigate and hunt.

Virginia big-eared bat

Echolocation works by bats’ emitting a series of high-pitched squeals through their mouths or noses (usually inaudible to humans). These sounds bounce back to the bats, enabling them to navigate in total darkness, not flying into obstacles but locating prey. Some bats use tongue clicks instead of vocal cords. Usually, they receive the echoes in their large, funnel-shaped ears. Bats’ ears are specialized for frequencies in the ultrasonic range.

In addition to the ultrasonic sounds used in echolocation, bats also emit other sounds—to communicate or indicate emotion? Purrs, clicks, and buzzing often precede mating of some species. Recognition of mothers and babies involves both audible and ultrasonic sound.

Certain North American insect-eating bats vibrate when at rest and content. This vibration does not occur when they are asleep. The bat’s ear is extremely mobile and sensitive to sound.

Do bats get tangled in women’s hair and need to be removed with scissors? No way! Their echolocation is so sensitive that bats can detect objects as thin as monofilament fishing line. Fishing bats have an echolocation system so sophisticated they can detect a minnow’s fin as fine as a human hair.

How Bats Live

Eastern red bat

When they are at rest, bats hang with their heads down. During the day, red bats hang by one foot, wrapped in their big furry tails.

Swimming isn’t typical of bats. Although there is little scientific data, observations by naturalists in the field seem to support that some bats swim in stressful situations, although swimming isn’t part of their ordinary behavior.

Flying foxes, often island inhabitants, may have to fly long distances to obtain food. A forced landing or a foray over water to collect fruit which has dropped and floated there may involve an unexpected swim. Photographs of the flying fox, Pteropus giganteus, show the animal actually swimming, using its wings and feet to reach land rather than floating or paddling.

Bat Diets 

Most bats eat insects, such as mosquitoes, moths, beetles, crickets, leafhoppers, and chinch bugs. Bats use echolocation to find and track insects in flight, and they can eat up to 600 insects in an hour. 

Harpy fruit bat
Pipistrellus pipistrellus eating a mealworm

Many tropical bats eat fruit exclusively, and fruit-eating bats can disperse up to 95% of seeds in recently cleared rainforests. Epaulette fruitbats can eat up to three times their body weight in figs each night. 

Some bats feed on nectar and pollinate plants like peaches, cloves, bananas, and agaves.

A few bats are carnivorous and hunt small vertebrates, such as fish, frogs, mice, and birds.

Vampire bats feed on the blood of mammals and birds. 

Bats and Rabies

All mammals, including bats, can get rabies. However, it is estimated that less than 1% of bats have rabies. The best way to avoid getting rabies from bats is never to pick up a bat, especially if you see it fluttering on the ground during the day.

Actually, a higher incidence of rabies is found in skunks and foxes than in bats. In the United States the rate of occurrence is so small, barely a fraction of a percent, that there is very little danger to humans.

Bats Need Help 

Roosting fruit bats

There are over 1,200 bat species worldwide. However, bats are basically tropical animals and only about 45 species are native to the U.S. and Canada. Twelve of them are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

American bats species are considered endangered due to disturbance of roosting bats in caves, loss of habitat including forested areas due to large scale logging and development, and inappropriate use of pesticides.

Owls, hawks, and snakes eat bats, but that’s nothing compared to the millions of bats dying from white-nose syndrome. The disease — named for a white fungus on the muzzle and wings of bats — affects hibernating bats and has been detected in 37 states and seven Canadian provinces.

Little brown bat with white nose syndrome

This deadly syndrome has decimated certain species. At least 10 bat species in the U.S. and Canada are threatened, plus the endangered Virginia big-eared bats. It has killed over 90% of northern long-eared, little brown and tri-colored bat populations in fewer than 10 years. This fatal disease, has killed more than 5.7 million bats since it was discovered in 2006. 

The implications are enormous.  Loss of bats destabilizes ecosystems and can cause people to increase their use of chemicals to control insects.

You can help by  avoiding places where bats are hibernating. If you do go underground, decontaminate your clothing, footwear and gear to help with not spreading this disease to other areas.

Servants of Evil?

Oh, yes. I nearly forgot witchcraft. Bats are associated with witchcraft in many cultures because of their nocturnal nature and their visibility during the transition from day to night. 

It is believed that witches worshipped horned figures with wings—possibly bats?

In Dante’s Inferno, the poet used bats as an allegory for the devil and his domain.

Gustave Dore’s illustrations of Dante’s Inferno

Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel describes Dracula as a vampire who can transform into a bat.

In some cultures, people believe a bat must be a witch’s familiar or an evil omen. For example, in the Ibibio people of Nigeria, a bat flying into a house is said to be a sign that the person is bewitched and will soon die. 

Some believe that the witches’ hour is when bats fly upwards and then come down again quickly. 

It is said that witches used bat blood in their flying concoctions. 

Both bats and witches are often featured together in Halloween decorations. 

Although in the West, bats are popularly associated with darkness, malevolence, witchcraft, vampires, and death, bats are actually an important part of the ecosystem, as as described above. 

If this blog has truly inspired you, Bat Week  — held the last week in October — celebrates the role of bats in nature and all that these amazing creatures do for us, so party down. 

Bottom Line: There’s more than Halloween to love about bats. They’re the heroes of the night!

HERE BE DRAGONS!

Dragons appear in the mythologies, legends, and folklore of cultures around the world since time immemorial! Pliny the Elder, who wrote the world’s first encyclopedia, noted dragons.

Defining Dragons

Dragons in all their variations fascinate children and adults alike. Physically, the dragon can have the horns of a deer, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon/devil, the neck/body of a snake, the abdomen of a cockle, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle, the paws of a tiger, and the ears of an ox.

Generally, dragons are large lizard- or serpent-like creatures, considered evil in some cultures and beneficial in others.

Among reputed dragon qualities is that they have no fixed gender differentiation in some mythologies. According to Maester Aemon (Game of Thrones), dragons are “but now one and now the other, as changeable as flame” presumably meaning that they are able to change from one sex to the other and back for whatever reason.

Australian Aboriginal Namaroto spirits and the Rainbow Serpent Burlung (Borlung)

Baby dragons are called hatchlings. A dragonet is a small breed of dragon. A Dracotaur is half-human, half-dragon.

In many traditions, dragons hoard wealth, gold, or simply shiny objects. In other traditions, dragons aren’t materialistic by nature, though they are attracted to beauty, wealth, prestige, and power. Dragons know how to live the good life, and their generosity towards others, especially their admirers, knows no bounds.

Dragon Slaying

In medieval European literature, the ichneumon or echinemon was the enemy of the dragon. When it sees a dragon, the ichneumon covers itself with mud, and closing its nostrils with its tail, attacks and kills the dragon.

Statue of St. George slaying a dragon in Tbilisi, Georgia

The more popular/common view is that the only creatures known to be able to defeat dragons are humans, particularly those with religious protection or calling. Lancing a dragon is probably the best-known method, as popularized by St. George (though he is sometimes confused with other dragon slaying saints such as St Theodore).

Even divinely-ordained humans didn’t have an easy time of it. The best way to kill them, according to Western belief, was to throw a lance into its mouth or underbelly, because that was the only part without heavy scale protection.

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, has a dragon on its coat of arms because, according to lore, when the Greek hero Jason was returning from his quest to capture the golden fleece, he slew a dragon there.

Modern Dragon Slayers

Their size and perceived ferocity makes dragons an ideal foe for video-games and role-playing games. Games like Skyrim, Minecraft, Dragon’s Dogma, Monster Hunter, and Dragon Age all pit players against dragons. In deference to the typical size difference, these are often “boss” fights, meaning the final or most difficult encounter a player will face in a particular stage.

Fighting a dragon in Skyrim

Dungeons and Dragons, one of the most popular tabletop role-playing games, includes many types of dragons with varying sizes and attack styles. They range from a relatively weak metallic Brass dragon to Tiamat, based on a goddess in ancient Mesopotamian mythology. She is the queen and mother of evil dragons and a member of the default pantheon of Dungeons & Dragons gods. Her symbol is a five-headed dragon.

There is also a popular reversal of this trope, particularly in media for children. The Dealing with Dragons books and How to Train Your Dragon movies feature human protagonists initially expected to slay a dragon instead looking past society’s terror and their own initial fear. Ultimately, the helpful dragons work with humans to defeat other enemies.

Dragon Varieties

Just about every culture around the world includes dragon-like creatures in its mythology. Anthropologists have many ways of classifying and categorizing dragons, some of which are below:

  • Wyvern – two legs and two wings
  • Amphiptere – two wings and no legs
  • Dragon – four legs and two wings
  • Drake – four legs and no wings
  • Drac – two legs, wings, cow’s face, breathes fire and poison
  • Naga – half human/ half dragon beings that can shift to either shape

Mesoamerican

Peruvian amaru painted on Qiru

Ancient Incans in Peru called dragons amaru. According to legend, they had two heads, one a llama and one a puma. They had supernatural powers and symbolized great change, bringing rains, or winds, or revolution.

Rainbow dragons (Draco arcus) are elegant, beautiful dragons that are close relatives of the light dragons. Quetzalcoatl prizes them as one of his most colorful and wonderful creations.

Qʼuqʼumatz, a Mayan god of wind and rain, carried the sun across the sky every day and served as a mediator among other gods. Qʼuqʼumatz could take the form of a jaguar or eagle but most often appeared as a two-headed serpentine sky monster with feathers, scales, and a human face emerging from a bird’s beak.

Greco-Roman

In ancient Greek myth, a dracaina was a female dragon or serpent. She sometimes had human features or even a human torso. In some depictions, Medusa was a dracaina.

Iaculus, from medieval manuscript

In Roman and medieval literature, dragons couldn’t fly. Instead they dropped out of trees onto people’s heads. According to Pliny the Elder, “The jaculus darts from the branches of trees; and it is not only to our feet that the serpent is formidable, for these fly through the air even, just as though they were hurled from an engine.”

East Asia

In East Asian mythologies, the dragon is a positive creature, retaining its prestige. The dragon came to Japan with many other elements of Chinese culture, and there it became capable of changing its size at will, even to the point of becoming invisible.

Imperial Chinese dragons, Beijing

Both Chinese and Japanese dragons, though regarded as powers of the air, are usually wingless. They are among the deified forces of nature in Daoism. Dragons also figure in the ancient mythologies of other Asian cultures, including those of Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Buddha demonstrating strength through tranquility by riding a dragon, Vietnam

According to Chinese lore, dragons are auspicious, symbols of wealth, power, and leadership. Official belief held that emperors were the children of dragons.

The dragon lung represents yang, the principle of heaven, activity, and maleness in the yin/yang of Chinese cosmology. From ancient times it was the emblem of the imperial family, and until the founding of the Republic (1911) the Chinese flag had a dragon.

Africa

Damballah La Flambeau, by the Haitian artist Hector Hyppolite

Loa, benevolent spirits in Voudu and Vudu beliefs, often take the form of dragons. Damballa and Ayida-Weddo are the most ancient and powerful loa in West Africa and the Caribbean, primordial creators responsible for fertility, water, fire, and wealth.

Several mythologies in Sub-Saharan Africa feature stories of a woman who marries a serpent or dragon, Monyohe. The bridegroom was often a water deity or able to influence rain. In the Sotho and Zhosa variations of this story, the dragon took all the water away when the marriage broke up, leaving the region in a drought.

Evil Dragons

In European lore, dragons were portrayed as evil monsters. They terrorized human settlements, raided cattle, demanded impossible tributes, and kidnapped innocents.

St. Margaret of Antioch, escaping from the belly of a dragon, Walters Manuscript

Much of this stems from the dragon’s association with the serpent that enticed Eve in the Garden of Eden, according to Christian myth. Many Christian scholars portrayed Satan and other demons as large serpents or dragons.

“On the whole, however, the evil reputation of dragons was the stronger, and in Europe it outlived the other. Christianity confused the ancient benevolent and malevolent serpent deities in a common condemnation. In Christian art the dragon came to be symbolic of sin and paganism and, as such, was depicted prostrate beneath the heels of saints and martyrs.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)

In Christian folklore, St. Margaret of Antioch was imprisoned for her Christian beliefs and was swallowed by Satan in the guise of a dragon. (However, his stomach rejected her, and she emerged unharmed.)

Set slaying Apep in the boat of Re, from the Coffin Text, Egypt

The opposite of the sun god Re in Egyptian mythology was Apep or Apophis, the dragon of darkness and chaos. He caused thunderstorms and earthquakes and, according to New Kingdom priests, battled Re every night in an attempt to prevent the follow day’s sun rise.

Many stories in West African folklore blame ecological disasters on huge serpents or reptiles. According to legend, the Ninki Nanka dragon of Gambia causes droughts, floods, plagues, and fires if not approached carefully. Bida, once the dragon protecting the Soninka people of Mali, began oppressing the people, leading to the kingdom’s downfall.

German immigrants in Maryland reported fearing the predations of the Schneller Geist (“quick ghost”) in the early 18th century. A century later, sensationalist newspaper articles mixed with anti-abolitionist rhetoric to create the Snallygaster, a half-bird, half-reptile monster with tentacles that hunted and ate escaping slaves.

The Dragon of the Zodiac

Pretty much everyone associates dragons with Chinese New Year. In the Chinese zodiac, this is the Year of the Dragon. People born in 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, and 2024 should be having a very good year!

Lunar New Year celebrations in Oklahoma (2024)

The Chinese lunisolar calendar determines the specific animal and element associated with a particular year. The Year of the Dragon in 2024 is associated with the element wood. The combination of the animal sign (Dragon) and the element (Wood) designates the year as the Year of the Wood Dragon. The Dragon represents strength and success.

Many couples try to plan for their children to be born in the Year of the Dragon. “Dragon is powerful, endlessly energetic and full of vitality, goal-oriented yet idealistic and romantic, and a visionary leader. They know exactly who they are and possess the keenest sense of self among the 12 zodiacs of Chinese astrology.”

Lucky colors for 2024 are golden, yellow, green, gold, and silver. They are most compatible with Rats, Monkeys, and Roosters.

Bruce Lee, John Lennon, and Charles Darwin were all born in the Year of the Dragon.

Dragons in the Zoo

Fact: winged, fire-breathing dragons are a complete fantasy, a creature of myth and legend only.

The term dragon has no zoological meaning, but biologists have applied it in the Latin generic name Draco to a number of species of small lizards found in the Indo-Malayan region. Many people also apply “dragon” to the giant monitor, Varanus komodoensis, discovered on Komodo Island and a few neighboring islands of the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, the Komodo Dragon.

Beyond the Komodo dragon, many animals and insects with the word ‘dragon’ in their name. For example

Blue Dragon Sea Slug
  • Bearded Dragon
  • Dragonfly
  • Blue Dragon Sea Slug
  • Chinese Water Dragon
  • Draco Lizard
  • Leafy seadragon
  • Common seadragon
  • Chinese water dragon
  • Black dragonfish
  • Dragonet
  • Jacky dragon
  • Dragon moray eel

Although dragons are unique and special creatures rooted in a remote and obscure past, the tuatara (Sphendon punctatus) may well be their visibly closest relative in the real world. Due to their reptilian nature, they are likely close relatives to crocodiles, dinosaurs, and birds, and probably had their origins in the Permian, when the major lineage between the mammals and the reptiles split.

Dracorex pachycephalosaurus, Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Dracorex is a pachycephalosaur from the end of the Cretaceous Period, which paleontologists identified after the discovery of a spectacular skull. The skull lacks the dome characteristic of this group and instead has spikes and frills reminiscent of a mythical dragon.

Bottom Line: Although dragons do not and never have lived, they have had a strong and pervasive influence across time and cultures.

IN LIVING MEMORY

Sometimes we lose sight of just how much has changed, and how rapidly. This blog might put some of those changes in perspective.

Note: This blog deals with changes in our lives here in the United States. Technological and social trends vary greatly around the world, and drastic changes in lifestyle vary as well.

Homes and Farms

Central heating was first coal, then oil. Coal deliveries often came directly into a cellar bin near the furnace, convenient for chilly people to shovel straight into the furnace hopper. It was messy and time-consuming!

Air conditioning started in public places. Although it was not unusual to find air conditioning in movie theaters, supermarkets, hospitals, or office buildings in 1955, fewer than 2% of U.S. residences had air conditioning of any kind then. Air conditioning units that fit on a window ledge hit the market in 1932, but their high cost meant few people purchased them. As late as 1955, less than half a percent of family residences had a central air conditioning system.

Architects incorporated elements into homes to allow residents to regulate temperature. Porches offered some break from the indoor heat. High ceilings, large windows, and opposing entrances for cross-breezes helped to cool the insides of homes.

Indoor plumbing came in stages. In the early 1900s, running water became more accessible to the average home. By the 1930s both running water and indoor plumbing were widely available. Still, most could not afford indoor plumbing early on, instead relying on outhouses and wells, and pumps.

Outhouses were still common after World War II, especially in rural areas. Chamber pots, very handy for the sick and for nighttime needs, required daily dumping and washing.

Changes in the understanding of public health and the ability to manufacture interchangeable pipes on a large scale both helped to drive the large-scale adoption of indoor plumbing. Only in the mid-20th century was there consensus among public health officials that indoor plumbing was essential. At this point, authorities developed plumbing codes for residential homes.

Food

Fresh food was seasonal and local, even in markets (which were small, nothing like today’s supermarket chains). A produce clerk who worked in an early supermarket in New York explained what he saw in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Bill Corcoran, A&P Produce Clerk in Brooklyn, NY from 1951-1965

People preserved food by canning and drying, usually at home.

Milk, delivered to the house in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers, was unpasteurized, allowing cream to rise to the top. Daily milk delivery people could leave the milk by the door in an insulated box. This was still common in the 1970s.

Farm families milked their own cows (by hand). Churning the milk in wood or glass churns produced butter and buttermilk.

Farm families typically had smoke houses. When meat—red, white, or fish, but typically pork (bacon, ham)—was cured and cold smoked, it was also preserved.

There have been cases where smoked meats were still safe for consumption despite staying in storage for years, but food safety experts do not recommend eating meat stored for more than six months.

Hunting for the table was common. Deer, of course, but also pheasant, quail, rabbit, and squirrel. Fishing for the table was common as well, early on using a bamboo pole.

A drip jar/can on the stove collected bacon grease or other meat fat for seasoning.

Household Conveniences (i.e., Appliances)

Ice boxes predated refrigerators, and an ice man delivered big blocks of ice to the house. The insulated cabinet could keep food cold for about 5-7 days. Some ice boxes remained in use even after World War II, although 85% of American households owned a refrigerator by 1944.

Early refrigerators’ cooling units also served as the freezing compartment, big enough for only one or two ice cube trays. People who needed to freeze food rented a meat locker. No one “wasted” the rented space on freezing vegetables.

There were no dishwashers or garbage disposals in private houses, though Josephine Cochrane had invented a hand-powered dishwashing machine in 1886 to keep fancy china safe during cleaning. Some large restaurants had machines to disinfect dishes in keeping with changes to public understanding of contamination after the influenza pandemic of 1918.

The process of using a wringer washing machine was laborious, to say the least. A person doing laundry had to fill the machine by hand, lift the clothes out of the tub, and feed the wet clothes through rollers to press the water out—being careful not to get a hand or arm caught in the rollers. The water fell back into the washer. Water wasn’t changed after every load, so the weekly laundry started with the least dirty clothes.

Even earlier, people washed clothes by hand and squeezed them through a laundry press.

In either case, people hung clothes on a line to dry outdoors, or in the basement when weather dictated. Clothes dryers began coming into their own around 1960. As changes in ecological consciousness have encouraged smaller carbon footprints, line drying clothes is growing in popularity again.

Everything was ironed (or worn wrinkled). Permanent press wasn’t invented till the 1950s, not widely available till the 1960s.

Treadle sewing machines were common, even though electrically powered sewing machines were in wide use as early as 1905. The tailor pumped the treadle machine by foot, and the quality and evenness of the stitches depended on the steadiness of both hand and foot.

Machines

Plowing small gardens required one-human-hand-pushed plows. For big gardens and farms, plows were powered by a mule or two, sometimes horses. The turning point – when the amount of tractor power overtook the amount of animal power on American farms – was 1945.

Lawnmowers were human-powered reel mowers, with whirling blades that make a “scissory” sound. Gas-powered lawn mowers—still pushed by a person—didn’t become popular till after World War II in the U.S.

“Old-fashioned” human-powered gardening machines have been making a comeback recently, reflecting changes in the way people think about air pollution, noise pollution, and the ecological impact of lawns.

Automobiles were all stick-shift, with crank-down windows. Early Ford cars had a rumble seat, an open seat for two in the back.

Although available earlier, seatbelts didn’t gain popularity till the mid-50s, and then they were optional. Legal changes required that all car seats had seatbelts by 1968, and all passengers had to wear them after 1984.

Interestingly, high-end cars could get air conditioning as early as 1933, and Chevy was offering radios in the 1920s—i.e., earlier than houses had air conditioning, and before transistor radios swept the country!

Gas stations were not self-serve. Gas did not cost more than $1 per gallon till 1980.

Families were lucky to have one car.

Changes in Typing Machines

Typewriters were manual. The darkness of the print depended on the pressure on the keys, and hitting two keys at a time resulted in a jam that the typist had to untangle by hand.

At the end of a line of type, the typist had to return the carriage manually, resulting in the sound of a bell. One could choose single, double, or triple spacing.

One explanation for the keyboard being less than optimal for convenience is so that the typist wouldn’t work too quickly and jam the keys repeatedly. The QWERTY keyboard layout, developed for typewriters in the 1870s, remains the de facto standard for English-language computer keyboard.

Using a manual typewriter requires a lot of paraphernalia, such as inked ribbon and a typewriter eraser for mistakes. If one needed copies, the lack of copy machines meant that one needed to use carbon paper, which made correcting all copies a major pain.

Apparently, manual typewriters are still available, but used primarily by poets.

Manufacturers of electric typewriters, introduced by 1973, switched to interchangeable ribbon cartridges, including fabric, film, erasing, and two-color versions. At about the same time, the advent of photocopying made carbon copies, correction fluid, and erasers less and less necessary.

Still a far cry from personal computers and in-home printers!

Entertainment

Quiet pleasures were the norm for children: reading, playing cards or board games (e.g., Monopoly), “dressing up,” putting on puppet shows, jacks or pick-up-sticks.

Outdoor games burned off energy: tag, hide and seek, statues, mother-may-I, Simon Says, races, jump-rope, pick-up games of basketball, baseball, or football. Pediatricians speculate that changes from outdoor to indoor diversions in early childhood may be responsible for the increase in children with near-sightedness.

Playing outdoors—biking, hopscotch, catching fireflies, whatever—was typically without adult supervision or worry.

Television sets were produced and released commercially in America in 1938 but didn’t become popular until after World War II. The sets had three “channels” and changing channels required physically turning a knob. No mute. No recording. And all programming was black and white.

Movies were mostly black-and-white, too, until 1967! That was the first year in which film studios produced more color films than black-and-white (just two more, but this was the tipping point).

Music on demand records played on a victrola. Listening to a record required cranking (winding up) the victrola and placing the needle arm on the record by hand. Early vinyl records came in 33 1/3 singles or 78 albums.

Radio was a big source of entertainment prior to tv, providing comedy, music, thrillers, dramas, something for everyone. Radios were actually furniture at first. Portable radios, hand-held, carry anywhere, transistor radios really got going in the mid-1950s.

Communication

News came from newspapers and news broadcasts on radio, later television. It was not available 24/7.

Mail meant letters, physical paper pages delivered via USPS. In 1955, it cost 3 cents per ounce, 6 cents per ounce for Air Mail. Early in the century, in some cities, mailmen (always men) delivered the post twice a day! In small towns, with no home delivery, people had mail boxes at the post office, with combination locks.

Phone Call Changes

Telephones appeared in upscale households starting in the late 19th century. But by the 1950s about one-third of American households still didn’t have a phone.

At that time, people did not own their telephone; they rented it from the telephone company. Telephones had rotary dials and were either freestanding or wall mounted, but all were landlines. Most households had only one, in a central location.

There was no answering machine/voice mail option.

Private lines were a luxury. Party lines (from 2 to more than a dozen (!) households) had a specific number of short and long rings to signal which phone was being called. Anyone on the line could pick up—meaning any other party on the line could listen in.

With no portable phones, those needing to call had to find a pay phone, mostly located in phone booths, and have a pocketful of change. Phone companies charged for calls by the minute. On average, pay phone calls cost $0.05 into the 1950s and $0.10 until the mid-1980s. The pay phone peaked in 1995 when millions were scattered all over the country.

Long distance calls cost more than local calls, the cost going up after 3 minutes. One could call collect, i.e., request that the person being called accept the charges. Sometimes families who wanted to know that someone had arrived safely would work the system by having the traveler call collect but the recipient would refuse the collect call, message received.

Shopping

“Wish Books” were the nation’s Amazon from the late 1800s through the first half of the 20th century. Sears, Roebuck, & Company and Montgomery Ward sent thick catalogues packed full of everything from clothing to toys to household appliances. By 1894, the Sears catalogue was 322 pages.

As one man told me, “In the fall we’d sit down with the Wish Book and I could mark what I’d like to have for Christmas—up to $5.”

Both companies offered a mind-boggling array of products, including medical and veterinary supplies, musical instruments, firearms, bicycles, sewing machines, baby buggies, and houses!

Modern Home No. 15, available for only $725!

Sears house kits came in 447 different designs. At the economy end, $659 covered all the lumber, lath, flooring, roof, pipes, cedar shingles, paint, and other materials needed to build a five-room bungalow, featuring two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a front porch. At the other end of the spectrum, the grand “Magnolia” cost $5,140 to $5,972.

Sears advertised all kits with the promise that “We will furnish all the material to build this [house design].” All the parts arrived (usually by train) precut and ready to assemble. From 1908 to 1940, Sears sold between 70,000 and 75,000 homes.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Ward’s catalogue had more than 3 million subscribers to its mailing list.

In 1913 the USPS added Parcel Post Service. The maximum package weight the Post Office would deliver was 11 pounds, but grew to 70 pounds by 1931. Within the first six months of Parcel Post, Sears handled five times as many orders as it did the year before, and within five years doubled its revenue.

Catalogues aside, most shopping was local, in locally owned stores.

Within the Family

Male-female relationships generally followed a set pattern. Women lived at home until they married (when not on a college campus). Most couples had children after marriage.

Announcement of the Florence Crittenton Home in Seattle, 1899

Women pregnant out-of-wedlock faced social disgrace. Under the guise of visiting relatives, such women often went to homes for unwed mothers. Such establishments provided medical care, and some offered a semblance of schooling. Staff (and society) convinced the new mothers to relinquish their newborns for adoption, and then the young women returned to their prior lives.

There were few divorces, few single parents, and few grandparents rearing children. Changes in the legal landscape around families came about very recently. California was the first state to legalize no-fault divorce, in 1969, making it much easier for people to escape abusive relationships. Spousal rape was legal in the US until the 1970s, and laws designating a husband “head and master” of a family, with unilateral control of property owned jointly with his wife, remained in place until 1981.

Gay couples were all pretty much in the closet, certainly not married or parenting children. Staying in the closet was often the only way to stay out of prison until the 1970s.

Nostalgia of a Baby Boomer

Parents taught their children to respect authority without question. Police and teachers are there to protect you. They are always right, do as they say.

Respect for elders was expected from children. This was generally any adult. It included Mr., Mrs., or Miss when addressing them.

“Children were to be seen and not heard.” Enough said, except to emphasize sass or back-talk earned a scolding if not other punishment.

Fathers were the head of the household, provided for the family, and made most of the major decisions.

The evening meal was family time. It was usually at the same time every day, and children remained at the table till the meal was over. Parents forbade toys, books, and other distractions.

Personal Appearance and Finances

Church was a dress-up occasion, especially for women and girls, who wore dresses, hats, and gloves. New outfits for Easter were common.

Business men generally wore suits and ties.

Employed women—e.g., secretaries, teachers, bank tellers, any public facing job—often had to wear skirts, suits, or dresses, and stockings. As recently as 1965, college women were required to “dress” for dinner. Being able to wear jeans to class was a big deal.

Fiscal responsibility was important to many following the Great Depression; good paying jobs and saving for the future were major concerns. “A penny saved is a penny earned.” “Watch the nickels and the dollars will take care of themselves.” People aspired to pay-as-you-go.

Those in need turned to friends, family, or banks for loans. Credit cards started a craze that began to take shape in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Note: Until 1972, women could not get loans or credit cards without a male co-signer.

Bottom Line: Things change, and the rate of change is accelerating. Changes between 1925 and 1950 were substantial, but each subsequent twenty-five year has seen more change than the one before.

MORTAL REMAINS

A person dies. The body is still there. Someone, somewhere, somehow must deal with the human remains.

Burial

Interment is a fine old tradition, as testified to by all the graveyards and cemeteries. Essentially, a burial is putting a body somewhere where it is likely to remain, usually undisturbed, into the foreseeable future.

  • In the ground
  • In a building: mausoleum, crypt, wall
  • At sea

FYI: Although, historically, graveyards were attached to churches and did not allow cremated remains, there is no functional difference today between graveyards and cemeteries.

In Ground Burial

The Mushroom Burial Suit, invented by Jae Rhim Lee, is threaded with mushroom spores to help the body decompose after burial.

In-ground burial usually means a cemetery and involves a funeral home/director who makes sure all requirements are met. It’s the sort of thing most of us are familiar with.

Except in California, Indiana, and Washington State, it is legal to bury a corpse on private property, although rules and regulation apply.

  • Obtain a permit for burial/transportation
  • Follow local regulations regarding zoning laws embalming, refrigeration, and burial depth
  • Get written approval. The local board of health and governing body may need to be notified in writing
  • The property must be under the control of deceased’s family

So called “green burials” are growing in popularity. Natural burial grounds, cemeteries, and preserves all bury without embalming, liners, or vaults, and use biodegradable containers, whether caskets, shrouds or nothing at all. A variety of entities own and operate these cemeteries: municipal governments, religious groups, individuals, nonprofits, for-profits, and others. Many use GPS units or non-native stone markers to mark grave sites rather than carved headstones.

Both some Native American and Jewish communities traditionally use green burials.

Indoor Burials

Some mausoleums are grander than others.

In buildings, sometimes special requirements apply.

Most mausoleums require that a licensed funeral director has embalmed the body. Caskets must meet specific size requirements, and sometimes must have a self-sealing air valve.

Mausoleums are usually located in a cemetery or other place dedicated to the dead. They shouldn’t be noisy areas and should be well-maintained.

If you’re building a family mausoleum on private property, you must abide by local zoning rules.

Crypts are typically smaller than mausoleums and are often located in religious buildings or cemeteries. Owners often reserve crypt spaces for notable people.

Where space is scarce, people often turn to ossuaries for skeletal burial. After temporary burial in the ground (typically for a pre-determined period, such as ten years), a caretaker exhumes a corpse and transfers skeletal remains to a final—much smaller—resting place. Sometimes the bones go into an ornamental container; sometimes people display them in elaborate (if macabre) artwork.

Burial at Sea

People are still buried at sea, not just out of necessity but by choice—a choice growing in popularity.

The US Navy offers free burial at sea for eligible families of service members and veterans. The Navy performs such burials for an average of 1,500 cremated remains and 15 casketed remains per year.

Anyone can choose a burial at sea. The US Environmental Protection Agency has parameters for such burials and require a permit. The burial must take place at least three nautical miles from land. The ocean waters must be at least 600 or 1800 feet deep, depending on location. And the presiding entity must take measures to ensure that the remains sink rapidly and permanently.

Burning

The word cremation stems from the Latin word ‘crematio‘, meaning ‘to burn or destroy by heat’.

The form of body burning most common in the United Sates today is the modern cremation process, defined as the burning of a corpse using a column of flames at a temperature of around 1000 degrees Celsius in a furnace powered by natural gas or oil.

After the cremation procedure is complete, what remains are typically gray fragments including ashes from the cremation container and bone particles. Pulverizing these remains is typically the last step in the process.

Besides putting the cremains in an urn or box for burial or a place on the mantle, they can be

Funeral pyre in Ubud, Indonesia

There are legal rules in many places that require a waiting period before cremation. This wait is also important for things like completing all the necessary paperwork.

Of all world religions, Islam opposes cremation the most strongly. Islamic teaching considers cremation to be an unclean practice.

Conversely, funeral pyres are an essential part of a Hindu funeral, which is why people still used traditional pyres in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

Water “Burning”

So called “water cremation”—aquamation—doesn’t actually involve burning. An alkaline hydrolysis machine contains a single air-tight and water-tight chamber. The chamber holds approximately one hundred gallons of liquid. A technician places the deceased into the chamber, then seals it. The contents may be subjected to heat (199 to 302 degrees Fahrenheit), pressure, and/or agitation (varying with equipment) to ensure proper cremation.

At the completion of the process, bone fragments and a sterile liquid remain. The bone fragments, now called cremated remains or hydrolyzed remains, appear pure white in color. Because the process uses water, the last step of the process is thoroughly drying the remains before pulverization.

Aquamation results in approximately 32% more cremated remains than flame-based cremation and may require a larger urn. On the other hand, it has less environmental impact (less air pollution and less energy needed).

On average, aquamation is slightly more expensive than traditional cremation because of the expense of the machines used. Typically, water cremation costs between $2,000-3,000, while flame cremation costs around $1,100-2,000. A traditional burial can cost between $7,000-12,000.

Exposure

The Lakota Sioux, Mandan, Cheyenne, Ute, and Navajo tribes often practiced tree burial, constructing platforms like a scaffold or tree to bring the deceased closer to the sky. Animals consume the body, bringing the life cycle full circle–similar to a Zoroastrian or Tibetan Sky burial.

Vultures at a Tibetan Sky Burial

In the Tibetan Sky burial, a celestial burial master chops the human remains into pieces and mixes them with barley flour. Then, a body carrier takes the mixture high into the mountains and leaves them for vultures. Everyone involved smiles and sings throughout the process to help guide the dead from darkness to the next stage. Tibetans see sky burial as a last gift to the universe — a way to show the insignificance and the impermanence of our earthly lives.

A Zoroastrian Tower of Silence holds human remains high above the ground, removing any chance of contamination. After carrion birds have stripped the bones clean of flesh, nusessalars (ritual pallbearers) transfer any remaining bones to an ossuary, mix them with lime, and allow them to disintegrate and return to the soil.

Preservation

Mummification, ancient as it is, is seldom practiced today. Natural mumification may occur, such as of people lost in the desert, but very few people choose mummification.

However, some villagers in Papua New Guinea still mummify their ancestors today. They believe that spirits will roam the earth after death unless their descendants maintain the body of the deceased. After death, family members place the bodies in a hut and smoke them until the skin and internal organs have desiccated. Then they cover the remains in red clay, which helps maintain their structural integrity, and placed the mummy in a jungle shrine. Villagers bring the bodies down from the shrine for celebrations, and loved ones visit the mummies to consult with their ancestors.

Sunflowers preserved in liquid silicone oil, by Marc Quinn

Cryogenics is, essentially, the opposite of mummification. The motivation is to preserve one’s body (or body part, typically the brain) in the hope that in the future, science will be able to correct or heal whatever the person died of, and the frozen person can live again. Today, liquid nitrogen tanks hold approximately 500 people globally for preservation, the vast majority in the United States. Around 4,000 people are on waiting lists of cryonics facilities around the world.

Useful as Well as Ornamental Remains

Some people plan before death to put their dead bodies to good use. Years ago, Mary Roach published Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Old, but still a great read!

Organ and tissue donation is well known. Just check the box on your driver’s license.

If you record your consent in the donation register, you can specify which organs or tissue you would like to donate. Several factors determine whether organs or tissue are actually useable for transplant, like their quality and whether or not a donor died in a hospital.

The donor must die in a hospital to be able donate organs. Organs need a supply of oxygen-rich blood to remain suitable for transplantation. After death, doctors hook up the donor’s body to artificial respiration to keep the heart beating, so that oxygen-rich blood continues to circulate.

By contrast, tissue donation is often possible if the donor dies in a non-hospital setting.

Not all organs and tissue types are suitable for transplant. Organs eligible for transplant are the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, and intestines. The skin, bone tissue (including tendons and cartilage), eye tissue, heart valves and blood vessels are transplantable forms of tissue.

Even if you are a registered donor, transplant teams may reject your organs or tissue after your death for medical reasons, for instance if you:

  • Had blood poisoning (sepsis)
  • Had an active viral infection
  • Acquired a tattoo or piercing in the 6 months before your death

There is no general age limit on donation. Although the heart of an 80-year-old person would be too old for transplantation, their skin or corneas might still be suitable.

Medical Education

“Muscles of the back: partial dissection of a seated woman, showing the bones and muscles of the back and shoulder”
Color mezzotint by J.F. Gautier d’Agoty, 1745/1746

Medical students use whole bodies for education. None of the tissue goes for transplant into a living person (which distinguishes whole body donation from organ donation). Physicians, EMS personnel, even dental healthcare professionals practice their skills through studying donated bodies.

Some specialized educational purposes require “fresh” bodies or parts. For example, plastic surgeons cannot use embalmed heads in the course of their education.

But typically, when a donated body reaches the end of its usefulness, it goes for cremation. Upon request, the family might then receive the cremated remains.

Science

Some medical conditions or circumstances of death can make a body unacceptable for scientific study. Depending on the nature of the research, these include:

  • Obesity/emaciation
  • Amputations
  • Unhealed open wounds
  • Contagious diseases

For example, real human bodies were/are necessary to calibrate crash test dummies accurately for impact tolerance. Similarly, the military studies effects of bullets and bombs.

Whole body donation is not possible after an autopsy has been performed.

The Body Farm

The Body Farm is a special case of donating one’s body for science. The University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center is commonly known as the Body Farm.

At the Body Farm, students intentionally leave corpses out in the elements to study what happens as the body decomposes. The placement might expose the body to air, submerge it in water, bury it in a shallow or deep grave, allow access to scavenging animals, or any other circumstance. The goal is always the same: to simulate crime scenes so that students can document decay and learn to identify future victims (or the time and circumstances of their death).

Just as you can become an organ donor when you die, you can also choose to donate your body to the Body Farm. Medical examiners who cannot identify a corpse or locate next of kin are also primary providers of bodies to the facility. Since the inception of the Knoxville, TN lab, body farms have sprung up in Illinois, Texas , Colorado, Illinois, Florida, and North Carolina—and even exist outside the U.S. Facilities have opened in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom!

Bottom Line: Something will be done with your mortal remains. If you care, make provisions before you die, and tell your next of kin of your wishes!