2011 POSTS

NOTE:  To locate a specific post or topic enter the post title or topic in the Search widget on Rita Bay’s Home page.

Dec-11 HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS
1 Vintage Postcard: Holiday Greetings
2 Advent
3 The First Christmas Card
4 High End Christmas Gifts: Faberge Eggs
5 Another Vintage Christmas Card
6 Giotto’s Nativity Scene
7 Ceramic Nativity Set
8 High End Gift #2: Gold Christmas ree
9 Nativity Set in Stained Glass
10 Retro Rerun: More Santa
11 Retro Advertisement: Coca Cola Santa Claus
12 High End Gift #3 – Anything from Christie’s Liz Taylor Auction
13 Vintage Christmas Card #3
14 Allison Knight:  Christmas in the Middle Ages
15 The Oldest Nativity Scene
16 Secular Christmas Art:  Norman Rockwell
17 Norman Rockwell 2.0
18 Shop ‘Til You Drop
19 High End Gift #3: An Auction Update
20 Happy Chanukah
21 A Louis Prann Christmas Card of a Different Sort
22 Runere McLain Presents the Summer Solstice
23 Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us
24 “Twas the Night Before Christmas”
25 Luke’s Tell All on Christmas
26 Boxing Day
27 Kwanzaa
28 Vintage Card:: The Flight into Egypt
29 io Saturnalia
30 A New Year’s Family Treat: Hoppin John
31 Romy Gemell: Christmas & Hogmanay in Scotland
   
Nov 2011 STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS FOR LITTLE AMERICANS
  By Samuel Eggleston Amer Book Co  1893 
1 Ben Franklin: His Own Teacher
2 How Ben Franklin Discovered Things for Himself
3 A Wise Man Plants a Crop
5 How Benny West Became a Painter
6 Daniel Boone & his Grapevine Swing
7 A Pirate’s Tale
8 Don’t Give Up the Ship
9 Daniel Boone’s Daughter Disappears
10 Another Ship Story: Robert Fulton
11 The First Steamer
12 A Lady Plants a Crop
13 Washington’s Christmas Gift
14 How Washington Escaped a Trap
15 Washington’s Last Battle
16 The Swamp Fox
17 Thomas Jefferson: The Patriot
18 A Long Journey
19 Colonel Clark Conquers Kaskaskia
20 Boston’s First Governor
21 How Audubon Came to Know Birds
22 Hunting a Panther
23 Captain Clark’s Burning Glass
24 Heroes of Faith
26 The Star-Spangled Banner
27 Daniel Webster & His Brother
28 A Wonderful Woman
29 The Author of Little Women
30 William Penn & the Indians
   
Oct-11 MYTHOLOGY OF THE WESTERN WORLD
1 Introduction
2 Animism, Myths, Legends & Folktales
3 Creation Myths
4 Causality & Sacrifice
5 Greek & Roman Mythology
6      The Titans
7      The Olympians: Zeus & His Brothers
8      The Olympians:  Hera & Her Sisters
9      The Olympians: The Second Generation 
10      The Pantheon 
11      Adopted Gods & Goddesses
12      Mythic Heroes:  Prometheus
13      Mythic Heroes:  Hercules 
14      Mythic Heroes:  The Trojan War
15      Prophecy & Healing
16      The Underworld & the Afterlife
17      Philosophy & Philosophers
18 Neolithic Britain: The Henges     
19 The Celts & Celtic Culture     
20      Celtic Mythology    
21      More Celtic Mythology     
22      The Druids
23      Masters of Art 
24      Masters of Song
25 Saxon Mythology     
26      Hoards
27 Norse Mythology
28      Skalds & Sagas
29      Life & Death: Beserkers & Burials
30 Magic & Reason
31 Halloween 
   
Sep-11 WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
1 The Great Pyramid
2 Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3 Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
4 Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
5 Colossus of Rhodes
6 Statue of Zeus
7 Lighthouse of Alexandria
  New Wonders of the World
8 Chichen Itza
9 Christ the Redeemer
10 Coloseum
11 Great Wall of China
12 Machu Pichu
13 Petra
14 Taj Mahal
  Runner-Ups
15 Acropolis of Athens
16 Alhambra
17 Angkor Wat
18 Eiffel Tower
19 Hagia Sophia
20 Kiyomizu-dera
21 Moai
22 Neuschwastein
23 Red Square
24 Statue of Liberty
25 Stonehenge
26 Sydney Opera House
27 Timbuktu
  Rita Bay’s Additions
28 St. Peter’s Basilica
29 Mount Rushmore
30 Europabruke
   
Aug-11 A SALUTE TO US SPACE FLIGHT
1 Before Space Flight
2 The Beginning of Space Flight
3 The First Passengers
4 The Soviet Union Wins the Race for Space
5 The Americans Follow the USSR into Space
6 The USSR Counters 
7 President Kennedy’s Challenge to Reach the Moon
8 President Kennedy’s Speech at Rice College
9 US Flight Programs & Mission Badges
10 Carl Sagan:  Space Visionary
11 The Apollo Program
12 The First Space Program Disaster
13 Apollo 11—Americans Win the Race
14 Apollo 13—A Second Near Disaster
15 The Last Trip to the Moon
16 Landing on the Moon: An Urban Legend?
17 Keeping Track of Moon Rocks
18 Unmanned Explorations
19 The Space Station: The Next Step
20 Building the Space Station
22 The US Space Shuttle Fleet
23 The Challenger Disaster:
24 Reagan Consoles the Nation
25 The Huddle Telescope
26 High Tech Tech
27 Space Does a Body Good?
28 The Last Flight: the US Space Shuttle Fleet Retired
29 The US Hops a Ride to the Space Station
30 The Future of Space Flight:  Other Nations or Commercial
31 The Astronauts Speak: Where to Now?
   
Jul-11 AMERICAN HISTORY THROUGH FLAGS
1 About American Flags
2 Flag Etiquette I – Raising, Lowering & Retiring the Flag
3 Flag Etiquette II – Displaying the Flag
4 The Star-Spangled Banner
5 The First Official Flag?
6 The Betsy Ross Flag
7 The Serapis Flag or John Paul Jones Flag
8 As Era Ends as the Last Space Shuttle Launches
9 The United States Doubles in Size
10 Centennial Flag
11 A Civil War Flag
12 A Hand-Crafted Flag
13 The Cowpens Flag
14 Battle of Fort Sumter
15 The Battle of Gettysburg
16 President Lincoln Hoists the Flag
17 Custer’s Last Stand Flag Auctioned
18 The “Rough Riders” Charge San Juan Hill
19 The  World Trade 9/11 Flag
20 Anniversary of  Apollo 11’s Moon Landing
21 Washington’s Commander-in-Chief’s Flag
22 Bedford Minutemen:
23 Brandywine Flag
24 Bucks of America
25 Culpepper Minute Men
26 First Navy Jack
27 Confederate Bible Flag
28 Two Faces of Iwo Jima
29 Only 13 Stripes?
29 Flags That Never Were 
31 Military Flags
   
Jun-11 TO THE MANNER BORN
1 Washington’s Rules of Civility 1
2 The History of Manners 
3 Recipe for Success
4 Ben Franklin’s Quips & Quotes
  MANNERS IN HISTORY
5 A Lady of Distinction
6 A Roman Feast
7 Royal Moments
8 Washington’s Rules of Civility 2
9 A Medieval Welcome
10 The History of Dining
11 The Art of Surrender
  COURTING ETIQUETTE
12 Medieval Matchmaking
13 Regency Matchmaking
14 Proud to be an American
15 Washington’s Rules of Civility 3
16 Unique Proposals
17 An English Tea
18 Women’s Weapons
  CONTEMPORARY ETIQUETTE
19 Father’s Day Salute
20 Introductions
21 Making Conversation
22 Invitations & RSVPs
23 Setting & Seating a Table
24 Dining Etiquette
25 The Thank You Note
  WORKPLACE ETIQUETTE
26 Get That Job
27 Working a Room
28 Conversation Taboos
29 Washington’s Rules of Civility 4
30 Meeting & Conference Etiquette
31 Workplace Dining
   
May-11 TO THE MANOR BORN
1 Star Carr & Skara Brae
2 The Roman Villa at Fishbourne
3 Celtic Houses & Villages
4 The Homes of the Picts
5 The Scots of the Dal Riata
6 A Burns Night
7 A Roman Fort at Hadrian’s Wall
8 A Mother’s Day Surprise
9 Letter from the Fort
10 Anglo-Saxon Towns
11 Calgacus Against the Romans
12 The Tower Houses of Scotland
13 Spirits & Heather Ale
14 The Vikings & York
15 Early Churches in Britain
16 Norman Invaders
17 Castle Construction
18 Oath of Fealty
19 Castles at War
20 Abbeys & Stillrooms
21 Armed Forces Day
22 Tudor Homes
23 Prodigy Houses
24 The History of Toilets
25 Neoclassical Homes
26 Frontier Cabins
27 Federalist Homes
28 American Forts
29 Southern Mansions
30 Memorial Day Salute
31 Native American Homes
   
Apr-11  ORIGINS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
1 Deus ex machine
2 Pyrrhic Victory
3 The English Language
4 Voc: prefixes
5 Voc: suffixes
6 Kennedy’s Inaugural
7 Shakespeare’s Insults
8 A Doctor’s Prescription
9 The Ride of Paul Revere
10 French in English
11 Don Quixote
12 The Nyms
13 Reagan: Right to Choose
14 Anachronisms  
15 Toxic Rhymes
16 Hoisted on a Petard
17 The King’s Speech
18 Shangri-la, Utopia et al
19 Words Galore
20 Churchill: Call to War
21 Ben Franklin’s Quips
22 The Language of Flowers
23 Nom de Guerre
24 Vintage Card:  Easter
25 The Bride Wore White
26 Dictionaries et al
27 Book of Common Prayer
28 Not a Morganatic Duo
29 Camelot
30 Swords & Knots
   
Mar-11 SALUTE TO AMERICANA
  GENERAL AMERICANA
1 A Pilgrim’s Journey to America
2 E Pluribus Unum
3 Bundling
4 The Three Sisters
5 Captain John Smith’s Shopping List  
  THE SOUTHEAST
6 Joe Cain Day
7 The Day the Earth Shook &
The River Changed Its Course
8 Pageant Princesses
9 Davy Crockett:  “Not Yours to Give”
10 The Beast Butler’s Proclamation
11 A Toddy for the Body
12 The Massacre at Fort Mims
  THE EAST
13 Dolley Madison Saves the Day
14 Virginia Dare & the Lost Colony
15 Blackbeard the Pirate
16 Patrick Henry: “Give Me Liberty” 
17 Vintage Card: Panama City Beach
18 The First Gold Rush
19 The Crack in the Liberty Bell
  THE WEST
20 Deseret:  The State that Never Was
21 The Oklahoma Land Rush
22 America’s Best Buy? 
23 Col Travis’ Letter from the Alamo
24 Vintage Card: Branding  Cattle
25 The Grand Canyon
26 The Texas Rangers
  THE NORTHEAST
27 Newport Society by Cara James
28 The Crack in the Liberty Bell
29 Faniuel Hall
30 Thomas Paine: “Try Men’s Souls”
31 Vintage Card: Central Park May Day
   
11-Feb A SALUTE TO THE PRESIDENTS
  Salute to Washington
1 Washington’s Whisky
2 Washington’s 1st Inaugural Speech
3 George’s Love Letter to Martha
4 Martha’s Cure for Respiratory Ills
5 Washington on Weapons
6 Eyewitness to Washington’s Death
7 Washington’s Dentures Reexamined
  Salute to Jefferson
8 Jefferson’s Ice Cream Recipe
9 Essential Principles of Govt
10 The Jefferson/Sally Hemings Affair 
11 Jenner’s Smallpox Vaccine
12 Jefferson on Guns
13 Jefferson’s Mutilated Declaration
14 Slavery in Jefferson’s Declaration?
  Salute to Jackson
15 Daguerreotype Photos
16 Farewell Address Conclusion
17 Adulterer & Bigamist?
18 Low-Tech Bullet Removal     
19 Eyewitness to a Jackson  Duel
20 Revolutionary War Veteran
21 Jackson Assaulted by Major Coffin
  Salute to Lincoln
22 Lincoln’s Patent
23 With Malice Toward None Speech
24 Lincoln & Princess Salm-Salm
25 Mad Stones   
26 Lincoln’s Coffee-Mill Gun
27 Noah Brook Reports
28 Lincoln: President in Training