history museums pragmatic historian

Nostalgia Trips Revisited – The Dark Side

After writing my post on planning and taking nostalgia trips, I was discussing it with my eldest son, Ian, who is very involved with the gaming scene, both tabletop and video, particularly role-playing games. He is also hugely into Nordic history and wants to design concept art for games that is based on history. Suffice it to say, he has paid attention to the history of gaming since becoming involved with it when he was…

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history museums pragmatic historian

The Case of the Ruby Slippers – How Fiction Becomes History

Aside from the tragic fire at the National Museum of Brazil, this past week brought some good news in the museum field. A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland as Dorothy in the movie “The Wizard of Oz” was recovered after being stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The FBI has been involved in the case and recovered the shoes in a sting operation this summer. A…

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When Books Aren’t Good Enough as They Are Written

When I was a kid, I had a set of Reader’s Digest Best Loved Books for Young Readers. I liked the look of the set on my bookshelf and enjoyed making sure they were in numbered order, but I don’t think I ever read more than one story out of them (“Madame Curie,” I believe) during my entire childhood. I finally got rid of these books because they always bothered me. I knew they contained…

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