history ideas pragmatic historian preservation

Preservation Idea for Vintage Light Fixtures & Lamps

Hubby and I are having a couple of rooms in our house rewired, the back porch, which we are making all-season, and an upstairs bedroom that has no outlets. (The house was built in 1894 and when we moved in, there were only 2 outlets in the entire upstairs.) We had an electrician over last week to explain the project to him and get a price on it. As we were talking over our plans…

Continue reading

history museums pragmatic historian preservation

Whose History Belongs to Whom?

As per usual, existential questions related to the history field have bubbled to the surface on Twitter. I’ve got two of them to discuss in this post. They appeared on Twitter within a week of each other and though they were posted separately by different people, they speak to each other. The first existential question was raised by applied math professor Chad Topaz. I know Chad personally because he was my daughter’s advisor at Macalester…

Continue reading

design observations preservation

The Humidifier Poorly Designed for the Fussiness It Requires

The older I get, the more annoyed I become with poor design. Age may be part of that annoyance in that the body is simply not as capable as it was 10, 20, or 30 years ago. I’m finding it harder to lift things and my grip is not as strong. We recently purchased a new humidifier because our other one stopped releasing mist, which is a bad thing for a humidifier. In comparing box…

Continue reading