The History of Old Wives Tales
When we were growing up, to call something an “Old Wives’ Tale” meant that the idea was at best untrue and at worst superstitious nonsense that cast doubt on the speaker’s ability to navigate the modern world.
Entries by Gordon and Marcia Mercer
The History of Daylight Savings Time
Daylight Saving Time has its share of critics, but many of us love the extra evening daylight. DST starts this weekend.
National Prune Breakfast Month and Other 2013 Holidays
The holidays have come and gone in the Cary area. New Year’s Day has come and gone. Even the fiscal cliff has come and gone, for the moment anyway. “January is not festive,” Marcia complained. Gordon, sympathetically, agreed. We couldn’t have been more wrong.
History: Elvis in the House
Elvis Presley was very popular in the Cary and Raleigh area, where he performed six times between 1955 and 1956, as his musical career began.
The Origins of Halloween
If you want to understand the present, it’s good to know the past. Gordon and Marcia Mercer, CaryCitizen’s team on all things historical, tackle the origins of Halloween.
Stories from a Family Cookbook
The cookbook has a copyright date of 1898 and bears witness to overuse. There are side notes. There are recipes tucked between its pages which were cut out from other publications and pasted on cards. There are recipes copied in careful handwriting on sheets the publisher left blank for that purpose. There are recipes from friends, typed on old typewriters with keys that stick. The old type print still looks crisp and dignified.
History: The Untold Story of Roswell Mill
“I repeat my orders to you that you arrest all people male and female connected with those factories, no matter what the clamor and let them foot it, under guard to Marietta, whence I will send them by [railroad] cars to the North.” William Sherman, Major-General
History: Did the Maya Emigrate to the American South?
Several Southeastern tribes have long said that their ancestors received immigrants from Mesoamerica and that these immigrants introduced many cultural changes. Far too few anthropologists were listening.
Saying Goodbye to Andy Griffith
“We’ll be using lots of fine character actors. It’s sort of easy to get too much of me.”
History: The Real Story of Pocahantas
Story by Gordon Mercer, professor emeritus at Western Carolina University and Marcia Gaines Mercer, published author and columnist. “Pocahontas is one of those historical characters who comes across to us eternally embalmed in some legend rather than a person in her own right and in her own humanity.” – Noel B. Gerson