Brian Tomlin | December 30, 2012
In February, the post Inventions of the 1860s was published and has become one of the most viewed pages on the blog. In 1861, the U.S. Patent Law underwent a significant revision. Among the more important were: the appointment of three examiners-in-chief to hear appeals from the primary examiners of any application that had been rejected twice ; the […]
Brian Tomlin | December 26, 2012
One of the most popular series of 2012 has been the series on the Most Common Names of the 1860s. This was a series of three posts that examined the most popular names of the civil war era and compared them with the most popular names of today. A third part took the list of […]
Brian Tomlin | December 24, 2012
Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this poem on Christmas Day, 1864. It was later adapted into the popular Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas.” Christmas Bells I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men! And thought […]
Brian Tomlin | December 17, 2012
No one interested in the Civil War era would expect that Christmas in the 1860s was celebrated like it is today. The web is full of articles detailing how Christmas celebrations were much simpler, less based on purchased items and more about handmade gifts and decorations. Below are some of the more interesting articles and […]
Brian Tomlin | December 3, 2012
Christmas gift giving was popular throughout the nineteenth century. To get an idea of the kinds of Christmas presents commonly given and desired during the Civil War period, simply examine period newspapers for the week before Christmas. It seems that the holiday preparation and shopping period was very brief, with most gift purchases being made […]
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