storytelling

excerpts from the Louisiana Gazette and New Orleans Advertiser, 1814 and 1815

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Washington's Anniversary Birthnight Ball

The ball will be given at Maspero's Coffee House and commence at seven o'clock. Supper to be served at twelve o'clock....Nobody is permitted to dance in boots.

The undersigned takes leave to notify the publick that he intends to open, on the first day of March next, A SEMINARY for the instruction of youth in the classicks and the other subordinate branches of education.

J. Barteau informs his friends and the public that he removed his beeswax and tallow candles factory to the corner of Royal and St. Peter streeets, where he continues to make wax candles for persons who having wax have neither mould or conveniences.

Wanted -- a good journeyman biscuit baker, to whom liberal wages will be given.

The firing of guns and pistols in the streets are prohibited by a corporation law, under the penalty of a heavy fine--- heretofore this law has not beeen rigidly inforeced; in future it certainly will be and the citizens are cautioned against violation of it. The beating of a drum or drums and playing of fife or fifes through the streets after night is unmilitary, and it collects crowds of idle boys, servants, slaves, etc etc to the great annoyance of the citizens. The officers are requested to prevent a repetition of this disorderly inconsiderate practice, as they regard the peace, good order, and safety of the city. signed: a candidate for alderman

I get such a sense of what it was like to live in the city from reading these newspapers, it's almost as good as a time machine. Is this an oddity of mine? Do other people find these as interesting as I do?

Posted by at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

I am very happy with the life I lead, and have no real wish to go back to academia. The adjustment would be hard, in the extreme. However, there are a few things I miss. The moments in the classroom when a difficult point suddenly comes clear, and you see that on the faces in front of you. The sincere, hard working students with real curiosity; the ones you come across, once in a while, who have that something extra, that flash of insight that promises great things to come.

And this: compiling a long list of obscure references, articles from journals published in out of the way places for a few months only; newspaper reports that appeared two hundred years ago; out of print books held out of maybe five libraries in the whole country. I could put a long list together and send it to the library, and the results would start trickling in right away. In my departmental mailbox, every day, another book or photocopied article or a note: interlibrary loan should have x y and z by the end of the week.

So now I have to do the heavy lifting myself. Last year I spent thousands of dollars on books: new and out of print, on journals and newspapers, most of which I really don't need to hold onto. I could sell the volumes I don't need anymore on ebay, I suppose, or take them into one of the local used book stores or donate them to a good cause. But I always pause, worried that I will have a need for that diary of a fur trapper at some point in the future.

So that's my lament. Back to work.

Posted by at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)