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Category / Obscure history

Good Luck to the History Teachers who tackle the Narrative of Native Americans in Uniform

From the earliest colonial conflicts to the present day, the participation of Native American tribes and nations in American military campaigns spans a complex tapestry of alliances, conflicts, and shifting loyalties. But in our collective knowledge, so much of it is simply history unaccounted for. When we’re taught about that time America nearly split in…

The Golden Age of the … Enema?!

Look, it wasn’t enough to have flawless skin, a great wig, and a plump derrière in 16th century France, you needed to have a spotless colon too. Luckily, there were a great abundance of people ready and willing to administer as many “clysters”, aka enemas, as your heart desired. Let us give you a little…

New York’s Real-Life Handmaid’s Tale

Revivalist sects, polyamorous communes and radical experiments in communal living – America was rife with it all in the mid 19th century – but not exactly where you might expect. Forget the Bible Belt. In western New York state, so many religious revival groups seemed to be popping up in and setting it afire with…

The Secret City of London (which is not part of London) Explained!

I lived in London for just over 25 years and I have to admit, I never really understood what was the damn deal with the City of London. And it was even harder to explain to non-Londoners when they asked… because even Londoners are confused about. Here is a wonderfully frank, semi-sarcastic explanation for dummies…

The Enchanted Cities Hiding Inside Theatres

For some lucky theatregoers, a trip to see the latest B-Movie at their local picture house also means a trip across space and time. It’s all thanks to the atmospheric movie palaces and theatres of the early 20th century, whose construction brought veritable mini-cities, from old Spanish streets to lost temples of Ancient Egypt, into…

Tune into the Forgotten Dial-a-DJ Jukeboxes of Yesteryear

Isn’t she a beauty? I had one of those hallelujah moments while browsing the collectible pages of Ebay today when I came across this seldom seen “Empire State Building” jukebox circa 1935. Invented by Ken Shyvers, the same guy who invented pinball machines, the Shyvers Multiphone is about 50cm tall with a 19cm square base and…

Murder at the Tiki Palace: When Swinging Went Sour in the 70s

Chattanooga, Tennessee: known for its southern charm, Civil War battlefields and … an infamous swingers palace? Indeed, perched in the hills overlooking the city, Tennessee once had its own Playboy mansion of sorts. The tiki-themed estate was centered around a highly unusual indoor swimming pool, built with underwater canals that disappeared into bedrooms where Chattanooga’s…

A Brief History of the Mom & Pop Business of Public Execution

In Paris, when his father died in 1644, Louis Desmorest inherited his family’s execution business at the age of 10. His mother had been part of an established execution family that had been in business for the past 100 years. Desmorest’s mother’s clan also hatched the most notable of all the execution families, the Sansons,…

The Great Binge: An Unsettling Reality Check of the Drug-Fuelled “Belle Epoque”

Curiously absent from our historical timelines is “The Great Binge”, a more recently-coined but arguably more appropriate term for that famous period at the turn of the century which we typically refer to as the “Belle Epoque” or the “Gilded Age”. This wasn’t just a time when culture and industry flourished however, it was also…

Tips, Tricks & Takeaways from a 15th Century Arabic Sex Manual

Lucky you – today we’re signing you up for some sex ed from the Arab world 600 years ago, courtesy of a 15th century sex manual that, despite most of the general population having never heard of it, once attained status similar to that of The Arabian Nights. Commissioned in present day Tunisia, during what…

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