Out of personal interest and for my Master’s thesis, I’ve read a lot of the original 1940s Wonder Woman comic books. While reading some secondary sources, I came across an essay in The Ages of Wonder Woman: Essays on the Amazon Princess in Changing times, ed. Joseph J. Darowski, that discussed Wonder Woman during the…
Medieval Magic: the Church vs the People
So I recently read two articles by historian Michael D. Bailey who is a history professor at Iowa State University. I read ‘The Age of Magicians: Periodization in the History of European Magic’ and ‘The Disenchantment of Magic: Spells, Charms, and Superstition in Early Modern European Witchcraft Literature’. I already had some knowledge on the…
The Atom Bomb Baby: Atomic Culture in USA
The dropping of the atomic bomb known as Trinity on July 16th, 1945 ushered the world into the Atomic era. The Trinity bomb was dropped in New Mexico, USA as part of the Manhattan project. The Manhattan project was an American research and development project to create nuclear weapons during World War II. Ever since…
Fancy a Cup of Tea? World War Posters Today
So I recently visited Warwick Castle in Warwickshire, England. It is a must see if you’re ever in the area! It was also my first time visiting an intact castle in the UK. I love castles and they entice a feeling of magic and wonder in me so I was excited to check out the…
A Song of Ice and Fire’s Lemon Cakes: A Baking Experiment
I absolutely love to bake. Nothing beats baking when you’re home alone and have your favourite music going. As I also love history, I’ve decided to combine the two. I decided to bake the Elizabethan and modern recipes of Lemon Cakes as found in A Feast of Ice and Fire by Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer. I was gifted this…
Rys with Mylke of Almaundys: A Medieval Dessert
Last night I decided to make a medieval dessert recipe for my partner and I. I made rice in almond milk. It is medieval recipe from the 15th century. This pudding, for lack of a better term, could be eaten during Lenten feasts as it does not contain egg or dairy. I think people also…
US and UK WWII Propaganda Posters at a Glance
In the last few years, I have become increasingly interested in visual wartime propaganda. I find World War II propaganda posters particularly interesting. Below, I have gathered some posters from the United States and the United Kingdom. Aspects of the war experience was quite different for the two countries. The United Kingdom was involved with…
Why Héloïse d’Argenteuil Was Awesome
You’re probably wondering who the hell Héloïse d’Argenteuil was. I first came across her in a Medieval Women’s History paper while at university. Héloïse d’Argenteuil was a French medieval nun and scholar, b.1101-d.1164. Now, she may sound boring but she most definitely lived a very interesting life. Not only was Héloïse a nun, she was…
Cosmetics in Medieval Europe: Hair Dyeing and Hair Removal
When I told people I was writing my Honours dissertation on medieval cosmetics, many were surprised to know that women wore makeup in the Middle Ages. There seems to be a misconception about makeup throughout history. Most people seem to know that ancient civilizations like the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans wore makeup, with Cleopatra being…
The Secret Stamp and American Patriotism during World War II
Foreword I read about the superhero, the Secret Stamp, while researching my Master’s thesis. The Secret Stamp featured in Captain America Comics which we know today simply as Captain America. I found the stories fascinating and intriguing but unfortunately they did not fit into my thesis. Therefore, I decided to write about the comic here so I hope…
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