Posts Tagged ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’
Tonsorial Technology…
Hairdressing in the days of yore: Ptak Science Books shares a series of photos from the late 20s [originally in The Illustrated London News, 20 October 1928, page 720]… it’s enough to curl your hair.
[TotH to Everlasting Blort]
As we wonder if Louise Brooks ever sat in such contraptions, we might wish an elegant (if slightly smashed) Happy Birthday to F. Scott Fitzgerald; the author of that seminal exploration of Twenties hairstyles, The Great Gatsby; he was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on this date in 1896. His parents named him in honor of his distant cousin, the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Francis Scott Keys.
Readers can ready themselves to bid on a rare dust jacket from a first edition of Gatsby to be auctioned next month at Sotheby’s – New York; it’s estimated to fetch about $175,000. (The first edition book, worth a measly $5-7,000 is included gratis…)
Carl van Vechten’s 1937 photo of Fitzgerald (source)
“Thou hast set all the borders of the earth…” but then humans marked them…
Fifty states, fifty welcome signs.
(“Thou hast set all the borders of the earth…” Psalms 74:17)
As we gas up and hit the road to collect ’em all, we might recall that it was on this date in 1777 that the Marine Committee of the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution– and the Stars and Stripes was adopted as the flag of the United States of America for maritime purposes. While Congress reserved the right to adopt a different design for the nation’s ensign, it never did; rather it just added stars to the original thirteen for each new state in the Union.
The resolution specified “that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation”– but it did not specify the layout of the stars. Consequently there were several early versions, for instance:
In 1795, the number of stars and stripes was increased to 15 (reflecting the entry of Kentucky and Vermont). It was about this flag the Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner”– and the dye was cast.
Happy Flag Day!
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