Colonial Masquerade: Convict, Pirate, Gentleman, Con
The convict ships that colonized Australia carried people desperate to get out of their sentence. At least, that was true of Michael Stewart.
When Hitchhiking was Wholesome
In the 1930s, hitchhiking was viewed as an opportunity for generosity on the part of the driver and a way to practice good manners on the part of the rider.
What We’re Reading 2023
Enjoy a fresh batch of year-end book reports from all of the readers, writers, and editors at JSTOR Daily!
The Care of the Dead: A Reading List
An interdisciplinary bibliography exploring the care of the dead and how our final choices are shaped by culture, religion, economics, technology, and war.
Slavery and the Modern-Day Prison Plantation
“Except as punishment for a crime,” reads the constitutional exception to abolition. In prison plantations across the United States, slavery thrives.
What Skulls Told Us
The pseudoscience phrenology swept the popular imagination, and its practitioners made a mint preying on prejudices, gullibility, and misinformation.
The Radical Street Sellers of London
Many considered street vendors dangerous, not just for their general skirting of the law but because they comprised an outspoken political force.
“Microcosms of Empire” in the Colonial Grand Hotel
While Singapore's iconic Raffles Hotel may be marketed as a tranquil throwback to a bygone age, it also reveals the complicated truths of imperialism.
Gay Mass Consumption Before Stonewall
In the 1960s, the Mattachine Society had only a few thousand members. But tens of thousands of men subscribed to physique magazines published by gay entrepreneurs.
Darling or Degrading? Baby Shows in the Nineteenth Century
A stunningly popular form of entertainment, baby pageants promoted the cult of domesticity, showcased maternal pride, and opened a path to fame and wealth.