Aruba: Black Gold and Boas
What happens when an oil-rich island paradise interrupts its production of petroleum? You may have to visit the Caribbean island of Aruba to find out.
Daniel Burnham in the Philippines
Building on his success as an architect and planner in Chicago, Daniel Burnham took American values and aesthetics to the new US colony of the Philippines.
Coco De Mer: The Magical Derrière of the Sea
Once viewed as a precious item of mysterious origin, the seed of the coco do mer palm, though better understood today, remains a rare and valuable commodity.
Queer Representation in Pre-Code Hollywood
Before the establishment of the Hollywood Production Code in the 1930s, filmmakers deployed gender and sexuality stereotypes for glamour, humor, and drama alike.
Marseille: Independent, Industrial, and Mediterranean
From Caesar’s Commentaries to the modernism of Le Corbusier, the port city of Marseille has preserved a sense of individuality and industry.
Organic and Unusual: The Architecture of Bruce Goff
Both choice and circumstance forced Bruce Goff to forge his own path as an architect, freeing him to develop an individualistic yet natural approach to design.
First Comes Love
A top divorce lawyer collected strangers’ marriage certificates and other wedding-related ephemera—a testament to her perhaps surprising faith in matrimony.
When the Bishop Married the Abbess
When a new bishop was installed in the see of medieval Florence, he was also expected to marry—at least symbolically—the abbess of San Pier Maggiore.
Bring on the Board Games
The increasing secularism of the nineteenth century helped make board games a commercial and ideological success in the United States.
Mashup at the Intersection of Deco and Hip-Hop
Archived at Cornell University, a collection of flyers promoting dance-inspiring DJ sets in the Bronx established the visual identity of a new cultural era.