The Mrs. Files looks at history through a contemporary lens to see what the honorific “Mrs.” means to women and their identity. America had its first introduction to the artist and designer Ray Eames in 1956, and it was brief. NBC’s “Home” show was featuring the debut of the now-famous Eames lounge chair, and the…
Clare Goslant was in search of an affordable place to live in Washington, when she took time off between her junior and senior years at Harvard for an internship with the World Wildlife Fund. What she found was the International Student House, a community of young students and interns in the district that provides dormitory-style…
Have you ever wondered how forks ended up with four tines, where to store off-season clothes when you live in a small space, or why there’s green felt on pool tables? These books have answers. Walk into any flea market and you’ll find crafts stitched with aphorisms like “Home sweet home” and “Home is where…
Is it OK to admit that I’m grateful for the isolation of the past few months? Because I am. I’m relishing this liminal space, this Great Global Pause. I’ve been in mourning since last August when my adored doorman, Dave Burton, who always helped me zip up my dresses, died of prostate cancer. Nearly two…
Shaved heads, dyed hair, billowing beards: Many are using their newly found free time to alter their appearances. For some, those changes may be permanent. Stick-and-poke tattooing, which involves repeatedly pricking the skin, is proliferating among those at home, healthy and unhindered during quarantine. Reddit’s r/quarantattoo thread is filled with guidance; a post on the…
In summer resort towns across the United States, livelihoods for the year are built in the 15 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day. It is during those 15 weeks that tourists from around the country and the world arrive to bask on the beach and gather for festivals and weddings. And it is during…
Michael Cicoria is not the type to automatically pull out chairs and hold doors. But he will admit that when it comes to chivalry, he has his moments. In the summer of 2013, while he was attending Drexel University, he was at a birthday party off campus in Philadelphia when he saw a fellow student,…
In recent years, the demand for pollinator plants has surged. But most of us don’t have room for a meadow. So where do these native plants fit in your garden, which may not be that big and is probably not very wild-looking? And how do you find plants that are native to your particular location,…
The day the governor of Rhode Island announced that schools would remain closed for the rest of the school year, Dan Freedman rallied his high school classmates to gather for an impromptu car parade on campus. Their prom and graduation may not happen, but the Cumberland High School class of 2020 would have its honk…
Being confined to my home for the last two months has led me to think deeply about subway tile. It neatly covers my kitchen backsplash, and very possibly yours, but do its origins really lie in the subways? Why would that environment be anyone’s inspiration? And why is it so crazily popular now? Which leads…