Historian
From the Raleigh Register, and North-Carolina Gazette, Friday, February 07, 1840:
Confused as to why Yankees might have a reputation for offloading clever frauds? Ever wonder why Connecticut is known as the “nutmeg” state? See here for all the answers.
Unlike the piano ad, this, I think, is a nice little piece of evidence — not a clincher, but a nice little piece nonetheless — that interest in China was fairly widespread.
Milwaukee Sentinel, (Milwaukee, WI) Tuesday, December 24, 1839; Issue 26; col B :
This from a Charleston, South Carolina newspaper:
A New Article of Trade to China, in the shape of Pianos, is about to be tried.
The great difficulty of preserving pianos in the climate of Canton, owing to its extreme dampness has deterred many from importing them. Messrs. Dubois, Bacon & Chambers, however, Piano Manufacturers of this city, have just completed two, which, from the strength of their construction, a better mode of securing the parts, and great care in the selection of the materials, will, they confidently believe, resist the climate.
They are, moreover, instruments of great sweetness, compass and delicacy, and have been pronounced by eminent pianists of superior quality – N.Y. Amer.
~The Southern Patriot (Charleston, SC), 28 May 1838, p.2, col. 3
I’d say this is just more evidence that Americans were interested in East Asia far sooner than we give them credit for, but I think the Southern Patriot and the NY American were motivated more by boredom, than anything else, to run this story.
I say that, partly, because in the former’s case, the entire front half of the front page was taken up with this:
Talk about being the voice of the community. I wonder if they reminded you to pick up some milk at the store, too…
Image cite: Sashamd, “We have a map of the piano,” Flickr, CC License
Deep in the depths of catching up on e-mail and reading teh interblags, I just found a new blog, and I might be in love.
It’s The Scholar As Teacher, put out by Princeton’s in-house professional development office, the McGraw Center for Teaching & Learning.
Don’t let the bureaucrat’s dream of a originating body throw you: it’s attractive to look at, smartly written to take advantage of the bloggy medium, and, most important, offers some ideas on teaching — both tips and tricks for the classroom, and ways of thinking about teaching more generally.
Not things I personally have much cause to use at the moment (woo hoo summer! boo hoo dissertation!), but I’m filing it away in the category of “good procrastination” (think “good cholesterol”).
Reminds me, in tone and deliciousness of content, of the stuff that the CHNM folks put out.
And, not to be rude, but it’s a bit easier on the eyes than the Tomorrow’s Professor Blog. So there.
PS – “JBFC,” a tag for a lot of the posts over there, stands for “Just Back From Class.”
Image Cite: Ms. Tina, “An Apple for the Teacher (3/365),” Flickr, CC License
Dael A. Norwood 