Vintage Photographs and customs from a 1920s/30s Halloween
Today, we associate October 31 with candy, costumes, and creepy decor. But, have you ever thought about the origin of Halloween and how the ghoulish holiday has evolved over the […]
And you have a wheel of cheese to be eaten at your funeral?
Imagine setting aside a wheel of cheese at your wedding. What would it look like if it were served at your funeral? Probably shriveled and brown, pockmarked from decades of […]
Jane Greengold and the Impaled Pumpkins of Kane Street – Brooklyn
Halloween is a tradition in Cobble Hill, and Jane’s 274 spike fence is a tradition at the neighborhood. It was October 1998 when artist and public interest lawyer Jane Greengold […]
Fontanelle Cemetery, Naples, and the cult of “pezzentelle” souls.
The Fontanelle cemetery is a place of worship located in in a cave in the tuff hillside in the Materdei section of the city of Naples, Italy. Inside there are […]
Hinnagami: the spirit that possess japanese dolls and grant their owners any wish
Hinnagami are powerful spirits from Toyama Prefecture, Japan, that live inside in dolls. In Japan dolls take on an important meaning, and this is why once they become old they […]
The disappearing art of Smoked Fish in Grimsby – England~
The seaport of Grimsby, along the Lincolnshire coast of England, was once a very attended fishing port, and in the 1930s, there were nearly 80 smokehouses in the town. Inside, […]
Maneki Neko: history and legend of the Japanese lucky cat
Japan is a great country for cat lovers: there are, for example, islands with more cats that inhabitants, and the most popular is Tashirojima, or you can drink something in […]
Scanno, Italy: A heart surrounded by mountains
The village ef Scanno appears like small stone houses embracing each other with their tiny roofs. These roofs, so perfectly spread, have inspired hundreds of photographers and artists from all […]
The ancient and strange English custom of wife-selling
Between the late eighteenth and the mid-nineteenth century in England, there was a strange and fascinating custom called wife-selling. Married women in England were commonly bought and sold at village […]
Plaza de Toros de Acho in Lima, Perù. The oldest in the Americas
We are in Lima, Peru. Built over 250 years ago, the Plaza de Toros de Acho is the oldest bullring in the Americas but not only: perhaps surprisingly, considering its […]
La Llorona: the legend of the weeping woman of Mexico and Southwest America
The legend of La Llorona, which literally means in Spanish language “Weeping Woman”, has been a part of Hispanic culture in the Southwest America and Mexico since the days of […]
The ancient Lycians and and their spectacular funerary culture
The ancient Lycians are probably one of the most enigmatic peoples of history, because there are not many traces of their civilization. However, what has been discovered reveals a fascinating […]
Miyoshi Mononoke Museum: the first museum dedicated to Japanese folklore monsters recently opened near Hiroshima
Demons, monsters and ghosts. Anyone who has even a minimum of familiarity with Japanese folklore knows that there are so many beings – or not beings – strange across the […]
Naples, Italy: in November the first Black Cat Museum opens.
Who does not remember “Tournée Du Chat Noir”, one of the most famous nineteenth century posters that advertised the Parisian coffee house of the same name? Even today the poster […]
The Annual world meeting of Gypsies in Camargue, France.
“Vive les Saintes Maries! Vive la Sainte Sara!” The celebrant on the altar, with the garment embroidered with the symbols of the Camargue, stylized profiles of bulls and horses on […]
Callu de Cabrettu: the oldest style of cheese?
Here we are: We are in Sardinia, Italy, a region which could be home to the oldest style of cheese. According to locals, this is almost the forbearer of all […]
