The Musical Life of Lakshman Iyer

Shay Iyer’s prose intricately blends nostalgia, music, and ritual as she leads us through the life of her father as if in song. The story she tells of her father speaks far beyond his particular experience and vibrantly articulates a broader commentary on social hierarchy, familial knowledge, and the ways our identities take shape. This […]

Read more
What Would Mrs. Biddle Serve?: Food as Social Currency in Gilded Age Philadelphia

Cookbooks exemplify the ideals of a society: what an authority thinks people should eat, what their society values.  Print cookbooks are aspirational, while handwritten cookbooks give an account of what people actually ate—giving us a glimpse of their real lives.  In her handwritten recipe book, Mrs. George W. Biddle gives an honest view of the values of high-society women in the 19th century through the recipes included.  Mrs. Biddle used recipes as social currency, recording ones that elevated the status of the family and trading with other women.

Read more