MS. in a Bottle – Edgar Allan Poe and Baltimore

October seems the perfect month to feature a blog post on Gothic horror writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) and his storied history in Maryland. This circa 1830s wine bottle, recovered from a mid-19th century privy in Baltimore, inspired this post. Figure 1. Wine bottle recovered from a … Continue reading →

Epidemic Typhus in Baltimore

Figure 1. The double-sided comb has closely spaced teeth for removing the small lice. Figure 2. The vulcanized rubber comb is stamped “India Rubber Comb Co. Goodyear Patent May 6, 1851”. When I found this vulcanized rubber lice comb in a Baltimore privy (Figures 1 and 2), I originally … Continue reading →