history

Elmer Fudd Killed My Family Legacy — And Generations of Other Elmers, Too

I was to be an Elmer, a classic name in my family for many decades. But my grandfather — Claire Elmer Douglass — would never hear of it, all on account of the buffoonish rabbit hunter who could never outsmart his prey

A Very Hot, and Very Bothered History of the Sauna Suit

For more than a century, its manufacturers have made numerous overheated claims — from the suit’s ability to ward off illness, to how easily it can burn fat. But in recent decades, its usage has become much more life and death

The Father of the Graham Cracker Was One of the Great All-Time Buzzkills

Thomas Graham, the namesake of the half cookie, half cracker and the man who spent a lifetime railing against any food that brought taste, flavor or enjoyment to the table, would get no pleasure at all in the amount of pleasure graham crackers have provided over the last nearly 200 years