Indigenous cultures the world over have long preserved meat by drying it in the sun. Trouble is that bugs spoil meat, so to drive them away folks built small fires. The smoke helped not only to keep insects at bay … Read More
The perfume of sawdust filled the air and the whine of a ban saw gave way to the gravelly vocals of a Tom Waits tune as we entered Scott McGlasson’s Woodsport studio. Driven by a love of natural materials and … Read More
Humans have been hip to glass for thousands of years. Stone Age cultures fashioned cutting tools from obsidian, and scalpel blades are still made with the dark, volcanic glass today. Man made glass beads first appeared in ancient Egypt, and … Read More
From the Emmy and the Oscar to a host of other awards, R.S. Owens creates high-end trophies, and we were fortunate to meet master mold maker Chris Rowe on the backend of our visit to Chicago. A trophy starts as … Read More
Albert Einstein advised those seeking to describe truth to leave style to the tailor. Truth may best be served free of flair, but clothes make the man, and Rocco Giovannangelo and the staff at Oxxford Clothes put the “D” in … Read More
Home to ever-present Elvis impersonators and iconic landmarks like the Ryman Auditorium, the threads of American folk music color the cultural fabric of Music City. But it’s lesser known cultural paragons, tucked into crevices of the long shadow cast by … Read More
From Motown to Mustangs, Detroit’s halcyon days left an indelible impression on the American cultural landscape. The Funk Brothers, Motown’s legendary house band, laid down the groove as Fords rolled off the production line, igniting a romance with the open … Read More
We got another taste of New Hampshire craftsmanship in Peterboro this afternoon. Our final visit in the “Live Free or Die” state led us to the Peterboro Basket Company where we met Walter Hood, a semi-retired, walking encyclopedia of basketry. … Read More
We left the folks at Northeast Lantern and made a short jaunt to Manchester, where, lo and behold, we had another brush with artistic passion. Vivian Beer studied sculpture, honed her metallurgical chops as a blacksmith and now makes art … Read More
Our journey from Cape Cod into New Hampshire couldn’t have taken place on a more beautiful day, so before we left, we decided to take Mary Rose for a photo shoot on the Wellfleet Pier. The dame turned a few … Read More
A well-made chair demands the same attention to detail that goes into a suspension bridge, and Bob Francis is one hell of an engineer. Crafted with a passion for process, a Forever Windsor chair transcends the sum of its constituent … Read More
Between the gents at the Hartford Denim Company and a delicious steak dinner at Max’s Oyster Bar Hartford was a real hoot. Our road northeast unfurled under a beautiful afternoon, and by nightfall we found ourselves on Cape Cod. The … Read More
Manhattan was a gas, but by the time we lit out of the city amid its gauzy din on Saturday morning, we were ready for the open road to Hartford. Mark Twain made his home there for a number of … Read More
There was a time when entrepreneurs cleaved massive chunks of ice from glaciers in the Arctic, shipped them around the world and introduced the novelty of keeping things cool. Along came the refrigerator, which melted the mystique, making it a … Read More
Some guitars are made in factories, assembled by robotic arms using pressboard. Rick Kelly crafts his by hand at 42 Carmine Street in Greenwich Village using reclaimed lumber. White pine, to be exact. Originally culled from virgin Adirondack forests in … Read More
