Le punizioni corporali sono sempre state considerate un deterrente per chiunque avesse in mente di commettere qualcosa di sbagliato. Dall’antichità fino ai giorni nostri la tortura non ha mai smesso di essere usata come forma di punizione o come “incentivo” alla confessione, sia nel caso in cui si fosse imputati sia di semplici testimoni. Sotto, il video racconto dell’articolo sul canale Youtube di Vanilla Magazine: Donna punita con la Briglia della Comare - litografia del 1885 In Scozia, durante l'età moderna, a molte donne non occorreva commettere chissà quale grave crimine per subire un’orribile punizione, bastava essere pettegole o comunque dalla lingua lunga… Per questo "crimine" così diffuso fu inventato uno strumento di tortura ad hoc: la mordacchia, o briglia della comare (Scold’s bridle). Immagine di Postdlf via Wikimedia Commons Si trattava di una sorta di maschera di ferro, da chiudersi intorno alla testa, munita di una piastra che andava a premere sulla lingua. Lo scopo di questo dispositivo era quello di impedire di parlare, e ovviamente di mangiare, alla malcapitata pettegola. Talvolta, sulla piastrina era posizionata una punta di ferro, che provocava gravi ferite ad ogni minimo movimento della lingua: Anche la più chiacchierona delle donne avrebbe desistito Non ritenendo sufficiente questa punizione corporale, per espiare il reato la donna doveva anche essere umiliata pubblicamente: veniva condotta al guinzaglio in giro per la città, molto spesso dal proprio marito. Tutti coloro che la incrociavano lungo la strada avevano il diritto di insultarla, sputarle addosso e perfino picchiarla e la violenza non era scoraggiata. Immagine condivisa con licenza Creative Commons via Wikipedia La briglia della comare era una forma di punizione che in qualche modo si rifaceva all’antica prassi dell’occhio per occhio, dente per dente: chi amava parlare troppo e a vanvera, calunniando altre persone, doveva essere colpito proprio sulla lingua. Il dolore era una forma di catarsi che cancellava il peccato. Immagine condivisa con licenza Creative Commons via Wikipedia La mordacchia veniva quindi imposta a donne, e in rarissimi casi a uomini, che si rendevano colpevoli di calunnie. Il vero problema, ovviamente, era stabilire il confine tra mero pettegolezzo e reale calunnia La briglia, in ogni caso, divenne una punizione per quelle donne che in qualche modo mettevano in discussione l’autorità del marito, o che, se maltrattate, ne parlavano con altre persone. Non solo, venivano punite le adultere e in genere le "ribelli", con un arbitrio ovviamente deciso in toto dagli uomini interessati. Una delle prime donne ad essere sottoposta a questa tortura fu Bessie Tailiefeir, che nel 1567, in Scozia, aveva diffamato un certo Baillie Hunter: la "pettegola" andava dicendo in giro che l'uomo aveva imbrogliato sulla misurazione di alcuni terreni. La mordacchia fu usata principalmente in Scozia, ma anche in Inghilterra e in Galles, dove però non fu inserita tra gli strumenti di punizione ufficiale. Dalla Gran Bretagna arrivò anche in Germania, dove aggiunsero una campanella, che doveva attrarre l’attenzione sulla vittima durante le umilianti passeggiate. Immagine di Wellcome Images via Wikimedia Commons Come forse è intuibile, la briglia della comare era una punizione riservata quasi esclusivamente alle donne, ma solo a quelle delle fasce più povere: le nobili e aristocratiche dame britanniche potevano sparlare senza il rischio di essere "imbrigliate". Le donne del popolo invece, rischiavano di essere sottoposte a questa tortura anche per motivi non legati alla calunnia: Bastava essere sospettate di stregoneria, o semplicemente mostrarsi ribelli e “moleste” Se la mordacchia fu usata comunemente nel Regno Unito fino al 17° secolo (anche se risulta presente nella lista delle punizioni ancora nel 1856, in un paesino del Lancashire), nel Nuovo Mondo, dove arrivò grazie alle colonie britanniche, la briglia venne usata come punizione corporale per gli schiavi durante tutto il 18° secolo (un classico esempio di civiltà europea esportato nella terra dei selvaggi pellerossa). La maschera era fisionomicamente a forma di un volto umano, ma diversi dettagli la rendevano ridicola, come le orecchie da asino, i baffi (ricordiamo che la indossava una donna), il grande naso e altri dettagli che potevano essere oggetto di derisione dei passanti. In tutti i villaggi ne veniva mantenuta una sempre in ordine d'utilizzo e il suo impiego sembra esser diventato più frequente, ma il condizionale è d'obbligo, sotto il regno di Giacomo VI di Scozia, o Giacomo I d'Inghilterra, il figlio di Maria Stuarda. Anche se sembra uno di quei celebri falsi storici riguardanti la tortura, come la Vergine di Norimberga o la "Pera", le fonti storiche che ne parlano sono di tutto rispetto, fra cui si annovera la Wellcome Collection, la British Library e, in Italia, l'enciclopedia Treccani, che però menziona uno scopo diverso, ovvero come punizione per i bestemmiatori e i condannati. Le donne che vissero dove questa tortura poteva essere applicata dovevano stare attentissime a ogni singola parola che usciva dalla loro bocca. Un pettegolezzo, anche innocente, oppure una divergenza d'opinioni con un vicino che trovava in disaccordo molti altri paesani poteva essere motivo di condanna a un giro con la mordacchia. Forse la vera tortura era questa: Sapere di essere sempre ricattabili in funzione delle opinioni soggettive degli uomini del paese Fortunatamente oggi nessuna mordicchia imbriglia più le parole delle donne di molte parti del mondo, ma in altrettante ancora molte di loro sono limitate da leggi ormai anacronistiche. La speranza è che, anche in quei luoghi, strumenti di tortura fisici e psicologici, come questo, diventino al più presto un ricordo del passato. Sotto, un video della Wellcome Library che spiega la Mordacchia:

Le punizioni corporali sono sempre state considerate un deterrente per chiunque avesse in mente di commettere qualcosa di sbagliato. Dall’antichità fino ai giorni nostri la tortura non ha mai smesso di essere usata come forma di punizione o come “incentivo” alla confessione, sia nel caso in cui si fosse imputati sia di semplici testimoni. Sotto, il video racconto dell’articolo sul canale Youtube di Vanilla Magazine: Donna punita con la Briglia della Comare - litografia del 1885 In Scozia, durante l'età moderna, a molte donne non occorreva commettere chissà quale grave crimine per subire un’orribile punizione, bastava essere pettegole o comunque dalla lingua lunga… Per questo "crimine" così diffuso fu inventato uno strumento di tortura ad hoc: la mordacchia, o briglia della comare (Scold’s bridle). Immagine di Postdlf via Wikimedia Commons Si trattava di una sorta di maschera di ferro, da chiudersi intorno alla testa, munita di una piastra che andava a premere sulla lingua. Lo scopo di questo dispositivo era quello di impedire di parlare, e ovviamente di mangiare, alla malcapitata pettegola. Talvolta, sulla piastrina era posizionata una punta di ferro, che provocava gravi ferite ad ogni minimo movimento della lingua: Anche la più chiacchierona delle donne avrebbe desistito Non ritenendo sufficiente questa punizione corporale, per espiare il reato la donna doveva anche essere umiliata pubblicamente: veniva condotta al guinzaglio in giro per la città, molto spesso dal proprio marito. Tutti coloro che la incrociavano lungo la strada avevano il diritto di insultarla, sputarle addosso e perfino picchiarla e la violenza non era scoraggiata. Immagine condivisa con licenza Creative Commons via Wikipedia La briglia della comare era una forma di punizione che in qualche modo si rifaceva all’antica prassi dell’occhio per occhio, dente per dente: chi amava parlare troppo e a vanvera, calunniando altre persone, doveva essere colpito proprio sulla lingua. Il dolore era una forma di catarsi che cancellava il peccato. Immagine condivisa con licenza Creative Commons via Wikipedia La mordacchia veniva quindi imposta a donne, e in rarissimi casi a uomini, che si rendevano colpevoli di calunnie. Il vero problema, ovviamente, era stabilire il confine tra mero pettegolezzo e reale calunnia La briglia, in ogni caso, divenne una punizione per quelle donne che in qualche modo mettevano in discussione l’autorità del marito, o che, se maltrattate, ne parlavano con altre persone. Non solo, venivano punite le adultere e in genere le "ribelli", con un arbitrio ovviamente deciso in toto dagli uomini interessati. Una delle prime donne ad essere sottoposta a questa tortura fu Bessie Tailiefeir, che nel 1567, in Scozia, aveva diffamato un certo Baillie Hunter: la "pettegola" andava dicendo in giro che l'uomo aveva imbrogliato sulla misurazione di alcuni terreni. La mordacchia fu usata principalmente in Scozia, ma anche in Inghilterra e in Galles, dove però non fu inserita tra gli strumenti di punizione ufficiale. Dalla Gran Bretagna arrivò anche in Germania, dove aggiunsero una campanella, che doveva attrarre l’attenzione sulla vittima durante le umilianti passeggiate. Immagine di Wellcome Images via Wikimedia Commons Come forse è intuibile, la briglia della comare era una punizione riservata quasi esclusivamente alle donne, ma solo a quelle delle fasce più povere: le nobili e aristocratiche dame britanniche potevano sparlare senza il rischio di essere "imbrigliate". Le donne del popolo invece, rischiavano di essere sottoposte a questa tortura anche per motivi non legati alla calunnia: Bastava essere sospettate di stregoneria, o semplicemente mostrarsi ribelli e “moleste” Se la mordacchia fu usata comunemente nel Regno Unito fino al 17° secolo (anche se risulta presente nella lista delle punizioni ancora nel 1856, in un paesino del Lancashire), nel Nuovo Mondo, dove arrivò grazie alle colonie britanniche, la briglia venne usata come punizione corporale per gli schiavi durante tutto il 18° secolo (un classico esempio di civiltà europea esportato nella terra dei selvaggi pellerossa). La maschera era fisionomicamente a forma di un volto umano, ma diversi dettagli la rendevano ridicola, come le orecchie da asino, i baffi (ricordiamo che la indossava una donna), il grande naso e altri dettagli che potevano essere oggetto di derisione dei passanti. In tutti i villaggi ne veniva mantenuta una sempre in ordine d'utilizzo e il suo impiego sembra esser diventato più frequente, ma il condizionale è d'obbligo, sotto il regno di Giacomo VI di Scozia, o Giacomo I d'Inghilterra, il figlio di Maria Stuarda. Anche se sembra uno di quei celebri falsi storici riguardanti la tortura, come la Vergine di Norimberga o la "Pera", le fonti storiche che ne parlano sono di tutto rispetto, fra cui si annovera la Wellcome Collection, la British Library e, in Italia, l'enciclopedia Treccani, che però menziona uno scopo diverso, ovvero come punizione per i bestemmiatori e i condannati. Le donne che vissero dove questa tortura poteva essere applicata dovevano stare attentissime a ogni singola parola che usciva dalla loro bocca. Un pettegolezzo, anche innocente, oppure una divergenza d'opinioni con un vicino che trovava in disaccordo molti altri paesani poteva essere motivo di condanna a un giro con la mordacchia. Forse la vera tortura era questa: Sapere di essere sempre ricattabili in funzione delle opinioni soggettive degli uomini del paese Fortunatamente oggi nessuna mordicchia imbriglia più le parole delle donne di molte parti del mondo, ma in altrettante ancora molte di loro sono limitate da leggi ormai anacronistiche. La speranza è che, anche in quei luoghi, strumenti di tortura fisici e psicologici, come questo, diventino al più presto un ricordo del passato. Sotto, un video della Wellcome Library che spiega la Mordacchia:

Dental phantom used to teach at schools of dentistry. Executioner’s mask, possibly late 19th Century. Mask for the criminally insane. Time period unknown.

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Judith Hewitt, co-manager of the Museum writes... Recently, the Museum was approached by the Travel Channel to appear on their Mysteries of the Museum programme. They wanted to focus on one specific case that of Jane Wenham in 1712 and on one specific object - the Scold's Bridle. As part of my preparation for this interview (which lasted three hours!) I researched the Scold's Bridle in detail and this research forms the basis of this month's object of the month. The Museum has two scold's bridles in its collection (object numbers 161 and 162). Object number 162 is said to have come from Exeter Castle. The founder of the Museum, Cecil Williamson, wrote of it: "A so-called scold's bridle, but in actual fact this bridle is reported to have come from Exeter castle where it was kept to clap on any female prisoner who gave way to shouting, swearing or screaming abuse during the night hours, it is highly uncomfortable to wear, for discomfort is the name of the game." and "The purpose of the bridle was to prevent the witch shouting and cursing the town or persons in authority." It is said that the earliest reference to a bridle worn by a woman is made in the 1380s by Geoffrey Chaucer who has one of his characters say: “But for my daughter Julian I would she were bolted with a Bridle That leaves her work to play the clak And lets her Wheel stand idle.” Allegorically, the figure of Temperance is often shown with a bridle. The bridle was said to represent a control of all the appetites, not specifically the control of the tongue. Above: Temperance with a Bridle (after Raphael) by Samuel Woodforde The scold's bridle was never a national legal punishment endorsed by legislation. It was a local measure adopted in some areas but not used in other (women in Derbyshire, for example, were said to be so calm and such good wives that the scold's bridle was never needed there!). It was a humiliating punishment and could function as a method of torture in some cases. The scold's bridle in the past was more commonly referred to as the branks. The reasons for this name are unclear but it may derive some lost North European or Viking expression. One other theory is that it derives from the Old French "bernac" for barnacle (which was an instrument put on a horse's nose to keep it quiet). Most people assume the bridle was only ever used on women as “Scolding women in the olden times were treated as offenders against the public peace…” but the earliest documented examples of its use in Britain refer to its use on any person of guilty of the specific crime of blasphemy (a law from Edinburgh in 1560 stated that all persons guilty of blasphemy should be punished by the iron brank) or the more general crime of immorality. On 7th October 1560, David Persoun of Canongate, Edinburgh was found guilty of fornication and forced to “be brankit for four houres” The woman he fornicated with was banished from the city! Later examples of its use give clues as to why it is sometimes called "the scolds or gossip's bridle". In 1574, records from Glasgow record the punishment: “two scauldes to be branket.” In 1600, the "brankes" is mentioned in Stirling as punishment for a shrew. In 1699, Cecily Pewsill “a notorious scold in the workhouse” had to wear the branks in the street for half an hour. In 1741, Elizabeth, wife of George Holborn in Northumberland was tied to the market-cross for two hours for “scandalous and opprobrious language to several people.” In 1789, the branks was used in Lichfield. A local farmer enclosed a woman’s head “to silence her clamorous Tongue” and led her round a field while boys and girls “hooted at her” “Nobody pitied her because she was very much disliked by her neighbours.” The bridle was often used as part of a public display and is similar in intention to the ducking stool - the aim was to humiliate the "offender" before their community and to titillate the spectators,“such a bridle as not only quite deprives them of speech, but brings shame for the transgression, and humility thereupon.” The earliest known reference to the bridle in England comes from Macclesfield. In the town records mention is made of “ a bridle for a curste queane” assumed to be prostitutes or women or “lighte behaviour and loose morals.” An interesting case from 1655 sheds some light on the use of the bridle to silence women as well as religious dissent. Quaker women in Carlisle, “…were led through the Street with each an Iron Instrument of Torture call’d a Bridle on their Heads to prevent their speaking the Truth to the People. Having been so expos’d to the Scorne and Derision of the Rablle they were turn’s out of the City.” Some call the bridle the witch's bridle and associate it primarily with that time of misogyny and persecution: the Witch Trials. While there are cases of the bridle being used on accused witches who were later executed, there are far more examples of its use as a general punishment for scolds (for whom this was probably the only punishment). To historian James Sharpe, these are two facets of the same intolerance as he refers to "The witch and her sister the scold." Part of the cultural idea that noisy, quarrelsome women were dangerous. There was a genuine fear of female conspiracy and the power of female words in the early modern period. Doctor Johnson probably spoke the view of the majority when he said “I am very fond of ladies, I like their beauty, I like their delicacy, and I like their silence.” The ideal of the quiet woman can be found in 18th century ballads such as this one: “A woman should like echo true Speak but when she’s spoken to But not like echo still be heard Contending for the final word.” One of the theories of the persecution of witches at this time is that they were intelligent women who would not be silenced, “Deprived of virtually all political influence the woman was left with one weapon of freedom her tongue, the liberal use of which branded her a “scould” possessed of unwomanly aggressiveness.” And so we come to the bridle and witchcraft accusations. One particularly gruesome account was that of Agnes Sampson, who was examined by King James himself at his palace of Holyrood Palace in 1590. She was fastened to the wall of her cell by a “witch's bridle” an iron instrument with four sharp prongs forced into the mouth, so that two prongs pressed against the tongue, and the two others against the cheeks. She was kept without sleep, thrown with a rope around her head, and only after these ordeals did Agnes Sampson confess to the fifty-three indictments against her. She was finally strangled and burned as a witch. In 1661 we find a reference to “The Bridle with which the wretched victims of superstition were led to execution.” in Forfar in Scotland. In 1676 there is a reference in West Yorkshire to the “scolds brank” made of iron “with an iron gag that fitted into the mouth” The records indicate that it could be fitted with a spiked collar when used on alleged witches. There are many examples of the use of the bridle after the end of the period of intense persecution of alleged witches. In 1799, it was used on an imprisoned murderer in Nottingham to keep him quiet in his cell while he awaited his execution. These branks were nicknamed "The Iron Gag". In 1807, the branks were publicly displayed in the police court at Shrewsbury as a deterrent. In 1876, a magistrate silenced arguing women in his court by pointing to the branks hanging on the wall of the Newcastle courtroom. Branks could be found hanging outside the office of the Mayor in some towns as a warning and deterrent. According to one account, in Chester, “In the old…houses of the borough, there was generally fixed on one side of the large open fire-places a hook, so that, when a man’s wife indulged her scolding propensities, the husband sent for the town jailor to bring the bridle, and had her bridled and chained to the hook until she promised to behave herself better in future…I…have heard husbands say to their wives “If you don’t rest your tongue I’ll send for the bridle and hook you up.” By 1900, there were an estimated 33 branks still in existence in Britain. Their use had gradually diminished as the Victorians eradicated punishments which they saw as old fashioned, irrational and too boisterous. In 1821 a Nottingham ordered for the branks there to be destroyed, saying only “Take away that relic of barbarism.” By the end of the 19th century, women had more legal rights than before and this punishment seemed outdated. Interestingly, it is at this time that many Victorian collectors began to collect and create reproductions of the branks and to write books on "bygone" punishments congratulating themselves on their modernity while at the same time exhibiting a voyeuristic and fetishized interest in the punishments of women in the past. References All information in this article derived from the following texts in the Museum library: James Sharpe, Instruments of Darkness (1996) William Andrews, Bygone Punishments (1899) E.J. Burford & Sandra Shulman, Of Bridles & Burnings, The Punishment of Women (1992)

Even though we’re off school this month, some things continue like instrument practice. My kids have been steadily taking lessons and practicing their chosen instruments for about two and half years now. (Addie and Byron both took piano for a couple of years before that.) Although I wouldn’t call them “enthusiastic” musicians, they’re all capable...

The inside of an Arctic lamprey's mouth is something I'd never like to come into contact with in real life, thanks.

Throughout recorded history, we've been covering up our faces (or other people's, by force) for all sorts of practical reasons.

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… In Europe the Mask of Shame, known in Germany as the Schandmaske, was a punishment used to moderate social misbehaviour. Being padlocked into a mask that by design revealed the shortcomings…

A branks, or scold's bridle, used to punish women who caused a public nuisance. For more information please go to blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/WASMG_WASMG...

W dzisiejszym odcinku m.in. multitool z XVI wieku, najstarsza drewniana rzeźba o…

Rothenburg Criminal and Punishment Museum: This museum was great. It specializes in everything connected to medieval criminal justice. Y...

At just over 5' 4" high and 2' wide, this is not a comfortable contraption. It was designed by Sanford J. Baker (1838-1905), a blacksmith from Oakland, Maine, sometime in the late 1800s. Reports variously state that Baker constructed 3 to 13 of his iron cages. They were used to lock up "tramps," the old-school definition being male vagrants and "hobos" who were found wandering around town begging, sleeping in public places, or catching free rides on freight cars to move on to the next place. The postcard above shows one of the chairs on the grounds of the Samoset Hotel, in Rockland, Maine, along with a caption describing the purpose of these devices. Click on the image to read the caption. The Tramp Chair was patented by Sanford Baker, and news of its creation reached across the country. In the May 21, 1899 edition of the Los Angeles Herald, an article written by the inventor was published. The article is a fascinating look at bias, discrimination and treatment of the destitute in 1899. Here is a transcript: IN TERROR Of THE TRAMP CHAIR The Inventor of a Remarkable Instrument Extinguishing the Wandering Willie Tribe Describes Its Successful Working in His Native Place Apart from the professionalist humorist, who finds the tramp an Inexhaustible subject for jokes, no one has the slightest use for the hobos who infest our country roads and beg or steal for a living. It Is good news, therefore, that a means has been found for squelching the pest. A worthy citizen has invented what he calls a tramp chair, which he claims is a never failing remedy for the hobo trouble. A picture of the chair Is shown accompanying the article that follows, which was written by the Inventor, especially for this newspaper. Oakland, Me., May 10.—(Special Correspondence to The Herald.) The genus tramp has become an extinct animal in this locality since the adoption by tho town authorities of the tramp chair, of which I am the proud inventor. My pride is, I think, a pardonable one, for I live in a town that for years suffered abominably from the hobo nuisance; the Wandering Willie fraternity at times, in fact, became an unmitigated and dangerous evil and drove us to adopt extreme measures or be at the mercy of the vagabond loafer. Inspired with a desire to find means of freeing from this nuisance the community in which I was most interested I set my wits to work and evolved the tramp chair, which I will describe. It is simply a strongly built cage in the form of a chair on wheels. It is so constructed that the occupant must remain perfectly quiet in a sitting position. A shelf is placed near the top for food and the contrivance can be handed about from place to place at will. The chief peculiarity of the chair lies in its door. When used as a method of punishment the culprit is obliged to enter it and sit down. The door, which is so constructed, that it follows the lines of the chair, is then closed and locked and the victim is confined as firmly as though he were glued to the seat. Another peculiar thing about the chair is that when the door is locked he cannot draw his feet up or move any part of his body enough to obtain rest. The chair resembles some of the ancient instruments of torture used by the Inquisition, in being only moderately formidable as to appearance, but a terror to those who are forced to spend only a few hours within its confines. When I first introduced the chair to my surprised townspeople attempt after attempt was made to induce someone to sit in the chair as an experiment, but no one seemed to be willing to go back far enough in Puritanic days to allow himself to become a subject. As a last resort, to show its workings, by the assistance of a $5 bill I persuaded one man to enter the chair and remain there for two and a half hours. The victim remained in the chair for the length of time agreed, but at the end of his penance grasped the money with such alacrity that it was shown he considered he had earned the reward many times over. Through the experiment it was shown that I had substantiated one of my claims that no man could remain in the chair for any length of time and when he was out of the chair say that he had been thoroughly comfortable or that he would be willing to repeat the experiment, even with a money consideration as the reward for the time he had spent doing nothing. That suggestion of doing nothing is one of the strong points of the tramp chair idea, for the true hobo spends his life in studying new ways and means of accomplishing that greatest desire of his lazy soul—absolute inaction. To be wheeled about, in a chair like a big baby seems to him to be the acme of slothful ease. He steps in for his first ride in the chair with alacrity, finds it not unpleasant for the first ten minutes, then begins to feel uncomfortable, gets cramped and finds his bones aching, and before the end of an hour's ride he is yelling murder and dynamite and promising all kinds of reformation if only he can get out. When his punishment is over and he is finally released the tramp makes a bee line for the open country and thenceforth comes nowhere near the town that chairs its tramp guests through the streets. I hope some day to get the Maine legislature to adopt the tramp chair punishment for use throughout the state. It is a sure cure in every case. Two tramp chairs have been in the Oakland lockup for some time. In proof of their usefulness I quote two reports, one from Augusta, a neighboring town, and one from Oakland. On February 3, 1890, the following report was printed in Augusta: "City Marshal Morse gave a nightly lodging to 275 wanderers during the month of January, thirty having been sheltered on a single night." The Oakland report for February 1, 1899, says: "A tramp was given lodging in the lockup Sunday night. Oakland has been quite free from tramps this winter, this being the first that has asked for lodging for several months." Just think of the difference; 275 tramps in one short month in Augusta, and only one here in Oakland, where the tramp chair was invented and kept on exhibition in our lockup for tramps to look It looks as though the chair had surely got the beat of the tramps. In a number of cases reliable men have told me that tramps inquired in their hearing what town this was, and on being told that it was Oakland said: "What! Is this where the tramp chair is?" The bystander told them it was. "Well, then," answered the tramp, "we will not stop here," and went on. Our lawmakers have racked their brains for the last fifteen years to make laws that would drive the tramp from Maine, but everything except the tramp chair has proved a failure. I will pay any man or woman $100 if they will produce one tramp that I cannot cure of tramping if I can have control of the case. The tramp chair is the only thing ever invented by mortal man that a tramp ever feared. Not even powder and ball, for two can play at that game, and with the chair only one. A tramp is a man traveling, pretending to be looking for work and praying to God all the time that he may never find any. As long as the tramp is looking for a job just invite him to sit in the chair instead of sawing wood to pay for food and lodging, two and one-half hours at a time, and see if he wants to repeat the experiment. The tramp tax of the sixteen counties of Maine in the year 1898, according to the state report amounted to $64,508. Just think of the enormous expense to each county that has villages and has a large population. Nearly one-third of all our county tax is to pay the tramps' board for thirteen or fourteen weeks in jail every year. The jail is the tramps' home in winter. This has been proved by the county reports of two of our counties that have no jails—Piscataquis and Sagadahoc. They have no tramps in winter because they have no jails; consequently the tramps keep clear of these two counties in winter because they have no jails and goes to his winter home in some other county where the jailer smacks his chops at the sight of his powerful lever— the tramp—the man that the county towns to send to jail in hopes of getting rid of them, a few weeks, even at the enormous tax that must be levied on the taxpayer and must be paid in money. Isn't that a potent argument in favor of my tramp chair? Anything more that I can do to aid the people in getting rid of tramps will be cheerfully done. SANFORD J. BAKER. Reading the article, one can't help compare the attitude of Mr. Baker to the attitudes that exist today towards those who are below the radar, so to speak. While there are always people who are unmotivated or unable to contribute to their own well-being or that of society, there are many more who are not satisfied with their position but have difficulty pulling it together and raising themselves up. Mr. Baker painted with a very broad brush in 1899, as some do today. But, I was elated to find this letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Herald, 3 days after the above article was published, by someone who wished to straighten him out: Walter, thanks for speaking up!

L’œuvre d’Andres Serrano, artiste d’importance né à New York en 1950, est à la fois provocante et fascinante. En termes d’échelle, de composition et de sujet, ses œuvres d’art montrent de fortes similitudes avec le travail des Vieux Maîtres, mais contrairement aux peintures anciennes, elles nous confrontent puissamment et directement à la réalité contemporaine. The oeuvre of the prominent artist Andres Serrano, born in New York in 1950, is both provocative and fascinating. In terms of scale, composition and subject matter his works of art show strong similarities to the work of the Old Masters, but unlike these old paintings Serrano’s work confronts us powerfully and directly with contemporary reality.

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While today we put the exploits of the most disrespectful, ill-mannered, drunken and depraved people we can find on TV to laugh at and make millionaires out of, in medieval Europe you would have seen Snooki and JWoww shuffling down the street muted by what’s known as a Scold’s Bridle, Branks or Schandmaske – a […]

Take a break from the beauty of Prague to explore a more gruesome side of history.