Charleston Time Machine

Latest Episodes:

Episode 49: Charleston's First Ice Age - Charleston Time Machine Jan 17, 2018

Show notes

Long before the advent of modern air conditioning, tenacious investors at the turn of the nineteenth century surmounted great challenges to create a viable business of selling Northern ice to customers in Southern cities. By 1817, Charleston was receiving a continuous annual supply of natural ice that transformed the city’s culture of food and beverages.

Episode 48: Firewood History - Charleston Time Machine Jan 11, 2018

Show notes

Firewood was once a basic necessity of life in all seasons of the year. Let's explore some of the details of the firewood business to connect our senses to the sights and smells of Charleston past.

Episode 47: New New Year - Charleston Time Machine Jan 04, 2018

Show notes

"Lady Day" (March 25th) was "New Year's Day" for the first 81 years of Charleston, until we switched to the "New Style" calendar in 1752.

Episode 46: Emancipation Day: A New Year’s Tradition Dec 25, 2017

Show notes

Since 1866, local citizens have celebrated the first of January as Emancipation Day—a joyous holiday featuring parades, pageantry, singing, dancing, orations, and religious thanksgiving. The day marks the demise of slavery and the liberation of those who once formed the majority of South Carolina’s population. Now one of Charleston’s oldest public events, Emancipation Day is a noble occasion worthy of general acknowledgement and applause, regardless of one’s creed or color.

Episode 45: Charleston Victory Day Part 2 - Charleston Time Machine Dec 19, 2017

Show notes

Let’s pick up the story in early December 1782, when the end of the long war was quite literally in sight. Most of the American army in South Carolina, consisting of several hundred men under the leadership of General Nathanael Greene, was camped on a number of plantations on the west side of the Ashley River.

Episode 44: Charleston’s Victory Day, Part 1 - Charleston Time Machine Dec 13, 2017

Show notes

Let's explore the events leading up to the British evacuation of Charleston on 14 December 1782, a momentous day in South Carolina history.

Episode 43: Dart Library's 90th Anniversary - The Charleston Time Machine Dec 05, 2017

Show notes

In the autumn of 1927, Susan Dart Butler opened a free library in a building known as Dart Hall in downtown Charleston, and the present Dart Library is hosting a celebratory event this Saturday to commemorate ninety years of service to the community

Episode 42: Carolinas Bajan Roots, part 2 - Charleston Time Machine Nov 29, 2017

Show notes

At the turn of the seventeenth century, England was very keen to get involved in the European real estate bonanza in the New World. By that time, Spain and Portugal had already claimed nearly the entire continent of South America, the southern parts of North America, and most of the islands known as the West Indies, or Caribbean Islands.

Episode 41: Thanksgiving In Early Charleston - Charleston Time Machine Nov 21, 2017

Show notes

It’s Thanksgiving season again, and for most people that means a day of rest, relaxation, and feasting with close friends and family. As a historian working in an old city, I have learned that Thanksgiving also includes at least ten people asking me the same question: “When was the first Thanksgiving in Charleston?” I don’t mind the question at all, but the answer is generally more complex than most people care to hear. If you don’t mind a quick stroll through the historical record of early South Carolina, however, I’m happy to offer an answer to this annual holiday question.

Episode 40: Carolina’s Bajan Roots, Part 1 - Charleston Time Machine Nov 15, 2017

Show notes

If you pick up any book about the origins of South Carolina in the late 1600s, you’ll be sure to find references to the island of Barbados and the great influence it exerted on our early history. Nearly 350 years later, in November 2017, a number of Lowcountry residents are collaborating with officials in Barbados to commemorate the cultural ties that continue to bind our two communities together.

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