Category Archives: 1920s

Back River Amusement Parks Hotbed of Prostitution and Venereal Diseases, 1920s

Report of the United States Interdepartmental Social Hygiene Board for The Fiscal Year Ended June 30 1922 Baltimore, Md. — “Back River” has been a by-word in Maryland for 20 years. Navy medical officers and the surgeons at Camp Holabird, … Continue reading

Posted in 1920s, Essex / Middle River, Sex, Vices | Tagged | 1 Comment

1920s Hopkins Professor Sought 34 Gallons of Rye for Research During Prohibition

By James Stimpert (Johns Hopkins University Hub, 8/11/2016) A rather unusual permit application resides in the Records of the Office of the President in the Johns Hopkins University Archives. In April 1920, Professor John B. Watson, a psychologist credited as … Continue reading

Posted in 1920s, Booze, Pikesville Rye, Vices | Leave a comment

The Importance of Being “Gently Stewed” – Mencken, Governor Ritchie, and Prohibition

The Importance of Being “Gently Stewed”: Marion Elizabeth Rodgers on Mencken, Governor Ritchie, and Prohibition By Sara Witman, 3/14/2011 Research Librarian Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander At the start of her lecture to a packed room at the Baltimore … Continue reading

Posted in 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, Baltimorons, Beer, Bootlegging, Booze, H.L. Mencken | Leave a comment

Rocket to Venus: The Great Baltimore Space Program of 1928

The prehistory of spaceflight is filled with mad scientists. Some of their work led directly to the development of space exploration…others had a much weirder destiny. Such was the case with Robert Condit, who built a rocket in 1928 that … Continue reading

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