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An explanation for a shaving baby on a calendar

Lifestyle Columns

Baby New Year can grow up fast! The baby pictured here is already shaving. Well, it’s probably not supposed to be Baby New Year, but being surrounded by a calendar, it’s an easy association to make. This baby was the mascot for Gillette’s safety razors, perhaps suggesting that they were both safe enough and easy enough for a baby to use, with the promise of baby-smooth skin, too. Inventor King C. Gillette was not the first to create a safety razor, but he came up with the disposable blade, and his company popularized them in the early 1900s. Note that the calendar is for 1909 -- ...

Fun for winter! The New Ulm Public Library’s Library of Things

Lifestyle Columns

Looking for fun activities this winter? The Library of Things (LOT) is an excellent starting point. Whether you want your children to continue learning while on a break from school, or are looking to boost family physical activity, many LOT items—available to checkout with your library card—can help you achieve your goals. Check out a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activity to strengthen logical thought processes and problem-solving skills or try a board game from the library’s extensive collection to stimulate the brain areas responsible for memory and complex ...

Combining classic techniques with modern sensibilities

Lifestyle Columns

Glass can be extremely difficult to identify and date. Fortunately for collectors, the vase pictured here is signed and dated: Lundberg Studios, 1977. Lundberg Studios, founded in 1970 and still active, makes iridescent glass with shapes and patterns reminiscent of famous art glass makers like Tiffany. They are not copies or reproductions but contemporary pieces taking inspiration from older styles. When it comes to contemporary glass (which Kovels defines as glass made after about 1970), the highest prices usually go to sculptural, avant-garde pieces made with unconventional ...

2024 in photos

Lifestyle Feature

In 2024, Journal staff took thousands of photos cover a wide range of unique stories; from the NUMAS Haus purchase of the former First United Methodist church building and the moving of the house at 320 N. Broadway to the partial failure of the Rapidan Dam and the demolition of George’s ...

Sourdough adventures

Lifestyle Columns

I have baked sourdough for several years using the same recipe and method, but after being influenced by all the new sourdough books, posts and how-to-videos I have started to experiment a little more. If you have tried your hand at maintaining a starter and baking sourdough, you are probably very much like me in thinking “I can do better.” We have many sourdough books to choose from here at the library. I encourage you to check some out and give sourdough a try for the first time or maybe change up your baking with some new techniques. I do feel compelled to warn you though…. ...

Recent Reads

Lifestyle Columns

Here are few of my favorite recent reads. Library staff would be happy to help you place requests on these or any other titles. If you’d like to place your own request, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Catalog. Harriet Reed’s debut novel is making her a star just as she becomes engaged to marry Edward Holbeck, the heir to a powerful family. Harriet is eagerly welcomed by the Holbecks. She is excited to join their ranks, until her soon-to-be father-in-law hands her a mysterious tape. Harriet is stunned by the recording: is it fiction or a confession? She will have to ...