Joshua R Greenberg
@joshrgreenberg.bsky.social
Historian. Author: Bank Notes and Shinplasters: The Rage for Paper Money in the Early Republic. Editor: commonplace.online. joshuargreenberg.com
Pinned
Commonplace Call for Submissions - Commonplace
Article reviews are ongoing.
commonplace.online
Do you have an idea for a short article (~2000-3000 words) on early American history/literature/art/material culture before 1900? We are accepting submissions at Commonplace or please reach out to me with a pitch or questions. More info below:🗃️
commonplace.online/article/subm...
commonplace.online/article/subm...
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
We were told Senate Dems needed to be laser focused on making the shutdown about ACA healthcare subsidies and not ask for too much else so that they could demonstrate how they were measured and serious. Voting to reopen without funding to provide an ACA solution clearly betrays even this low bar.
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 AM
We were told Senate Dems needed to be laser focused on making the shutdown about ACA healthcare subsidies and not ask for too much else so that they could demonstrate how they were measured and serious. Voting to reopen without funding to provide an ACA solution clearly betrays even this low bar.
We were told Senate Dems needed to be laser focused on making the shutdown about ACA healthcare subsidies and not ask for too much else so that they could demonstrate how they were measured and serious. Voting to reopen without funding to provide an ACA solution clearly betrays even this low bar.
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 AM
We were told Senate Dems needed to be laser focused on making the shutdown about ACA healthcare subsidies and not ask for too much else so that they could demonstrate how they were measured and serious. Voting to reopen without funding to provide an ACA solution clearly betrays even this low bar.
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Looking forward to watching Death by Lightning about James Garfield and Charles Guiteau. Seems like the sort of thing that someone should write an interesting review about and then send it to me for Commonplace. Any volunteers?
November 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Looking forward to watching Death by Lightning about James Garfield and Charles Guiteau. Seems like the sort of thing that someone should write an interesting review about and then send it to me for Commonplace. Any volunteers?
Looking forward to watching Death by Lightning about James Garfield and Charles Guiteau. Seems like the sort of thing that someone should write an interesting review about and then send it to me for Commonplace. Any volunteers?
November 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Looking forward to watching Death by Lightning about James Garfield and Charles Guiteau. Seems like the sort of thing that someone should write an interesting review about and then send it to me for Commonplace. Any volunteers?
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Abolitionst Elijah P. Lovejoy was murder OTD in 1837 by a proslavery mob as he defended the Alton, IL warehouse where his printing press was hidden. This 1850s bank note also from Alton ironically features among its images an allegorical vignette of Prosperity & Liberty. Alton Bank, IL, $3, 185-.
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Abolitionst Elijah P. Lovejoy was murder OTD in 1837 by a proslavery mob as he defended the Alton, IL warehouse where his printing press was hidden. This 1850s bank note also from Alton ironically features among its images an allegorical vignette of Prosperity & Liberty. Alton Bank, IL, $3, 185-.
I had the pleasure of speaking to my daughter's high school history class today on antebellum economics, money, labor, and financial panics. Lots of fun and I got to show them this great image from the Panic of 1857. 🗃️
November 7, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I had the pleasure of speaking to my daughter's high school history class today on antebellum economics, money, labor, and financial panics. Lots of fun and I got to show them this great image from the Panic of 1857. 🗃️
Abolitionst Elijah P. Lovejoy was murder OTD in 1837 by a proslavery mob as he defended the Alton, IL warehouse where his printing press was hidden. This 1850s bank note also from Alton ironically features among its images an allegorical vignette of Prosperity & Liberty. Alton Bank, IL, $3, 185-.
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Abolitionst Elijah P. Lovejoy was murder OTD in 1837 by a proslavery mob as he defended the Alton, IL warehouse where his printing press was hidden. This 1850s bank note also from Alton ironically features among its images an allegorical vignette of Prosperity & Liberty. Alton Bank, IL, $3, 185-.
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Hi all, please spread the word and we hope everyone can make good use of this new data drop: cmfdata.org
The full surviving establishment-level Census of Manufactures manuscripts and digitized data from 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880!
The full surviving establishment-level Census of Manufactures manuscripts and digitized data from 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880!
Historical Census of Manufactures Microdata - Historical Census of Manufactures Microdata
CMFdata.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
In honor of the not guilty verdict in Sean Dunn’s Sandwichgate trial, here is a note from Sandwich, NH made by Waterman Ormsby in his elaborate unit system of bank note design. Carroll County Bank, Sandwich, NH, $1, Jan 1, 1855. 🗃️
November 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM
In honor of the not guilty verdict in Sean Dunn’s Sandwichgate trial, here is a note from Sandwich, NH made by Waterman Ormsby in his elaborate unit system of bank note design. Carroll County Bank, Sandwich, NH, $1, Jan 1, 1855. 🗃️
In honor of the not guilty verdict in Sean Dunn’s Sandwichgate trial, here is a note from Sandwich, NH made by Waterman Ormsby in his elaborate unit system of bank note design. Carroll County Bank, Sandwich, NH, $1, Jan 1, 1855. 🗃️
November 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM
In honor of the not guilty verdict in Sean Dunn’s Sandwichgate trial, here is a note from Sandwich, NH made by Waterman Ormsby in his elaborate unit system of bank note design. Carroll County Bank, Sandwich, NH, $1, Jan 1, 1855. 🗃️
Good evening, moon.
November 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Good evening, moon.
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
NEW on Commonplace: Halloween may be over but the time is always right to talk about historic memory! In a new essay, historian Carla Pestana searches for the witches in witch city and considers what is lost when history and Halloween tourism collide: commonplace.online/article/sale...
Salem's Absent Witches - Commonplace
Such modest allusions to the colonial past were in the decided minority, however, swamped by the more generic Halloween ambience of the event.
commonplace.online
November 4, 2025 at 8:15 PM
NEW on Commonplace: Halloween may be over but the time is always right to talk about historic memory! In a new essay, historian Carla Pestana searches for the witches in witch city and considers what is lost when history and Halloween tourism collide: commonplace.online/article/sale...
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Election Day bank note:
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
November 4, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Election Day bank note:
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
Election Day bank note:
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
November 4, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Election Day bank note:
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
There is another witch problem in Salem, and it is not the one you think writes historian Carla Pestana after a recent visit. Check out her new piece in Commonplace here: 🧙♀️🗃️
commonplace.online/article/sale...
commonplace.online/article/sale...
Salem's Absent Witches - Commonplace
Such modest allusions to the colonial past were in the decided minority, however, swamped by the more generic Halloween ambience of the event.
commonplace.online
November 4, 2025 at 6:28 PM
There is another witch problem in Salem, and it is not the one you think writes historian Carla Pestana after a recent visit. Check out her new piece in Commonplace here: 🧙♀️🗃️
commonplace.online/article/sale...
commonplace.online/article/sale...
My daughter and I have started making a weekly early American history TikTok that uses something from the news as a jumping off point. The first one covered Pat Lyon and the Bank of PA Heist in 1798. For Halloween this week we discuss grave robbing and the 1788 Doctor’s Riot. Check it out: 🗃️
November 4, 2025 at 12:57 AM
My daughter and I have started making a weekly early American history TikTok that uses something from the news as a jumping off point. The first one covered Pat Lyon and the Bank of PA Heist in 1798. For Halloween this week we discuss grave robbing and the 1788 Doctor’s Riot. Check it out: 🗃️
Happy Birthday, Artemis! He is turning 6 today (we aren't really sure, but it is the anniversary of the day we brought him home from the Pasadena Humane Society). Birthday #Caturday. 🐈⬛🎂
November 1, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Happy Birthday, Artemis! He is turning 6 today (we aren't really sure, but it is the anniversary of the day we brought him home from the Pasadena Humane Society). Birthday #Caturday. 🐈⬛🎂
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Bonus spooky material from the Commonplace vault for Halloween. Check out Erik Seeman's look at ghost tours around the country from 2002. Unfortunately, many of the tour websites have zombie links now (oooh, scary for Halloween), but a couple still work. 👻🗃️
commonplace.online/article/spoo...
commonplace.online/article/spoo...
Spooky Streets - Commonplace
"Compared with most heritage tourism, ghost tours—by turns campy and didactic—offer visitors unblinking and, no doubt, at times unwelcome views of the skeletons in the closet of early American history...
commonplace.online
October 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Bonus spooky material from the Commonplace vault for Halloween. Check out Erik Seeman's look at ghost tours around the country from 2002. Unfortunately, many of the tour websites have zombie links now (oooh, scary for Halloween), but a couple still work. 👻🗃️
commonplace.online/article/spoo...
commonplace.online/article/spoo...
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Happy Halloween! It is the end of my series of spooky Commonplace early American history, so here is our Salem Witch Trials subject page. Articles and reviews from Mary Beth Norton, Benjamin Ray, Carol Karlson, and more. More Salem content coming next week! 🧙♀️🗃️
commonplace.online/topic/salem-...
commonplace.online/topic/salem-...
Salem Witch Trials Archives - Commonplace
commonplace.online
October 31, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Happy Halloween! It is the end of my series of spooky Commonplace early American history, so here is our Salem Witch Trials subject page. Articles and reviews from Mary Beth Norton, Benjamin Ray, Carol Karlson, and more. More Salem content coming next week! 🧙♀️🗃️
commonplace.online/topic/salem-...
commonplace.online/topic/salem-...
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Most of my Halloween revolves around the treats, so today's obsolete paper money is an advertising note from the late 1860s-1870s. Issued by the First National Candy Bank, it championed Dr. Carter's cough candy for colds, coughs, and sore throats. It was apparently the people's friend. 🗃️
October 31, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Most of my Halloween revolves around the treats, so today's obsolete paper money is an advertising note from the late 1860s-1870s. Issued by the First National Candy Bank, it championed Dr. Carter's cough candy for colds, coughs, and sore throats. It was apparently the people's friend. 🗃️
Witch Dance
YouTube video by Florence + the Machine - Topic
www.youtube.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Most of my Halloween revolves around the treats, so today's obsolete paper money is an advertising note from the late 1860s-1870s. Issued by the First National Candy Bank, it championed Dr. Carter's cough candy for colds, coughs, and sore throats. It was apparently the people's friend. 🗃️
October 31, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Most of my Halloween revolves around the treats, so today's obsolete paper money is an advertising note from the late 1860s-1870s. Issued by the First National Candy Bank, it championed Dr. Carter's cough candy for colds, coughs, and sore throats. It was apparently the people's friend. 🗃️
Bonus spooky material from the Commonplace vault for Halloween. Check out Erik Seeman's look at ghost tours around the country from 2002. Unfortunately, many of the tour websites have zombie links now (oooh, scary for Halloween), but a couple still work. 👻🗃️
commonplace.online/article/spoo...
commonplace.online/article/spoo...
Spooky Streets - Commonplace
"Compared with most heritage tourism, ghost tours—by turns campy and didactic—offer visitors unblinking and, no doubt, at times unwelcome views of the skeletons in the closet of early American history...
commonplace.online
October 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Bonus spooky material from the Commonplace vault for Halloween. Check out Erik Seeman's look at ghost tours around the country from 2002. Unfortunately, many of the tour websites have zombie links now (oooh, scary for Halloween), but a couple still work. 👻🗃️
commonplace.online/article/spoo...
commonplace.online/article/spoo...
Happy Halloween! It is the end of my series of spooky Commonplace early American history, so here is our Salem Witch Trials subject page. Articles and reviews from Mary Beth Norton, Benjamin Ray, Carol Karlson, and more. More Salem content coming next week! 🧙♀️🗃️
commonplace.online/topic/salem-...
commonplace.online/topic/salem-...
Salem Witch Trials Archives - Commonplace
commonplace.online
October 31, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Happy Halloween! It is the end of my series of spooky Commonplace early American history, so here is our Salem Witch Trials subject page. Articles and reviews from Mary Beth Norton, Benjamin Ray, Carol Karlson, and more. More Salem content coming next week! 🧙♀️🗃️
commonplace.online/topic/salem-...
commonplace.online/topic/salem-...
Reposted by Joshua R Greenberg
Halloween is tomorrow, so I am continuing my series of spooky Commonplace articles from the back catalog. Today, let's turn to a piece by Edward Blum, who checks in on the appearance of Satan in antebellum American politics and religion. Check it out here: 👿🗃️
commonplace.online/article/king...
commonplace.online/article/king...
The Kingdom of Satan in America - Commonplace
Weaving the Wicked Web of Antebellum Religion and Politics “Douglas is a cuning dog & the devil is […]
commonplace.online
October 30, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Halloween is tomorrow, so I am continuing my series of spooky Commonplace articles from the back catalog. Today, let's turn to a piece by Edward Blum, who checks in on the appearance of Satan in antebellum American politics and religion. Check it out here: 👿🗃️
commonplace.online/article/king...
commonplace.online/article/king...