40 years ago "A Date with Elvis" is the third studio album by the American punk rock band The Cramps. It was released in the UK in February 1986 and not until four years later, in 1990, in the US. #punk #punks #punkrock #thecramps #adatewithelvis #history #punkrockhistory

My trusty calendar tells me that it is National Puzzle Day, so it the perfect day to read Patricia Jane Roylance's fascinating article in Commonplace on how an 1850s jigsaw puzzle version of Uncle Tom's Cabin jumbles and generates new meaning for the story. 🗃️ commonplace.online/article/uncl...

This Thursday, January 22, at 4 p.m. ET, don't miss Jordan B. Smith discussing his new book THE INVENTION OF RUM in a hybrid virtual and in-person event hosted by @clementslibrary.bsky.social as part of the Drinking the Revolution series! Register now.

open.substack.com/pub/mattheww... One of the things I'm learning to love about Substack is that I can share material that didn't make it into the book. The Night Hawk, No. 4 is one of my favorites.

#BookHistory friends, take note! @printinghistory.bsky.social is holding its annual meeting tomorrow, and you can participate virtually. I'm particularly excited for a speech by this year's APHA individual laureate Elizabeth Savage. Details: printinghistory.org/apha-annual-... #booksky 🗃️📜📚

Heading to the printers soon and out in both the US/UK in three months! #booksky 📚 Available for pre-order now wherever books are sold: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Bob Marley on the Northern Plains open.substack.com/pub/andreaho...

today's a #caturday #booksky crossover. Started reading Jerry D Moore's Cat Tales: A #History. An #cat owning archaeologist brings his unique POV to the mysterious beings that share our lives. #book

www.theguardian.com/technology/2... The people making these decisions are also the ones who won’t suffer the consequences, whether AI is successful or not.

open.substack.com/pub/mattheww... Reading the Night Hawk illuminates the enormous contributions that African Americans made to the development of commercial nightlife and restaurant culture in Philadelphia, the nation’s second largest city at the time.

If you're a historian *in* Kansas, you should come present at the KAH this year in Topeka. Abstracts due Jan 26th, conference itself March 27-28. 🗃️ kansashistorians.org

And while we're at it, Plantation Goods from @uchicagopress.bsky.social will be out in paperback at about the same time this spring!

I got uncorrected page proofs for Night Hawk today! So excited, this is happening.

My book is about a fictional character, the Night Hawk, who has not been mentioned in print since November 1830. You can't find him with a google search. ChatGPT has no idea who the character is. My book comes out in September. I'm so curious to see when he will start showing up in AI summaries.

Published between 1828 and 1830, the Night Hawk urban crime stories were meant to entertain Philadelphia's working men while teaching Owenite socialist values. open.substack.com/pub/mattheww...

My first book, RUM MANIACS: ALCOHOLIC INSANITY IN THE EARLY AMERICAN REPUBLIC is coming out in a new paperback edition this fall, but why wait to buy it when you can get it now? This month, it's the University of Chicago Press's free ebook of the month! press.uchicago.edu/books/freeEb...

Are you finalizing a syllabus and looking for short, accessible articles to assign on some aspect of American history before 1900? Did you know that Commonplace has a subject tags page that allows you to easily browse our 25 year back catalog? Check it out here: 🗃️ commonplace.online/article/subj...

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... In 2024, one in six Americans had substance abuse disorder.

Lord Byron’s daughter Ada Lovelace and Laudanum: Freedom from Pain for the Price of Addiction www.museumofhealthcare.ca/blog/laudanu... #History

What can a coat, beads, or a ribbon tell us about power? 🧵 In Ep. 406, explore how Haudenosaunee women used fashion to shape diplomacy, identity, and resistance. 🎧 Listen: benfranklinsworld.com/406 #VastEarlyAmerica #History #Haudenosaunee #WomensHistory #NYHistory #USHistory

open.substack.com/pub/mattheww... "Mamdani’s election is simply a new chapter in the much longer history of socialism in American politics, and it’s worth remembering that we are approaching the bicentennial anniversary of the first successful American socialist movement."

The AHA leads or participates in several initiatives to provide resources and support for history educators facing intensifying controversies about the teaching of the American past. Learn more about our Teaching History with Integrity initiatives. 🗃️

To celebrate next year’s publication of NIGHT HAWK, I have launched a new Substack in which I will share readings and transcriptions of his adventures, which were published in an obscure Philadelphia newspaper some 200 years ago. open.substack.com/pub/mattheww...

Planning to attend #AHA26 in Chicago in January? Applications are due November 15 for grants to support your travel as well as childcare costs. Check out the full list of available grants at the link. 🗃️

I was thrilled to learn today that @uchicagopress.bsky.social is planning a new paperback edition of my first book, Rum Maniacs, to be published in the fall of 2026. So, I have two paperbacks coming out next fall!

Ok, book won’t be out until next fall, so plenty of time to design merch! Prototype Night Hawk coffee cup.

I was going to add Le Guin b/c "The way one does research into nonexistent history is to tell the story and find out what happened. I believe this isn't very different from what historians of the so-called real world do. You look at what happens and try to see why it happens... 1/2

I am thrilled to announce that my book Night Hawk: A Nineteenth-Century Superhero and the Dawn of American Mass Culture is officially in production and scheduled for publication in September 2026 by @uchicagopress.bsky.social

Puff, Puff? Pass!: The Anti-Tobacco Writings of Margaret Woods Lawrence commonplace.online/article/puff...

Today is PUBLICATION DAY for Canal Dreamers! A dream come true! 🥳📘📖🗃️ Seacoast folks, I will be talking at Exeter’s Water Street Bookstore on October 9 at 7 PM. Please come! If you can't come, @uncpress.bsky.social has a sale (01NEWSITE50) or try 01SOCIAL30 uncpress.org/978146969055...

www.nytimes.com/athletic/643... FIFA has taken us for fools over its promise to fight racism

Revised National Parks Webpage Describes Harriet Tubman As Human Trafficker theonion.com/revised...

www.oah.org/2025/03/12/r.... The OAH is collecting info about deleted or recently restricted historical sources-- please share