At the Harmony Grove picnic dedicated to abolishing slavery, Thoreau read portions of what became his essay “Slavery in Massachusetts” completed later that year. The occasion was a Fourth of July celebration, and among Thoreau’s concerns was the fugitive Henry...
When Charles Dickens visited the Looking Glass Prairie in 1842, it reminded him of a Catlin exhibition in London. “The sun was going down, very red and bright,” Dickens writes, “and the prospect looked like that ruddy sketch of Catlin’s, which...
One hundred and fifty-six miles west of Cincinnati, and thirty-two years after Francis Trollope settled there, David Broderick Walcott’s Hocking Valley Picnic (1854) makes picnicking ordinary. Twenty years of picnic progress made a substantial difference in...
Thompson’s painting has often been retitled. It has been Pic Nick, A Pic Nick, Camden, Maine], and is currently A Pic Nick in the Woods of New England. The menu included ham [with cloves], roast chicken, clams, potatoes or baked beans? [in a dish], bread, wine,...
According to family lore, Llewelyn photographed his wife Emma each year on her birthday, September 23, 1855. From a picnic point of view, it’s fortuitous because, to my knowledge, this is the first photograph ever of a picnic. *Llewelyn was a pioneer...
“My first Derby,” William Powell Frith explained, “had no interest for me as a race, but as giving me the opportunity of studying life and character.” after considerable preparation, Frith eventually painted the scene as an amusement tinged...
Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is attack on the French bourgeoisie’s crudities and lack of taste. A pivotal moment occurs at Emma Rouault’s wedding party, a vaguely picnicky outdoor event. The party foreshadows Emma’s disastrous relationship with...
Antonia is the matriarch of an extended family: her daughter, child, and partner, her friends, and castoffs who need a home. Each year, a long table is set in the barnyard for the extended family to picnic. See Marleen Gorris. Antonia’s Line (1995). Screenplay by...
The Fūdo Falls is known for its spiritual and curative powers. A rope with tassels marks a sacred Shinto space. It’s among the most well-known scenic waterfalls in Japan. ButHiroshige’s vision of the falls is his own. Picnickers sit at a table below the falls. In the...
Six hikers have reached a plateau near Mansfield Mountain’s top and are ready to picnic just before sunset. Thompson titled the painting a Belated Party to provide tension, and we wonder if the picnickers will safely walk down the 4400-foot mountain in the...
