Alas, Miss Curtis has suffered a self-inflicted delusion, and she is crushed. Toting a bag of strawberry jam sandwiches and a tea thermos, Miss Curtiss sadly lost herself in a miasma of unrequited love while on a holiday picnic. Walter De La Mare’s “The...
Succumbing to ethnic paranoia and anger, the United States Congress authorized President Franklin Roosevelt to intern Japanese Americans whether they were U.S. citizens or not. The law was signed in February. In May 1942, Lee documented some of the...
McCarthy and Wilson enjoyed sex and picnics in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. They often picnicked at the freshwater ponds dotting the mid-Cape, but during the summer of 1942, their marriage was wobbly. Wilson was fond of remembering his sexual relations with McCarthy....
Momentary serenity and happiness are upended in Welty’s “Asphodel,” a humorous picnic story in which three old maids are frightened by the appearance of a naked man. Cora, Irene, and Phoebe plan a picnic at Asphodel, the former home of their recently...
In February 1943, when the Allies defeated the Nazis in North Africa. To celebrate, Churchill flew to Tripoli for a victory parade. Enjoying the victory, Churchill, General Sir Bernard Montgomery, and other senior officers of the Eighth Army enjoyed a casual picnic...
Moynihan’s Picnic was chosen as propaganda for the British Home Front in World War Two. As a war poster, it was displayed in factories and other facilities where war workers congregated as a reminder of the peace and happiness that would prevail when the war was...
Slightly drunk, Sebastian Flyte looks up at the sky, remarking (mainly to himself), “Just the place to bury a crock of gold,” he says, “I should like to bury something precious in every place where I’ve been happy and then when I was old and ugly and miserable, I...
Jones’s Church Supper suggests the celebration of an African American picnic supper, sometimes called Dinner on the Grounds. An event like this is held in summer, usually on the first Sunday in August. It was always, and still is, a revival meeting. And while...
Astrid Lindgren’s zany picnic is a gastronomical feast. The chief picnicker is Pippi Longstocking, a brash, energetic, good-natured Swedish girl of nine who lives independently packs her own picnic. After zipping through some household chores, Pippi takes her...
Christie’s picnic at Kawkab in Syria was indelible because the dessert was in bloom. During an archeological dig in 1934 (?), Christie and Max Mallowan* packed a lorry named Queen Mary for sightseeing at Kawkab, a hill about 300 meters high. They expected an...
