Jan

London, Lost and Foundling

by Joyce McGreevy on January 20, 2020

An array of silver charms seen on Marchmont Street are evocative markers of Britain’s past, inspired by historical tokens at London’s Foundling Museum. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

I spotted one—then several—fascinating artifacts in the pavement. What were they?
© Joyce McGreevy

Historical Markers Lead to Fascinating Discoveries

I’d walked along Marchmont Street often yet never noticed them—small, mysterious objects embedded in the pavement. Unlike London’s “blue plaques,” historical markers at eye level that link figures of the past with buildings of the present, the Marchmont Street objects were easy to overlook.

On Marchmont Street, London a token embedded into the pavement becomes an historical marker for those with the focus to spot it. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Some historical markers hide in plain sight.
© Joyce McGreevy

Here was public art at its least public, eloquent objects underfoot, shyly waiting to be seen and heard. Yet they, too, were historical markers, clues to a poignant chapter of London’s past.

A metal object embedded in the pavement on Marchmont Street marks a poignant chapter of London’s history. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Who had set this into the pavement? And why?
© Joyce McGreevy

Shining a Light on History

Marchmont is one of my favorite London streets, a place of bookshops, cafés, art house cinemas and pocket parks. Of its history, I knew that it was named for an earl, and that he’d been governor of Britain’s first charity organization for children—a home for “foundlings,” as abandoned infants were referred to long ago.

As for the mysterious objects, I’d never noticed them until that morning, when a glint of sunlight on rain-washed pavement caught my eye.

A heart shaped silver token on a London Street is an historical marker and a symbol of the parent-child bond. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

I wondered whose initials these could be.
© Joyce McGreevy

There they were, a scattering of silver tokens. What could these fascinating artifacts mean? I had to find out.

A silver token engraved with a name and birth date and found on a London street becomes an historical marker, prompting the author’s visit to the Foundling Museum. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Why did I sense an urgency about the recording of
this name and birth date?
© Joyce McGreevy

Tokens of Affection

Created by artist John Aldus in 2006, each token represents the bond between parent and child. In the London of the 1700s, that bond was tested to the breaking point as extreme poverty forced countless women to separate from their children.

According to one historian, mothers who relinquished infants to the care of a nearby “hospital” (a term used broadly then) were urged to “affix on each child some . . . distinguishing mark or token, so that the children may be known hereafter, if necessary.”

It might be a heart or a locket, a brooch or a humble bottle tag. Each token signified the hope of reunion.

Where had the children gone? As historical markers, the tokens pointed the way—to the Foundling Hospital, just around the corner.

London’s Foundling Museum, the former Foundling Hospital, contains poignant treasures and surprising historical discoveries. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

At what is now the Foundling Museum, the original tokens are still on display.
© Joyce McGreevy

Following the Clues

In its time the Hospital had been a place of hope. Prior to 1739, abandonment was rampant and often fatal. Parishes were overwhelmed and some refused to help children labeled “illegitimate.”

Thomas Coram, a ship captain who’d calmly weathered the traumas of life at sea, was stunned to see children dying in the London streets. For 17 years, Coram campaigned to create a refuge, convincing Marchmont and other prominent Londoners to offer support.

A historical marker tells the story of British sea captain Thomas Coram, who campaigned to create London’s first charity for children, overcoming widespread prejudice about children born into poverty or outside of marriage. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

While a statue of Coram gave few clues to his character,
this historical marker revealed his compassion.
© Joyce McGreevy

Surprising Discoveries

Something I hadn’t expected to see at the former hospital was a collection of priceless paintings. How did they relate to the practical needs of at-risk children? Historical markers solved the mystery.

In 1739 as the Hospital began welcoming children, portraitist William Hogarth found the perfect way to raise public awareness of the charity—he donated several masterpieces and convinced artists like Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough to do the same.

The Foundling Hospital became London’s first public art gallery, a place where people could gather while supporting a worthy cause. Hogarth the great painter had also proved a genius at PR.

A Rousing Chorus of Support

Soon afterward, Hogarth asked a musician friend for a favor. Little did either man guess that it would change history. In 1742, the musician’s latest work had received dismissive reviews at its London debut. Hogarth asked his friend—George Frederic Handel—to try again, this time at the Foundling Hospital.

Buoyed by a rousing Hallelujah chorus, the new, improved performance of Handel’s “Messiah” was a phenomenal success. So many people wanted to see it that performances had to be added and it raised a fortune for the children’s charity. Instead of fading into obscurity as Handel had feared, it became Great Britain’s most beloved choral work.

A London choir evokes the historical connection between Handel’s Messiah and the first British charity for children, Thomas Coram’s Foundling Hospital. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

A London choir’s song has a surprising connection to the Foundling Hospital.
© Joyce McGreevy

One More Surprise in Store

As I left the museum, a volunteer told me to keep an eye out for another historical marker, just up the street. I soon found out why.

An historical marker, one of London’s blue plaques, identifies Charles Dickens’ home on Doughty Street near the Foundling Hospital, a charity that influenced his novel Oliver Twist. (public domain image by Wally Gobetz)

Did this “betoken” one more connection?
© Wally Gobetz/CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

In 1837 author Charles Dickens moved to nearby Doughty Street, taking regular walks through the Hospital grounds. Dickens was so moved by accounts of “good Captain Coram’s heart” that he raised funds for the children’s charity organization and wrote about it in his most famous works. In Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, the orphaned Oliver’s true identity hinges on the discovery of . . . a token.

A silver token engraved with a flower gathers moss on Marchmont Street, a marker of history, unnoticed by most passersby. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

I had come full circle, back to the tokens of Marchmont Street.
© Joyce McGreevy

Today Is Historically Remarkable

Coram, as the children’s charity organization is known today, has expanded as its goals have evolved. They now include upholding children’s rights and empowering parents to provide a loving, secure environment to their child. The former Foundling Hospital has become a place to celebrate the power of individuals and the arts to change lives.

Oh, I see: When you follow historical markers into the past, you make important discoveries about the present. Which might just inspire you to contribute to making a better future.

See some of the original tokens here. (Scroll down.)

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 3 Comments

Cultural Symbols/Discoveries/England/On Foot/Travels to the Past

Jul

Summer Like a Local

by Joyce McGreevy on July 8, 2019

Public street art on Rue St-Famille, Montréal reflects the everyday pleasure of exploring the urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Wandering leads to discovery in Montréal. Murals enliven every neighborhood.
© Joyce McGreevy

The Widespread Pleasures of Montréal’s Urban Culture

No wonder jazz is a top attraction for visitors to Montréal. The largest city in eastern Canada doesn’t just reflect urban culture, it riffs on it, reinterpreting it in endless variations.

Since visiting Montréal as a child, I’ve returned numerous times, always encountering new layers to its creative nature.

Most first-time visitors stay within a compact area around the Vieux-Port (Old Port), where cobblestone streets and picturesque buildings date to the 17th century. Charming though it is, visiting in peak season can give the impression that all 10 million annual visitors have shown up at once.

That’s why I encourage you to explore beyond the core. Oh, I see: Montréal’s summertime pleasures are generously sprinkled all over the city.

A zip line and Ferris wheel in Montréal suggest that slowing down and broadening your focus are additional ways to explore the urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Sure, zip around the Old Port, but broaden your circle, too.
© Joyce McGreevy

Here are five ways to celebrate Montréal’s urban culture. Eco-friendly, art-loving, and community-minded, they’ll make you feel right at home.

1. Do your reading in the park.

In many cities, cooling off on a summer’s day means cranking up the A/C. Montréalers keep cool by heading to the nearest green space. With 19 major parks and over 1,300 green squares, you won’t need a map to find one.

A park in Montréal reflects the everyday pleasure of exploring the urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Montréal is on track to increase its canopy cover to 25% by 2025.
© Joyce McGreevy

Montréalers’ love of green spaces was formalized in 1874 when Mount Royal became the first protected area in Québec. The design gig for Parc Mont-Royal went to Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed the grounds of New York’s Central Park.

Now Montréal’s green space is on the verge of another growth spurt. Over the next three years, the city will build its largest park yet—four times the size of Parc Mont-Royal—on the urban island’s western tip.

A woman walking and a corner grocery reflect the everyday pleasures of exploring Montréal’s urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

To shop like a local, buy only what you can carry, cook, and picnic on over 1-2 days.
© Joyce McGreevy

2. Hop to the shop, car-free.

With a dépanneur on virtually every block, shopping for food on foot is easy. Come spring, Montréal’s oldest public markets take off their “winter coats.” Down come the walls that shelter shoppers from 82 inches of annual snowfall.

The Marché Jean-Talon suggests the everyday pleasure of shopping for Québécois products and exploring Montréal’s urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Marché Jean-Talon has fed Montréal families since 1933.
© Joyce McGreevy

Which market should you choose, Marché Jean-Talon or Atwater Market? Both—and don’t overlook Marché Maisonneuve:

Atwater Market: The tall clock tower makes it a cinch for newcomers to find, and you can work off that maple sugar pie with a run along the Lachine Canal.
Marché Maisonneuve: Test your French fluency, marvel at the 1910 Beaux-Arts building that started it all, and test-ride a self-driving shuttle to Montréal’s Olympic Stadium.
Marché Jean-Talon: Explore the neighborhood known locally as Petite-Italie.

An Italian café in Petite-Italie reflects the everyday pleasure of exploring Montréal’s urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

After all that grocery-shopping, you’ll surely need a treat in Little Italy.
© Joyce McGreevy

Don’t make a list. Just wander among artful displays of Québécois produce, charcuterie, wheels of cheese, fresh oysters from the Bay of Gaspé, handmade ices, fresh flowers, herbs, and more.

3. Meet the neighbors.

Whatever your language, it’s easy to meet the neighbors in Montréal. I’ve enjoyed conversations in cafés, bookstores, the Segal Center Theatre, a local swimming pool, and while sitting on the curb of Rue St-Denis waiting for a parade to begin.

Even a short stroll can lead to memorable meet-and-greets. Last Saturday I went out for a newspaper. Two blocks later, I was dancing at a neighborhood barbecue. As for Sunday, I’m unlikely to forget meeting Antoine:

Circus artist Antoine Carabinier shows his sense of humor, another reminder of the fun of exploring Montréal’s urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Better known for balancing on the Russian bar in his family’s Cirque Alfonse,
Antoine Carabinier makes a genial barmaid at a Montréal street festival.
© Joyce McGreevy

4. Join the circus.

Every year, visitors flock to Montréal’s Jazz Festival, Cirque du Soleil, the “Just for Laughs” Comedy Festival, and other hot-ticket events.

No ticket? No worries.

Montréal’s creativity spills onto neighborhood streets, spreads across parks, and splashes across walls. Every summer, the roving Repercussion Theatre makes Shakespeare-in-the-Park accessible to all. Murals have a festival of their own. Meanwhile, Montréal Complètement Cirque scatters magic all around the city.

A circus artist performs for an audience on the Rue Maisonneuve, embodying the festive side of Montréal’s urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

A graduate from Montreal’s École Nationale de Cirque runs rings around his audience.
© Joyce McGreevy

5. Debate a local hot topic.

Montréalers have strong opinions about which is better, Fairmount Bagel or St-Viateur Bagel. Thus, it behooves you to “research” both.

But don’t just grab and gobble. Savor the “hole” truth with a lesson from local baker Will Paquet. As my Toronto classmates agree, his bagel-baking class is enriched by culinary science, seeded with local tips, and leavened with humor.

Bagel baker Will Paquet describes an everyday culinary pleasure of Montréal’s urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Paquet’s not out to “schmear” NY bagels, just passionate about Montréal methods.
© Joyce McGreevy

As Paquet guides us through the steps, we learn what makes Montréal bagels distinctive. Smaller and thinner than NY bagels, and with a faster transition between proofing and kneading, they are hand-rolled and poached in honey-water. Unlike NY bagels, they’re also flipped halfway through the baking.

Traditionally, Montréal bagels were baked in a wood-fired oven, but the city is phasing this out for environmental reasons. Even so, under Paquet’s tutelage the results are thrilling—a toothsome crunch followed by soul-transporting, soft-as-a-cloud sweetness.

Bagels in various stage of preparation evoke an everyday culinary pleasure of Montréal’s urban culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Making bagels delivers a taste of Montréal’s urban culture.
© Joyce McGreevy

To buy bagels like a local, says Paquet, order “Sesame, still warm,” consume your bagel within 30 minutes, and don’t bury it under a mound of sandwich fillers. In Montréal, the bagel itself is the star, not the stage.

Extend your urban boundaries

This 377-year old city embraces over two dozen neighborhoods, each with its own personality, flavors, and festivities. Factor in Canadian friendliness, convenient public transport, and a summer sun that stays up late, and you’ve got the perfect excuse to get neighborly with Montréal’s urban culture.

Learn more about Will Paquet’s bagel-making classes here.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Canada/Crossing Cultures/Discoveries/On Foot

Jan

Everyday Aha Moments in Italy

by Joyce McGreevy on January 21, 2019

Santa Croce and passing trucks in Florence inspire an aha moment about everyday Italian rituals. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Santa Croce inspires. So do the delivery-truck drivers on their daily predawn rounds.
© Joyce McGreevy

Discovering Beauty in Life’s Little Rituals

It’s no revelation to say that icons of awe-inspiring beauty are everywhere in Florence. For some visitors, the rarified aha moments induced by a surfeit of grandeur can even become physically overwhelming.

But as Italian psychologist Piero Ferrucci writes, we can also “discover [beauty] in everyday life: a song heard on the street, a crumbling old wall, the reflections in a puddle.”

The Arno at sunset in Florence Italy inspires an aha moment about life’s little rituals. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

A little dog and its human in Florence, Italy reflect the piaceri piccoli (small pleasures) of everyday life. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

These are the piaceri piccoli, small pleasures, the everyday aha moments that balance “the exasperating vicissitudes of daily life.” My piaceri piccoli include everyday Italian rituals. Come, I’ll show you.

Let us begin at the end, on an evening when the sky exhibits a variety of blues, like someone choosing among silk scarves. Imagine you are returning from work, expecting to open the door, toss the key, and turn on the news.

Not So Fast—This is Florence

The towering double doors, i portoni, conceal a smaller door, una porta. Extract the proper key, enter the vestibule, and pause to admire the wrought-iron cancello, or gate.

An exterior and interioA portone (grand door) seen from both sides inspires an aha moment about the small pleasures of everyday life in Florence, Italy. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

It is a sentinel, this cancello. One passes around it, not through, by means of swinging doors. Spingere, says the first door. Tirare, replies the next. This means only “Push, Pull.” But the joy-inducing rhythm makes your mind sing Spingere, tirare. Girare è volare! “Push, pull. To turn is to fly!”

A cancello, or wrought-iron gate in Florence Italy inspires an aha moment about small pleasures and life's little rituals. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Cancello (Italian) and cancel (English) share a common origin. To cancel written text,
one crossed it with a latticework of lines.
© Joyce McGreevy

Now you are in the cortile, a courtyard, where an advisor to Anna di Medici once walked. The apartment complex was formerly one magnificent home, and its beauty includes ancient frescoes. Just as beautiful is how the layout guides you to take steps mindfully.

If you are laden with groceries from Mercato Sant’Ambrogio, a second key opens the narrow elevator. If not, insert a third key into the next cancello. It opens with a satisfying pop.

Press a button to light the lantern. Then mount stone steps that bear the imprint of centuries. At your apartment, brass lions guard the door. Never mind that Florence is one of the safest cities in the world.

A post box and a door knocker in Florence Italy inspire an aha moment about the small pleasures of life's little rituals. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Extract two more keys. The lock that lifts an interior metal bar likes to challenge you. When you succeed in turning it, it spits the key upon the floor to keep you humble. The smaller lock is kindly and ushers you in to coziness.

Life’s little ritual of homecoming is now complete. Sei qui—you are here. The world of offices and schedules, traffic and to-do lists is there. And there it stays.

A fresco inspires an aha moment about the pleasures of everyday life in Florence, Italy. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

There’s beauty in the rituals of accomplishment (above), but also
in the rituals of learning one’s craft (below).
© Joyce McGreevy

A young man sketching as a boy looks on inspires an aha moment about everyday Italian rituals in Florence. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The Daily Dance of Adaptation

A change of environment disrupts our automatic routines. Our response reveals whether we feel invited—or put upon—to try something new. Says Ferrucci, “We can proceed according to the planned itinerary, strenuously trying to make life conform to our expectations, or we can adapt to whatever we meet, and flow without effort.”

Oh, I see: Everyday Italian rituals shed light on life’s little rituals in our own localities. They make us more attentive to the piaceri piccoli that punctuate a day.

Via de' Tornabuoni, Firenze festooned in gold decorations inspires an aha moments Italian rituals of celebration. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

There’s beauty in our special occasions (above, Via de’ Tornabuoni), but also
in our times of solitary effort (below, Via del Moro).
© Joyce McGreevy

A man cleaning a restaurant kitchen in Florence, Italy inspires an aha moment about life's little rituals. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The Choreography of Chores

Emptying the spazzatura has its rituals. (Yes, even “garbage” becomes beautiful in Italian.) You sort the spazzatura by type, then deliver each type to the correct municipal cassonétto. (That’s Italy’s poetic upgrade for “dumpster.”)

This takes time, because leaving the apartment for anything less than a fire means putting on polished boots, a colorful scarf, and gloves di buona qualità. The sporting element kicks in as you arrive at the receptacles. Let the games begin!

Don’t let the bin’s exterior muss your clothing, because to be Florentine is to be impeccable.
Do protect your posterior from vehicles rushing by like the Arno at flood tide. To be Florentine means appreciating life, and it helps if one is alive to do so.
Urrah! Celebrate with another Italian ritual, la passegiata, the walk taken for pleasure, always at evening.

A woman taking out the garbage in Florence, Italy inspires an aha moment about everyday life and life's little rituals. (Image © Victoria Lyons)

All in Good Time

Other everyday Italian rituals have their timing, too: Drinking cappuccino before 10:30am only. Knowing when to cede the narrow sidewalk to a fellow pedestrian. Anticipating when they’ll courteously jump off the curb for you. Stowing away cellphones to enjoy the pleasure of conversation.

Even sneezing involves ritual. In Italy, the proper response is: Felicità! “Happiness!”

“If we live in the here and now,” says Ferrucci, “each moment is a surprise, every instant a new wonder.”

Aha Moments at the Laundromat

A laundromat in Florence, Italy inspires an aha moment about everyday life and life's little rituals. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

While not the storied “room with a view,” a laundromat offers you
the pleasure of Italian conversations with your neighbors.
© Joyce McGreevy

It’s true, even at the lavanderia, where you help each other fold double sheets and discuss the weather and the books you’ve brought. But what about the sockless teenage customers, who pass the time hunched over video games, or elbowing each other and chortling at in-jokes?

Each time somebody enters or departs—no matter who they are—the boys pause, look up, and say Buongiorno or Ciao.

And there it is, the aha moment in an everyday Italian ritual: Acknowledging one another is essential. In this city of awe-inspiring art and grandeur, life’s little rituals reveal the true beauty of Florence.

The Calvacata, an annual procession in Florence Italy, inspires an aha moment about Italian celebrations and everyday life. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Our rituals honor grand epochs (above, Piazza della Repubblica)
and everyday aha moments (below, Lungarno delle Grazie).
© Joyce McGreevy

Shadows of passersby across a foyer in Florence, Italy inspire an aha moment about small pleasures and life's little rituals. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Explore Piero Ferrucci’s lyrical analyses of the human condition here.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 2 Comments

Crossing Cultures/Discoveries/Italy/Life Lessons

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