New Haven Archives - Chris Carosa

Jack Kemp: All American

By Chris Carosa on September 19, 2023

A lot of people were much closer to Jack Kemp than I, but a lot more people did not know him as well as I did. Only a few remaining Americans can say what I can: “I was there at the beginning.”

Jack Kemp, who passed away in 2009, emerged on the national scene not in the political arena passing historic legislation, but on the gridiron field and into passing history. He was forged in a time when most Americans believed in and followed the Boy Scout Law. He played among those people, he lived among those people, and, eventually, he came to represent those people. I know. I was one of them.

Friends, conservatives, liberals, and countrymen, I write not to rebury Jack Kemp, but to Continue Reading “Jack Kemp: All American”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1964 Topps Football, Allentown, Bethlehem Steel Plant, Billy Joel, Buffalo Bills, Chubb Fellow, E Pluribus Unum, Jack Kemp, New Haven, Ronald Reagan, Shining City on a hill, Woodlawn Elementary, Woodlawn Intermediate, Yale

First Hamburger: The Top Ten Myths About Who Invented It

By Chris Carosa on May 24, 2022

For some reason (and probably a good one if you think about it), the powers that be have decreed May 28^th as “National Hamburger Day.” This coincides nicely with the month of May either being “National Hamburger Month” and “National Burger Month,” depending on whose press release you read.

As a result, no doubt you’ve read, listened to, or watched something about the almighty burger at your favorite news outlet. The question you should ask (but won’t know to) is whether what you’re reading, hearing, or seeing is true. Unfortunately, in all likelihood, probably not.

To help set the record straight, here are the top ten myths about the origin of the first hamburger:Continue Reading “First Hamburger: The Top Ten Myths About Who Invented It”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 1885, 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, Athens, beefsteak tartare, boulette, Buffalo, Charles Menches, Civil War, Clint Murchison, cotton candy, Dallas cowboys, Dallas Morning News, erie county fair, Fairy Floss, Fletcher Davis, Frank Menches, frikadelle, Germany, hamburg, Hamburg Fair, Hamburg Steak, Hamburger, James H. Salisbury, John C. Kunzog, Louis' Lunch, Menches Brothers, National Burger Month, National Cheeseburger Day, National Hamburger Day, New Haven, Ray Kroc, Salisbury steak, September 18, Tartars, Texas, World War I, World War II, Yale

Hamburger WhoDunit Part II: The Shrine of the Four (and a half?)

By Chris Carosa on August 14, 2018

(The second episode in a series of seven)

“You will not apply my precept,” he said, shaking his head. “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

Illustration from the Monday, July 23, 1894 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle

Thus spoke crime fighting sleuth Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s second novel featuring his most-popular character, as published in the February 1890 issue of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. By coincidence, the most noted hamburger origin stories occurred within a few years on either side of this date. It’s fitting, then, that we employ the deductive techniques of the Baker Street mastermind in attempting to solve one of histories greatest culinary mysteries: Who sold the first hamburger?

First, as in all good police thrillers, let’s take a look at our line-up of suspects (in reverse chronological order). In each case, their hometowns have created what amounts to a shrine to their claims. We count them as four and a half because two are inexorably tied together. Still, for our purposes we’ll untie them. Here’s the line-up:Continue Reading “Hamburger WhoDunit Part II: The Shrine of the Four (and a half?)”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Athens, Barny's Saloon, Charles Menches, Charles Nagreen, Davenport Republican, Eliminate the Impossible, Fletcher Davis, Frank Menches, Frank Tolbert, hamburg, Hamburg Sandwich, Hamburg Steak, Hamburger, Hamburger Charlie, Iowa State Bystander, John Kunzpg, Louis Lassen, Louis' Lunch, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Menches Brothers, Moulton, New Haven, New Haven Preservation Trust, New York Tribune, Princeton-Clarion Leader, San Francisco Chronicle, Seymour Fair, Sherlock Holmes, Shiner Gazette, Sir Arhtur Conan Doyle, St. Louis World's Fair, Tambark and Tinsel, The New Lunch Room, The Poultney Journal, The Shine of the Four

You Can’t Have Rainbows without a Little Rain

By Chris Carosa on May 30, 2017

photo by Marvin Palmore ’82

It’s raining, so it must be New Haven.

I approached the Elm City from the east along the shore hugging I-95. I had just spent a rare evening in Providence following a lengthy interview with a primary source. This was a much less travelled route for me as I usually visited my Alma Mater via New York City or Hartford. In a sense, then, the intensifying rain was reassuring.

It doesn’t always rain in New Haven, but girl you know it oughta. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday it rained. Think all that rain might have put a damper on things? It rained so hard on Thursday my pants didn’t dry until Sunday. Fortunately, years of Boy Scout leader training did not go to waste. I had packed a spare pair.

I hadn’t planned on going to my 35^th reunion by way of Rhode Island, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity when it presented itself. The additional one hour and forty four minutes of travel time seemed like a small cost. Because it came up at the last minute, however, I failed to account for other costs. For example, whenever I visit New Haven I try to Continue Reading “You Can’t Have Rainbows without a Little Rain”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Class of 1982, Commander, CTO, Davenport College, Gibbs Lab, New Haven, Pierre Demarque, Pierson College, Providence, Yale

What The University of Chicago Can Teach Yale

By Chris Carosa on October 11, 2016

They took all incoming freshman on a special tour within a day of our arrival at the campus in New Haven. Those were ancient times, when many (like me) had neither the time nor the treasure to visit colleges prior to matriculation (let alone application). To this day, one fact from that introductory outing stands out in my much more crowded brain – the visit inside and around Connecticut Hall. Completed in 1757, this last remaining survivor of Yale’s “Old Brick Row” served as a dormitory for nearly two centuries. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

But that’s not what I remember.

Here’s what I remember: First, there was some obscure graffiti left on an interior wall. Supposedly more than a century old, I don’t remember what it said. All I remember feeling upon hearing this story is that college students have always been rascals and Yale apparently didn’t mind – and even glorified – these youthful misdemeanors.

The second memory carried far greater weight. Outside of Connecticut Hall stands a Continue Reading “What The University of Chicago Can Teach Yale”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Andrew Jackson, Bill Richmond, Black Panther, Bobby Seale, Calhoun College, Connecticut Hall, Daniel Webster, Doonesbury, George Washington, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, John Ellison, John F. Kennedy, John Quincy Adams, magister, Master, Nathan Hale, New Haven, University of Rochester, Yale

So This Is Why W Reunioned at the White House

By Chris Carosa on April 26, 2012

It’s 11:35pm on a Tuesday night. I’m sitting on a train, the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited, on my way to Chicago. I boarded the train in a Rochester rain at 11:25pm, twenty-five minutes later than the schedule dictated. It didn’t matter. I’m not in a hurry. I haven’t been in a hurry since the sun first rose.

Yes, my lackadaisical day began in surprising sunshine. I say “surprising” because I happened to be in New Haven, Connecticut. In another era, it would have been raining. I would have also Continue Reading “So This Is Why W Reunioned at the White House”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life Tagged 30th Reunion, Animal House, Chicago, Davenport, John Ford, New Haven, Rochester, Secession Party, The Cottage, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Yale

Jack Kemp: All American

First Hamburger: The Top Ten Myths About Who Invented It

Hamburger WhoDunit Part II: The Shrine of the Four (and a half?)

(The second episode in a series of seven)

“You will not apply my precept,” he said, shaking his head. “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

You Can’t Have Rainbows without a Little Rain

What The University of Chicago Can Teach Yale

So This Is Why W Reunioned at the White House

Welcome to ChrisCarosa.com

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Jack Kemp: All American

First Hamburger: The Top Ten Myths About Who Invented It

Hamburger WhoDunit Part II: The Shrine of the Four (and a half?)

(The second episode in a series of seven)

“You will not apply my precept,” he said, shaking his head. “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

You Can’t Have Rainbows without a Little Rain

What The University of Chicago Can Teach Yale

So This Is Why W Reunioned at the White House

Welcome to ChrisCarosa.com

Categories

Tags