Shadows of a Forgotten World

An interesting piece on NPR about obsolete occupations:  " As computers and automated systems increasingly take the jobs humans once held, entire professions are now extinct. Click through the gallery below to see examples of endangered professions, from milkman to telegrapher, and hear from people who once filled those oft-forgotten jobs." Article found here . The Milkman http://www.shorpy.com/node/9204 The Telegraph Operator http://scripophily.net/phofteop.html

Oval metal plates with the letter “T” mark trails that are intended to be used for therapeutic exercises involving graduated hiking and climbing. The “T” stands for “terrainkur,” which is German for “terrain cure,” and in Ukrainian it is called “ тренекур .” This type of exercise was developed in 1885 by the German physician M. J. Oertel. There are still several terrain cure signs in Lviv. They date to the prewar period. They have long been forgotten. Some are very easy to miss  –  this one is on the building of the Lesya Ukrayinka Theater In Ivan Franko Park there are a few posts with the “T” signs. Sztuka Cafe found a clever purpose for this marker  –  it now marks the cafe's toilet :)

The building at 3 Drukarska Street was built c. 1543, and was owned by Stanislaw Schtansl Scholtz. The building later become known as “Under the Mother of God” because of a statue of the Virgin Mary on the façade. In 1858 the building housed the St. Sophia Association of the Blind. Goods that arrived to Lviv were kept in stored in the courtyard of the building. At the end of the nineteenth century the building was demolished because it had fallen in disrepair. Interestingly, the picture of the original building shows nineteenth-century ghost signs.  Judging from the signs, there was a warehouse for paper (sklad papieru) and in the building to the right paraffin (kerosene) oil (nafta niezapalna) w as sold . 1543-1898 *** The new building, which was built in 1898, was designed by the architect Jan Lewiński. The façade also had a sculpture of the Mother of God. Starting in 1900 it housed Jan Muszyński’s vodka and liqueur factory (founded in 1894). His factory specialize...

This post is dedicated to EuroMaidan and the Ukrainians’ never-ending struggle to be free. These past few months, as I experienced a revolution and war for Ukraine’s freedom and integrity, I have often thought of my ancestors and how they must have felt during WWII (and earlier liberation movements) and the partisan struggle to liberate Ukraine from totalitarian powers. I’ve always been fascinated by WWII and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), but never in my life did I think I would feel what they felt, get a taste of war, death, and the fight for freedom, such uncertainty, and love for Ukraine in a context similar to theirs. Tying into the theme of my blog, this particular “shadow of the past” is one that I have felt rather than seen. I have encountered what I will call “feelings from the past.” These sentiments which were felt by Ukrainians in WWII have been transferred to a new generation of Ukrainians who are reliving the liberation movement, re-struggling for a free, prosperous...

I read an interesting article in Ukrainian, in which the author uncovers the original purposes of the layout of an old Kozak village and the design of the houses. Below is my translation of most of it. The link to the original article and a few more photos can be found here . Among the modern mining settlements in the far eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the author of the article found an ancient village called Naholno-Tarasivka. Its official founding date is 1775. “…in place of fences the old streets of the village have solid stone walls, interrupted only by the houses. Houses here were built on the outer part of the plot with façades directly overlooking the street. As such, fences and buildings created a continuous stone wall along the street. “To understand the reason for this and other arrangements, which will be discussed further, let us return to a time when the Ukrainian steppe was an undeveloped Dyke Pole (Wild Fields), on which only a small number of ...

"When your government goes medieval on you, it's time to get medieval back." This post is about the medieval tactics, armour, and weaponry that were used during Ukraine's recent revolution. For nearly 3 months Kyiv's Independence Square (Maidan) was the revolution's main battlefield, where the antigovernment protesters fought back the elite police squad and internal ministry troops. Dozens of articles were written about the the medieval aspects of the protests, and especially about the catapult. Below is a compilation of photos and excerpts from the articles. "The towering fleece hats and elaborate beards of Ukraine's 16th-century Cossacks are favored by many of the demonstrators on Kiev's main square, who have camped out in anti-government protests for nearly two months. When events turned violent this week, demonstrators' weapons also had an antique aura and clashes resembled a Medieval assault. Protesters have armed themselves ...

My cousin took some very nice photos of several ghost signs in Montreal. As I don't think I will make it to Montreal anytime soon, I will share his photos. Photos courtesy of Danylo Jaworsky