Random Fascinating Historical Artifacts Stored In Library of Congress (16 items)

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  (#6) Locks Of Famous People's Hair

  "Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen... hair." Well, not so much anymore. These locks have lost their luster, but the Library of Congress does have samples of hair from famous people, including Thomas Jefferson, Walt Whitman and James Madison. Jefferson's family took the cuttings from his deathbed. Whitman's housekeeper chopped off a few strands of his hair. Madison's clippings are tidily braided inside a velvet-lined gold case.
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  (#2) Movie Etiquette Slides

  Modern-day movie theater annoyances that necessitate pre-film and on-screen warnings generally refer to turning off cell phones. In the early days of cinema, the big offenders were less technical but equally obtrusive: ladies’ hats. The Library of Congress has a collection of slides from old movie theaters in the early 1900s with “movie etiquette” suggestions like “Applaud with hands only” and “If annoyed when here please tell the management.” Or, for women with towering headgear, “Madam how would you like to sit behind the hat you’re wearing.”
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  (#5) A Monopoly Board Game Precursor

  Before Parker Brothers started selling the popular game Monopoly in 1935, the company dabbled in economics and business via a board game called “The Office Boy,” released in 1889. According to the Museum of Play, the game was produced during the days of Horatio Alger’s stories about young men achieving the American Dream. Players work their way up in the company from stock boy to traveling salesman to junior partner to head of the firm. “Carelessness” and “temperance” set players back; “integrity” and “promptness” put them on the path to promotion. The Office Girls didn't even get to pass Go.  
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  (#4) America's Birth Certificate

  The “birth certificate” is actually a world map described as the first document printed with the name “America.” Created by cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in 1507 CE and acquired by the Library of Congress in 2003, the world map has a mouthful of a Latin name: “Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorū que lustratione,” which translates to “A drawing of the whole earth following the tradition of Ptolemy and the travels of Amerigo Vespucci and others.” To Americans today, the map probably looks fairly accurate, but to long-ago Europeans, “America” was a big chunk of unknown continent. The document is also the first map to show a separate Western Hemisphere and Pacific Ocean.
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  (#13) Thomas Jefferson's Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

  The Library of Congress contains the largest collection of Thomas Jefferson documents in the world – more than 27,000 items that showcase his skills as a diplomat, politician, writer, scientist, architect, and historian. But this favorite Founding Father was also a dessert maker. His highly detailed recipe for vanilla ice cream – also available in his papers at the Library of Congress – is super natural. The ingredients are simply “good cream,” egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. For a more decipherable version of the recipe, visit The Kitchn.
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  (#8) 'Red Hot Democratic Campaign Songs For 1888'

  Today, politicians get in trouble for using popular songs during their campaigns that haven’t been approved for that purpose by the artist. Solution: self-penned campaign ditties, like “The Other Candidate," part of a book of sheet music called Red Hot Democratic Campaign Songs for 1888 at the Library of Congress. The song (for “male voices”) starts out “You may cheer for the grand old party, / As you cheered in the years before, / But her prestige has all departed, / And shorn are her pride and power.” Oh, and the word “eighteen eighty-eight” is in the song, too; it rhymes with “candidate.”

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