December 16, 2022

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS  ‘Short Snorter’  At first glance, the dollars look like any others, tinted with age with some bearing the familiar visage of George Washington and others adorned with faces that aren’t easily as identifiable. But upon closer inspection, these bills are covered with signatures and are taped to one another, like an odd and expensive celebratory banner. This is a “short snorter,” part secret society badge and part autograph book—and some of the 20th century’s biggest names were in on the fun, including Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and actress Marlene Dietrich.  READ MORE → HUMBLE ORIGINS Soccer’s Least-Known Birthplace As the World Cup comes to a close this weekend, it feels like a good time to look back at the sport’s origins and the “pass-and-run” style that came to define the sport. Prior to the change, it looked a lot like the rough-and-tumble rugby-like style of play. That change came about at a humble spit of land buried in central Glasgow—a history that was almost lost to time. READ MORE → TAOS SKI VALLEY, NEW MEXICO Ski-Slope Tree Martinis The legend of the Martini Tree begins in the winter of 1958-1959 at Ski Valley, a resort and school located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, just north of the city of Taos, New Mexico. The story goes that a woman was struggling to get down the slopes; to give her a bit of liquid courage, her teacher gave her a dry martini. It, according to the tale, worked perfectly. Today, the Martini Tree tradition lives on—albeit in a slightly different, safer form. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY DISCOVER ATLANTA Fire Station No. 6 This station was the first racially integrated firehouse in the city, thanks to the dauntless bravery of 16 Black firefighters. A museum now housed in the defunct station outlines their accomplishments in desegregating the largest fire department in the American South, while also displaying historic firefighting equipment. LEARN MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Wisconsin’s Raw Meat Sandwich Also known as tiger meat or wildcat, cannibal sandwiches—pictured here by the team at Elevated Wild—are a longtime Wisconsin tradition. Although the name implies something much more sinister, the sandwich typically consists of raw beef, spices, and a hefty helping of raw onions served open-face on rye bread or crackers. No one knows exactly where the sandwich came from, but regardless, these sandwiches have been a beloved holiday treat since the 1800s, though health department authorities have stepped up their warnings about them in recent years. READ MORE → SMELL YOU LATER Garlic for Good Luck In the sports world, a second can mean the difference between a loss and a win. Perhaps that’s why individual players and entire teams alike clutch good luck charms ahead of games. These charms range from the famous to the feline, and sometimes they’re even fragrant, like that of the Spanish soccer team Deportivo de la Coruña: At their home stadium in Galicia, called Riazor, fans often line the pitch with whole garlic cloves, which is thought to banish sorcerers and evil spirits. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES The Art of Non-Alcoholic Mixology In this workshop, author, cocktail expert, and mindful drinker Derek Brown will delve into this history and explore how to make great non-alcoholic cocktails at home. Using ingredients from your pantry along with new non-alcoholic wine, beer, and spirits, we’ll explore techniques to combine them in creative ways—drawing from spirit-free drinks from the past along the way. ENROLL TODAY → A LOOK BACK 7 Trailblazing Women Records of the past often overlook the contributions of women, but this year, Atlas Obscura traveled around the world to uncover some of their stories. In this round up, we journey to every continent to share the stories of some of our favorite female trailblazers from the year, from a 17th-century elite all-female army, to a 20th-century Ecuadorian woman who organized the country’s first Indigenous peoples march. READ MORE → LONDON, ENGLAND Tottenham Cake First baked by local Quaker Henry Chalkley in the early 20th century, the cake’s bright pink icing came from mulberries plucked in Tottenham, a town within the unassuming North London district of Haringey. In 1901, slices of the cake were handed out to children for free to celebrate the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club winning the Football Association Cup in 1901. Ever since, it has been indelibly associated with the sport, to the point that a century later, the cake is still served at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium for special occasions. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA TRIPS A Mexico City Culinary Adventure On this culinary adventure in and around Mexico City, immerse yourself in the complex cultural identity of a metropolis where pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary influences collide. From enjoying tacos al pastor while taking in a hidden Diego Rivera mural to learning more about heady Aztec brews, our focus throughout will be food and the people who make it. BOOK NOW →