Podcast Episodes

Erector Sets, Trains and New Haven's Toymaker A.C. Gilbert

Season 3 Episode 200

We did it!!  This is our 200th episode of Grating the Nutmeg! Thanks to our listeners, we have travelled across the state during every time period to bring you vivid, fascinating stories from our st…

Published on 10 months, 1 week ago

G. Fox and Company Department Store and the Holidays

Season 3 Episode 199

In the mid-20th century, Hartford's G. Fox and Co. was one of the most successful family-owned department stores in the United States. Today, many Connecticans have fond memories of visiting G. Fo…

Published on 11 months ago

Entwined: Black and Indigenous Maritime History

Season 3 Episode 198

We all know a little about New England and Connecticut's  European maritime history. Dutch traders came to North America to trade for beaver pelts and English colonists came to start new communiti…

Published on 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Mark Twain and the American Presidents

Season 3 Episode 197

Early voting has already started in the 2024 presidential election and I just couldn't resist the suggestion by my guests to explore what Samuel Clemens alias Mark Twain, Hartford's greatest Gilde…

Published on 1 year ago

Connecticut Body Snatchers: Merchandising the Dead in the 19th Century

Season 3 Episode 196

Have you got your Halloween costume ready? Been on any graveyard tours this month? Well, this story for you! I'd never thought of body snatching as having anything to do with Connecticut but as th…

Published on 1 year ago

George Griffin: Revealing the Life and Likeness of Mark Twain's Butler

Season 3 Episode 195

Most people know something about Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Clemens. After all, he wrote his most famous books while living in Hartford, Connecticut. His 25-room house on Farmington Avenue…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Revolutionary War Hero Lafayette Makes a Triumphal Return Tour

Season 3 Episode 194

In this episode, you'll hear about the remarkable life and legacy of the man that Lin-Manuel Miranda called "America's favorite fighting Frenchman," the Marquis de Lafayette. This month marks the 20…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

Radical Connecticut: Labor Strikes!

Season 3 Episode 193

Author Steve Thornton asks "Who really makes history"?

In his new book, Radical Connecticut: People's History in the Constitution State, co-authored by Andy Piascik,  guest Steve Thornton tells the …

Published on 1 year, 2 months ago

More than Dinosaurs: The New Peabody Museum of Natural History

Season 3 Episode 192

Have you ever discovered that one of your favorite places is being renovated? Like your grandmother's kitchen, your favorite restaurant, or even a museum, and you worry that the charm or the appea…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago

The Hartford Circus Fire Tragedy

Season 3 Episode 191

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Hartford Circus Fire. In this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History tells the story of the de…

Published on 1 year, 3 months ago