Creative History

  “Lisztomania, a condition in which swooning female fans collected his cigar butts to secrete in their cleavages.” - from the New York Times, January 14, 2001 Famed 19th century German lyric poet Heinrich Heine, known for his radical political views and satirical verse that was often set to music, coined the term “Lisztomania” to describe the phenomena that he witnessed in concert halls across Europe during the 1840’s. Lisztomania, or “Liszt Fever” as it came to be called in the English speaking world was a phrase that quickly caught on  among members of the mid-nineteenth century press and public to describe the frenzied adoration, fanaticism, and hero-worship that surrounded the young good looking composer and piano virtuoso Franz Liszt on his yearly concert tours across continental Europe between 1839 and 1847. Young women would creep up behind the young pianist and try to snip off lockets of his hair. Admiring fans would pour the backwash of his coffee cups into gla...

  Located only a stone’s throw north of the New Jersey border in Rockland County, New York, forty miles from Manhattan along the banks of the Hudson River nestled among the Ramapo Mountains, the town of Haverstraw is today a bustling yet still quaint village that is home to about 35,000 souls. Originally settled by the Dutch in the 1660’s Haverstraw derives its name from the Dutch word ‘haverstroo’ meaning oats and straw.  Henry Hudson sailed past the present day site of Haverstraw during his historic exploratory voyage up the river which today bears his name back in 1609.  And during the American Revolution the place that the Dutch called ‘Haverstroo’ was integral to the Patriot cause as it was used by lookouts from George Washington’s Continental Army to monitor British naval activities along the Hudson River. Downtown Haverstraw Today However, it was during the 19th century when Haverstraw first gained notoriety and was brought to the nation’s attention as the bric...

  Manchester Square is a small garden landscape in the center of London.  Constructed in the year 1776 within the affluent neighborhood of Marylebone in the West End. The streets around Manchester Square are home to examples of some of London’s most stately 18th century Georgian architecture, and to this very day, the community around Manchester Square is one of affluence and influence. Late in the year 1814, when the Georgian mansions lining Manchester Square were less than a half century old, and the streets of Marylebone were still covered by cobbles, something very bizarre took place in this upper class neighborhood.  Strange stories of the existence of a wealthy woman with a pig’s face began to circulate in the press, and reports of this woman walking the streets around Manchester Square spread across London like wildfire causing a near panic among the residents of the city. Manchester Square The Pig-faced Lady of Manchester Square was said to be the daughter o...