David Rotenstein
@davidrotenstein.bsky.social
Writer. Folklorist. Historian. https://blog.historian4hire.net/about/ | History is my hustle. Also @covertnky.com
Ten years ago we spent our first Thanksgiving with Lillian Wiggins & her family. Lil was a history-making Washington Afro columnist & genuine DC character. She died in 2022 and I still miss her.
November 27, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Ten years ago we spent our first Thanksgiving with Lillian Wiggins & her family. Lil was a history-making Washington Afro columnist & genuine DC character. She died in 2022 and I still miss her.
The word he's looking for is "schmuck."
November 26, 2025 at 1:30 PM
The word he's looking for is "schmuck."
Our neighborhood is filled with corner bars. Many of them have Bavarian Brewing Company murals. The company's brewery was located a few blocks away from this one at the corner of Bakewell and 7th streets in Covington, Kentucky.
November 25, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Our neighborhood is filled with corner bars. Many of them have Bavarian Brewing Company murals. The company's brewery was located a few blocks away from this one at the corner of Bakewell and 7th streets in Covington, Kentucky.
This Kentucky Santa has a weird helper. Are they holding hands?
November 25, 2025 at 8:20 PM
This Kentucky Santa has a weird helper. Are they holding hands?
Only one (that I know about)!
November 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Only one (that I know about)!
How many of these Covington, Kentucky, polling sites were betting parlors (horse racing handbooks)?
November 25, 2025 at 6:39 PM
How many of these Covington, Kentucky, polling sites were betting parlors (horse racing handbooks)?
Drinking did it!
November 23, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Drinking did it!
Is it a coincidence that the same part of Georgia that gave us Marjorie Taylor Greene also gave the world Howard Finster?
November 23, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Is it a coincidence that the same part of Georgia that gave us Marjorie Taylor Greene also gave the world Howard Finster?
The Grizzly Bear Dance craze created a huge scandal in Pittsburgh during 1912. Was because it originated in Black dance halls or was it because it was really the "hoochie koochie danced by the man and woman together." This illustration is from a St. Louis newspaper published in 1911.
November 22, 2025 at 1:32 PM
The Grizzly Bear Dance craze created a huge scandal in Pittsburgh during 1912. Was because it originated in Black dance halls or was it because it was really the "hoochie koochie danced by the man and woman together." This illustration is from a St. Louis newspaper published in 1911.
Folklore in the supermarket cold case!
November 21, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Folklore in the supermarket cold case!
Before a series of slumlords occupied this Covington, Kentucky, building (1980-2015) it housed a tavern with one of more than 160 slot machine licenses in the city in 1950. The slumlords and vice convergence put a nice bow on an article I just finished.
November 21, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Before a series of slumlords occupied this Covington, Kentucky, building (1980-2015) it housed a tavern with one of more than 160 slot machine licenses in the city in 1950. The slumlords and vice convergence put a nice bow on an article I just finished.
I know how we got here. I’d really like to understand why we allowed it to happen.
November 19, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I know how we got here. I’d really like to understand why we allowed it to happen.
The views never get old. Roebling suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Covington.
November 19, 2025 at 8:48 PM
The views never get old. Roebling suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Covington.
I am proud to live in a neighborhood with a corner bar that has a history corner featuring docs/pix describing a century of vice activities that took place there. Featured: a 2001 DEA report documenting a raid there. Named, a bartender named "Linda, LNU" (last name unknown) and oxy dealer Jeff. 🗃️
November 19, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I am proud to live in a neighborhood with a corner bar that has a history corner featuring docs/pix describing a century of vice activities that took place there. Featured: a 2001 DEA report documenting a raid there. Named, a bartender named "Linda, LNU" (last name unknown) and oxy dealer Jeff. 🗃️
Looks like this is gonna be my day. I wonder how many more of these until government leaders around the world will act on reliability, concentration, etc. Does it require a mass casualty episode to get anything at all?
November 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Looks like this is gonna be my day. I wonder how many more of these until government leaders around the world will act on reliability, concentration, etc. Does it require a mass casualty episode to get anything at all?
Here in Kentucky, folks don't simply butcher chickens, they "burcher" them!
November 17, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Here in Kentucky, folks don't simply butcher chickens, they "burcher" them!
This bar names its plants. Meet “Angela.”
November 16, 2025 at 12:38 AM
This bar names its plants. Meet “Angela.”
You can’t hide in the cat tree penthouse with ears like those!
November 12, 2025 at 4:36 PM
You can’t hide in the cat tree penthouse with ears like those!
The next book I read is the new one by my friend Jan Kurth. “Tommy the Whiskey Swigging Duck” is a great title!
November 11, 2025 at 10:09 PM
The next book I read is the new one by my friend Jan Kurth. “Tommy the Whiskey Swigging Duck” is a great title!
Everyone's a critic.
November 11, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Everyone's a critic.
They told me about frantic leaps from couches to kitchens where babysitters scoured evening itineraries. I recently interviewed a man about the house where he grew up. When we got to talking about neighbors, he said, "A guy named Clarence owned it. He died in the Beverly Hills fire." 2/2
November 11, 2025 at 5:08 PM
They told me about frantic leaps from couches to kitchens where babysitters scoured evening itineraries. I recently interviewed a man about the house where he grew up. When we got to talking about neighbors, he said, "A guy named Clarence owned it. He died in the Beverly Hills fire." 2/2
The Beverly Hills Supper Club burned to the ground May 28, 1977. Most of the victims packed inside the popular nightclub died in the fire or within hours. Others lingered for days & months. The final victim, No. 165, died 9 months later. I've met several folks whose parents were out that night. 1/2
November 11, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The Beverly Hills Supper Club burned to the ground May 28, 1977. Most of the victims packed inside the popular nightclub died in the fire or within hours. Others lingered for days & months. The final victim, No. 165, died 9 months later. I've met several folks whose parents were out that night. 1/2
We have plumbers working inside the house today. Crews, The World’s Bravest Cat™️ has achieved invisibility.
November 11, 2025 at 4:50 PM
We have plumbers working inside the house today. Crews, The World’s Bravest Cat™️ has achieved invisibility.
Timely message seen 12 years ago in Atlanta.
November 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Timely message seen 12 years ago in Atlanta.