Thursday, February 15, 2007

Engelsk-Svensk for Life - The Eleven Great Wonders in America

Presumably to give them something interesting to read on the steamer ploughing across the North Atlantic, the publishers of one of the earliest US English-Swedish dictionaries decided to pack the book with an assortment of information that they deemed of utmost importance to settlers arriving for the first time in the States, including "How to secure a U.S. Patent", "Cistern Capacity", "Brickwork Measurement", "U.S. Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau Flag Signals", and "Salaries Paid to heads of governments". Some of the finer (most bizarre) are republished here:

The Eleven Great Wonders in America
Suggestions are welcome for a revised top eleven.

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