Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 8

Prewar Women's Basketball Team.
Why did Pinoys take to basketball rather than baseball or football as the favorite sport? This photograph clearly shows how differently attired our players were then. Would you rather wear these skirts or shorts? And were those leather shoes comfortable for running?
Photo@Dia Filipino, 1915.



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I came of age as a columnist when the Inquirer was under Letty Jimenez Magsanoc. She is not history to me, but part of who I am and what I became. Chato Garcellano, my former editor at the opinion page, invites everyone to remember Letty Magsanoc and her legacy.


A tempest in a teacup has been stirred by someone who attributed to “dinosaurs” the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s purported bumbling journey to digital.

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Rizal's six-pack.
Contrary to popular belief, Rizal lifted weights. Underneath that overcoat was a buff, toned well-defined body that will give Andres Bonifacio's six-pack a run for this money.
In 2018 this relief carving by Rizal was sold at auction. I think holds the record of being the most expensive "lechon tray" in the Philippines. It depicts a man lifting weights that historian Leloy Claudio identified as "bent press." Leloy invited me to the gym to learn how Rizal lifted weight...

Michigan Men and Malcolm Boys.
While browsing in the Bentley Historical Library in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, I encountered George A. Malcolm (1881-1961) in his papers and photographs. Malcolm Hall in U.P. Diliman was named after him. He was one of the founding fathers of the UP College of Law, served as Dean for six years from 1911, after which he became Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court from 1917-1936.
In attendance at his despedida in 1939 were his stud...

In 1762 the British looted the library of San Agustin in Intramuros. Primary Source documents from that library once believed lost ,have been found , digitized (some transcribed and translated), and put online in a website that reconstructs and digitally repatriates part of the once lost library of San Agustin in 1762.
This is an exciting site. check it out


Reclaiming the Lost Archive of the Convento de San Agustin Skip Go 761 Manuscripts Collected from The Lilly Library The Lopez Library San...

One of the old books that caught my eye in San Agustin was one that had the signature of Vicente Sepulveda [Left], murdered by fellow friars in 1617 according to a footnote in Blair and Robertson [Right].
Read my Inquirer column today for the whole story.
https://opinion.inquirer.net/184332/m...







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Before reels, tik-tok, and YouTube people had to make do with a stereoscope.
Primitive to GenZ the steroscope gave an illusion of depth to a pair of photos.
I didn't consider sore eyes or other communicable diseases from using this public hand-held stereoscope in the National Gallery Singapore. A quick peek revealed these two 19th century Filipinas frozen in time.



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In 1762 the British looted the library of San Agustin, Intramuros. People thought nothing was left, but then some things were hiding in plain sight. Some of the books in the San Agustin library today date back to the late 16th century.
Some of the books have book plates attached that not only assert ownership, some indicate their physical location in the library as shown in this late 19th century photograph. To find a book in the old library, you looked for the "estante" literally "shelf" b...

"Banderitas" literally "little flags" are the buntings that contribute to the festive atmosphere in Philippine fiestas. These used to be made of paper or cloth but today are from non-biodegradable plastic. On the narrow roads of Sulipan, Apalit towards the "camarin" of the venerated image of "Apung Iru” [St. Peter] this morning, I noticed that the different barangays competed with each other for the best banderitas, this seemed to me the best in the rainbow colors we associate today with LGBT.

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My Inquirer column today is about falling into the rabbit hole of early Philippine imprints or "Incunabula" books published in the Philippines from 1593-1643.
Thanks to Butch Dalisay for the wonderful pic from my opening keynote at San Agustin yesterday. It looks as if I am browsing the books on a shelf.l
https://opinion.inquirer.net/184217/s...







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