Thank you for reading The Magpie Mason, which debuted on this date in 2008. Without a heavy, steady flow of readers, I wouldn’t continue it, so I thank you all for checking in, however infrequently, over the years.
I thought it would be of interest to list the most visited Magpie pages. Here are the top ten in ascending order, but they all are No. 1 hits (with apologies to Michael Shelley):
10. “Light! Camera! Aprons!” from October 25, 2016 – Spot coverage from a really fun evening at Masonic Hall in New York City, when Piers Vaughan helped a film crew with its shoot for a UK television program.
Click here.
Click here.
Click here.
7. “Is Harry Potter a Freemason?” from April 8, 2018 – The Maryland Masonic Research Society hosted a talk on that subject in May. Most of my posts on the MMRS draw a lot of traffic for some reason. I’ve never attended a meeting, due to the distance, but maybe one day.
Click here.
6. “Grant Wood’s Masonic painting in Whitney retrospective” from December 20, 2017 – For the three months prior to the opening of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Grant Wood exhibit this year, and for several months afterward, this post was very popular. I hope everyone got to the museum for a rare look at Wood’s “The First Three Degrees of Freemasonry,” because otherwise you’ll have to visit the Grand Lodge of Iowa.
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| Courtesy GL of Iowa Museum and Library |
Click here.
5. “Register now for the 2017 MRF Symposium” from May 30, 2017 – I cannot account for this post’s high visibility, except that maybe the Masonic Restoration Foundation needs help with SEO.
Click here.
4. “Cleveland Rocks” from August 7, 2018 – Although only seven weeks old, this post has reached the top five because a) Bill Hosler linked to it on Facebook; and b) it mentions the forever infamous GOOFUS.
Click here.
3. “Food for thought in Tennessee” from March 15, 2016 – it occurred to me very after-the-fact that this may have offended a friend from the Volunteer State—and I’m sorry if that’s so—but sometimes you have to say something.
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| Courtesy Scottish Rite Research Society |
Click here.
2. “Swedish Rite in Germany” from April 9, 2009 – Spot coverage from an unforgettable night at historic Alpha Lodge, when Bro. Oliver visited from Germany to discuss his jurisdiction’s teachings, ritual structure, regalia, and more. At the time I posted this, there wasn’t much on the web about the Swedish Rite—and that doesn’t seem to have changed much—so I did what I could to be informative while safeguarding secrets of the Rite.
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| Bro. Oliver at Alpha Lodge No. 116. |
Click here.
Statistically, by far, the No. 1 most heavily visited post in Magpie history is…
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| Bro. Jim, our tour guide, and unidentified photo bomber at the H.O.T., February 9, 2009. |
“At the House of the Temple” from March 6, 2009 – In February of that year, Bro. Jim and I visited the House of the Temple in Washington, DC for a tour. A first for us both. I shot a lot of photos, and shared a bunch here, which I think is why this post draws so much curiosity—probably from Masons and anti-masons alike. The H.O.T. has undergone renovations since then, but have a look at the main attractions here.
One could think this ranks first because it has been up almost since day one, but the truth is this post always has been the most visited Magpie page.
Honorable Mention: One post, since taken down, from April of 2013 seemingly was read a dozen times by each and every Mason in Pennsylvania.
Click here to read the very first Magpie Mason post.
Bravo, Jay. Well done. And all of that is on top of wrangling the calendar page for the Journal of the Masonic Society, too. Few blogs last half this long, and most readers don't understand the hours and the dedication involved. You do the best job of documenting the Masonic activity in the Northeast, and area Masons owe you a huge debt of gratitude.
ReplyDeleteOr at least a couple of rounds and a new smoking pipe.