
Court Dress or Tea Cozy?
It’s May, and we’re in the height of the Season…or we would have been, two hundred years ago. And in addition to husband-hunting, the Season
It’s May, and we’re in the height of the Season…or we would have been, two hundred years ago. And in addition to husband-hunting, the Season
I’ve been fortunate to acquire a number of issues of a 19th century British magazine called The Mirror, dating from 1824 and 1825. They make
One of the most engaging and romance-novel-like yet true stories of the 19th century has to be that of a lady named Juana María de
Spring. It’s just around the corner, right? Right? That’s what the little green pips of bulbs in my yard are trying to tell me. I’m
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, a popular weekly magazine published in London between 1822 and 1847, ran the following short piece in its
One of the joys of leafing through the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue is running across slang expressions and figures of speech still in
Feeling clever? Historically clever? Then let’s play What the Heck is That? the game where I show you some 19th century object, and you get
If anyone in the 19th century was going to celebrate Christmas in a truly outstanding fashion, you know that person had to be Queen Victoria,
Used bookstores. Is there anything better than an afternoon spent hunting through the shelves and stacks in one? As delightful as a new bookstore is,
I love Thanksgiving food. I know it’s fashionable to hate on the usual turkey and gravy, but I love them. Green beans with almonds are
Last month I discussed what the nearsighted young ladies of the 19th century did to avoid walking into walls and other people (though walking into
I am, alas, blind as a bat. I’ve worn glasses since fourth grade (and probably needed them in third), and just can’t imagine what I