In fiction about the 19th century, you see them everywhere: they’re carrying tea trays, opening doors, serving dinner, or wandering about decoratively at balls wearing powdered wigs and knee-breeches with silk stockings, carrying trays of champagne glasses. I’m referring, of … Continue reading
In these days of Title IX when young women can participate in pretty much any sport they choose, it’s easy to forget that not much over a hundred years ago, anything much more strenuous than a decorous horseback ride in … Continue reading
Ah, having a lady’s maid. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Someone to pamper you and pick up your discarded silk shawls and rub your temples with lavender water when you have a headache…what’s not to love? Ahem. I have to admit … Continue reading
Charm bracelets have been in fashion for decades, right up until the present day; girls (and women!) still seem to love them. But in the 18th and 19th centuries, they weren’t necessarily for girls…and they weren’t bracelets, either. Pocket watches … Continue reading
Once upon a time in the 19th century… Lady Agatha Crumpwhistle is now nearly five. Her devoted nurse, Mrs. Hoggett, has taught her to not make messes and behave nicely and to be respectful of her elders, but there’s a … Continue reading
They’re a stock figure in fiction in and about the 19th century, from Charlotte Bronte to Georgette Heyer, who populated many of her stories with ludicrous examples of them. And though in books they might be either the villainess or … Continue reading
Here is a perfectly splendid 19th century bad boy who, perversely, was probably the nicest one you could ever hope to meet. He’s also someone whose image you might well have seen before, without realizing his identity. And so, may … Continue reading
If you were a member of the aristocratic or gentry classes in the 19th century, it was almost a given you’d have two (or more) mothers: the woman who gave birth to you, and the one (or ones) who actually … Continue reading
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, who helped enormously to popularize the holiday in Great Britain and set its traditions in … Continue reading
Ah, holiday customs. At my house, we’ve developed a new one over the last few years: after exchanging presents and eating Christmas dinner and pulling crackers (we lurrrrve Christmas crackers!) and nibbling at dessert, we usually play a rollicking game … Continue reading
