April 2010
"Lie back, and think of England."
“This pithy advice was supposedly given by Queen Victoria to her 17-year-old daughter, Princess Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, on her wedding night in 1857, and has become a catch-phrase for frigid marital congress. But it is unlikely that the Queen ever said it; the phrase appears to have become common only after her death in 1901.
The earliest found use is actually in the unpublished...
cantaloupe asked: Thanks for following me!
I LOVE your blog. It's wonderful!!! Thanks for keeping history alive!!!
I LOVE your blog. It's wonderful!!! Thanks for keeping history alive!!!
"Woman and the New Morality" by Margaret Sanger
It is common knowledge that sex is an integral part of any relationship. Typically reserved for married couples in the nineteenth century, sex flourished as a necessity for unmarried couples and single individuals in the 1920s. Promiscuity skyrocketed and experimentation was favored over purity and pre-marriage celibacy. In this 1920 article, birth control activist Margaret Sanger (1879-1966)...
Another "thank you" to my followers:
Thank you to all my followers! Historiful now has a slew of FIFTY followers! For someone who is still relatively new to the Tumblr scene, this is just magnificent. You all seem like such wonderful individuals. I’ve browsed through most of your blogs and am pleased that I’ve found a group of people who appreciate the past as much as I do. It is fantastic that we all have such a passion...
"Victorian Expressions of Love" by Nancy Rosin
Despite the nineteenth century’s strict moral code, Victorian individuals expressed their love and commitment to each other in elaborate, sentimental ways. Lavishly decorated calling cards, tussy mussy bouquets, and small paper gifts were, for instance, a few examples of expressing one’s love to another. In this article, Nancy Rosin of Victoriana discusses her collection of romantic...
March 2010
Victorian courting: tips for finding a "perfect"...
1. You should not marry someone with the same eye colour.
2. The thin and wiry should marry the round emotional types.
3. A person with red hair and a pale complexion should marry someone with black or brown hair.
4. Those with soft, fine hair should marry one the same.
5. Those with curly hair should marry one with straight.
6. The nervous highstrung person should wed the slow and quiet...
"Dating in the Victorian Era: The Unsuitable...
Nineteenth century courtship followed a strict etiquette code for both individuals involved. Relationships did not typically begin unless the two individuals obtained approval from their families — some relationships even began as a result of a family introducing the two individuals to each other! In this article, lecturer and historian Heather Palmer discusses courtship etiquette and its...
“This day, my Julia thou must make
For mistress bride the wedding cake
Knead...”
– “The Bride Cake,” from Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, December 1882.
"The Victorian Wedding Engagement"
This article, taken from the archives at Victoriana, explains the traditions behind Victorian wedding engagement, highlighting proper etiquette for both the proposal and for planning the wedding itself.
“WHEN young persons have decided to marry, a proper gentleman will take the first opportunity to acquaint the girl’s father with their hopes, and, making a frank statement of his...
theme of the week: love, courtship, and weddings,...
Silent film week has unfortunately come to an end! I’m surprised to have made over seventy posts in just the past week alone. I am pleased that I have such a wonderful group of followers and enjoy browsing your posts as well.
This week (3/28 - 4/4) is all about love, courtship, and marriage, from sweet-nothings to headline scandals, from the period of approximately 1880 to 1930. Top ten...
"Movies Is Movies" by Ellis Parker Butler...
American writer Ellis Parker Butler (1869-1937) was well known for his short story “Pig Is Pigs” (1905), and remained prolific until his death in 1937. Though he published dozens of stories, poems, and articles, he was only a part-time writer, and worked full-time as a banker in Flushing (Queens), New York. In this July 1920 article, “Movies Is Movies,” Butler discusses his...
“Young man, if God had wanted you to see me that way, he would have put your eyes...”
– Lillian Gish (1893-1993)
fuckyeahbusterkeaton:
Actor and director Buster Keaton (1895-1966).
“I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and...”
– Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) (via fuckyeahcharliechaplin) 