Holiday Conversation-Starters Roundup

By | December 22nd, 2021|Categories: 19th Century Literature, Christmas, Entertainment, Holidays, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|

I have loved blogging for Recollections for the past two years! One of the things that has been so special is that I have had the chance to do a lot of research into holiday traditions of the past. This has added a lot of depth to my holidays and I noticed at Thanksgiving dinner [...]

Irene Castle: Flapper Era’s Best Dressed

By | December 15th, 2021|Categories: 1920s fashion, Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Entertainment, Fashion, Roaring 20s, Women's History|

I have often seen references to "Irene Castle Corticelli" in my research for Recollections blog posts but didn’t know much about the woman behind the brand. I love studying the lives of women related to the fashion industry of the 1910s and 1920s so have had her on my list for a while. I was [...]

A very, merry 1950s Thanksgiving

By | November 21st, 2021|Categories: 1950s Fashions, 1950s fun, Entertainment, History of the home, Holidays|Tags: , |

The 1950s was a fun time for holiday celebrations. The post-war glee was still at a high level and there was an emphasis on domestic life that made for parties and get-togethers that were more festive and creative than they had been in the past. Thanksgiving in the 1950s was an especially great opportunity for [...]

The surprising history of hot chocolate

By | November 11th, 2021|Categories: Christmas, Entertainment, Holidays|Tags: , |

I enjoyed learning about the history of ice skating last week and spent many evenings thinking about what it must have been like to enjoy a night of outdoor skating during the Victorian era. What kept coming to mind were images of bundled-up Victorians enjoying porcelain cups of hot chocolate at some point during their [...]

Fun and Happy Vintage Halloween Images

By | October 17th, 2021|Categories: Entertainment, Halloween, Holidays|Tags: , |

Every Halloween I see blog posts and social media posts go around with images of “creepy vintage Halloween costumes.” I do enjoy reading some of them, especially those that source images involving spiritualism or with images that are new to me. But each year I also start to think to myself about what a fun [...]

Victorian opera attire: a feast for the eyes

By | October 14th, 2021|Categories: Accessories, Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Entertainment, Fashion, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions|

Last year I wrote about the history of the cape and how it has come and gone through fashion history. I noticed that during the Victorian era, one’s opera cape held great significance and that they were grand sights to behold. A post about Victorian and Edwardian opera attire has been on my mind ever [...]

The women behind The Wizard of Oz witches

By | September 23rd, 2021|Categories: Entertainment, Halloween, Holidays, Women's History|Tags: , , , |

Few movie main characters are as different as The Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch The Wizard of Oz. And few are as beloved, with both of them being entrenched in the American consciousness 85-some odd years since the film was released.  The characters would not have become so iconic without [...]

Can Regency paper dolls encourage children to behave?

By | September 5th, 2021|Categories: Entertainment, Regency Era, Women's History|Tags: , |

I have been looking forward to doing a post on the history of paper dolls for a while. And wow - talk about biting off more than I could chew! As soon as I started prepping a couple of weeks back I realized it was WAY too huge of a topic to tackle in one [...]

Camille Clifford: Gibson Girl

By | August 26th, 2021|Categories: 1920s fashion, Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Entertainment, Fashion, Women's History|

After studying the S-curve silhouette a few weeks back, I started thinking about the real women behind the iconic Gibson Girl. Although the Gibson Girl was an illustration, artist Charles Gibson did use real models, and she was meant to portray Gibson’s idea of how a woman should not only look but behave. His own [...]