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 [...]

What's in your reticule?

By | November 4th, 2021|Categories: Accessories, Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Fashion|Tags: , , , , , |

Can you imagine going from function to function with just a small pouch for your things? In the Edwardian era, that is exactly what women did, and they made sure to make a statement even with a tiny bag attached to their wrist. Handbags, reticules, and pouches weren’t as prominent in the Victorian era as [...]

The romance of the ice: Victorian ice skating

By | October 31st, 2021|Categories: Victorian culture, Victorian Era|Tags: , , |

Flirting in the Victorian era was a very involved affair. Rather than the very direct ways that we might express our interest in someone today, looking for romance in the 19th century was about looking for one of the few socially-appropriate ways to engage with the opposite sex and then behaving even more carefully. I [...]

Victorian nightcaps

By | October 28th, 2021|Categories: 1920s fashion, Accessories, Edwardian Era, Edwardian Fashion, Fashion, Underpinnings, Victorian Era, Victorian Fashions|

I recently wrote a blog post on Victorian nightgowns and found them so fun to look at. I love the idea that so much thought and care was put into garments that wouldn’t be admired by many people. And of course, there is the simple fact that so much of what women wore in the [...]

A brief history of dollhouses and their influencers

By | October 24th, 2021|Categories: History of the home, Women's History|

If you follow the Recollections blog, you may have noticed that I enjoy writing about dolls and novelty items from history. It’s true, I like all things cute. The history of dollhouses has been a topic I’ve looked forward to covering here for some time. I collect dollhouse furniture and have said for many years [...]

Fanny Fern: celebrity journalist

By | October 21st, 2021|Categories: 19th Century Literature, Victorian Era, Women's History|

I love antique etiquette manuals and advice columns. I collect both digital and hard copies and enjoy the beautiful way things are written and seeing how things have changed. There is a really interesting mix of advice that I think is quite timeless and standards that have been outdated for decades depending on the book. [...]

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 unexpected romantic history of bobbing for apples

By | October 10th, 2021|Categories: Edwardian Era, Halloween, Holidays, Victorian Era, Victorian Era Celebrations|

There is more to the fall tradition of bobbing for apples than meets the eye! Did you know that it was used by adult party-goers in the Victorian era to flirt and find love? Or that one version of the game was a fire hazard? It didn’t start out as a children’s game, far from [...]