Navigating the Heartache WWI Brings
It’s hard to imagine a time when government regulations didn’t protect workers’ safety. But a century ago, there were no regulations. No one had any reason to question why not. However, that all changed on the day of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. What is a shirtwaist? It’s a type of blouse. It became popular when…
Many people have the impression that the 1910s were technologically the Dark Ages. In truth, nearly all the modern conveniences we enjoy today existed, only in a simpler form. Technological advances accelerated in the 19th century and continued in the 20th century at an astonishing rate. So much so that, as ThoughtCo. puts it, “We…
When you hear the term “casualty of war,” what do you think of? Do you think of fallen or wounded soldiers? Refugees? Perhaps you might even take it a step further and think of the families affected by the loss of a loved one? How about illegitimate children? Do they come to mind? In World…
Post-mortem photography is one mourning ritual that did not survive the Victorian era. These photographs (also known as death photos, mourning portraits or memorial portraits) were, as the name implies, taken of a deceased person. They were popular almost from the invention of photography until around 1900 when it became possible for ordinary people to own a…
The stereotype is that women drivers are bad drivers. This stereotype no doubt got its start in the early days of the 20th century when motoring was thought of as a male pursuit. Some pioneering women thought it was all nonsense. A woman could operate an automobile just as well as a man. Women were…
Learning how to cook in the early 20th century was not a matter of choice for women. It was a matter of survival. Women were expected to cook for their families, but what were they cooking and how were they preparing it? “All the food that we ate when I was a child in the…
I have been a history lover for many years, and I am obsessed with World War I to the point of addiction. This focus has grown to include Canada and its history. (This post is a companion piece to my WWI Trilogy, Angel of Mercy, Those Left Behind and Adjustment Year, available wherever eBooks are…
On Sept. 8, 1900, a hurricane ripped through Galveston, then Texas’s largest city, and became one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history. The city was important to the shipping industry and was a vacation spot for the wealthy. It also was technologically forward, introducing telephones and electricity before many other cities. A Brewing…
We live in a day and age where sex tapes make people celebrities, and the thought of our mortality makes people uncomfortable. There was once a time when the opposite was true. People were aware of the shadow of death, and mourning was a public activity. Their sex lives, on the other hand, were never…
The choice of baby names is vitally important to any parent. And such a big decision it is! The pupils taking the eighth grade exit exam in 1910 would have been born around 1896. What names would have appeared on their classrooms’ rolls, and how do those names compare to today? Then and Now The most…