We are slaves to fashion – both in our wardrooms and in our homes.  This also was the case during the Victorian era.  Homes in the Victorian era often were covered in wallpaper.  The Victorians loved wallpaper so much they covered every wall with it and sometimes the ceiling.  The wallpaper of choice was that…

Molasses.  Chances are it’s something you don’t have in your pantry, but 100 years ago it was a household staple.  Molasses is processed from sugar cane and is used as a sweetener; it is a dark brown, barely viscous liquid.  One January day, molasses also became synonymous with death. An industrial accident in Boston, known…

The corset is probably considered the most uncomfortable garment ever invented, not only because it constricts the body, but also because it is symbolic of women being constricted in society.  Was this true, or is it a stereotype?   Corsets have been part of a woman’s wardrobe since antiquity.  Over the centuries, they evolved and changed. The…

The silence of a small New England town was shattered on the afternoon of August 4, 1892.  Andrew Borden and his second wife, Abby, were brutally murdered with an ax.  No one heard anything while the crime was being committed, but the media sensation it caused was heard across the country. Maid Bridget Sullivan was…

This week marks the anniversary of an very momentous event in modern civilization: Dec. 31 is the day Thomas Edison first demonstrated his incandescent lightbulb in Menlo Park, NJ. The lightbulb was nothing new in 1879.  It had been around longer than the 32-year-old Edison.  Older models were expensive and didn’t burn for long.  Edison…

In a roundabout way, it is Edwin Hubble we have to thank for the Star Wars franchise.  Without his work, we would not have the concept of a galaxy far, far away.  If you were alive before the 1920s, when you gazed into the night sky, you believed everything in the heavens was a member…

Her name is lost in history to all but the most ardent baseball fans.  Mary Elizabeth “Lizzy” Murphy, the Queen of Baseball, was the first woman to play for a major league baseball team. Born in 1894 in Rhode Island, Murphy had sports in her blood.  Her father was a semi-professional baseball player.  As a…

Corruption always has been a part of American politics. No one exemplifies this more than William “Boss” Tweed.  Tweed was active in New York City politics in the mid-19th century.  He was portrayed by Jim Broadbent in the 2002 film The Gangs of New York, and is best known for his role as head of…

Most of us rarely stop to think about the history of mundane things, such as our household items and appliances.  The dishwasher didn’t become commonplace in homes until the latter part of the 20th century.  However, the dishwasher has a history dating back more than 150 years.  What’s more, unlike many objects in your home,…

Belief in the paranormal is not limited to modern times.  It began long ago with our ancestors telling spooky stories for entertainment.  The Victorians, especially, were practically obsessed with ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Spiritualism – the belief that the dead can interact with the living through a medium – was…