Navigating the Heartache WWI Brings
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…
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…
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,…
We don’t call the soft drink Coca-Cola “Coke” for nothing. The original formula contained cocaine, but how much is debatable. The beverage’s syrup was manufactured with an extract of coca leaves – it’s the leaves that contain cocaine – and the caffeine rich kola nut. The beverage was one of several coca drinks on the…
Ah, summer. For many of us, it’s our favorite season, and one that in the dead of winter feels like it will never arrive. But what was summer like in the past? If you could take a time machine and travel back 100 or 115 years, what would you see? Upon arriving in the past,…
The architecture most commonly associated with the Victorian age is Gothic Revival. Italianate also was common at the time. Both styles are very distinctive, making it easy to tell the age of a building. Let’s take a look at each: Gothic Revival Gothic Revival gets its name from Gothic architecture popular during the Middle Ages.…
n my continuing effort to study and immerse myself into the early 20th century, I recently finished reading 1000 Turn-of-the-Century Houses. The book is a collection of floor plans from the late 1890s and early 1900s. The floor plans were all drawn by a St. Louis architect named Herbert Chivers. He compiled them into a…
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, meal time was a big deal. For the poor, it was a matter of survival, but for the upper classes, it was an event unto itself. Let’s take a look at dinnertime class differences in the 1900s. The Upper Class Dinner In affluent households, kitchen staff would…
Many traditional needlecrafts such as needlepoint, embroidery, knitting, sewing and crocheting are making a comeback. Today, these needlecrafts are pursued as hobbies, but a century ago women learned these skills as part of their education. This was especially true before the advent of mass-produced, ready-to-wear fashions. Even after clothing could be purchased in stores, these…
Today, we live in a society where schools are cutting arts and music education programs. A century ago, however, music education was considered important, and every family that could afford a piano owned one. Some homes even had dedicated music rooms. Before the advent of radio and television, playing music and singing was one way…