Archives for 2010
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Although it is easy and fun to design paper cut out dolls yourself, this can be a time consuming hobby.
Paper dolls have been popular for centuries, with elaborate, boxed, hand-made sets sold in the 19th century, to bound books which were printed and sold in later years.
Rich Victorian kids would have real, porcelain dolls in addition to paper craft cut out dolls. A dolls house was almost standard in the nursery of wealthier children.
Once paper dolls began to be manufactured, even poorer children in Victorian times could benefit from having something inexpensive to play with, in the rare times they might have time or money to spend, outside of their work day.
Free Cut-Out Paper Doll Template
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Saturday, March 6th, 2010
From bringing up children, to moral instruction, to advice on finances, the Victorians passed on a wealth of advice. For daughters, sayings and quotes were often repeated, intended to soothe, console and advise daughters on all aspects of their lives.
These quotes passed on from generation to generation. Many of these quotes and/or metaphors are still used in many households on a regular basis and others are relics of a time and era which has taken its place in the past.
Technically, the Victorian period spans from 1837 to 1901. Others place the Victorian period within the passages of the great reform bills in 1832 and 1867. The period was marked by great change, chaos, prosperity for some with poverty and misery for others. It was a time of great inventiveness but also a time of great upheaval. Advice and quotes were always at hand, whether one belonged in the upper or lower classes.
Quotes and Advice to Daughters in Victorian Times
* Least said soonest mended.
* Eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves.
* A secret is only a secret when you don’t tell anyone.
* Protect yourself from other people’s bad manners by a conspicuous display of your own good ones.
* If you can’t say something nice about someone don’t say anything at all.
* Elbows off the table, hands in laps.
* Don’t start until your mother is served.
* Eat your greens or you will get warts.
* How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.
* Don’t make mountains out of molehills.
* Brush your hair one hundred times before bed.
* Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
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Monday, March 1st, 2010
On an evening in October 1860, a scullery maid was washing up in a dirty, oppressively dark little cellar in London. The following scene was written down by the Victorian poet A.J. Munby in his diary. Why was this unusual? Victorian employers, as a rule, took no more notice of their servants than if they were a weed in the park. Not in the least concerned about their welfare, health or working conditions, servants only existed for the comfort of the family.
They were seldom discussed, except if there was the bother of finding a replacement. Mr. Munby’s notice of and interest in a lowly scullery maid was therefore very unusual. This is what he said as he observed a scullery maid or perhaps 15 years of age, at work:
“She stood at the sink behind a wooden dresser backed with choppers and stained with blood and grease, upon which were piles of copper and saucepans that she had to scour, piles of dirty dishes that she had to wash. Her frock, her cap, her face and arms were more or less wet,soiled, perspiring and her apron was a filthy piece of sacking, wet and tied round her with a cord. The den where she wrought was low, damp,ill-smelling; windowless, lighted by a flaring gas-jet and, full in view, she had on one side a larder hung with raw meat, on the other a common urinal; besides the man ugly, dirty implements around her”.
The excerpt provides us with an interesting glimpse into the daily life of the scullery maid. Occupying the lowest place among the servants, a Victorian scullery maid was almost a slave, receiving a poor wage and her food. Working hours were long and gruelling – a scullery maid would sometimes work for 16 hours a day or even longer if there was entertaining going on in the family.
