The decade of the 1880s proved among the most disastrous, desperate, life-threatening (and life-taking)–as winter in North America was at an extreme, the whole decade long. Climatologists have theories we understand today, but were unknown to our Victorian American ancestors. If you read a fictional book set in the 1880s, that touches on a mild winter, be surprised. Today, March 11th, is the anniversary of “the big one”.
When did Americans begin celebrating the Punxsutawney Phil, acknowledging the groundhog’s emergence from its den…and whether or not it saw its shadow? Is this a new observation, or an old? We know Victorians celebrated a wide variety of holidays we still acknowledge, and some we don’t. Did the Victorians’ superstitions embrace the Groundhog and his Shadow? Come see!
In the third and final article about Nineteenth Century Ice Cutting, I share some of the highlights of the history surrounding a Boston entrepreneur’s ice company, both domestic and foreign. Historic sources share insights and facts that make ice a pretty cool subject to study! See vintage images of ice cutters at work.
Quilt-making was an important part of “women’s work” in the 19th century (as well as before and after). My ancestors’ journals tell of a ransom demanded for the return of their little boy, kidnapped by the Black Hawk Indians in central Utah–including five quilts. The family got by with husk-filled bedding until Mother could gather enough wool from the barbed-wire fences to make batting for another quilt. She wasn’t alone in this frugal (and apparently necessary) practice.
TODAY is Release Day! PLEASANCE’S FIRST LOVE is here! It’s #6 in the acclaimed Grandma’s Wedding Quilts Series.
True sleigh rides are a thing of antiquity that most of us consider romantic. Did you consider how expensive such an outing could be? Or dangerous? No wonder a newspaper columnist of the day, in good humor, suggested an alternative.
Vintage paintings, photographs, and newspaper articles shed light on this sport, transportation, and social outing.
