STORYWORLD

A close look at Victorian laundry practices will have you thanking your lucky stars you live in a mechanized age.  No wonder they didn't change clothes as often as 21st century people do!  I found out why when I was doing research for another novel: Monday was the laundry day of choice and early rising was compulsory  - usually between 2 - 4:00 a.m First you had to "spot clean" the stains using homemade concoctions.  Here's a list of common stains with their remedies:                - ink - vinegar over stain then then oxalic acid               - fruit  - butter/ammonia/washing soda               - glue - alcohol               - mud on wool - potato juice               - stained black cashmere - rinsed in mustard water made from 6 ounces of mustard flour in six ...

Check out these stringent criteria that  were promoted in the Victorian era as guidelines for finding the perfect wife.  I found them in an article on Courtship and Marriage Etiquette from the London Journal (1871).  The author's name wasn't mentioned.  I wonder whether it was a male or female.  See what you think: 1.  A good wife shouldn't talk too much: The chattering woman is worse than the chattering man. Her experience is necessarily so limited that she must talk about the same thing over and over again. If she is not fond of reading—which she seldom is—she is a nuisance. If given to strong-mindedness, sermonizing proclivities, mothers' meetings, and literary "swarries," she is simply an abomination. Such a shallow creature cannot make a good wife. 2.   Or too little: a woman who prides herself on her brevity of speech is generally a sullen creature 3.   Or be a lazy layabout: If a man marries an idle y...

Victorian weddings definitely started the trend of the "Big Day" which is now a modern day obsession and multi-billion dollar industry.   The Victorian Bride Brides always had a trousseau tea when her lady friends and family got together for refreshments and the viewing of every piece of the prospective bride's trousseau.  A typical trousseau included  lace-trimmed camisoles, silk and flannel undergarments; at least two French corsets with extravagant lacework, two crinolines, plus a beautifully hand-embroidered special-occasion petticoat. Numerous pairs of white and grey stockings, gloves in white kid, grey cotton, fine black leather and long satin evening gloves,  bonnets and cloaks, neat travelling suits, as well as a variety of pretty day dresses and a spectacular evening dress in peach coloured lace and peau de soie.    A collection of hand-painted fans as well as china, crystal, silver...

I read a lot about "Women and Mind Doctors" in Victorian Europe while researching my novel, Unnatural.   I was alarmed to discover the extent to which the Victorian patriarchy, including many eminent mind doctors,  used their power to manipulate and oppress the already subjugated women in their households. On the side of reason the great John Stuart Mill argued that, " the supposed inferiority  of women's intelligence was a result of the differences in their education and not something determined by nature," and that it was no wonder "high class" women were more susceptible to nervous complaints when they were brought up as "hothouse plants, physically inactive, yet unnaturally active where the emotions were concerned." Henry Maudsley On the side of blind prejudice were several men whose misogynistic views made them very popular with the Victorian public.   Henry Maudsley (1835-1918) contended that "Education is an excessive ment...