Victorian Mother and Daughter 50 Years Apart and Did the Portrait Painter Cheat?

Since my last post about Eliza’s underwear, I have spent some time looking at the photograph of her and this portrait of her mother, from 1840. I am fascinated by family likenesses as a result of having grown up with a dead mother with a face just like mine. You wouldn’t need great powers of … Continue reading →

Victorian Underwear: A Quick Photographic Journey Through A Very Long Time in the Changeroom

I love this photo of my 3X great-grandmother, Eliza Sarah Johnson (1836-1910). There is no reason to have it here in this post about underwear other than my loving it; unless of course, I were to ask you to wonder what was beneath her dress. But that is entirely inappropriate. She doesn’t look at all like … Continue reading →

How Music Saved Lives in 1755.

Yesterday, in my On This Day in History app, it said that on 14 June 1755, Samuel Johnson published the first edition of his dictionary. As it turns out the app was wrong. It was first published on Tuesday 15 April 1755. Nevertheless, it led me to spend an evening reading the dictionary – a … Continue reading →

Of a Strongman and a Fig Leaf

I have been working on another article and in researching it, I came across this delightfully silly photograph of Eugen Sandow (1867-1925). I was researching purple hair; I don’t know how I stumbled upon it. Eugen was touted as The Perfect Man. Hmmmmm…not entirely sure about that, but the photo did make me smile in this week of South African … Continue reading →

South African Ghost Stories: Jan Smuts’ House

It is difficult to write a short story about a ghost that involves the life of Jan Smuts, the 2nd Anglo/Boer War, concentration camps, hidden treasure, the Great War, WWII, a Greek princess, Prime Ministers, pickles, tough Boer chicks and a spot that I just love to visit. I will continue to remind myself throughout, however, that I’m … Continue reading →