Suffer the Little Children: British Concentration Camps During the 2nd Anglo-Boer War

As promised, this is not a happy story. Some of the photos in this post are disturbing. They break my heart. I hope I do not use them gratuitously. The Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 has a strange hold on me. Perhaps because it happened where I live. I can drive through battlefields, pull over, perhaps … Continue reading →

Victorian Cosmetics 2 – More Recipes for Unguents

I’m adding one more recipe for a Victorian unguent from the wonderful Ladies’ Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness written in 1875 by Florence Hartley. I’m not sure that this one will be a great money spinner for me in terms of my post-retrenchment recovery plan, but the stories that come with it are fascinating – … Continue reading →

Victorian Cosmetics: “Receipts for the Complexion” 1875

I am still reading The Ladies Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness, written in 1875 by Florence Hartley. The last chapter features recipes or “receipts” for home-made lotions and potions. As a newly redundant lady (work-wise; in all other areas of my life I am still singularly relevant), I really do have to think about ways … Continue reading →

Retrenchee Reads a Book of Etiquette

I was retrenched this week. It’s quite a thing to say that out aloud. I don’t like it; it sounds dirty – stench, retrench. I prefer to think of myself as a retrenchee. It sounds exciting and revolutionary. Retrenchee and Trotsky met Frida and Diego for tequila in the smokey room. Yes, better. But, alas, I am not … Continue reading →