“When I was Young…” and other things my children never listen to.

My grandma was a dancer. She had lovely hair and even lovelier legs. She met my grandfather, an airforce pilot, during one of his training drills during WW2. It was a fire safety drill. The airforce boys needed two volunteers to leap from the “burning building” into the safety net below. My grandma and her … Continue reading →

A Cape Colony Christmas in 1863 and Strawberry Santas Gone Bad

I have been away again. I was here, in the bush; out of mobile phone range, without electricity, surrounded by the Big 5, with two wild animals of my own, one of whom rolled off the dining room table and smashed out their front teeth. Well, they’re dangling by a thread and the 5 dentists (yes, … Continue reading →

Syphilis and my Grandpa Bob

This past week, had he still been alive, my wonderful grandfather would have turned 93. He was a very good-looking chap – a lot like Jack Nicholson, I think – and had he lived in another country in another time, I quite fancy the idea of him as a film star. His good looks, however, were … Continue reading →

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 →

It’s The End of The World as We Know It – A Bookseller’s Lament and a Rap From King Charles II

I am a bookseller. I’ve spent my working life surrounded by the sharp smell of newly printed books and the musty smell of old ones. I am sure there is something poignant to say about old books smelling like grannies and our descriptions of grannies’ paper-thin skin, but my computer crashed last Friday, so I’ll be … Continue reading →

My Cousin Made a Black Bonnet- Mourning Dress in the 19th Century

This is the world of my forgotten forebears. They were ordinary people whose lives are now beyond memory. I hope to give them a name and a context. They are my family, but I hope you’ll enjoy reading about my journeys through time to bring back their stories. “Custom decrees, if even inclination does not prompt … Continue reading →

Nose Jobs in the 19th Century

“The science of the nose has reached such perfection that it is now possible to modify or change the nose” ~Baroness Staffe,  My Lady’s Dressing Room 1892 This article follows on from a previous post in which I had promised to look into early rhinoplasty as described in My Lady’s Dressing Room. Disappointingly, Baroness Staff’s entry was slim. Her … Continue reading →

A Polar Bear in my Victorian Bathroom

“At the opposite side of the room is placed a couch covered with the skin of a Polar bear, whereon, clad in a luxurious peignoir, one reposes after the fatigues of the bath and the douche. “ ~The Lady’s Dressing Room, by Baroness Staffe We are renovating our characterless 1970s bathroom. We have only the … Continue reading →