In every era, there are those things that just seem indispensable. And yet, as fashion trends come and go, so do these “indispensable” items. Inflatable crinoline from a Punch cartoon, 1857 Sarah Forbes Binetta, 1862 The most are probably undergarments. Though corsets and garter belts made a comeback for a certain kind of accessory … Read more
Concerned for the ever-growing crime rate, Victorians were all for punishment for crimes. It was the style of this punishment that were having trouble with. In the Mikado, a Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera from 1885, there is a song sung by the Emperor of Japan called A More Humane Mikado, with the refrain, “Let … Read more
A uniquely Victorian pastime for the very rich; First, get yourself a several thousand-year-old dead guy, invite all your friends over to watch you unwrap him from his bindings, then grind him into a powder and everyone gets to go home with a powdered mummy souvenir. Fun times! Unwrapping a mummy. Well, that was the … Read more
My Sherlockian series, An Irregular Detective Mystery, features a former Baker Street Irregular Tim Badger who, as an adult, opens his own detective-for-hire agency with his friend and colleague Ben Watson, a Black man who has a scientific mind and won’t play second fiddle. They attempt to solve cases by using Sherlock Holmes’ method with … Read more