In the house… Last Tuesday, we left our dear domestic goddesses – Isabella Beeton, 19th century author of the wildly popular Book of Household Management, and Martha Stewart, creator of every other commercial household venture – intensely debating the fine points of fine dining. To read their last head-to-head, click here. Now I’ll continue with my…
Today’s flashback looks at a popular phenomenon of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the “Gibson Girl.” She was the creation of artist Charles Dana Gibson (for a detailed biography, click here), and she was everywhere: in the magazines of Life, Collier’s Weekly, Harper’s, and Scribner’s, to name the major ones. Her look was iconic, and quickly…
Here at Flashback Friday, we love the chance to talk about edgy stuff! I love this piece by Jan Whitaker, a 19th century historian who specializes in restaurants and department stores of that era. She has graciously allowed me to re-post this excerpt from her blog “Restaurant-ing Throughout History.” Be the first to like. Like Unlike
Please join me over at historical fiction writer Marcia Richards’ blog, where I will be guest posting about: Christmas Traditions in late-19th/early 20th century U.S. Women’s Colleges See you there! Kathy Be the first to like. Like Unlike
Welcome to flashback Friday. Today is a quick snippet of three articles from The New York Times, recounting burglaries gone wrong, often to comedic effect. The entries span the years 1886-1899, and in two of the accounts, a plucky woman comes to the rescue. Enjoy! 1 person likes this post. Like Unlike
Ahh, Labor Day weekend. The last gasp of summer leisure. ALL of the children going back to school. Parents have been kissing college freshmen goodbye and returning to quieter homes (mostly). It’s the first weekend of college football, too, when many of us ransack our closets for those college colors to wear, either in front of the…
Not that kind of sex appeal. A more precise term for today’s post would be gender appeal, but the former is a great attention-grabber, don’t you think? It is widely acknowledged that women read more than men, but the disparity is startling. A 2007 story by NPR, “Why Women Read More than Men,” put it…
While a number of sports activities were enjoyed by women in the 19th century (especially at women’s colleges) – basketball, tennis, and golf, to name a few – bicycling was by far the most popular. Susan B. Anthony asserted, in 1896, that “The bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in…
