All About History Weird History of the Victorians
WELCOME
THE WEIRD WORLD OF THE VICTORIANS • Alongside the forward leaps in science and technology, the Victorian era also had many quirky customs and traditions that formed an eccentric culture
THE CORONATION OF QUEEN VICTORIA • Victoria had an incredible influence over society during her 63 year reign
EXPANDING THE EMPIRE • British influence reached new heights during the Victorian era
Society & Culture
FREAKY FASCINATIONS • LIFTING THE LID ON THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD THAT WAS THE VICTORIAN FREAK SHOW
MY PERSONAL FASCINATION
FREAKY FAKES • What you see is not always what you get
MEDICINE NOT MYSTERY • New understanding and new language for a new age
A SOUR NOTE-VINEGAR VALENTINES • Roses are red, violets are blue, when it comes to my valentine, it sure won’t be you!
A VERY VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS • The Victorian Christmas evolved over the decades – taking aspects from older English traditions, literary models, and those invented by the Victorians themselves
ALL THE WORLD IN A BOX • Victorian cabinets of curiosities were marvellous collections of the odd, the unusual and the bizarre
No Holds Barred The Sweet Science of Bareknuckle Boxing • The blood-splattered truth behind Britain’s underground fight club that attracted crowds of thousands – including kings and prime ministers – even after it was outlawed
First rules of Fight Club • Jack Broughton’s dos and don’ts guided bareknuckle boxing for over a century
Top 5 Prize Fighters • These boxers, without doubt, were the real superstars of their day
Birth of Women’s Boxing
BABY FARMERS • If a family could not support a new arrival, they could be tragically sold to so-called ‘baby farmers’ to help make ends meet
SUN, SEA AND SOCIAL BREAKDOWN • The rise of the railway brought seaside resorts in reach of the masses — and fresh challenges to maintain Victorian morality
THE GREAT COVER-UP • The modest way to take the air or take the plunge!
ENTERTAINMENT FOR ALL • Typical scenes from the Victorian seaside
PIER PRESSURE • Seaside towns sought to attract tourists by building ever longer piers
WAKES WEEK • When everyone in town went off on holiday together
IN FOR A PENNY • If you couldn’t rub two pennies together, these were the best forms of entertainment for the average Victorian that were available on the cheap
TURN TO THE WALL, GIRL! • The rules that Victorian servants were expected to follow
Conspicuous Consumption • The limited understanding of disease in the Victorian era created a number of unusual fashions which saw the healthy envying the sick
BROAD STREET PUMP • How one Victorian doctor helped debunk the miasma theory
Manners Maketh (Wo)man • Follow an upper middle-class lady through her day in late Victorian England, a social minefield fraught with etiquette bombs primed to shame her, should she make the slightest misstep
MORAL OUTRAGE • Buttoned up, prudish and joyless, the Victorians have a reputation for prim and proper behaviour, but the reality was very different
THE QUEEN’S WEDDING NIGHT • Victoria wasn’t shy about celebrating the consummation of her marriage
Religion & Belief
High Church Low Church • Victorian churchmanship came in two main forms: smells and bells, or plain and simple
THE SECT THAT ENDED SLAVERY • How a small corner of London revolutionised morals and politics
MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY • The bond between Christianity and sport and exercise tightened in the mid-19th century with a focus on developing strong and healthy bodies
SUPERSTITIONS OMENS AND...