May Adventures!

                  May is the time of Mother's Day celebrations and 

                                            Garden Parties and

                                          Spring Teas

The Interesting Fainting Couch!

The FAINTING COUCH is a couch with a back that is traditionally raised at one end. The back may be situated completely at one side of the couch, or may wrap around and extend the entire length of the piece much like a traditional couch.

 However, fainting couches are easily differentiated from more traditional couches, having one end of the back raised.

Fainting couches were popular in the 19th century, and were particularly used by women.
Some houses would take this to the level of having separate fainting rooms, where these couches would be the featured furniture.

The Meridienne, classic for French lounging

The chaise lounge or  “fainting couch” is a piece of furniture that meets us somewhere between a bed and a chair. It is a luxurious piece that has its roots with the ancient Egyptians and Greeks.  The well healed ruling classes spent large chunks of time lounging, eating and drinking, more eating and drinking, and then even some more.  We’ve all seen the many images of these folks and their gods laying on one.

Daybeds became popular among the French aristocracy in the 19th century. Like the ruling class of centuries before this cultured class spent a good deal of their day lounging, reading, more lounging. The two most well-known daybed styles were the Récamier and the Méridienne.
 
The Récamier had two raised ends and was named after the French Society Hostess, Madame Récamier, and for the portrait that was painted of her on the chaise.  

Portrait of Madame Récamier by Jacques-Louis David

 

The Méridienne was raised on one side with a slight back and one armrest along the same side and named for the area of the house, the meridian, where the sun would be in the middle of the day. Perfect for cat napping.

These couches continued in popularity during the Victorian era where they evolved into the “fainting couch”.  This was an era with corsets so tight as to bring on a fainting spell. (Or perhaps a reprieve from dull conversation?)  “Fainting rooms” were not uncommon and were complete with fainting couches and low lighting to assist in recovery. 

Victorian New Year!

 New Year celebrations have changed over time, even from the beginning to the end of the Victorian era. Prince Albert may have introduced the tradition of the Christmas tree from Germany, but Queen Victoria was obsessed with everything Scottish. There was no bigger holiday during the year in Scotland than New Year’s Eve and Day where it is known as Hogmanay or Hegmena and the Queen passed her passion on to her subjects.

Traditions associated with Hogmanay include gift giving, which was already popular in England. In wealthier households, New Year was the time for gift giving and payments of rewards to loyal servants.

 ‘First Foot’ is the Hogmanay tradition of bearing gifts as the first person to cross a threshold after the stroke of midnight. During Victorian times, the guest brought symbolic gifts of black bun (a rich fruit cake), shortbread, coal, salt, and whiskey. The gifts foretold the family’s fortune for the year. It was considered lucky if the gift giver was male and dark haired. Blonde hair was an omen for trouble..

 Another foretelling of the future was associated with what you were doing at midnight. It was thought that whatever you were doing at midnight would be what you would do for the coming year. This might be why going out and socializing was a popular thing to do at the New Year. Staying home and going to bed might foretell illness or worse during the coming year. 

Other superstitious include throwing out ashes from the hearth. Throwing them out the night before allows for a clean slate to start the new year right.

 Every person, no matter how young, should also have money in their pocket on New Year’s Day. To not do this was to risk poverty during the coming year. 

Tradition holds that the pig or hog is a symbol of fatness and plenty. Tradition also teaches that because a pig roots forward for its food, having pork signifies progress and moving forward in life during the coming year.

New Year’s Eve was no extraordinary affair among Victorian high society. But New Year’s Day was marked by a marathon of social traditions. 

 Wealthy Victorians would hold open houses, inviting all the local eligible bachelors into their homes to meet their unmarried daughters. 

 A young man would  receive invitations from a number of households and would spend 15 minutes or so chatting with the resident young woman (or women) therein before moving on to his next engagement.

  Gentlemen visited many homes on New Year’s Day and eligible bachelors left their calling cards to show they’d visited. Sometimes, it was a competitive event to see how many homes could be visited before the end of the day.

 New Year’s celebrations moved from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day. During the latter part of the 19^th century, the wealthy served guests a wide and varied buffet and egg nog laced with bourbon, rum, or brandy. Everyone donned in their holiday finery. 

 Raucous behavior saw the holiday evolve from being an open house to invitation only affair.

Well, with this knowledge, I wish all my Victorian friends a safe, healthy and prosperous 2018th.

Deck the Halls and Invite All To Christmas!

 We, as the lovers of all things Victorian, I am sure that Christmas is your favorite time of the year to decorate your home in grand style. It was for Queen Victoria. She took care in making the home glow with delight, to bring her large family together. She and Princess Albert wanted every room in the palace to sing with the holiday spirit.

When you visit some of your local historic homes and museums, you will see and feel what it was like in the Christmas past.

In these rooms, the warmth comes alike and you can feel the welcome of the families that lived here..

Families would come together, from all parts, to enjoy holiday meals, spirits and drinks, enjoy music and hear stories telling of Peace and Good Will.

 

 Originally Christmas was  Christ Mass, the Christian holy-day observed on December 25th to celebrate the birth of Christ. Later it also became an important secular holiday with the focus on the family..

Customs for celebration Christmas varied from country to country, but the message of good will to all remained the same .

The Victorian Ladies Society has been an inspiration to me for many years. I want to wish all of my kindred spirit sisters, Peace and Good Health, ( around the world) this glorious time of the year.

Downton Abby Fox Hunt at Hearthside House

What a lovely afternoon. 

 

We, at Hearthside House Museum, hosted a Downton Abby style Fox hunt and Luncheon on Chase Farm in Lincoln, RI. 

Weather was beautiful, 

the guests were enchanted and all in all a great historic experience.

A Portrayal of Maritgha Lyons

Today, I had a visit from a lovely young lady with a passion for history. I helped her with her first historic attire for a portrayal of

Maritcha Lyons- 

The Lyons' home was attacked several times during the New York City Draft Riots of July 1863. Lyons was a teenager at the time. She fled with her family to Salem, Massachusetts for a short time before returning to Brooklyn. Because of the ongoing danger, her parents sent the children to Providence, Rhode 
Island.

In 1865, Lyons was refused entry to the high school in Providence because she was African-American. The state had no high school for black children.. The family successfully sued the state of Rhode Island in a campaign to bring an end to segregated schools. At the age of 16, she testified before the state legislature, "pleading for the opening of the door of opportunity". Lyons later became the first African-American student to graduate from Providence High School.