Nineteenth Century American Easter Celebrations are very much like those we experience now. This article covers a wide range of Victorian American observances from church services to Easter eggs (to the giving of eggs), ladies Easter Bonnets and new clothing for men. Easter parades, donation plates, and historical menus from newspapers of the era.
YES. LEAP YEAR ROMANCES REALLY DID OCCUR!
Some Leap Year engagements credited to poor behavior of young men in the other three out of four years. Thus Ladies’ Leap Year Clubs and Men’s Leap Year Clubs passed resolutions of how to best protect and support one another through the difficulties. Rules for Leap Year parties, and more!
I’ve read books where the intrepid hero has to reuse brown paper the mercantile owner used to wrap a purchase in order to leave the heroine an all-important note. I read another novel where a would-be bride’s employer deducted the cost of paper and envelope from her wages. Was paper that expensive? Did expense translate to scarcity?
Our Victorian American ancestors celebrated Thanksgiving very much like we do today. Some fun traditions have slowly melted away into obscurity but others are still going strong. This article contains detail amateur historians will enjoy, the official photograph of 1890 University of Michigan football team, and images of printed invitations issued for holiday parties.
Santy (Santa Claus) wasn’t the only celebrity to endorse the well-known, well-loved, imported English Pears’ Soap. Even when the method of celebrity endorsement was used to lesser extent, it’s still implied. Another ad run either in a magazine or newspaper in the latter portion of the century quoted, “I have found it matchless for the hands and complexion.”
