Exactly 150 years ago this was the fashion for December FIGURE 1 is a dress of rich light-blue taffeta, with flounces of velours epingle, representing tangled beds of roses, in their natural colors. The berthe and sleeves are similar in design, but narrower. The berthe forms epaulettes on the shoulders,Continue Reading

Letter Writing Image courtesy of the Graphics Fairy

At The Writing-Desk The Correct Thing To use good jet black ink. To use handsome, thick, plain white paper. To fold and direct a letter neatly, and to put on the stamp evenly, and in the proper corner. To put on as many stamps as the weight of the letterContinue Reading

Still on the topic of an early Victorian bedroom, it was suggested in the book The Architecture of Country Houses good furniture could be purchased from Edward Hennessey of Boston. It described a small bedroom set like this: “This furniture is remarkable for its combination of lightness and strength, andContinue Reading

When most of us think of the early Victorian era, we think of highly ornamental furniture and decor. However the book ‘The Architecture of Country Houses‘ published in 1859, suggests that the highly gilded, ornate furnishings and details should be left to city dwellings. The mindset of cottage homes wasContinue Reading

The defects of many of the ordinary pipe-wrenches are that they are heavy, not easy of adjustment, apt to slip, and even sometimes crush the pipe. A pipe-wrench not subject to these drawbacks, but light, easily adjusted, and of such a form that it cannot possibly either slip or crushContinue Reading

For a number of years past there has been a steadily growing demand among the well-to-do class for a higher grade of sanitary appliances for the household, and the demand has extended not merely to the comparatively unimportant features of greater elegance of form or better taste in decoration, butContinue Reading