eccentrics
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Mr Baker the Blind Toymaker Collection #1
Mr Baker wasn’t blind but he was a toymaker technically speaking. He got the name because of his unique approach to designing and making toys. They were intended for children, but research suggests that no child ever played with them. Instead wealthier Victorians purchased them as ornaments which only came out on Halloween. Mr Baker…
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Cosmetic Surgery in the Victorian Era Collection #2
We want to return to the cosmetic surgeons of the Victorian era. Photograph #4 is of Malcolm O’shea who was a butcher from Halifax. In his spare time, and to make ends meet, he was also a butcher of a very different kind. On the surface, the room he’s standing in looks like a normal…
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The Festival of Grime Collection #3
This is the last collection of the Festival of Grime photographs for a while as we have been cleaning up some images we can’t wait to share with the world. No background information necessary. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Have a splendid day. TVUP
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The Festival of Grime Collection #2
Some more delightful images from the Festival of Grime for you. The costumes of the moth children in photograph #4 and the stick insect in photograph #7 are my personal favourites. However, the carnival float of an Indian elephant in photograph #8 is also impressive. Such a rig would have taken many hours of hard…
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Victorian Insect Hatting Collection #1
For the people who have read some of the backstories of the Victorian Underground, you may recall us mentioning ‘insect hatting’. This was a variant of flower hatting, plant hatting and other types of ‘hatting’. These were small gatherings of gentlemen who would meet up once a week to share their love of hat making…
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The Bromley Society of Animal Lovers Collection #2
Today’s collection is an assortment of miscellaneous photographs. We have no names, no context, no backstory; only imagination. We’re almost certain that some of them are early examples of ‘photoshopping” and trust that our friends can also spot the culprits a mile off. For us at the Fellowship, these attempts at doctoring images only multiplies…
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The Bromley Society of Animal Lovers Collection #1
We have already shared images of the Victorians’ insatiable obsession with animals. However, none were so passionate as The Bromley Society of Animal Lovers. The society was founded in 1868 by the naruralist Kenneth Crabtree and survived until World War One. These images are only a handful of the ones we have in our archives.…
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Victorian Hoax Photography Collection #1 (Yeti Edition)
Hoax photography was once a lucrative industry. Most of us are familiar with the ‘fairies at the bottom of the garden’ photographs. To a modern audience they look ridiculous, but to many Victorians they were evidence of paranormal activity. So today we bring to you some hoax photography of the mythical yeti and take a…
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The Gentlemen’s Moth Appreciation Society of England Collection #2
Today we share 5 more members of The Gentlemen’s Moth Appreciation Society of England who also tragically lost their lived on the turn of the 18th century. May they all rest in peace. TVUP
Welcome to the Victorian Underground Project 