family
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The Festival of Grime Collection #5
Another collection of pre-carnival floats. Notice how, alongside various insects, they also celebrated the pig. At risk of sounding condescending to our dear readers, it is no coincidence that they also chose a pig to represent their struggle for survival in an age when making it past the age of five was a miracle. At…
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The Festival of Grime Collection #4
We return to the festival which celebrates northern pride, grit and determination. This time we are archiving photographs of the carnival floats which took a huge amount of time to construct and involved numerous people in the communities coming together. These photographs were taken in and around the Lancashire towns circa 1880 several days before…
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Victorian Parents Using Their Children for Pranks Collection #2
Among the huge amount of photographs we have received this month, we have been lucky enough to find another rare example of Victorian parents using their children for pranks. This time the subject was toddlers. Our expert in this particular area tells us that back in the early to mid-nineteenth century, families tended to be…
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The Most Popular Children’s Toy in 1899 Collection #2
Today we archive more ‘knights on hogback’. We discussed in the last post how this phenomenon became the hobby of the parents. If you were to visit rural communities in the north on any given Sunday, you would find children bashing each other and adults doing the same but much more vehemently. Before long the…
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Aunt Fanny’s Miracle Kitchen Collection
Some light relief for you all. Aunt Fanny from Huddersfield was a renowned baker and maker of disgusting looking but delicious tasting cakes, pastries and confectionery. Legend has it that she was also something of a perfectionist as we can see in photograph #6. Her tantrums were ‘thunderous’ according to one employee’s diary. Our team…
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The Importance of Cards During the Victorian Era Collection #7
As promised, here are some more ‘cursed cards’ from this particular collection. As we research these more and more, we’re learning that anyone who used these cards for casting spells ended up either dead, destitute or diseased. While we don’t entertain pseudoscience and superstition at the Fellowship, we do find the backstories fascinating. We are…
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The Importance of Cards During the Victorian Era Collection #6
Today we begin to archive a new type of Victorian card. The images above are front then back of the card, front then back of the card etcetera. They were supposed to be possessed by evil spirits, transplanted into the card by the creature on the back. An aspiring witch could use them for casting…
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Mr Baker the Blind Toymaker Collection #2
These are some more toys by Mr Baker. Photograph #1 and photograph #7 almost look like they are members of the Saint Rupert cult. In fact many of these toys resemble things we have looked at. We’ll leave you to explore. Have a splendid weekend. TVUP
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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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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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