inventions
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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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Victorians Who Died by Their Own Inventions Collection #2
And so we return to Victorians who were so passionate about their inventions they were willing to die for them. Literally and tragically. Mr Dent was an eccentric fellow who had studied winged animals since he was young. His interest never abated and so he cruised through academia, eventually becoming an expert in the field.…
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Skink Magazine: The Victorian BDSM Catalogue Collection #5
We have seen the Victorian obsession with death before in other collections. It’s not difficult to understand why it existed. Medical science was still at a stage where the routine illnesses of today could have been certain death 130 years ago. The child mortality rate was abysmal and the life expectancy in England for a…
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Skink Magazine: The Victorian BDSM Catalogue Collection #4
These photographs were taken last year by a private collector of Victorian ‘love maids’. We are thankful to them for allowing us to archive the images here. These dolls were referenced in the classified section of Skink. They asked people to write to the Southern Exchange (abbreviated to SEX) for more information. It is a…
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Domingo’s Haunted Puppet Show Collection #1
Alfred Byrne’s entertainment name was Domingo. We can see him in photograph #10 with some of his creations. He performed his shows in underground theatres across the country and was popular among bohemian circles. The stories he told tended to be a mix of nihilism, gallows humour and scathing social commentary. He attacked royalty, parliament,…
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Tractor Wars Collection #1
In rural areas in Victorian England, the main reason for disputes was land boundaries. As most people couldn’t afford legal representation, people came up with their own solution. In order to resolve the matter between themselves, they decided that they would emulate the jolly old medieval resolution system of jousting. However, instead of shining armour…
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Victorian Hoax Photography Collection #3 (Martian Edition Part #1)
Today’s collection has to be one of the most bozarre and hilarious we’ve archived thus far. Yet when these images began to circulate in a national newspaper in 1895, Victorians were queueing up to be fooled. In 1895 a theatre company named Barnard & Co. was celebrating the end to a fantastic summer season in…
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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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