Category: daily life
-
Designs in Practicality
Good morrow, dear readers. I hope all is well with you! I remember, in my pre-Amish days, watching period dramas and marvelling, not in a good way, about all the dark panelling throughout English country houses. Why would they do that? It would absorb all the light! Whereas such panelling is not as reflective as…
-
The Weight Your Calling Card Holds
One tradition that has been kept, and for the better, is the calling card, though it is now the business card. As I was designing one, I wondered more about the calling cards of the Regency. One fun fact is that the lady’s card was actually a little larger than a man’s. There were so…
-
Thaddeus Ever Valiant
There’s always the hope that there might remain a brilliant female writer from the 1700s or early 1800s who has been lost to obscurity. That’s why, over the years, I go back once in a while to read someone new to me. One of these is Jane Porter, who along with her sister Maria became…
-
What if everything we know about the practice of dowry is wrong?
The dowry system, historically viewed as a transaction treating women as property, served deeper economic and social purposes across cultures. It provided women financial security through marriage settlements, reflecting societal norms and gender inequality. While its significance diminished in the 19th century with legal reforms, its legacy continues to influence contemporary discussions on women’s independence…
-
Add a Little Light to the Situation
Good morrow, dear readers. Are you having a lovely July? I am trying – and mildly succeeding – to get back to writing this month. As I mentioned last time, it was reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women in the light of our kerosene lamps which first opened my eyes to the parallels betwixt my…
-
When Mercury was a Cure-all
Everyone who reads my books knows that I have the Miss Bennets, particularly Mary, and, at times, Charlotte Lucas to be extraordinarily capable alchemists in the stillroom. Rarely is it without a later purpose, from scented waters that may be included in travel kits to medicinals that Miss Kitty needs to ease her cough to…
-
All Dressed Up with Somewhere to Go: The Cost of a Ball Gown in Regency England
If you’re anything like me you’ve probably spent a ridiculous amount of time imagining what Elizabeth Bennet wore the night she danced with Mr. Darcy at Netherfield. Was it muslin? Silk? Did it swish dramatically when she turned away from him in elegant disdain? And the all important question: what did it cost Mr. Bennet?…
-
Did Austen Speak Posh?
In our last blog, we heard how Shakespeare’s English much more resembled the accents of the provinces than the “proper” English favored today by actors and newscasters, the latter being an accent called “Received Pronunciation” or “RP.” Jane Austen had knowledge of and appreciation for Shakespeare. There are parallels between her social comedies and his, Willoughby reads…
-
Like Living in a Book
Good morrow, fair readers. How are you this glorious June morn? I know ‘tis Friday the 13th, but I still wish every good thing upon you all! When introducing some of what I learned through our five years with the Amish community, I thought I would share what first opened my eyes to the practical…
-
Unusual Regency Hobbies
Shoe making, graveyard picnics, and anthropomorphic taxidermy…just a day in the life of the Regency and Victorian upper class.