Happy Victoria Day!

We hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend.

 Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

May Fashion Friday

 For this month's Fashion Friday we present a very interesting discussion about how Victorians created the illusion of having such tiny waists.

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

May Book Tuesday

This month we feature a review by VSA member Marian Gibbard

Thanks Marian

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The Victorian Society of Alberta

Title:         Thunderstruck
Author:     Erik Larson
Published:     2006
 
The late Victorian and Edwardian era was a time of great change, both scientifically and socially.  Transportation and communication technology were advancing rapidly. Increased access to wealth and consumer goods was causing rapid shifts in established social structures. Against this background, Erik Larson paints the seemingly unconnected stories of two men. One, Guglielmo Marconi, a scientist and inventor grappling with natural forces he barely understands; the other,  Hawley Crippen, a struggling business man and devoted husband and lover.  Both are ambitious, daring, and facing long odds of achieving their dreams.  One of them will go on to become one of the great names in wireless communication, the other will go on to be executed as a murderer.

Extensively researched and with numerous footnotes, this book reads more like an adventure novel than a non-fiction selection.  More than just a dry recitation of facts and events, considerable effort has been put into describing for the reader the small details of scene, atmosphere, and personality that brings the characters and their settings to life.  The sights and sounds of the first, primitive wireless broadcast stations are brought to life without burying the reader in excessive technical details.

This was an entirely enjoyable read, and held my attention throughout.  I would recommend it to readers who want to know more (but not too much) about the development of intercontinental wireless communication, and also those who enjoy a good ‘true Victorian crime’ story.

“Snow began to fall and soon covered the clifftop. At night sparks from the transmitter lit the descending flakes. With each concussion a pale blue aura burst across the landscape, as if the transmission house were a factory stamping out ghosts for dispersal into the ether. Three-foot daggers of ice draped wires.”

    Thunderstruck by Erik Larson, p 233

Recipe Test Simnel Cake

 Here is another Victorian Recipe Test by VSA member Marian Gibbard.

Mmmmm...

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

Recipe Test:    Mrs.Crocombe’s Simnel Cake 

From:    English Heritage - The Victorian Way YouTube channel
Link:    English Heritage. (2023, April 4). How to Make Simnel Cake - The Victorian Way
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z4bIJgfCSw

When the link to this video was posted to the VSA Facebook page just before Easter, I thought it would be the perfect dessert for my holiday dinner. But then someone mentioned cheesecake and lemons and raspberries, and suddenly Simnel Cake turned into a ‘next weekend’ project.  And now, here we are at next weekend already.

Mrs Crocombe as depicted by Kathy Hipperson on English Heritage’s The Victorian Way YouTube channel is absolutely my favourite Victorian cook.  The humour is subtle, the educational details extensive without being oppressive, the attention to detail exceptional, and the recipes tantalising. I’d definitely recommend the channel to anyone interested in Victorian food or life ‘below the stairs’ on a Victorian estate.

I had most of the ingredients for the Simnel Cake in my kitchen already, other than the candied citron peel and candied lemon peel.  Since I wasn’t able to find either of them in any of the stores I visited while doing my last minute shopping, I substituted some fruitcake fruit that I had leftover from making Christmas cakes a few years ago. By carefully picking out only the paler coloured bits from the mixed fruit, I think I succeeded in getting mostly lemon peel and citron for my cake.  Mrs Crocombe tells us that we can use currants or sultanas and milk rather than brandy if we prefer,  so I used sultanas since my currant jar was empty, and milk since there was no brandy in the cupboard. Only having large eggs in the fridge, I used only 2 instead of Mrs C’s 3 small ones.

The instructions provided are straightforward, and easy to follow.  Mrs Crocombe doesn’t actually tell us what size of pan she uses, but thanks to technology and instant replays I guessed that my largest fruitcake pan (8” diameter x 3” deep) would be about the right size - a springform and would probably also work well.

The cake smelled wonderful as it was baking.  Everyone passing through the kitchen commented on it. Just the smell was enough to make me feel that this would be a successful trial. About 1 hr 20 min into the baking time, I noticed that the top of the cake was already fairly brown, so I laid a square of parchment paper over top to hopefully help control it.  I think it helped, but the cake was still quite dark by the time it was done.  At 2.5 hrs the cake tested done, smelled delightful, but was just beginning to blacken a bit around the edges. Hoping for the best, I turned it out to cool.

 

 

 

The almond paste I was using for the top of the cake was softer than it should have been - it was leftover from another baking experiment and had a bit of orange juice added to it, which made for a lovely flavour, but a softer and stickier paste which was difficult to roll out and shape nicely. Fortunately, the cake wasn’t being judged on its artistic merits, so I just pressed the almond paste into place and sprinkled it liberally with icing sugar.

 

 

 

 

The finished cake is quite dense, and mine had quite a heavy crust, so a sharp knife is definitely needed for cutting.  Its a rich cake, somewhat reminiscent of a good fruit cake (or Christmas cake, or wedding cake) but a less intense flavour.  I definitely prefer the Simnel cake to the others. I’d recommend that you keep the pieces on the smallish side, and as Mrs Crocombe says, it is rather good with a cup of tea.

This is definitely on the list of things that will be made again.

 

 

Notes for next time:

Pan size: 8” diameter x 3” deep seems to work well.

Consider how best to reduce excess browning -

    - line the pan with paper, like you do for Christmas cake,

    - check about 1 hr into cooking time for colour - cover if necessary,

    - possibly reduce cooking temperature to 325 F from 350 F

April Fashion Friday

 For this month's Fashion Friday we present an incredible collection of sewing patterns and information.

Cosplayer Artemisia Moltabocca has done us all a service by pulling together a fantastic set of free resources for sewing your own costume, from an Italian Renaissance ball gown to petticoats from the 1950s.

Moltabocca, who also has a great set of sewing tutorials on her site, has gathered free patterns from across the internet, as well as pattern making sites that help you generate the perfect pattern for a custom corset. And if you aren't sure how to take the pattern images and enlarge them properly, Moltabocca also shows how to quickly and effectively enlarge a pattern using Powerpoint.

For a $3 USD Paypal donation you can download a bookmark file with hundreds of links!

Worth every penny!

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

 

Download Link 

FREE HISTORICAL COSTUME PATTERNS

A collection of 1,000+ links to hundreds of free sewing patterns for women, men, and children from 3000BCE to 1960 with a focus on 1800 - 1920.

Also includes:

• Monthly issues of Godey's Ladies Magazine in date order.

• Singer service manuals 600, 603, 604, 600e, 603e, 604e, 560.

• Singer 600 and 600e series chainstitch manual from my personal collection.

Don't be confused by copycat sites - we are the OG! OpenCulture | ArtOfIt | MentalFloss | MyModernMet | LifeHacker | ArtFido | ColoradoVirtualLibrary. 

List is a bookmarks.html file. Use as-is, or import into your own browser. Download on desktop or laptop. Your $3 donation will buy me a coffee as I maintain and expand this list. Immediate download.

April Book Tuesday

 Happy Spring!

I hope the weather where you are is starting to moderate a bit.

For this month's Book Tuesday we have a real treat.

Asher & Adams' Pictorial Album of American Industry 1876

Reprinted in 1976.

This very large volume 11" x 16" was created to celebrate the Industrial achievements of the US at the end of its first 100 years. 

From the Amazon listing:

"Asher & Adams' Pictorial Album of American Industry is a rare and beautiful window on the America of a Hundred years ago, a volume visually rich and uniquely authentic in its portrayal of nineteenth-century American life. Here are depicted in faithful and elaborate detail, mines and railway cars: farm machines and factories: hotels, carriages, colleges, and elegantly appointed Victorian showrooms. The more than 1,000 fascinating engravings reprinted here were made for the original edition of the album, first published in 1876 at the time of the national Centennial. A great contrast from our present harried times."

The engravings in this large folio book are sharp and clear and cover hundreds of machines and buildings and examples of the Industrial wonders found daily in post Civil War America.

While American based these were the background of the industrial equipment available in the West once the railroad was running.

 

Definitely worth checking out.

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

March Fashion Friday

For this month's Fashion Friday we have a link to a fabulous website with an index of Edwardian to WWI Sewing Books.

Well worth the perusal!

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

Free Edwardian-WWI Era Sewing Books

books, how to, sewing, tutorials

This blog post is meant to be an index for helping you to access free sewing books on Archive.org from the 1900-1910s. These sewing manuals would originally have been used in conjunction with paper sewing patterns of this period.

Why Sewing Books? Can’t I Just Read the Pattern?

Well, you can… kind of. If you have sewn with original sewing patterns, or reproductions of them, you know that they can be very vague. Sewing instructions of this period, if they existed at all, would have been a few short, written paragraphs with no illustrations. Butterick had the patent on the illustrated instructions, and patterns from about the mid-1910s on have a few simple illustrations but can still be quite vague. Short version: Don’t expect any patterns of this period to have in-depth instructions! They were mostly a suggestion rather than a walk-through. I always suggest in my patterns that readers reference the free period sewing books available online. There is a plethora of them!

Using these sewing books in conjunction with the antique patterns is how our predecessors would have approached their sewing projects. Sewing was also a technical skill that would have been passed down through the generations, or part of a home economics program. Since most students no longer have access to home economics, we are lucky to have a written record of techniques. Pre-20th century books would loosely explain technique, but not always illustrate. As printing technology advanced, so, too, did the practical sharing of knowledge. You may find books reaching towards the 1920s have more in-depth instruction, though I have not previewed each link.

Special note: don’t discount books that were addressed towards children. They have valuable information regardless of age, and sewing would have been a skill taught to girls as part of their education during this period. If you’re learning to sew from scratch, starting with the lessons in a girls’ sewing book could help walk you through the basics (and I say girl’s simply because that’s how the period addressed them- I obviously think sewing is open to anyone!)

Please keep in mind that I haven’t previewed all these books and the information and beliefs expressed within are indicative of the period in which they originated (true when viewing any historical primary source documents). Even sewing books can sneak in some cringeworthy content, so don’t be surprised…

Here are a selection of some sewing books available on Archive.org.

1901: Home and School Sewing

1901: Longman’s Complete Course of Knitting, Needlework, and Cutting Out

1903: The Art of Dressmaking at Home and in the Workroom

1904: Manual of Exercises in Hand Sewing

1904: Margaret J Blair’s System of Sewing and Garment Drafting

1905: Hand Sewing Lessons; a Graded Course for Schools and For the Home

1905: Dressmaking Up to Date

...

And lots and lots more at this wonderful site!
Check it out.

Free Edwardian-WWI Era Sewing Books