Excerpt from Miss Lucy's Victorian Book

This book covers just about every aspect of the Victorian Era from birth to "the final journey."

Miss Lucy's Victorian Book

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

INTRODUCTION            

QUEEN VICTORIA          

SELECTED ENGLISH VICTORIAN POEMS

Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson                               

Cavalier Tunes: Boot and Saddle by Robert Browning                               

Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling                               

THE WAR BETWEEN THE AMERICAN STATES

England's Neutrality by John R. Thompson                                                  

An Illustration of Victorian Sentimentalism:

A Sad and True Victorian Love Story, Twilight is Stealing Over the Sea by Aldine Keiffer        

In Wartime, a poem by Fannie B. Manson              

Woman's Part by Sarah E. Carnshall                       

No Letter Yet by Helen Augusta Browne                 

GARDENING                     

THE VICTORIAN LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS                         

VICTORIAN HOMES        

THE WELL APPOINTED VICTORIAN HOME                          

HINTS ON TASTE            

THE VICTORIAN ALBUM OR SCRAPBOOK   

GREAT PREACHER OF THE VICTORIAN AGE

Charles Haddon Spurgeon    

"Accidents, Not Punishments", A Sermon that will help people deal with life's tragedies.                                 

 

THREE OTHER MODEL MEN OF THE VICTORIAN AGE

Robert E. Lee                       

Jefferson Davis' Motto for Southern Women                      

Pope Pius IX's Condemnation of Modernism                      

ART FOR THE ORDINARY: CURRIER AND IVES                              

JENNY LIND            

FASHION: HOOPS, BUSTLES, AND WHISKERS  

Excerpts from GUIDE TO PERFECT GENTILITY, by Emily Thornwell               

THE ART OF CONVERSING WITH FLUENCY AND PROPRIETY              

PERFUMES                        

CALLING CARDS               

BAD TABLE MANNERS  

THE WORK BASKET:  FINE HANDIWORK FOR THE VICTORIAN LADY                                       

THE ART OF LETTER WRITING          

WARNINGS CONCERNING INTEMPERATE MEN                             

THE IDEAL HOME          

ADVICE FOR CHILDREN                                    

SELECTIONS FROM VICTORIAN PERIODICALS                              

THE ART OF DANCING  

THOUGHTS ON DANCING AND SOCIAL AMUSEMENTS                

THE LANGUAGE OF THE FAN                            

 “AFTER THE BALL”: Lyrics from the Biggest Song Hit of the 1890s          

SHEET MUSIC                    

RECIPES                                                                   

VICTORIAN HUMOR        

VICTORIAN PARLOR GAMES                                                               

VICTORIAN LIFE MARKINGS: Weddings, Christenings, "The Final Journey"                                   Victorian Brides                    

A Sentimental Wedding Poem, by Henry Timrod  

Victorian Bridal Gowns         

Christening Gowns              

THE MOURNING VICTORIAN                                                                 

MOURNING CLOTHING                                        

GLOOMY POETRY VICTORIANS SAVORED                                       

CONCLUSION                     

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES FOR LIVING THE VICTORIAN LIFE                                                        231

BIBLIOGRAPHY                                     

Excerpts from Miss Lucy's Victorian Book 

 

INTRODUCTION

The Victorian epoch gives the impression of a far and distant world. It would be deceptive to stereotype all women of the Victorian era as one mass of passive and weak creatures. The era spanned sixty four years, but throughout those years the majority of women chose a gentle and proper pathway through life.

For the most part, the Victorian woman was an uncomplicated creature. Her life centered around family and home. The following epitaph on the tombstone of a twenty-three year old woman best epitomizes the Victorian woman:

Piety toward God, duty to her parents,

Affection for her brothers & sisters

Were the characteristics of her short,

but well spent life.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord!

______

THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF FEMALE LOVELINESS.

Beauty must be natural.--In order to have its full effect, beauty must be natural, and connected with perfect health. A fair skin and rosy cheeks are calculated to excite admiration; but if it be discovered that they are entirely produced by paint, that admiration becomes disgust; or if owing to disease, it is changed to pity (11).

Requisites to female beauty.--Exercise is unquestionably one of the very best means for the preservation of health; but its real importance is unknown, or but too lightly considered by the majority of males. Were they, however, to be made fully sensible of its extraordinary power in preserving the vigor of the body, in augmenting its capability to resist disease, in promoting its symmetrical development, in improving the freshness and brilliancy of the complexion, as well as its influence in prolonging the charms of beauty to an advanced age, they would shake off the prejudices by which they have been so long enthralled, and not voluntarily abandon means so completely within their power, and so simple, of enhancing all their physical perfections. But let it be recollected, that to produce its beneficial effects, exercise must be taken in the open air. Not all the occupations appertaining to the domestic duties of a female, though they may require her to bustle from garret to cellar, will impart the kind of action to the different portions of the body by which her health and beauty shall be essentially improved.

One of the very best species of exercise to which a female can have recourse, is walking. It is the one which most equally and effectually exercises every part. It calls into action not only every limb, but every muscle, assisting and promoting the circulation of the blood throughout the whole body, and taking off from every organ that undue pressure and restraint to which all are subjected by a sedentary position, when long continued. This agreeable and beneficial exercise is too much neglected by females at every period of life. The more opulent would appear to consider walking, if frequently indulged in, as too vulgar an amusement; whenever they attempt it, therefore, their walks are so circumscribed, and they move along with so little exertion, and in so listless a manner, that they forfeit very nearly every advantage their health would otherwise derive from it and all this, lest they should happen to be confounded with the busy, bustling female, whose humble situation in life releases her from the crippling influence of fashion, and who uses her limbs in the manner nature intended they should be used; never hoping to combine in a walk, as the more fortunate of her sex would appear to do, the luxury of inaction with the benefit of motion. To those of our fair readers who have lone indulged in habits of indolent repose, a walk of from two to four miles would, no doubt, appear to be an effort far too violent to be encountered, and to be suited only to such females as are compelled by necessity to bodily labor for their daily subsistence; and yet it is precisely such an amount of exercise as they stand most in need of. By the more opulent of both sexes, bodily exertion of almost every species is viewed too much in the light of a punishment, or, at least, of a degradation from their assumed importance; and hence, one of the reasons why it is so little resorted to either as a recreation or a duty. Notwithstanding young ladies in particular may affect to condemn this noble exercise, so well adapted to the wants of individuals at every age and in every situation of life, we can confidently recommend it to them as an effectual remedy against lowness of spirits, and the pains of ennui as the best cosmetic to which they can resort for preserving the lustre of the skin, and the roseate tinge of youth and beauty. Hiding on horseback is another useful as well as graceful means of exercise, too much neglected by young females. Though we cannot say that a professed female equestrian is exactly the female we should most admire, yet we could wish to see imparted to our young ladies some portion of a similar enthusiasm for active sports. A canter for a few miles is a most admirable promoter of beauty and of health. The cheeks, the eyes, the lips and every feature of the fair equestrian, when she dismounts, possess that fresh and sparkling grace which is one of the most important requisites in female loveliness, and which can be imparted only by the purity of the blood and its brisk and equal circulation, which are produced by temperance and exercise. The pale, sickly, and languid countenance of that female whose hours of leisure have been passed without occupation within her own chamber, or in listlessly lounging upon a sofa or a couch, may present attractions to such as hare selected their standard of beauty from among the victims of a round of fashionable dissipation ;but every man of sense and genuine taste will prefer the ruddy glow of health, the active, agile step, and exuberant gaiety of her who has spent some hours of every day in active exercises on foot or on horseback, in the open air ; and when the capabilities of the two, for performing their duties as wives and mothers, are taken into the account, the first may receive his pity, but it is the last only that can be the object of his love. From what has now been said, it will be perceived, that little importance is to be attached to any kind of exercise which is not carried on in the open air, so far as its beneficial effect upon the health and looks is concerned. A certain amount of open-air exercise is absolutely necessary to maintain the health and vigor of the human frame, and cannot be dispensed with, especially by young females, without serious detriment to their physical constitution.

CHOICE COSMETICS FOR IMPROVING AND BEAUTIFYING THE SKIN.

Cosmetic juice.--Make a hole in a lemon, fill it with sugar-candy, and close it with a leaf gold, applied over the rind that was cut out; then roast the lemon in hot ashes. When desirous of using the juice, squeeze out a little through the hole already made, and with it wash the face with a napkin. This juice is said to cleanse the skin and brighten the complexion wonderfully.

Freckle wash.--Take one dram muriatic acid of, half a pint of rain water, half a teaspoonful of spirits of lavender: mix, and apply it two or three times a day to the freckles with a bit of linen, or a camel's hair pencil. White veils have a tendency to promote sunburn and freckles, by their increasing the power of the sun's light. They are also very injurious to the eyes. Green is the only color that should be worn as a summer veil.

Pomade for removing wrinkles.--Take two ounces of the juice of onions, the same quantity of the white lily, the same of honey, and one ounce of white wax; put the whole into a new tin pan, in a warm place, till the wax is melted; keep stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon, till it grows quite cold. You will then have an excellent ointment for removing wrinkles. It must be applied at night, on going to bed, and not wiped off until the morning.

Virgin milk for the complexion.--The virgin milk which is in most general use, and which is most salutary, is a tincture [of] benzoin [resin from trees] precipitated by water. To obtain the tincture of benzoin, take a certain quantity of that gum, pour spirits of wine upon it, and boil it until it becomes a rich tincture. Virgin milk is prepared by pouring a few drops of this tincture into a glass of water, which produces a milky mixture. This virgin milk, if the face be washed with it, will give a beautiful rosy color. To render the skin clear and brilliant, let it dry upon it without wiping.

 

THE HANDS.

Means of improving the appearance of the hands.--An elegant hand is regarded by many as betokening evident prestige in its possessor. Indeed, some persons, especially gentlemen, make the hand the test of beauty, calling a lady pretty, however ugly she may be otherwise, if she only can display a beautiful hand.

Paste for the hands.--Take one pound of sweet almonds, quarter of a pound of breadcrumbs, one pint of spring water, the same quantity of brandy, and the yolks of two eggs. After blanching the almonds, pound them, and sprinkle them with vinegar, that the paste may not turn to oil; add the crumbs of bread, which moisten with the brandy as you mix it with the almonds and the yolks of eggs. Set this mixture over a slow fire, and keep stirring it, lest the mixture should adhere to the bottom of the vessel (54-56).

THE BREATH

Desirableness of a pure breath.--the purity of the breath is of the greatest consequence; what, indeed, could be so afflicting to one of the gentle sex as impurity in this respect? Yet it may occur without any neglect on her part, and it is not always that a remedy can be offered; in other words, there are cases where it is incurable. Refreshing draught for the breath.--Take five to ten drops of hydrochloric acid in half a tumbler of spring water, a little lemon juice, and loaf sugar, rubbed on lemon peel to flavor it to suit the palate. Let this mixture be taken three times a day for a month or six weeks, and, if useful, then continue it occasionally. It is a pleasant refrigerant [i.e., tonic for reducing fever] and tonic draught.

To look steadily at any one, especially if you are a lady and are speaking to a gentleman; to turn the head frequently on one side and the other during conversation; to balance yourself upon your chair; to bend forward; to strike your hands upon your knees; to hold one of your knees between your hands locked together; to cross your legs; to extend your feet on the andirons; to admire yourself with complacency in a glass; to adjust, in an affected manner, your cravat, hair, dress, or handkerchief; to remain without gloves; to fold carefully your shawl, instead of throwing it with graceful negligence upon a table; to fret about a hat which you have just left off; to laugh immoderately; to place your hand upon the person with whom you are conversing; to take him by the buttons, the collar of his cloak, the cuffs, the waist, and so forth; to seize any person by the waist or arm, or to touch their person; to roll the eyes or to raise them with affectation; to take snuff from the box of your neighbor, or to offer it to strangers, especially to ladies; to play continually with your chain or fan; to beat time with the feet and hands; to whirl round a chair with your hand; to shake with your feet the chair of your neighbor; to rub your face or your hands; wink your eyes; shrug up your shoulders; stamp with your feet, and so forth; all these bad habits, of which we cannot speak to people, are in the highest degree displeasing.

 

From the Victorian Age we have these tips for gentlemen:

Do not scrape your plate.

Do not talk loudly in public.

Do not wear anything but a silk hat with a frock or tail-coat.

Do not wear a collar or use a handkerchief that is not perfectly clean.

Do not cut your nails anywhere but your own room.

Do not moisten your fingers to turn pages in a book.

Do not turn your trousers up at the bottom unless it's muddy out.

Do not use toothpicks in public.

Do not smoke just before entering the presence of a lady.

Do not permit the lady to pay for refreshments, vehicles, theatres, etc. If she insists on paying you back later--you must of course defer to her wishes.

Do not boast of your birth, rank, wealth, friends, travel, or anything else that is yours. [1]