I'm going to attempt to tag this with every single relevant thing I can think of, if I've missed anything please tell me.
I'm visiting my grandparents for the holidays and my grandmother has given me a lot of nice vintage and antique things, largely jewelery, usually not older than roughly 1940. I feel fairly confident it won't be damaged. What I'm asking for advice on is the other thing I've been given, which is a ladies' journal, or rather a collection of publications in one book, from 1875. It has no exterior covers and only part of the spine preserved, and contains stories, fashion plates, fold-out pages, &c. I haven't looked inside too much out of worry for the state of the book. If I'm remembering correctly it's American in origin, but I don't know the city of publication right now. For fashion it's getting tagged Victorian because that's what most people know the style as.
I can't check those detail things right now because currently the thing is encased in a very reinforced shell of foam board and packaging tape, I did take care to make sure the sticky side couldn't contact the book, and then wrapped in bubble wrap roughly an inch thick. When driving back I might just keep it in my lap so it can't jolt, but I'm worried the sunlight could damage it so I'm not entirely sure how to store it when at home.
Even though the fact that this seemed to be popular enough at the time makes me suspect I don't own the only copy in existence, I still have a vested interest in digitizing or scanning the journal somehow so that I can look at or share the pages without damaging the book from overuse or having it leave my possession. I absolutely don't want to damage it in this process. Outside of your typical equipment, my best bet is obtaining access to Huntington Library somehow to use some of their things.
So, digitization and how to actually store and handle the thing once it's home are my concerns. I really need some more expert archivists to help me out here. If you find error with my packing, please tell me so as well.
I don't ask this of people, but please reblog this or tag people or do whatever you can to make sure I can reach someone who can give me advice on preserving the book. It's very important to me that it's not damaged, and I know everyone's collection of antiques has to start somewhere, but I'd like to start off on the right foot.
A Young Person's Introduction to Late 19th-Century Western Fashion
hello fellow youths
General information
Banner, Bernadette. "Exposing Victorian Influencers Who 'Facetuned' Their Photos. (Photo Manipulation was EVERYWHERE)." YouTube. July 17, 2021.
English Heritage. "Fashion Through History: Episode 1 – Victorians." YouTube. February 9, 2023.
Lady Rebecca Fashions. "100 Years of Fashion // The Fashionable Plus Size Silhouette from 1820-1910." YouTube. June 5, 2021.
Victoria and Albert Museum. "100 Years of Fashionable Womenswear: 1830s – 1930s | V&A." YouTube. July 18, 2023.
Zebrowska, Karolina. "Victorian Fashion Is Not What You Think It Is." YouTube. March 19, 2019.
Accessories
Banner, Bernadette. ""Afro-Victorian": Bringing Historical Black Women's Dress into the 21st Century w Cheyney McKnight." YouTube. October 20, 2021.
Cox, Abby. "A Fashion Historian Explains the History of the Handbag." YouTube. January 26, 2023.
Rudolph, Nicole. "Dangerous Things in Victorian Pockets : Mens Pocket History." YouTube. March 2, 2024.
Rudolph, Nicole. "The Controversial History of Color Season Analysis." YouTube. November 4, 2023.
Zebrowska, Karolina. "Disgusting and Creepy Victorian Fashion Trends." YouTube. October 17, 2018.
Bustles and hoopskirts
Donner, Morgan. "Weirdest Victorian Invention: The Bustle-Chair (and we made one)." YouTube. November 20, 2020.
Lady Rebecca Fashions. "100 Years of Underwear // The Changing Plus Size Shape from Regency to Victorian to Edwardian." YouTube. May 1, 2021.
Lady Rebecca Fashions. "All About Bustles! A Deep Dive into 1870s Fashions." YouTube. December 26, 2023.
Rudolph, Nicole. "Why were Victorian Hips Controversial?" YouTube. September 12, 2021.
Cosmetics
Birchwood, Vasi. "1800s Makeup Is Not What You Think." YouTube. July 21, 2023.
English Heritage. "Queen Victoria Makeup Tutorial | History Inspired | Feat. Amber Butchart and Rebecca Butterworth." YouTube. May 20, 2019.
Zebrowska, Karolina. "I Used Only Victorian Cosmetics For a Week." YouTube. July 26, 2023.
Fabrics
Rudolph, Nicole. "Did Silk Spontaneously Combust in the Victorian Era?" YouTube. August 8, 2021.
Rudolph, Nicole. "The History of Elastic." YouTube. July 4, 2021.
Rudolph, Nicole. "The Truth About Arsenic in the Victorian Era." YouTube. January 24, 2021.
Gowns
Bullat, Samantha. "Dress Historian Analyzes Victorian Mourning Clothing of the Mid-19th Century." YouTube. March 14, 2021.
Lady Rebecca Fashions. "All About 1860's Fashion // What did Civil War-era fashion look like?" YouTube. November 12, 2022.
Lady Rebecca Fashions. "How did fashion evolve from 1850-1859? // 1850's Fashion Deep Dive." YouTube. October 1, 2022.
Rudolph, Nicole. "Victorian Fast Fashion? The Truth about the History of Disposable Clothing." YouTube. February 6, 2022.
SnappyDragon. "Were the Pre-Raphaelites painting accurate medieval dress . . . or Victorian fairtytalecore?" YouTube. April 26, 2024.
Zebrowska, Karolina. "19th Century Fashion - How To Tell Different Decades Apart?" YouTube. November 17, 2017.
Hair care and styling
Banner, Bernadette. "Following a Victorian Home Made Hair Care Routine (1889)." YouTube. September 11, 2021.
Lady Rebecca Fashions. "Getting Dressed in an 1888 Daisy Costume // Easy Bustle-Era Hair Tutorial." YouTube. November 13, 2020.
Lady Rebecca Fashions. "Getting Dressed in the 1870s & 1874 Hairstyle Tutorial." YouTube. February 23, 2020.
Rudolph, Nicole. "Why did Victorian Women Cut their Hair Short?" YouTube. December 18, 2022.
Laundry and housekeeping
English Heritage. "A Tour of the Laundry - The Victorian Way." YouTube. September 6, 2019.
English Heritage. "How to Wash Up - The Victorian Way." YouTube. March 18, 2021.
English Heritage. "Laying the Table at Christmas – The Victorian Way." YouTube. December 14, 2022.
Walkley, Christina, and Vanda Foster. Crinolines and Crimping Irons: Victorian Clothes: How They Were Cleaned and Cared for. Peter Owen Limited: London, 1978.
Outerwear and working wear
Birchwood, Vasi. "What Irish Working Women Wore in the Late 19th Century | I Made the Clothing of My Irish Ancestors." YouTube. June 23, 2023.
English Heritage. "The Real Mrs Crocombe | Part Four: A Victorian Cook's Outfit." YouTube. July 5, 2018.
Stowell, Lauren. "It's Hot: Let's Look At Some Bathing Suits." American Duchess. August 18, 2023.
Rudolph, Nicole. "The History of Jeans, T-shirts, and Hoodies: Time Travel 101." YouTube. March 20, 2022.
Zebrowska, Karolina. "The 1851 Women's Pants That Made The Victorians Go Crazy." YouTube. March 2, 2020.
Shoes
Rudolph, Nicole. "100 years of Antique Boots." YouTube. February 10, 2024.
Rudolph, Nicole. "How to Make Regency & Victorian Shoes: Beginner Shoemaking." YouTube. June 27, 2021.
Rudolph, Nicole. "The Myth of Tiny Feet "Back Then"." YouTube. September 26, 2021.
Undergarments
Banner, Bernadette. "I Wore a (Medical) Corset for 5 Years. How do Victorian Corsets Compare?" YouTube. November 7, 2020.
Banner, Bernadette. "Making Some Frilly Victorian Underwear || 1890s Combinations." YouTube. February 9, 2019.
Birchwood, Vasi. "What Victorians Wore to Bed." YouTube. May 5, 2023.
Cox, Abby. "I made weird Victorian underwear (it's a knit onesie) & a pretty 1890s corset || historical sewing." YouTube. March 21, 2021.
Lady Rebecca Fashions. "How 8 Different Historical Corsets Affect the Same Plus Size Body." YouTube. December 12, 2020.
Rudolph, Nicole. "100 Years of Corset History: How 8 Corsets affect the same body." YouTube. November 29, 2020.
Zebrowska, Karolina. "How Did Victorian Ladies Stay Warm in Winter? || THE EXPERIMENT." YouTube. January 22, 2021.
Zebrowska, Karolina. "How Did Victorian Women Deal With Their Periods?" YouTube. October 17, 2019.
continuation from update #12 about why the 1880s are an interesting decade. It’s been a difficult last little while. feeling distant from myself and tried to get back in touch to some things that help steady me. like info dumps. this was gathering dust in my drafts and I decided to tidy her up tonight why not.
Child labour in the U.S. climbing in numbers (all the way until the 1920s!!) a lot in farming, mining, textile industry. In most families, children breadwinners because lots of opportunities for them to be exploited work
By this time already, we got some familiar names and reputations established. Active and/or died 1870s~1880s: Jesse James, Sam Bass, Billy the Kid, Calamity Jane, Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill
By late-post Reconstruction era, state penitentiaries unhinged, physically and administratively deteriorating. Summarized as: cruel torture practices, immigration, eugenics, and ‘prisons as laboratories’; incarcerated would rather hurt themselves than be subject to brutal prison punishment
Continuation on the racial violence: the Jim Crow laws that began in the previous decade grew more violent, severe, and widespread. Legalized racial segregation and dodgy enforcement of laws. nadir of American race relations: anti-black violence and racism would he the most prominent than in any period in American history
Continuation on the rise of ragtime via African American musicians: emergence of white minstrel performances that put racist, dehumanizing, derogatory lyrics over the music ☠️
Gilded Age: “Historians saw late 19th-century economic expansion as a time of materialistic excesses marked by widespread political corruption”; Industry boom invents the capitalist barons, wealth disparity, exploitation, labour unions, workers strikes… ✨ socialism
gaelic culture revival in Ireland, continued unrest against the British and revolutionary activities
Texas Rangers already a thing but locales started to organize more of their own “law enforcement” police. Crush political unrest, legalize violence against Indigenous and black populations
1850s through to the start of the turn of the century, “Anglo-Japanese style” in fashion, architecture, art, design. Result of the “opening up” of Japan to Europe, which led to more flow of capital between Japan and Europe. Trade, culture, art moved back and forth. Trendy among elites who could afford the fancy imports. fetishization and commodification and essentializatiom of Japanese culture. Fascination of the “far east”
In the face of scientific discovery and change, spiritualism movement was one of the ways for people to cope and explore their fears, aspirations, fantasies, beliefs. started in the mid 1800s. Grief and mourning culture. Speaking with the dead, ghosts, mediums, publications, séances. Entwined with gender politics and roles. See, The American phantasmagoria: The rise of spiritualism in nineteenth-century America by Daniel Bowlin
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire is published in 1883 by America’s Howard Pyle, sparking an interest in literature featuring the heroic rogue
Oscar Wilding out
it’s been some time since the first 1880s world history dump. I forgot I left myself a little (to be continued) list. crossing off what I got here let’s see hmmm
prison industry / spiritualism / opium epidemic / irregular and uneven “modernizations” in rural vs. urban areas / class and poverty gaps / morality scares, checks, comparisons, gaps / new businesses and gadgets, products, tech to help with anything / fascination of the (colonial) Other; side shows, “freak shows” and other human zoos
