Detail of the stereo card. A sweet and endearing stereo card of three Edwardian little girls enjoying the flowers and sunshine. The view is overlooking the Willamette River from...Welcome!
A Victorian Passage has published 152 articles on a diverse range of subjects. Most of our growing archive of Victorian Era subjects are taken directly from 19th century sources to achieve a closer look into how our ancestors really lived. We have also been expanding our historical eras to include Early American from 1790-1839 and the Edwardian period of the early 20th century. Latest article added February 18, 2010
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What Is Bluing?
If you open any cookbook or other domestic book for house keepers you will usually find instructions on how to do laundry. Inevitably you will come upon the rinsing of clothes to be done by putting into bluing. This is what was commonly used to brighten whites. In it's earliest forms it was used by having indigo tied in a thin muslin bag and...Continue Reading
Secret Floor Stains
WITH the spread of Anglo-mania, smooth, bare floors, in early English style, have grown more and more popular, and wealthy men pay more dollars per square foot than I care to specify, for rosewood, mahogany, West India cherry, and antique oak floors, solid, not veneered. And yet, with all this lavish expense, there are few of them more beautiful than some which might have...Continue Reading
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Free Taylor's Bazaar Trade Card
We have for download this Victorian trade card. The card is roughly 3 inches x 5 inches at 600 dpi. Download Taylor's Bazaar Trade Card HERE Enjoy!...
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Unfolding the Mysteries of Sealing Wax and Wafers
Introduction To Sealing Wax and Wafers In the 19th century, sealing wax was a material made by the melting of lac or rosin with turpentine and pigments. In it's...
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The Linen Press
To those who love housekeeping or who feel an interest in it for duty's sake, the charge of linen and the great care it requires is one of equal...
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The Strawberry
June and Strawberries Half a dozen people, more or less, have been credited with the saying, "Doubtless, God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did;"...Continue Reading
Cleaning Bottles
Many persons clean bottles by putting in some small shot and shaking them around. Water dissolves lead to a certain extent, and a film of this lead attaches itself...Continue Reading
What Becomes of Old Shoes.
A contemporary answers this question by stating that they are cut up in small pieces, and these are put for a couple of days in chloride of sulphur, which...Continue Reading
Wooden Toothpicks.
Every eating-house visitor of this city and other leading cities of the Union has doubtless noticed a small tumbler of wooden toothpicks upon the counter of the cashier, for...Continue Reading
Free Victorian Playtime E-Papers
The designer at Edenshale Cottage has created eight Victorian based digital papers that she's willing to share with our readers here. They are for your personal use in scrapbook...Continue Reading
Baby's Announcement Cards.
It is quite common now to have cards printed in tiny form, announcing the birth of infants, and giving thereon the name of the new arrival, and weight and day...Continue Reading
Old Soap Recipes
ROSIN Soap {yellow soap}.--Fifteen per cent, of rosin can be saponified with potash or soda lye, and mixed with clear, warm tallow soap to a good purpose; more would...Continue Reading
Advertising and Wrapping Paper
WRAPPING PAPER. The use of wrapping paper as store advertising is a practice that is very generally followed, though not as much since the advent of the roll wrapping...Continue Reading
The Lunch Table - Some Suggestions as to its Decoration
In the country, where the hostess does not depend on the tender mercies of the florist and the caterer, the decoration of the lunch table grows to be a...Continue Reading
The Linen Closet - Tablecloths and Napkins
Most young housekeepers take a deep interest in the furnishing and equipment of their tables -- not alone with the food supplies which are there to be served, the...Continue Reading
Bed Sheets and Blankets
So much has recently been written and printed regarding sheets, pillow-slips and other white clothes for the bed that it may be quite as well to dismiss them with...Continue Reading
Edwardian Children's Winter Picnic
Margie Dean was a little girl who had been patient and good through a long illness, but now that she felt strong again it seemed hard to her that...Continue Reading
Covering Jam.
Jam Jars, Glass Jars, Tumblers, and Pails from 1894 A SERIOUS JAR. If Jem is the same as Jim, And G sounds the same as J, Then between a...Continue Reading
Displaying Small Kitchen Wares
In many stores we have seen window displays of small kitchen wares, they being usually laid on the show window floor. It is a somewhat difficult method of display,...Continue Reading
Victorian Shoes in the Making
Different regions were known for wanting different characteristics in shoes. For example in the United States the Northerner liked shoes that were comfortable, neat but also stylish. The southerner...Continue Reading