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A Victorian Passage has published 172 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 April 12, 2010

Listing all the Articles

The Baby Carriage

A tintype of a baby in a baby carriage dating to around to the early to mid 1870's. Early baby carriages took on the form of miniature horse drawn carriages. During the early to mid 1870s they began to take on a distinct style of thier own that eventually gave way to the ever so popular wicker type found in the latter part of...Continue Reading

The Story of a Doll-House

Every house has a story - even a doll's house. This nostalgic story of a doll-house owned by a little girl named Ann, which was built around 1814, gets told in an article found in the St.Nicholas magazine published 1889. The author of the story was a woman named Katherine Pyle. Seventy-five years ago, a little brother and sister had a play-house in a...Continue Reading

The Baby Carriage and its Appointments

I found this article from Babyhood published in the November 1888 issue which gives us a closer look at the Victorian baby carriage from the 1880's and 1890's. The article gives us details from how they are made, how comfortable they are, how to furnish a carriage to dangers like brass nails and arsenic poisoning. WHEN we remember that Baby takes most of his...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 she could not run and play with the boys and girls she knew. One day she was standing at the window mournfully watching the children go by with their sleds and skates, when her mother...Continue Reading

Two Old Fashioned Dolls.

One of them, as you see,is a boy-doll.He is made of wood, and has joints at the elbows, the thighs, and the knees. The features of the face are painted. He wears a coat cut in style of sixty years ago, and the coat and trousers both are of black silk. The vest is short-waisted, and made of some white material. An old-fashioned "stock"...Continue Reading

The Children's Toys and a Pleasant Place for the Little Ones

Having two boys myself and the problem of toys always being spread all over creation I could really appreciate this article. It's dated November 1887 - It is the first rainy days of autumn that bring the children -- happily occupied out of doors during the summer -- into the house, with their hands full of clay to be baked, their pockets full of...Continue Reading

Time Line of the Sand Box.

Baby's Sand Pile {1904} In a great wooden box, Nice and smooth to save her frocks, Is the baby's sand-pile, where all day she plays; And the things she thinks and makes, From a house and barn to cakes, Would keep, I think, her family all their days. Once she said she'd make a pie, - Or, at least, she'd like to try, -...Continue Reading

Children's Toys.

IT is by no means a matter of indifference what toys are put into the hands of children, since their young minds receive permanent impressions from the objects with which they are surrounded in early years. We think a few hints, addressed to parents, on this subject, will not be out of place. 1. At the present day, when the dignity of labor is...Continue Reading

THE SECOND BABY.

An interesting article from the perspective of a "bachelor uncle" on the pros and cons of being the second born. Of course at the end of the article he gives his reason of why he is such an expert on the topic. His article was published 1855 in Harper's Monthly Magazine. Between the first baby and the second what a falling off is there,...Continue Reading