A Glossary of Slang
Edwardian Promenade
- On the Management of Edwardian HusbandsBY MRS. NAPIER MILES “Management is a stupid word,” said Diana Templewick, when I asked her opinion on this all-important subject. Not being married myself, I felt hardly qualified to tackle so serious a problem single-handed; and I have never yet discovered the question which Diana has not been able to answer. I had found [...]
- Picnics And PicnickingIn order that a picnic should prove the unqualified success it should be, more than a fine day and pleasant company – both highly important items – are required. Forethought must be exercised by the hostess in regard to the countless small details which go to make up the comfort of her guests. Leave nothing [...]
- Queen Victoria’s Diamond JubileeTen years after Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the Diamond Jubilee planned to celebrate her sixty years on the throne was to be the celebration of the mighty British Empire. Under the helm of Joseph Chamberlain, Colonial Secretary, self-made Birmingham businessman, and gung-ho imperialist, the empire-wide celebrations were to strengthen the ties betw […]
- The Original Lady DianaAs one Lady Diana married the Prince of Wales in 1981, another Lady Diana–one just as heralded, just as admired, and just as idolized in her day–was soon to turn 89 in August. This Lady Diana was also one of the last links (if not the actual last) to the glittering world of Edwardian high [...]
- Write Wednesday: Historical Fiction, Fun or Serious?Much of the critical reaction to Hilary Mantel’s new release, Bring Up the Bodies, has focused on how her books elevate the genre of historical fiction, how her elegant and literary prose is heads and tails above the middling writing of most HF novelists, how she focuses on real subjects (aka men) as opposed to [...]
- Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee1887 marked the fiftieth year since Queen Victoria’s ascension and a jubilee was planned to celebrate this remarkable date in history. In those fifty years, Great Britain had grown into a vast Empire, a top manufacturer and exporter of goods, a social arbiter, an envied nation, and at the top was crowned the greatest monarch [...]
- When the World Took to WheelsThe bicycle had become commonplace and affordable, but the motorcar not yet ubiquitous, so it is a given that roller skating–essentially wheels on your feet–became an overnight sensation in 1905. Granted, there was a brief craze for roller skates when they were first massed produced in 1880s America, but the introduction of the bicycle no [...]
- A Lady’s Adventures in a BalloonThe air is the only element which remains to man to conquer for his own use and enjoyment. Consequently air ships are in the air, both in conversation and in fact; ballooning is the newest sport of the smart, balloon parties are the latest social departure, and membership of the Aero Club is sought alike [...]
- Upstairs Downstairs in Gilded Age AmericaMillionaires of the Gilded Age looked to Europeans–or more specifically, the British–for cues on how to recreate the leisured life in America, copying them from the construction of country estates, to golf clubs, to social seasons, all the way down to the bottom of this lifestyle: domestic servants. Yet, save indentured servitude and slavery, Ame […]
- Sissieretta Jones, a Musical Pioneer to Be RememberedBy Maureen D. Lee When Sissieretta Jones: “The Greatest Singer of Her Race,” 1868-1933, is published May 15 by the University of South Carolina Press, it will be the culmination of a nine-year effort to bring this outstanding African American soprano the historical recognition she deserves. I began this project in 2003 after seeing a [...]
