Fun in Victorian Times

I took a break from writing tonight by doing online research. One thing that is wonderful about researching Victorian times is the availability of primary resources. Instead of reading about what Victorian women cooked or how they amused themselves, you can go online and read Godey’s Ladies Book. I spent an hour tonight reading an 1855 magazine, and I feel completely comfortable about this research.

There was sheet music for ladies to play on the piano, patterns for embroidery and clothing, poetry, humorous stories (I read one about an English housekeeper who had a drunkard for a maid–it actually was pretty funny, particularly her dialogue…I may have to steal this as a plot point), and recipes. They called them receipts back then. What I thought was fascinating was the information about poisons. Yes, not only did they have recipes for stewed pears, but in case your family happened to ingest arsenic, opium, or some other poison, they listed the antidotes. Who knew this was what Victorian ladies read? How fun. Here’s a link if you want to read more. Keep in mind, you’ll need to wait until a little square pops up in the lower right corner. Click on it, and it will make the page larger so you can actually read it.

The main website was http://cit.uvm.edu:6336/dynaweb/godey/ in case anyone wants to read further. Great information!

Research

I was fighting to get my 3 pages tonight and I realized that I’m at the point in the book where I need to immerse myself in the time period. Research, research, research. I’ve been sliding by on story alone (now, don’t panic–I always go back after I’ve researched and start layering in the setting details, I double-check my clothing, etc. etc.) I learned that lesson the hard way when I first started writing medievals and had my hero running around in braies. Yeah, that’s underwear. Duh.

Anyway, it reminded me of when I first started writing my Irish medievals. I joined an online yahoo group of scholarly researchers who specialized in medieval Ireland. I asked questions, got book recommendations and read as much as I could. You know what I found? A lot of the historical records of that time period were destroyed. Even the scholars don’t know all the details. This scares me because while, on one hand, it’s very liberating (you can make stuff up)–on the other, you don’t have the benefit of checking your facts with multiple sources.

My compromise was to look at Celtic traditions and use those. I figured, most likely they would continue the traditions of their forefathers before moving onto newer things. But I’m still nervous. What if there’s a book out there with information that I need? What if I missed something critical? Some reader is going to call me on it.

I even used Irish Gaelic in the book to add more flavor. While I love the way it sounds, and while I’ve taken a university course in the language, there’s still that seed of doubt. What if, when my hero is calling the heroine mo chroi, it really means–my pulsating organ that pumps blood….instead of my heart, my soul?

Now I’m researching Victorian times. Just for fun, here are a few things invented during that era:

The sewing machine (1846) by Elias Howe
The telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell
The toilet (1885) by Thomas Twyford
Coca Cola (1886) by Dr. John Pemberton

Okay, now here’s a challenge for you. The can opener was created the year my manuscript takes place. Can you name the inventor and the year of my book?:wink: