was one of the many Victorian era oddities I came across on Sunday afternoon. I was doing some searching for ideas for what we have called "The Queen Victoria Challenge".
The QVC - as it has inevitably become abbreviated - will, hopefully, be part of next year's state show. The organisation which runs it began in the Victorian era and is called Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society. "It therefore seems fitting...."
Oh yes, Sunday afternoon was interesting. I came across things like the "basket for cooking a whole fish" and "fireplace veils" and much more. (Yes, I am sure there will be more about those things at some point.)
One of the things that interested me was not just some of the strange things they chose to make but the description of them as "most useful". I am still wondering how useful that "fish basket" would be. How many times did the lady of the house wish to have a whole fish cooked in that way - and how did you wash or clean the basket afterwards?
I also came across some "amusements for children". They included some games that present day children would consider extremely dull. What modern child would sit there reciting the same words over and over and merely adding another rhyming word at the end?
There were also descriptions of things for children to make - doll house furniture and toy theatres loom large. The lists of requirements include things that modern children would only use - if they used them at all - under strict supervision. How many modern children are allowed to use sharp knives to cut card? How many are allowed near matches without supervision?
Yesterday we had a meeting and went through a long list of sections in the handicraft section of the show. We want to put up suggestions of what people might like to try and make for next year's show. We wondered to each other at some of the things that people made. Did all those pincushions in such strange shapes and representing such strange things ever get used? How many smoking caps did a man need? Did every corner have a "whatnot" dusted by a maid in a cap?
There is a list of suggestions being made and written up for people to take to start thinking about. There are thousands upon thousands more ideas out there. I have written a couple of sentences explaining these are only suggestions. If people can find something they want to make and can fit it into any class in the handicraft section then we will be more than happy to accommodate such entries.
And I wonder whether anyone will make a "most useful basket for cooking a whole fish"?
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3 comments:
Wonderful things women were supposed to want to make backalong! And the children played such interesting games? Reminds me of an ancient book of fun things to do by E V Lucas.
It contains a lot of games, including plans for cut out cardboard constructions, and suitabe things to play when stranded in bed by a nasty disease. The one that made me sit up was "How to make toffee by boiling sugar in a saucepan on the nursery fire." I bet your average nursemaid didn't have access to a fire extinguisher!
Yikes! That sounds incredibly dangerous. The Senior Cat has read widely in this area and he is amazed at how children used sharp objects and candles and other such things. I can only suppose there was greater supervision than is at first obvious - and most of them seem to have survived!
I'm keen to peruse any Victorian patterns. Fascinating!
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