Breakfast Links: Week of June 24, 2013

No matter what the temperature may be outside, our Breakfast Links are hot, hot, hot! Our weekly roundup of favorite links to other site, blogs, articles, and images, collected for you from around the Twitterverse.
• They weren't always white: slide show of unexpectedly untraditional 19th-20th c. wedding gowns.
• Real life zombies: a history of Cotard's Delusion.
• The resilient little buildings that survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 and can still be seen today.
• Stunning embroidered gentleman's 1785 waistcoat, inspired by an opera.
• Can drinking stinky water improve your health? The spa waters at Bath.
• An embroidery school in Bologna Italy, founded c. 1902 by a N.J. woman to teach poor girls a needlework trade.
• Keeping time in the Victorian kitchen.
• To make a nice Indian pudding: 18th c recipe plus modern adaptation, video.
• Merchant princesses.
• Medieval eyeglasses, dropped in the toilet long ago.
• A handwritten newspaper, produced by Confederate POWs.
• Particularly tasteless Victoriana: murder ornaments.
• Definitely NSFW (but still worth a peek): is this a 17th c. sex manual, or erotic fiction?
• Where did OK come from?
• Two-piece bathing suit just perfect for a 1940s beach beauty.
• A formidable woman in turbulent times: Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy and Regent of the Netherlands, 1480-1530.
• A philosopher's head in a box and a story of execution and utilitarians.
• Collecting images long before Pinterest: an 18th c. print room at Uppark.
• Bitten by a demon? What savage and invisible creature did the "harmless" table-tipping conjure up in 1857 France?
• Fourth of July history myth: Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
• Making lemon sponge cake: a Georgian workout with a whisk.
• The Maryland Historical Society is recreating the Star-Spangled Banner, and you can help stitch it, too.
• Romantic fantasy: Caerhays Castle, by 19th c. architect John Nash.
• Famous historical death masks.
• Shower time: early 20th c. drive-thru horse washes in Herald Square, NYC.
• Short history of active wear: bicycle chic & athletic aesthetics.
• Captain John Smith's 1616 letter about Pocahontas from Virginia to Queen Anne of Great Britain.
• "Every night I had lain down expecting death": a rebel woman's diary during the siege of Vicksburg, 1863.
Hungry for more? Follow us on Twitter @2nerdyhistgirls for daily updates!

Loretta Chase Presents: A New Website

Loretta reports:

Breaking into Breakfast Links time to make a Joyful Announcement—

Though I spend a good part of my day in the past, my web presence needs to live in the 21st century.  That's what I've been working on—in the slivers of time I find between the third book of the Dressmakers series, the 2NHG and other social media, and Life—for the last eighteen months.

Now it's ready for its closeup, with a fresh new look that's smartphone and tablet-friendly.  Ladies & Gentlemen, may I present

My New & Improved Website

Clicking on the caption will take you to the site.

We'll continue to tweak, adding bits here and there, but the main stuff is ready for your viewing pleasure.  This includes my Loretta Chase...In Other Words blog, where I offer breaking news and miscellaneous observations.

Breakfast Links will appear on Sunday evening.

Casual Friday: The Dashing Officer and the Woman in White

Loretta reports:

After reading yet another book about Charles Dickens, I was compelled to revisit this painting—because I had had no idea that his daughter Kate posed for it.  His children, from all I've read, didn't have an easy time of it.  But Kate, who was apparently his favorite, must have been resilient.  She became an artist as well as an artist's model, and lived to nearly 90.

So here's a quiz, for those of you who closely follow our presentations about historic dress.  What's odd in this picture—the description at the museum (please click on link below) offers a clue—and how would you explain it? 

John Everett Millais, The Black Brunswickers, 1860, Lady Lever Art Gallery, part of the National Museums Liverpool (the image here is courtesy Wikipedia).

The Prince Regent Rewards Loyalty with Peridots, 1816

Isabella reporting,

Gemstones are among the most lasting of treasures – what's more "forever" than a diamond? – but they also disappear through history with maddening regularity, stolen, smuggled, and sold, recut and reset beyond recognition.

All of which makes this set of peridot gems set in gold, recently acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum, even more noteworthy. Not only is it a complete set of necklace, pendant, earrings, brooch, and bracelets in the original case from Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, the most important jewellers of the era, but it's also accompanied by a royal letter that links it irrefutably to history.

In 1814, Princess Charlotte of Wales was a strong-willed 18-year-old determined to resist marrying her father's choice. Her father was George, Prince of Wales and Prince Regent, and he was equally determined that his only child wed William, Prince of Orange. Princess Charlotte dramatically made her point by running off one night, although she returned the following morning. Her father was not amused, and placed her under what amounted to house arrest. Watching over the princess were the Dowager Countess of Rosslyn, and her two nieces, Miss Charlotte Cotes and Miss Lucy Cotes.

In the battle of wills, the princess finally won, and married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saafeld instead in 1816. In gratitude and likely some relief, the Prince Regent rewarded the two Cotes sisters with sets of jewels – this set of peridots, and another of amethysts – to be worn at the wedding. Tragically, the joy of the wedding and the happy marriage between the two young newlyweds would not last; Princess Charlotte died in 1817, giving birth to a stillborn son.

The letter that still accompanies the set is from Princess Elizabeth, the Prince Regent's sister, asking Miss Cotes to accept the jewels as a gift. The original bill from Rundell, Bridge & Rundell for £240 9s (a sizable amount in 1816) also still exists in the Royal Archives.

The peridot set will go on display at the V&A later this summer. See here for more information.

The Story of a Victorian Dollhouse

Loretta reports:

Some weeks ago I posted about the dollhouses at the 1809 Hedge House.  Shortly thereafter the Executive Director of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society kindly sent me additional information,* from which I’ll quote at length, since the story is a window into the past.

The Brewster Dollhouse “was actually made in part from pieces of an old tea crate – there are remnants of painted Chinese characters on the back, and the original lining paper is still visible, though covered with fragments of several layers of later dollhouse decoration” (as seen in the Cutrona Studios photo).

Flora Louisa Brewster received the ‘Baby House’ on her 6th birthday on January 15, 1855. “Although it was not professionally made, the dollhouse was carefully crafted like a large piece of case furniture. It provided 3 floors of doll’s living space, an attic, and two drawers for storage, and featured glass windows on the sides." The maker was 80-year-old George Humphrey.

~~~
Flora Louisa Brewster, the fifth surviving child in her family, shared this dollhouse with seven of her siblings:
Mary Thomas, the eldest
Elizabeth Emeline, the second in age
Ada Augusta, the third daughter living
Emma Eudora, fourth daughter living
Eva Octavia, sixth daughter living, eighth in reality
Ernest Elisha Wrestling, ninth child
& James

Each of the Brewster children added some furnishings to the house. Some of their individual items are still on display:
Mary Thomas added the mahogany bedstead and dressing case, and an iron waiting man.
Elizabeth Emeline added a brass pudding pan, a brass candlestick, a mahogany dining table, and a small red tin trunk.
Ada Augusta added two mahogany chairs, a center table, a bureau, a chair made by a German, and a churn.
Emma Eudora added a dining room table, a psyche glass, and a kitchen chair made by a German.
Flora added a doll’s photograph album, a kitchen chair made by a German, two marble statuettes, and a chamber set.
Eva Octavia added two parlor chairs, a leather valise, and an iron kettle.
Ernest Elisha Wrestling added a china dog, a donkey with panniers, and a mouse.
& James kept a dissecting map, 2 sets of ten pins, a parlor football, and a pair of parlor skates.
~~~