Dear Subscriber,

April rather got away from me... In my mind, April was still "coming soon," not "hey, guys, I've already been here a week!"  But my mind was not exactly at its peak of performance; as March ended I came down with a full-blown head cold, and so for the last week I have thought of very little beyond "I hope I haven't run out of cough medicine" and "is it time for my next nap yet?"  (My cat has enjoyed this immensely.) So my apologies for the lateness of this issue; the fog is at last beginning to clear.  (And I haven't actually run out of cough medicine... yet...)  Actually, a Victorian housewife would be proud of me, as nothing quite beats the good old-fashioned mixture of honey and lemon juice!

But I'm more or less back on my feet at last, with another lovely issue for your enjoyment.  Outside, the trees are bursting into bloom; everywhere I look I see pairs of giant bees hovering in the air.  The forsythia is a blaze of yellow and daffodils are everywhere.  My new little azalea bushes, planted last fall, have survived, but have a distinctly nibbled look - I think the deer have been enjoying them.  Geese are paired now, and in another month we'll be seeing little yellow balls of goslings.  And then we'll be moaning about the heat of summer and wishing that winter were back again!

There's still time to order from our lovely series of Victorian and vintage-themed Easter cards!  Here's a tiny sampler:

I've set up 36 cards on Zazzle, and created a downloadable package of 100 cards that can be printed on your own inkjet or laser printer, or (at a much reduced cost from Zazzle, much as I love them) at your local office supply store.  Plus, I've created several packages of Victorian-themed Easter Egg transfer decorations, which can be printed onto "temporary tattoo transfer paper" and applied to blown eggs to create gorgeous Easter eggs that will last pretty much forever.  (I have a set I created in 2012 and they're still in perfect condition.)  To give your Easter a Victorian touch, visit https://www.victorianvoices.net/bookstore/easter.shtml - that page has links to all the Easter offerings.

Now here's what we have for you in April:

• The Training of Performing Animals (The Strand, 1894) "The notion that animals are taught to perform tricks by dint of cruelty, by blows and starvation, is among the most illogical fallacies of the day. 'Patience, patience, always patience' is [the trainer's] formula, his magic..."
• Golden Rules of Etiquette (Collier's Cyclopedia, 1882) Some brief rules of etiquette for nearly every occasion, from boat rides to baptisms.
• A Word on Easter Eggs (Demorest, 1886) A bit of the history of Easter eggs in Greece and Russia.
• Ornamental Napery (Demorest, 1894) Beautiful embroidery designs for home linens.
• A Social Revolution: The Married Women's Property Act, 1882 (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1883) A social revolution indeed, "reversing the ancient principle of the Common Law, through which, upon marriage, the husband and wife became the same person (who, in practice, always turned out to be the husband)" -- and by which a husband acquired full rights to all his wife's property except her lands, including her future earnings and savings.
• Economy in Dress (Harper's, 1882) "The present paper will endeavor to explain by what simple means and with what little expense one of the needs of civilized life--the dressing of its women in comely fashion--may be attained."
• Strawberries (The Girl's Own Paper, 1892) Strawberry jam, strawberry jelly, jellied strawberries, straweberry cream, strawberry shortcake, and a host of other recipes for this delicious spring fruit.
• Place Nicknames (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895) On the origins of such terms as Halvergate hares, Cantley cats and Beighton bears, amongst others.
• About Two Dogs I Knew (Stories of History, 1891) About Luna, a master of deception, and Donald, who preferred to travel by hansom cab.
• My Trials as a Housekeeper (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895) Managing a friend's home, and "breaking in" a new staff of servants, turns out to be more difficult than the author imagined...
• Notes by an Artist Naturalist (The Girl's Own Paper, 1892-94) Beautifully illustrated monthly series by artist Fred Miller on the flora, fauna and lore of the season.
• Pickles, and How to Make Them (The Girl's Own Paper, 1897) Tips on making pickled mushrooms, onions, walnuts, and a variety of catsups.
• Children's Ways and Sayings (The Girl's Own Paper, 1898) "Gimpey-digs," "clime-ups," and other ways in which children describe their world.
• Fiction: An Awkward Fix (The Strand, 1893) On the troubles that can arise when one cannot pay one's cab fare...
  

Visit https://www.victorianvoices.net/VT/issues/VT-1904.shtml to download  this issue!

Or download it directly from DropBox:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2atjmez0mmpmz94/VT-1904.pdf?dl=0

VICTORIAN TIMES QUARTERLY #19 IS HERE!

The latest volume of Victorian Times Quarterly is now available on Amazon, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca.

Victorian Times Quarterly #19 includes the contents of the January, February & March 2019 issues of Victorian Times.  This volume introduces our gorgeous twelve-part series, "Notes by an Artist-Naturalist," with the incomparable artwork of Fred Miller.  Plus, it brings you articles on Britain's Victorian circuit judges, prison breaks, curious inventions, cooking at sea, ancient cookery books, the evolution of the bicycle, village life in early Victorian days, and much more!

To find out more and access the ordering links, please visit https://www.victorianvoices.net/VT/VTQ/VTQ19.shtml

Happy Easter!

Your Intrepid Editor,
Moira Allen

editors@writing-world.com