Dear Subscriber,

I'm going to be very bold this month.  I'm going to go out on a limb.  I'm going to "commit."  And I'm going to declare... "It's Coming!"

What's coming?  The new, redesigned, incredible, spectacular, one-of-a-kind VictorianVoices.net website!  It has been, as they say, literally years in the making.  I really had expected to have it ready last May, but then life got in the way (in the form of an elderly relative who suddenly needed care), and VictorianVoices.net went on hold.  Now, I think that the light I see at the end of this tunnel is not, in fact, an oncoming train.

The new VictorianVoices.net will finally bring you all the content I've been trying to get posted for, literally, about the last five years.  It will have over 12,000 articles from hundreds of Victorian magazines, including (of course), The Girl's Own Paper, The Strand, Cassell's Family Magazine, Century Magazine, Godey's Lady's Book, Harper's Monthly, English Illustrated Magazine, Windsor Magazine, The Illustrated London Almanack, and scores of "one-off" volumes that I've picked up here and there.  (The real challenge has been to stop collecting  magazines and focus on indexing the ones I already had!)  There will be a delightful fiction section as well, with around 250 Victorian short stories and short novels.  Some of these are by authors we all know and love (like Mark Twain and Arthur Conan Doyle - yes, you'll find almost the entire Sherlock Holmes canon here, as it appeared in The Strand), and some are by less familiar authors who don't deserve to have been forgotten.  The site will be organized topically, making it easy to find what you're looking for, whether you want to find articles on how to host a Victorian tea or a glimpse of Queen Victoria's doll collection.  We will also be including an extensive section of articles on the Civil War.

When is all this happening?  That's where the out-on-a-limb boldness comes in... I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be able to officially relaunch at the beginning of June.  Unless something unforeseen occurs, yes, it's that close.  (I'd have gone for May, but we're taking a vacation, and the last thing I want is to find that I had some unexpected glitch that makes a mess of everything while I'm not around to fix it!)  So watch for the official announcement in our next newsletter!

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

• "For Debt" (Windsor, 1902) In Victorian days, if you couldn't pay your debts, you went to prison - here's a glimpse of what that was like!
• Table Manners (Ingalls' Home Magazine, 1889) "Good manners at th table are of the greatest importance, for one can, at a glance, discern whether a person has been trained to eat well... to drink quietly, and not as a horse or cow drinks... There is no position where the innate refinement of a person is more fully exhibited than at the table."
• Delectable Salads (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894) Presentation is as important as flavor, as the interesting tips on creating a delicious and beautiful chicken salad demonstrate...
• Nothing for Nought (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887) Ads promising lavish pay for easy work ("assemble crafts in your home!") are nothing new -- and such promises were as worthless in Victorian days as they are today. This article looks at some of the most common Victorian "work from home" scams.
• Embroidered Initials (The Girl's Own Paper, 1893) How to create elegant embroidered monograms.
• Kitchen Requisites (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1875) What were the essentials of the well-furnished Victorian kitchen? This article explains all, and even gives price estimates for the kitchen necessities of the day.
• Some Favourite Dogs (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1888) The author of the wonderful stories of the dachshund Mr. Smith reminisces about some of the dogs of her childhood.
• America as a Health Resort (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882) "America has drawbacks in the shape of climate... but as a health resort for portions of the year it compares most favourably with any place it has ever been my good fortune to visit; and... I can look back to the time I spent in the United States as one of the pleasantest in my life."
• Curious Corporation Customs (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887) London's Corporations have a wealth of history, insignia and pageantry that survived well into Victorian times.
• Cookery in May (The Girl's Own Paper, 1897) A collection of gooseberry recipes.
• 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.
• A Day of My Life in India (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880) "Never while in India neglect a morning outing of some sort. Either ride, drive, or walk every morning before the sun is up, for then is the only time you will able to breathe really fresh air--or, as the natives express it, 'eat the wind'."
• An American Tea-Table (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1880) A guest traveling in America will come to understand in time that "supper" is the same meal as "tea" in New York--but the reader of this article may have a bit of difficulty sorting out what is meant by dinner, supper or tea!
• Little Ways (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892) "It is the 'little ways' that are really so provoking, the pins of faults that prick so hard." Here are some examples of provoking little ways, and how to avoid them!
• New Paid Occupations for Women (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894) "I do not know of anything more pathetically touching than the sight of a woman gently reared suddenly thrown out on the world with a living to make, and no practical way of making it."
• Fifty Tucks Instead of One (Century, 1888) This editorial on the perils of "labor-saving devices" could have been written today!S
• ilk Jewelry (Demorest, 1879) Remember those metal button forms that you could cover with fabric to match your dress? This article explains how to turn them into gorgeous pieces of jewelry!
• The Art of Garnishing (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884) With some clever tricks, the most unattractive foods can be turned into dishes that please the eye as well as the palate.
• A Letter from a Kitchen (The Girl's Own Paper, 1881) This letter written to the editors of The Girl's Own Paper gives an interesting view of the lives of servants.
• Cookery Recipes (The Girl's Own Paper, 1898) A selection of recipes for puddings, tarts and omelettes.
  

Visit https://www.victorianvoices.net/VT/issues/VT-1905.shtml to download  this issue!

Or download it directly from DropBox:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/grs2j5sydg202ww/VT-1905.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 Spring!

Your Intrepid Editor,
Moira Allen

editors@writing-world.com