Strawberries and British Identity Forever
Even though they occupied much of South Asia, British civil servants and their wives wanted a taste of home. Strawberries, for instance.
Vintage Circus Photos from the Sanger Circus Collection
In Victorian England, the circus appealed across an otherwise class-divided society, its audiences ranging from poor peddlers to prestigious public figures.
How Opium Use Became a Moral Issue
In the 19th century, England's working classes frequently used opium. But there weren't laws against the drug until the middle classes started using it.
What The War of the Worlds Had to Do with Tasmania
H.G. Wells's famous science fiction novel imagines what would happen if Martians did to Great Britain what Europeans did to Tasmania.
England’s Obsession with Queen Victoria’s Wedding Cake
Queen Victoria's wedding, and its spectacular cake, caused a frenzy.
Under Victorian Microscopes, an Enchanted World
When it came time to describe what they saw under microscopes, Victorians couldn’t help but perceive a real-life fairyland.
How the Victorians Politicized Lace
Scholar Elaine Freedgood tells the story of how, in the face of encroaching industrialism, handmade lace enjoyed a frilly revival.
The Scottish Sisters Who Pioneered Art Nouveau
Margaret and Frances Macdonald and their Glasgow School of Art classmates Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Harold MacNair were Art Nouveau's Glasgow Four.
Did Victorians Really Get Brain Fever?
The melodramatic descriptions of "fevers" in old novels reveal just how frightening the time before modern medicine must have been.
What If We Had All the Birds from Shakespeare in Central Park?
According to birding lore, two of America's most invasive bird species were introduced by a misguided Shakespeare fan named Eugene Schieffelin.