All Things Victorian

All Things Victorian
Victoriana Lady Lisa (Photo by John Thomas Grant Photography)

Monday, February 11, 2019

A Victorian Tea With A Contemporary Flair

On Saturday April 22, 2017 at 12:00 noon the Kenilworth Historical Society presented a unique afternoon tea event called A Victorian Tea With A Contemporary Flair featuring nationally acclaimed speaker and author of International Steampunk Fashions Victoriana Lady Lisa. Lady Lisa, aka Lisa Griffiths, is also an award winning host of the syndicated TV show All Things Victorian.



Victoriana Lady Lisa presented a program entitled, "Welcome To Steampunk Fashion, Where What's Old Is New Again!" Lady Lisa, dressed in Steampunk attire, shared antique clothing and accessories from her personal traveling museum collection, explaining how the steam era history of the Victorian era inspired the modern Victorian fashion style referred to as Steampunk style. (The Steampunk aesthetic is not just about fashion but encompasses art, literature, furniture, music, and much more.)







The committee of the historical society pulled out all the stops decorating for the tea, It was pure eye candy, from hand painted teapots to lovely centerpieces and bookmark favors, all in Steampunk style, of course. The ladies really did their homework, bravo for a great job in decorating from floor to ceiling!







The refreshments were just as wonderful with traditional scones, tea sandwiches, and pastries galore. The hand decorated gear shaped cookies were especially impressive and almost too pretty to eat!
Again, bravo ladies!



The tea was held at the Kenilworth Gospel Chapel in Kenilworth NJ.




Victoriana Lady Lisa- Bringing history to life since 2003

To book a program please contact me - Victorianaladylisa@gmail.com

 References available upon request


Friday, September 23, 2016

Victorian Fashion Revival Article With Recollections.biz

Victoriana Lady Lisa's Victorian era great-great grandmother Ella Mae Martin, standing, and sister Lucy, seated, circa 1890. This photo was my inspiration as a child which encouraged my love of historic fashions. Ella Mae & Lucy's father Samuel J. Martin was a Quartermaster Sergeant in the Civil War. Sadly Lucy passed away at age 25 from Influenza, her sister Ella Mae named her daughter Lucy in her sister's honor. Namesake Lucy was my beloved great grandmother.


Greetings friends,
I'm honored to be featured in this informative Recollections article among such knowledgeable people in the industry. My very first reproduction gown was from Recollections when I started catering afternoon tea parties back in 2002. So many wonderful things have happened since that time.

If you enjoy the Victorian & Edwardian era you can watch episodes of my award winning community access TV program All Things Victorian 1623 Studios posted on Youtube. For Steampunk fans you might enjoy my book International Steampunk Fashions by Victoriana Lady Lisa

I encourage you to make a cup of tea and set aside some time to peruse the fabulous articles on the Recollections blog pages. Cheerio!

http://recollections.biz/blog/victorian-fashion-revival/




Victoriana Lady Lisa- Bringing history to life since 2003

To book a program please contact me - Victorianaladylisa@gmail.com

 References available upon request

Thursday, April 2, 2015

The Wild Violet circa 1863



THE WILD VIOLET
Beautiful Violet, daughter of May
Blooming so modestly out of the way
Under the tangle and down by the brook
Upon the hill-side in some shady nook
Always and ever trying to play
Hide-go-seek with the sun's golden ray.

Beautiful Violet, welcome thou art
Bringing sweet music to a weary heart
For the memories full, thy coming seems
And gazing upon thee, back come the dreams
That haunted me once in love's bright day
When life and life's hopes were an endless May.

Beautiful Violets, when I am laid
Under the Willow-beneath its cool shade
Will you not come then, and bloom by me there
Filling with sweetness the soft evening air?
Say will you not come and over me lay
Your mantle of blue, fair daughter of May.


(This was found in a journal from 1863 from my personal collection. It was very common in the Victorian era to speak of death in poems. Not to be morbid, but because the life span was often short due to sickness and disease. The Victorians accepted this reality and spoke of it freely, which helped them deal with their grief.)






Victoriana Lady Lisa- Bringing history to life since 2003

To book a program please contact me - Victorianaladylisa@gmail.com

 References available upon request

Friday, March 27, 2015

Victorian Era Born Harry Gordon Selfridge


 Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr., born in the Victorian era, was an American-born British retail magnate who founded the London based department store Selfridges. He married Rosalie Buckingham from a prominent Chicago family in 1890. They had a son Chandler who died shortly after his birth, daughters Rosalie, Violette, Beatrice, and a son Gordon Jr.

The Selfridge's lived lavishly at Highcliffe castle for a time. To read more-
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/features/snapshotsofthepast/10162049.Highcliffe_Castle__the_very_British_home_of_Mr_Selfridge/




 Rosalie, shown with 4 of her 5 children. Mrs. Selfridge died in the Influenza pandemic in 1918.




Harry Selfridge coined the phrase, "The Customer Is Always Right. "He was the first to promote Christmas sales and started the saying, "Only _____ shopping days until Christmas!" Others included:
"People will sit up and take notice of you if you will sit up and take notice of what makes them sit up and take notice."


Handsome actor Jeremy Piven plays the character role of Harry Gordon Selfridge, the department store magnate.







 The store opened on March 15, 1909, near the end of the Edwardian era, at the western end of Oxford Street in London. There was nothing like it. Selfridge created a place where people wanted to shop, enjoyed it in fact, as opposed to shopping out of necessity. The store carried the best of everything, and it was on display where shoppers could experience the products, not just look at them under glass. Harry wanted it that way. The store was a destination with restaurants, a library/reading room, and special reception rooms for French, German, and American customers. If only I had a time machine to go back and shop for a day!







                    Fashions circa 1909 from Victorian Lady Lisa's private collection.




Due to the Great Depression, his gambling, and a penchant for free spending on show girls, Selfridge died almost penniless, living with his oldest daughter Rosalie at the end of his life.







Harry Gordon Selfridge was born January 11, 1864 in Ripon, Wisconsin. He died May 8, 1947 in  Putney London, England of Bronchopneumonia. He's buried in St. Marks churchyard Highcliffe, Dorset next to his wife Rosalie who died in 1918, and his mother Lois who died in 1924.




To read more about his death and burial- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13731901




Victoriana Lady Lisa- Bringing history to life since 2003

To book a program please contact me - Victorianaladylisa@gmail.com

 References available upon request





Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Proud To Be Of Irish Descent

                                    Happy St. Patrick's Day!! 



I love working on genealogy. I'm very proud of my Irish heritage, my 3rd great grandfather, surname O'Reilly, was from County Cavan. He emigrated to America in 1851 due to the potato famine, and settled in northeastern PA.


My great-great-great grandfather Constable William O'Riley (sometimes spelled Reilly) led the St. Patrick's Day parade in his hometown many for years.



Constable William O' Riley circa 1888 with his faithful Irish Setter Rover 



William O' Riley's grandson (my great grandfather) Anselm Riley, 1914



Anselm's sister Margaret Riley, 1914



Anselm's daughter, (my grandmother) Marguerite Riley, circa 1930









Victoriana Lady Lisa- Bringing history to life since 2003

To book a program please contact me - Victorianaladylisa@gmail.com

 References available upon request


Saturday, February 21, 2015

Portrait by Cape Ann MA impressionist artist Jude Abbe of Victoriana Lady Lisa

I had the honor of having the talented Cape Ann impressionist artist Jude Abbe paint my portrait in one of my antique lace boudoir gowns. The canvas has been stretched, here is the final work. Yes, my hair is that long, in the Victorian tradition, it's 4 feet long, not hair extensions. I've been growing it long for 26 years.  

For information on the artist-
http://judithabbe.com/index.html







Victoriana Lady Lisa- Bringing history to life since 2003

To book a program please contact me - Victorianaladylisa@gmail.com

 References available upon request

Monday, February 9, 2015

The Life Of A Victorian Child in America


The Life Of A Victorian Child in America
by Victoriana Lady Lisa 

Victoriana Lady Lisa's great grandfather Anselm Riley in a lovely wicker carriage

 
The life of a Victorian child in America was either privileged, or extremely difficult, depending on what social class they were born into. Until age five, both boys and girls wore dresses. It was more practical to change the baby's diaper and toilet train this way. How can one tell the gender of the child in photos? It's easy, a baby boy had his hair parted on the side, while a baby girl had her hair parted in the middle.





Victoriana Lady Lisa's great uncle Charles Weber wearing the traditional dress, circa 1890



Since the majority of children were of the working class, we shall take a look at their lives first.The day began with chores bright and early in the morning. The ashes had to be emptied from the stove and wood had to be cut and stacked for cooking. The youngest child had the dreaded job of emptying the chamber pots each morning. If it was Monday, there was the tedious task of laundry. 





Girls helped their mother prepare food, cook, clean, sew, and watch the younger siblings. Boys did the heavier work with father, often working in the fields, or cleaning stalls and feeding the animals. If the family was fortunate to own a cow there was milking to be done in order for the family to have fresh milk.
Victorian families of the working lower class worked from sun up until sun down, including the children. Before child labor laws were passed many children went to work outside of the home to help support their family’s meager wages. 

A child who worked in a mill joining pieces of thread together was called a piecer. This was usually a job for young girls, often as young as six years old. 




Boys as young as seven often worked as Breaker Boys in the coal mining industry, prevalent in PA. Their job was quite dangerous, they sat over the coal chutes as the coal came down fast and furious. The young boys had to pick out the slate mixed in with the coal, if they were not fast enough they could lose a finger or two. 



In 1870 a new law was passed declaring that every village had to have a school. Very few children of the poor working class attended school since they too were working to help support the family income. Children of the middle class did attend school. Boys and girls went into the school through separate doors and sat in separate rows. They were taught reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic. Boys were taught extra lessons in math and science. Girls learned sewing and other household skills then stopped going to school in the eighth grade, while the boys went on to the twelfth grade. A wealthy young man went on to get a college education. 






Young children from wealthy families ate, slept and played in the nursery, a large room often at the top story of the home with a nanny who looked after them. They enjoyed playing with fine toys such as wooden rocking horses, trains, dollhouses, china tea sets, kites, porcelain dolls, and puppets. Punch & Judy were favorites with the children who often had their own wooden puppet theater. Victorian children were not allowed to play with toys on Sunday unless they had a biblical theme, for example a wooden Noah’s Ark set. Older children from wealthy families had their own teacher, called a governess. She taught both the boys and girls until the boys were sent away to boarding school.


 
 Many wonderful classic books came out of the Victorian era. Alice In Wonderland, Little Women, Ann of Green Gables, A Christmas Carol, The Jungle Book, Pollyanna, The Little Princess, The Secret Garden and Treasure Island, just to name a few. Rich children were fortunate to have staff and servants so they had very little chores and responsibilities, leaving more time to read and play. 


Children from well to do families also enjoyed many wonderful treats. Some of the newly invented sweets included fairy floss, which we call cotton candy today. Taffy, fudge, rock candy, animal crackers and chocolate candy was also enjoyed. One of their favorite treats, and also a favorite with adults, was ice cream. Victorians could not get enough of the new sweet frozen treat! Lower class children were thankful to suck on ice chips received from the ice man on a hot day.


                                                               A candy pulling hook 


Wealthy children dressed in a miniature version of styles very much like that of their parents. Boys were breeched and wore knickers at five years old and a shirt, jacket and cap. At age 10 they graduated to long trousers like father, signifying that the boy was now a young man. 






Little girls wore fancy dresses with a hem length to their calves, often with a pinafore over the dress. Their hair was worn in pony tails, baloney curls, or braids. 


At the age of 16 a young lady was no longer considered a child and had a grand coming out party to introduce her to society as being eligible for marriage. At this age she was fitted for a corset, her hem length now went down to the floor and her hair went up in an updo style, very proper for a lady in society. 


Poor or wealthy, Victorian children had to learn manners and proper behavior at all times. Respect was expected, if a child disobeyed they would have their ears boxed.

I wonder what Victorian children would think of today's modern child? Can you imagine the confusion, awe and fear that would embrace the Victorian era children? I think that once they became accustomed to things they would marvel at all of the technology that our children have at their fingertips.







It is an interesting comparison, the Victorian children were a product of the Industrial Revolution. Today’s children are living in the Technical Cyberspace Revolution. I dare say that if a child of today could go back in time to his or her ancestor’s childhood it would be an interesting scene at best! I don’t think they would last ten minutes without their cell phones and computers.





  


Victoriana Lady Lisa- Bringing history to life since 2003

To book a program please contact me - Victorianaladylisa@gmail.com

 References available upon request