History of Christmas Postcards
When I sat down last week to take care of the most time-consuming and expensive of all my Christmas projects–that of preparing Christmas cards–I wondered how this dying art form got its start.… Continue reading
Category Archive: Victorian
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The Patron Saint of Prostitutes
Sex trafficking, horrific thing that it is, has been moved front and center as an issue in recent years. Again. This ugly blot on human history has plagued us for centuries in spite… Continue reading
History of American Crime: the Colonial Period
Today marks the start of a new series for me here on History Imagined. As some of you may be aware, my first published novel, Al Capone at the Blanche Hotel, features history… Continue reading
How London’s Bobbies Got Their Name
There are few things more synonymous with London than the Tower, Big Ben, double decker busses, black cabs, and the traditional headgear of the Metropolitan Police. The custodian helmet, as it is officially… Continue reading
The Desert Queen
Among the colorful personalities of the late Georgian/Early Victorian world of the 1830s Lady Hester Stanhope stands out for her brilliance, independence, and sheer brazen disregard for social mores. If ladies rode sidesaddle;… Continue reading
The Stargazer Who Counted
Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet may have been a stargazer, a musician, and even a poet, but he was no dreamer. His work regarding the collection and quantification of data influenced science and social… Continue reading
The Cosmetic Huckster
This week’s Victorian character impresses as more than just colorful. Madame Rachel, notorious con artist and flamboyant celebrity, made a fortune off the vanity and gullibility of high society. She may have been… Continue reading
The Bridge Builder
Victorian England, as I pointed out in my earlier post, The Pastry Chef, produced a bumper crop of genuine characters: rogues, villains, explorers, heroes, geniuses, entrepreneurs, and colorful eccentrics. This week I highlight a… Continue reading
The Real First Female to Run for President–Victoria Woodhull
Now that the run for the highest office in America is upon us, one might think the result will be unique, regardless if you support Trump or Clinton. A businessman with no political… Continue reading
Living History: Frontier Culture Museum (Staunton, VA)
In this second post in the Living History series, we move from Tidewater Virginia to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east and the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians on… Continue reading