19th century

(Photograph by Matt Hulsman) A slice of this nutty, slightly-sweet soda bread pairs well with butter and jam or molasses butter. It is also tasty covered with melted cheese. Beware! One slice may not be enough! Molasses Soda Bread Ingredients for bread: 2¾ cups whole-wheat flour ⅓ cup...

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd post a recipe for an authentic, traditional, Irish fruit bread or spotted dog. It seems at the time of the year when the men were working particularly hard in the fields, the farmer’s wife would reward them with a richer, sweeter bread than...

The majority of presidents in U.S. history have been fairly wealthy. Adjusting each president’s net worth for today's dollars, most would be considered multi-millionaires. However, many presidents came from humble beginnings and never became highly wealthy. According to the Wall Street...

An 1866 newspaper ad from the Louisville Courier, published right after the civil war ended. What is pineapple cheese? Well according to Victorian Passage Into Time: “In 1808 a man named Lewis M Norton, from Goshen, Connecticut, was given a Pineapple cheese which had been brought from...

In 1863, Dr. James C. Jackson of New York developed what he called "Granula," a Graham flour mixture that was formed into sheets, baked until dry, broken up, baked again and broken up into even smaller pieces. In 1898, Charles W. Post used Dr. Jackson's basic recipe for “Granula” to develop...

It seems the phrase “Southern hospitality” wasn’t used until the 1820s or 1830s, when national debates about slavery intensified. For many, the idea of “Southern hospitality” became a way of defending the Southern lifestyle and a political system that depended on slavery. Even today, “Southern...

The feeling of peace and tranquility that one experiences upon entering this church is indescribable. It is truly a respite from the busy streets of New Orleans. The Immaculate Conception church, locally known as Jesuit church, is a Roman Catholic church in the Central Business District of New...

(Pinterest) I’ve been a fan of chocolate covered cherries since I was a child, but as an adult I’ve found it is fun to kick them up a notch by spiking them with delicious liquors. There are plenty of confectioners that make cherry cordials, but the three most popular are Cella’s, Queen Anne’s...

“First-Footing” was critical to New Year’s Eve in the Victorian Era. “First Footing” literally means the first foot to cross your threshold after midnight. This visitor was expected to bring a gift of bread, salt, coal, whisky, food or greenery to ensure a prosperous and healthy year ahead. I...

The Great River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, LA is home to a unique holiday lighting display – the Christmas Bonfires. Dozens of 20-feet-high flaming pyramids of burning logs are built along the earthen levees each December and set ablaze on Christmas Eve. The Christmas Bonfires...

The Christmas Tree Painting by Henry Mosler Feather trees were the first artificial Christmas trees and they were originally made in Germany as early as 1845. Like many inventions, the tabletop feather tree came about out of necessity. By the mid-19th century, decorated Christmas trees were...

(Youtube) It is generally agreed that the modern Spiritualist movement began on April 1, 1848, in the village of Hydesville, New York, when two sisters, Margaret (age 14) and Kate Fox (age 11), claimed that they had communicated with the ghost of a man murdered at their house years before their...

(Pinterest) Pineapple was beloved by our Victorian friends and is a natural complement to meals where ham is served. So Christmas comes to mind as a holiday where these Pineapple Rum Tartlets could grace your table. These treats are a bit time consuming to make so they’re well suited to...

(Library of Congress) In 1883, Patrick H. “Patsy” McDonough, a bartender from Rochester, New York, published a recipe for Grand Army Punch. Unless he served as a drummer boy, McDonough was too young to have worn the blue uniform, but he undoubtedly knew many who did. This punch recipe was...

A 19th century Christmas feast would not have been complete without dessert. This is an 1843 recipe for pumpkin pie from Mrs. Ellis’s Housekeeping Made Easy. Unlike recipes we find in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, this recipe does not start with the measurements and the suggested...

"Gathering Ferns" by Helen Allingham, 1871. Our Victorian friends didn’t have access to television or the internet, but they found plenty of ways to "spend" their free time. Here are a few of the hobbies that were popular during the Victorian era. Be forewarned, some might seem a little...

(American Egg Board) St. Nick’s Eggnog Eggnog is a delicious holiday tradition, but some folks have a low tolerance for the emulsifiers and stabilizers used in commercial eggnogs. Homemade eggnog has no added ingredients. This recipe has been passed down since 1930. The leftover eggnog can...

Army of the Potomac – Union soldiers cooking dinner in camp – Library of Congress "We grab our plates and cups, and wait for no second invitation. We each get a piece of meat and a potato, a chunk of bread and a cup of coffee with a spoonful of brown sugar in it. Milk and butter we buy, or go...

There’s getting to be a slight chill in the air so it got me thinking about how my Victorian friends might have dressed to keep warm when they were outside. We’ve all seen pictures of women’s gowns with wide puffy sleeves. The sleeves were so big that they could not fit into the sleeve of a...

Sweet potato fritters from an 1885 San Francisco cookbook. This fritter recipe is from the collection of vegetable recipes published in 1885 by Jules Arthur Harder, the head chef at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Sweet Potato Fritters Peel half a dozen boiled Sweet Potatoes, cut off both...

"Southern Belles" by Alan Maley In the Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information (1889), there is an entire chapter dedicated to the "secrets of beauty" because… "If women are to govern, control, manage, influence and retain the adoration of husbands, fathers, brothers, lovers...

I always enjoy living history events, especially those offered around the holidays. In searching out offerings for this holiday season, I came across an article that offered some insight into what General Lee, as well as some others, was doing on Christmas Day in 1861. I thought you might...

"In the Library" by August Toulmouche, 1872. The Victorian “bluestocking” was defined as, “a stiff, stilted, queer literary woman of a dubious age.” This stereotype actually made its way into an 1883 edition of the Popular Encyclopedia, where a “bluestocking” was defined as a “pedantic female”...

Pot Pourri Herbert James Draper, circa 1897 While a Victorian lady was not known for wearing excessive fragrance, perfumes were as much a part of her beauty regime as hair and skin care. These perfumes were generally simpler than the ones we know today and consisted, in large part, of florals...

Dressing for Dinner: For the Ladies: Do not dress above your station; it is a grievous mistake, and leads to great evils, besides being the proof of a complete lack of taste. Do not expose the neck and arms at dinner. (The lady in the pic above is in trouble. :wink:) For the Gentlemen...

I always enjoy viewing beautiful Victorian dresses on display in museums. Since it has been a rainy and chilly day in my neck of the woods, I decided to spend my afternoon taking a virtual tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On my "visit" I discovered that not every Victorian dress was...

This sticky toffee pudding with more than a hint of gingerbread is a wonderful holiday treat, especially with plentiful butterscotch sauce added on top. Grandma Baum’s Ginger Drop Cakes Ingredients: 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup sour...

In 1887 a Good Housekeeping reader wrote in with the following recipe: "The following directions for making an excellent "turkey dressing" may be of service to your readers at the festive season of the year: Take one pint of soaked bread, and season with two teaspoonfuls of salt and Bell's...

The Soldier's Daughter by Sarah E. Howard. A littler girl her mother sought, A troubled look upon her face,-- "At school they tease me; had they ought To tell me that my father fought For nothing, or for less than naught? To be a soldier brave, I thought Was honor, not disgrace. "Because he...

(Pinterest) The holidays are just around the corner and homemade candies are still in style as gifts for friends and neighbors. They also make great hostess gifts. So get your Victorian on and make some tasty treats for gift-giving this year! Old-Fashioned Mulled Wine Jelly Candies...

(Courtesy of The Victorian Life.) It seems the phrase, Black Friday, may have first been used in Philadelphia to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic that occurred on the day after Thanksgiving. The term has now become almost synonymous with shopping mayhem. Well...

(Courtesy of This Victorian Life.) This original recipe appeared in Elizabeth S. Miller’s book, In the Kitchen, in 1875. It appears these cookies got their name because, “Coasting and snow-balling were the bloom and glow of those long, icy months.” Coasting is a reference to sledding...

Young girl with "sausage" curls, circa 1860. Image is by Anson of New York, N.Y. Did your grandmother ever tell you to brush your hair 100 strokes or so before bed each night? This was often advised in years past as a way to create healthy, silky hair. Well a lot of today’s fashionistas say...

The ancients wrote poetry and sang songs about figs. Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under a fig tree. And fig trees are one of the first plants mentioned in the Bible, as well as the subject of more than one Biblical parable. Figs are plentiful in the South and for us it’s all...

(Pinterest) The Scotch Woodcock sandwich was a well-known dish in the Victorian era and is mentioned in “Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management" published in 1861. Isabella Mayson Beeton was a talented cook and writer whose bestselling cookbook sold 60,000 copies in one year and nearly two...

Family picnic (Wikimedia) - Wonder if they had ham sandwiches? In the mid-1800s the word sandwich was almost synonymous with ham. If you ordered a sandwich, it was likely ham. If you went on a picnic, you likely had ham sandwiches to eat. This is a recipe for making the perfect ham sandwich...

Are you already dreading the impending winter cold? Well take a good look at the photograph above of a woman climbing a glacier in a billowing Victorian skirt. It may surprise you to learn (it certainly did me) that several Victorian females braved the ice in their petticoats during a time...

(Photo courtesy of Inhabited Kitchen) It wasn’t until the 18th and 19th centuries when the word ‘deviling’ became widely used to describe the process of making a food spicy. Many cultures even today still use other words such as “mimosa eggs,” “dressed eggs,” “salad eggs” and “stuffed eggs” to...

(Pinterest) If you swoon over the icing on a caramel cake, this is the fudge for you. Our Victorian friends enjoyed their sweet treats and this one is definitely a winner. Old-Fashioned Brown Sugar Fudge Ingredients: 1½ cups granulated sugar 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed ⅓ cup heavy...

As a child, I always enjoyed caramel apples much like our Victorian friends did in the late 19th century. But even as a child, I thought they were messy. An an adult I still love the taste, but dislike the messiness even more. Caramel apple slices are the perfect solution. They're easy to...