sideblog for victorian shenanigans

"I'd be happy to, Mrs. Rutherford. have you brought your goods with you, or would you like advice on what to buy before we begin?"

"of course! here, you see?"

"...this jacket"

"yes, Mr. Rutherford said I might have it to use the velvet :)"

"this jacket which contains three yards of material"

"indeed :) :)"

"for a polonaise wanting at least six yards of goods to make up"

"in a close-fitting satin skirt with yards of swagged drapery that has to be placed at precisely the right angle or she'll scream at us?"

"yep"

"okay, well, I guess we can put it-"

"and she won't have it in the center back seam"

Typography Tuesday

The eminent American book and type designer Bruce Rogers (1870-1957) designed a set of printer's ornaments in the early 20th century. Combinations of these ornaments are presented in this small booklet, Bruce Rogers Ornaments, printed 1996 by Kentucky surgeon and hobbyist printer Blaine Lewis (1919-2001) at his Innominate Press in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Lewis writes that Rogers became interested in printer's ornaments around 1917 when he found that available ornaments he wished to use "seemed too elaborate and refined."

. . . he photographed a 16th-century arabesque, made line block proofs, cut them into their simplest component units and then shifted them about to form different patterns. . . .he began scanning old specimen books and lifting from obscurity an odd assortment of lines, braces, and geometrical scraps in an attempt to isolate the simplest form to develop a set of flowers. Therefore, . . . forms were developed by Rogers of copies from previously designed pieces of adaptations from parts of the originals found in old specimen books.

Our copy of this type display booklet is another donation from the estate of our late friend Dennis Bayuzick (1946-1922).

View more posts of type ornaments.

View other type specimen books.

View other books from the collection of Dennis Bayuzick.

The best ones have advice on decor, how to select high-quality furniture, childrearing, fashion, etc--from a contemporary perspective, and the things the authors feel the need to clarify vs the wild shit that will just casually mention like it's something everyone knows and agrees on is REALLY revealing of the culture and how it's shifted.

And while a lot of the advice is WILDLY bigoted or just outright funny, you'd be surprised how much of it is...just genuinely timeless, and shockingly compassionate.

They ALSO, as a writer, have INVALUABLE resources--because, again, they're talking about things that are so MUNDANE that a lot of the time nobody really sat down to formally document what normal, everyday people thought or cared about--because that's boring! But a book written to provide advice and information to, say, a young woman who's never run her own home before? You can fully expect an entire chapter dedicated to The Types Of Oven, and which features are useful and worth spending money on, and which features are a huge hassle to clean and a waste of space, and what to spend that money on instead.

And like. As a writer who frequently works in the 1800s? Fuck inflation calculators, this is the kind of thing I need. This is absolutely priceless.

Now that being said.

My current favorite 'etiquette guide' in the world is actually like....70% purely practical advice, written by a gentleman the groupchat has affectionately dubbed History's Most Autistic Man In The World, and thank god they didn't have Aderall back then

Because the AuDHD is strong in this one and as a result, in addition to the deeply practical and useful everyday reference points, we also have:

The best ones have advice on decor, how to select high-quality furniture, childrearing, fashion, etc--from a contemporary perspective, and the things the authors feel the need to clarify vs the wild shit that will just casually mention like it's something everyone knows and agrees on is REALLY revealing of the culture and how it's shifted.

And while a lot of the advice is WILDLY bigoted or just outright funny, you'd be surprised how much of it is...just genuinely timeless, and shockingly compassionate.

They ALSO, as a writer, have INVALUABLE resources--because, again, they're talking about things that are so MUNDANE that a lot of the time nobody really sat down to formally document what normal, everyday people thought or cared about--because that's boring! But a book written to provide advice and information to, say, a young woman who's never run her own home before? You can fully expect an entire chapter dedicated to The Types Of Oven, and which features are useful and worth spending money on, and which features are a huge hassle to clean and a waste of space, and what to spend that money on instead.

And like. As a writer who frequently works in the 1800s? Fuck inflation calculators, this is the kind of thing I need. This is absolutely priceless.

Now that being said.

My current favorite 'etiquette guide' in the world is actually like....70% purely practical advice, written by a gentleman the groupchat has affectionately dubbed History's Most Autistic Man In The World, and thank god they didn't have Aderall back then

Because the AuDHD is strong in this one and as a result, in addition to the deeply practical and useful everyday reference points, we also have:

"People back then always married young it's natural!!!" Every single 1800s guide I've ever met casually mentions that, of course, you really shouldn't get married before you're at least 20, and waiting until 25 is usually better.

Or, like. Okay here's a long segment:

Just firmly going "it is crazy sexist to blame The Wife for overspending when thirty seconds of asking questions will immediately establish that her husband was outright lying to her about how much money they had. Talk to your wife like a normal person."

Or--okay, here. A section on being honest and not writing love letters in secret, because that's usually a good sign that there's something untoward going on....

....except that he then immediately acknowledges that sometimes, the reason you're hiding this from your parents is that your parents suck. That there are parents who frankly have not earned the right to approve or disapprove of your partner.

~ How To Take Care of a Wife, Melville C. Keith, M.D., 1908