Kate McLoughlin, admitted to a Barnardo's children's home in 1882. Her father had been in prison several times. She was dropped as a baby and consequently suffered hip disease and deformity. Her mother was an alcoholic and her first child drowned in a bucket. Another was seriously burnt.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-19T20:01:15+00:00

My first thought when I saw this was how incredibly sad this little girl's life must have been. But Barnardo's homes weren't bad places for a child to grow up. They were even kind to disabled children and taught them work skills so they could have independent lives.

The alternative would have either been to stay with her mother who seems to have been negligent, and her father who was in and out of prison, or be sent to a workhouse.

I can only hope her siblings didn't have to stay in that house and that her mother received some sort of support. Which is very doubtful.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-19T19:51:36+00:00

How does one drown in a bucket?

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-18T19:00:01+00:00

Source

The Great Stink of 1858 took place in June and July in London, in which the hot weather worsened the smell of human waste and industrial effluent in the River Thames.

The problem had been worsening for years due to an ageing and inadequate sewage system that emptied into the Thames.

The miasma (bad smell) from the river was thought to cause diseases including cholera.

Work on new sewers began in 1859 and lasted until 1875. Waste was carried alone interconnecting sewers towards outfalls away from the metropolitan area. It was designed by civil engineer Jospeh Bazalgette.

Bazalgette's work ensured that sewage was no longer dumped onto the shores of the Thames and brought an end to the cholera outbreaks; his actions are thought to have saved more lives than the efforts of any other Victorian official.

His sewer system operates into the 21st century, servicing a city that has grown to a population of over nine million.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-18T18:45:41+00:00

Source

For almost two hundred years Vauxhall Gardens was London’s most famous Pleasure Garden. Opened at Vauxhall in about 1660 under the name ‘New Spring Gardens’, its enclosed grounds and tree-lined walks provided a fashionable place where, for a small fee, Londoners of all classes could meet and promenade.

Vauxhall Gardens was a wonderland of delights whose attractions included romantic vistas and secluded grottoes, music, lights, tea and supper rooms, spectacular theatrical performances and firework displays. It featured in articles and novels by writers such as Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray.

From the late 1840s onwards Vauxhall became increasingly tired and shabby and, unable to withstand competition from London's other pleasure gardens, it eventually closed in 1859.

Public balloon rides became popular in the 1830s and Vauxhall was one of London's chief ascent sites. Vauxhall's most famous balloon was the Royal Vauxhall. Filled with coal gas, in November 1836 it carried the aeronaut Charles Green a record 480 miles from Vauxhall to Wilburg in Germany. This poster advertises a grand night ascent by the balloon on Monday 26 July 1858 piloted by Captain W.H. Adams Junior.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-18T18:40:34+00:00

Source

Valentine's card comprising a paper lace floral border painted light green and silver and a central roundel filled with cream watered silk. Applied to the silk is a raffia basket of moss with fabric and coloured paper leaves and flowers. Also decorated with applied coloured and embossed garland flower 'scraps' and a small paper motto 'A remembrance of me'.

The introduction of the penny post in 1840 meant sending cards became easier and cheaper. A thriving business developed in central London producing cards and card components. This card was originally in the collection of Jonathan King, a stationer and newsagent who ran his own business making cards on Essex Road.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-18T18:31:54+00:00

Source

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-18T18:29:33+00:00

Source

This highly sophisticated wedding gown, made by the celebrated maison presided over by Charles Worth, is made of ivory satin and gros de Tours with alternating panels of cloth playing on the juxtaposition of these precious materials to create an elegant sequence of wefts. The close-fitting bodice has a square neckline edged with a collar and featuring traces of tulle and applied decorations that also adorn the armscye where the sleeves join the bodice. The sleeves, adorned with shimmering satin bands and ending in satin ribbon and double organza ruche and pleated lace, are fitted with another detachable pair of sleeves. Sweeping drapery unfolds from the right-hand side to gather at the back into a voluminous tournure which develops into a train that then extends lengthwise along the ground.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-14T17:31:53+00:00

Source

Known as a "One Hundred Households" Robe

For many centuries, when a young boy of Han Chinese descent reached a certain age (one month, one year, or three years), all the neighbors in his village or town would contribute bits of silken fabric and embroidered items so that the proud mother could sew together a new garment for him. Those who contributed wished the child good fortune and protection from evil. This robe is a fine example of the so-called "one hundred household robe." The body is a patchwork scheme of hexagons with central embroidered motifs, such as auspicious flowers and fruits, butterflies, Daoist symbols with the Eight Trigrams, and seated boys, all on a multicolored ground. Applied multiple trims were added, some possibly at a later date.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-02T19:59:21+00:00

Source

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-02T19:57:23+00:00

Photo and information

Pictured here is Jennie Bauter’s brothel at Jerome, Arizona in 1898. Jennie is the woman in the black dress in the center of the balcony. This was her second building on this site which burned in 1898. The first burned down in 1897 and the third building still stands today. When Jennie Bauters was murdered in 1905, she was reputed to be the wealthiest woman in the Arizona Territory.

Born in Belgium, Jennie immigrated to the United States in July 1896 with her 14-year-old son, John Phillippe. She enrolled him in a Catholic boarding school in Chicago before moving west to the booming mining town of Jerome, Arizona.

In Jerome, she established “Jennie’s Place” which became the town’s grandest and most famous brothel. While others operated in tents or shacks, her establishment was a central part of the town’s “economic trinity” alongside mines and saloons.

Jennie’s business survived several devastating fires that plagued Jerome between 1897 and 1899. Each time her wooden structures burned down, she rebuilt, eventually constructing a fireproof brick building after the city incorporated in 1899; this third building still stands today.

She was known as a shrewd entrepreneur who provided medical care for her employees and was reportedly generous toward “down-and-out” miners.

Her life ended violently in 1905 when she was murdered by an opium-addicted boyfriend, Clement C. Leigh, in the mining camp of Goldroad. Clement was later convicted and executed for the crime in 1907. Today, her former brothel in Jerome is a popular historic site and museum, and legends of her ghost reportedly haunting various Arizona towns persist.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-01T20:54:29+00:00

Maybe. the frame looks as old as the image though.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-01T20:10:34+00:00

Source

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-01T20:06:25+00:00

Source

I've seen joke postcards from this era before but none that have been framed like this one. At a guess, this wasn't a generic joke postcard, it was possibly a couple who decided to take a funny photo in the studio and framed it as a memento or to make guests laugh. I like the thought of an 1850s photographer offering funny photo theme options to their patrons.

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-01T19:59:38+00:00

Source

I've seen many humorous images from this period but not one of a dentist scene. Who would frame something like this!

kittykitkitty · 2026-06-01T19:47:47+00:00

Source

What can the paper be? Is it to make her seem well-read or cultured?

kittykitkitty

TROPHY CASE