1800s

Do you remember the elaborate charity collection tubs that would stand near the checkouts in most supermarkets? What fun it was to watch mum’s change zig-zag or spiral away. So […]

Utagawa Hiroshige was a prolific travel blogger who was also a success in the world of fast-fashion, with somewhere between 600 and 1000 designs for disposable hand-held fans. That’s to […]

I know of a person who would amuse himself by piercing a hole in someone’s can of Coke, causing an annoying dribble when they tipped it up to drink. You […]

With any new and exclusive technology, there inevitably comes the moment when it is seized upon by the masses and it becomes ordinary and everyday. For photography, that moment came […]

On blogs scattered across the Internet there are tales told of the plucky and resourceful Victorian women who would fight off the unwanted attentions of ‘mashers’ with their hatpins. While […]

The 1850s saw the introduction of the post box on the streets of Britain, which brought with them, not only the convenience and encouragement of the postal service, but another […]

On 13th May 1787 the first ship of convicts sailed from Portsmouth, arriving in Botany Bay, Australia the following January. Over the next eighty years, Britain and Ireland transported around […]

If it doesn’t look nice, cover it up. It’s a philosophy that could happily sit alongside those of great interiors thinkers William Morris (have nothing in your house you do […]

Wear your heart on your sleeve and your outrage on your lapel. Protest badges are a symbol of allegiance and an act of defiance against the status quo. These small […]

These ornate little trumpets are bouquetiers, also known as tussie-mussies or quite simply, posy holders. In the 1800s flowers were a popular gift and fashion accessory among the upper classes […]