The Victorian Variety Show

The Victorians are credited with giving us many of the Christmas traditions we know and love today, but in this episode, I look at some with which the majority of us may be less familiar, including the Christmas Pickle, “festive science,” dangerous parlour games, and the infamous wassail bowl. ***** BBC. “History of Christmas.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/victorianchristmas/history.shtml Bradley, Elizabeth L. “Dickens and Irving: A Tale of Two Christmas Tales.” https://hudsonvalley.org/article/dickens-and-irving-a-tale-of-two-christmas-tales/ Cole, Rupert. “Science and Christmas: a forgotten Victorian romance.” https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/dec/14/science-christmas-victorian-romance Ellis, Danielle. “A Victorian Christmas: Furmenty and Snapdragon.” https://www.severnbites.com/2016/12/21/a-victorian-christmas-furmenty-and-snapdragon/ Irving, Washington. “The Christmas Dinner.” The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon. Public Domain eBook. Johnston, Keith. “11 Odd Victorian Christmas Traditions.” https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/652043/victorian-christmas-traditions Martisiute, Laura. “10 Strange Christmas Traditions From The Victorian Era.” https://listverse.com/2016/12/23/10-strange-christmas-traditions-from-the-victorian-era/ Pendle, George. “Victorians’ Christmas Parlor Games Will Leave You Burned, Bruised, And Puking.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/victorians-christmas-parlor-games-will-leave-you-burned-bruised-and-puking Vincent, Sarah. “What Is the Christmas Pickle? The History Behind This Unique Tradition.” https://www.rd.com/article/christmas-pickle/ ***** Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/victorianvarie1 Mastodon: https://is.nota.live/@marisad Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/marisadf13 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thevictorianvarietyshow I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate & review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Goodpods, Spotify, Podchaser, Audible, or wherever you listen, as that will help this podcast reach more listeners! Also, if you missed my look at Victorian-Era holiday cards last year, you can find it here: https://anchor.fm/marisa-d96/episodes/Seasons-Creepings--A-Brief-Discussion-of-Victorian-Era-Holiday-Cards-e1c4ol9

I examine how Franz Anton Mesmer’s theory of “animal magnetism” in the eighteenth century was adapted and received in 19th century Britain and America. ************************************************ Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/victorianvarie1 Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/marisadf13 I’d also really appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, as that will help this podcast reach more listeners! ************************************************ References: “Chris.” “Professor John Elliotson: The Curious Case of a Victorian Mesmerist.” Inquisitive Wonder, April 17, 2020, https://inquisitivewonder.com/professor-john-elliotson-the-curious-case-of-a-victorian-mesmerist/. Debczak, Michele. “Charles Dickens, Part-Time Mesmerist.” Mental Floss, July 4, 2017, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/500938/charles-dickens-part-time-mesmerist. “Franz Anton Mesmer.” The History of Hypnosis, 2019, http://www.historyofhypnosis.org/franz-anton-mesmer.html. Manson, Deborah. “The 19th-Century Pseudo-Science Trend That Gave Us ‘Animal Magnetism.’” Zocalo Public Square, June 27, 2018, https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2018/06/27/19th-century-pseudo-science-trend-gave-us-animal-magnetism/ideas/essay/. Poe, Edgar A. “Mesmeric Revelation.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, September 4, 2015, https://www.eapoe.org/works/tales/mesmera.htm. Rouse, Tyler. “The brief and strange history of mesmerism and surgery.” Hektoen International Journal, Winter 2019, https://hekint.org/2018/12/24/the-brief-and-strange-history-of-mesmerism-and-surgery/. “The rise and fall of a medical mesmerist.” Wellcome Collection, April 23, 2018, https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/WsT4Ex8AAHruGfXv.

The construction of mental asylums, & the number of patients they housed, increased dramatically during the Victorian Era. In this episode, I look at some 19th-century legislation regarding the construction of asylums & the treatment of patients in the U.K., as well as some common practices in British asylums during this time. ***** Sources Dance, Caecilia. “A history of Bedlam, the world’s most notorious asylum.” https://www.danceshistoricalmiscellany.com/history-bedlam-worlds-notorious-asylum/ Historic England. “The Growth of the Asylum - a Parallel World.” https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1832-1914/the-growth-of-the-asylum/ Mander, Joe. “A History of Mental Asylums.” http://beyondthepoint.co.uk/a-history-of-mental-asylums/ Masked AMHP, The. “A Stroll Down Memory Lane: The Lunatic Asylums Act 1853.” https://themaskedamhp.blogspot.com/2012/05/stroll-down-memory-lane-lunatic-asylums.html McBeath, VL. “Victorian Era Lunatic Asylums.” https://valmcbeath.com/victorian-era-lunatic-asylums/#.YhFAty08L4A Science Museum. “A Victorian Mental Asylum.” https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/victorian-mental-asylum Shepherd, Jade. “Treating Mental Illness in Victorian Britain.” https://activisthistory.com/2017/05/19/treating-mental-illness-in-victorian-britain/ Tuke, Samuel. Description of the Retreat, Chapter 5. https://medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/education/residency/training/residentled/Samuel%20Tuke_102525_284_13689_v1.pdf Victorian Era. “Victorian Era Asylums.” https://victorian-era.org/victorian-era-asylums.html ***** Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/victorianvarie1 Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/marisadf13 I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate & review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Goodpods, or wherever you listen, as that will help this podcast reach more listeners!

In this episode, I talk to Stephen of one of my favorite podcasts, Dark Stories from the Campfire, about British Occultism’s development during the Victorian Era and various factors that intersected with and influenced it (including French Occultism and Egyptomania). About Stephen: As the creator and writer of Dark Stories from the Campfire and The History of the Tarot, Stephen has had a deep interest in literature and history from a young age. It would not be uncommon to catch him spinning a tale to family or friends. As teenager he began incorporating music into his storytelling. Later, it was his interest in folklore, history, and intersection of music and storytelling that propelled him to study social/cultural anthropology, where he would pick up an interest in death rituals as well as the history of the occult, which began a life long obsession with Ouija boards and Tarot cards. Briefly, Stephen had a Youtube channel covering history and folklore, which ended due to his distaste for video editing. Shorlty thereafter, however, he began the Dark Stories from the Campfire podcast, where he presents original horror tales with the stories and music written by him. The podcast can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dark-stories-from-the-campfire/id1531508421. To contact Stephen, he is on Twitter @dark_campfire where he shares horror related material, as well as art, history, and occult materials. ***** Reference Yeats, William Butler. “Magic.” https://hermetic.com/yeats/ideas-of-good-and-evil/magic ***** Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/victorianvarie1 Mastodon: https://is.nota.live/@marisad Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/marisadf13 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thevictorianvarietyshow I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate & review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Goodpods, Spotify, Podchaser, Audible, or wherever you listen, as that will help this podcast reach more listeners!

The Victorians didn’t play around when it came to death. In this episode, I look at how mourning dolls were created and their functions, and discuss the rationale behind “death kits” that were given to many children during this era. ***** References Brand, Kara. “The Eerie Story Behind Victorian Mourning Dolls.” https://the-line-up.com/victorian-mourning-dolls Cherrell, Kate. “The World of Victorian Grave Dolls.” https://burialsandbeyond.com/2019/01/20/the-world-of-victorian-grave-dolls/ Hung, Louise. “Cabinet of Curiosities: Victorian Death Dolls.” https://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/article/cabinet-of-curiosities-victorian-death-dolls/ Merriam-Webster. “Memento mori.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memento%20mori Phaneuf. “Artist Creates Victorian Mourning Dolls to Honor Death.” https://phaneuf.net/blog/artist-creates-victorian-mourning-dolls-to-honor-death#:~:text=Artist%20Flo%20Kane%2C%20of%20Gasport%2C%20New%20York%2C%20hosts,the%20replicas%20of%20babies%20and%20children%20mentioned%20above. Quinn, Shannon. “10 Strange Mourning Items From The Victorian Era.” https://listverse.com/2017/11/28/10-strange-mourning-items-from-the-victorian-era/ Werther and Gray. “The Era of the Beautiful Death.” https://www.wertherandgray.com/blogs/news/the-era-of-the-beautiful-death-victorian-mourning-practices Wikipedia. “Reborn doll.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reborn_doll Wikipedia. “Victorian mourning dolls.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_mourning_dolls Woodyard, Chris, editor. The Victorian Book of the Dead. Kestrel Publications, 2014. ***** Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/victorianvarie1 Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/marisadf13 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thevictorianvarietyshow I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate & review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Goodpods, Spotify, Podchaser, or wherever you listen, as that will help this podcast reach more listeners!