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Sunday, August 3, 2014

Victorian Consumer Goods

From my vintage ads collection:

 A Victorian stove (works on gas!)

Washing machines (aren't they darling?)

Wall-to-wall carpeting

A room heater (have you noticed how sweet and soft the lady's features are? Manjaws on women weren't popular yet).

19th century instant coffee (in a brandy bottle, was it really coffee??)

And some miscellaneous stuff...(I wonder how much alcohol there was in that cordial?:)






13 comments:

  1. In the Anne novels, Marilla had some blackberry cordial for Anne to serve Diana. It was the non-alcoholic bottle in the cupboard, but Anne got the wrong one. After that, I searched for a recipe for Blackberry Cordial. Yep, they were nearly all alcohol. I was so disappointed. But, I finally found a non-alcoholic Raspberry Cordial. We can only hope this "Lime Juice Cordial" was like Marilla's.

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  2. Yes, I remember watching that episode of the TV series (haven't read the books). I'm not against alcohol in principle, but there sure were a lot of stories of ladies indulging in these cordials under health pretext and getting drunk:)

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    1. Like this one:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmOLpeKwWGI

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  3. Oh you should read the Anne books. Absolutely charming. I have been meaning to ask if you have ever read any Marion Harland books? I came across Hidden Path at a yard sale. It is 107 years old and I paid $1. Wonderful ladylike characters. She also wrote a book titled A Complete Housewife's Guide, Husbands and Homes, and The Secret of a Happy Home. I'm hoping to get to read those soon.

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  4. If I ever get my hands on Anne series I will read them. I like children' books. Never have heard of Marion Harland, what did she write about? I'm a great fan of Victorian literature though I prefer the adventure variety.Right now I have been planning to read "Dracula" by Bram Stocker. I hope it's not very horrific and I'll still be able to sleep at night:)

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  5. You can find most of the Anne books free on Amazon and other sources. Here is the link for Marion Harland on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Virginia_Terhune The book I read definitely had some adventure and romance, of a clean variety. Marion was married to a minister.

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  6. Thanks! I think I've read the 1st Anne book, someone gave it to me long ago. Thanks also for the link about Marion Harland, I'll check it right now!

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    1. BTW, Project Gutenberg is a good resource for the books that are copyright-free and they can be downloaded for an e-reader. I've read about Mrs Harland, she was one prolific lady! I wonder how she managed to combine writing with keeping house and raising children. I wrote my first book 2 years ago, and my housekeeping suffered tremendously (and still does, to a degree), but then, I had to do nearly all of my own editing which is much more difficult than simply writing a story. She must have had professional help with editing and with running the household.

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  7. Rose's Lime Cordial is still around (my mom buys it), and it's non-alcoholic.

    It is a great mixer, though, for various cocktails; good bars have it for that purpose. :)

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  8. Really? That's nice to know, thanks, Will!

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  9. We still have Camp coffee in the UK. It is a chicory and coffee syrup and is still sold in those bottles!

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  10. You're welcome, Sanne!

    Cheers. :)

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