Today’s pen portrait is about a less well known Victorian character: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, who was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. It is thanks to my eldest son, that I learned of him and his many great works (and evil deeds …forced labour, atrocities, racism, double standards… you get the idea).Continue reading “Lord Leverhulme… the man behind Sunlight Soap”
Category Archives: Victorian Era research
Pen portraits – part 3: Mrs Beeton.
Victorian household name. Many people may have heard the name, Mrs Beeton, but may not know much about the woman it belonged to. Early life On the 12th of March 1836, the daughter of Benjamin Mayson and Elizabeth Jerram was born at number 24 Milk Street, in the Cheapside area of London. They named theirContinue reading “Pen portraits – part 3: Mrs Beeton.”
🍬 Sweet treats 🍭
The Victorian era was a time of great innovation and technological advancement. Machinery, mass production and the lower cost of imported sugar also had an impact on the availability of sweets, making them less expensive and more widely available. Traditional Victorian Sweets offered for sale at the time would have included: Fudge, Marzipan, Liquorice Allsorts,Continue reading “🍬 Sweet treats 🍭”
The Victoria Sandwich cake
I recently blogged about a beautiful little Victoria Sponge Cake that I have purchased for the shop bakery display. This got me thinking about eating some Victoria Sponge Cake and wonderering if it really is named after Queen Victoria herself. Just in case you haven’t had the good fortune to eat a slice (or 3)Continue reading “The Victoria Sandwich cake”
Have you had your 5-a-day?
An essential part of any Victorian grocery store would have been fruits & vegetables. I want my doll-sized green grocery section to offer a fairly authentic selection of produce so I thought I should do a bit of research to see what most Victorian grocers had to offer. According to Michael Mosley: There were plentyContinue reading “Have you had your 5-a-day?”
Victorian advertising… setting the scene.
From the moment I decided to build a miniature shop, I have been looking for design inspiration for all manner of things that I could include inside the store. Wall coverings, flooring, shelving and display units, and an endless list of possible stock. There is such an amazing range of miniature items available to purchaseContinue reading “Victorian advertising… setting the scene.”
Pen portraits – part 1: The Victorians
The Victorians lived during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 to 1901). Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and empress of India (1876-1901). Her reign was the longest of any monarch in British history and came to be known as the Victorian era. She ruled for 64 years.Continue reading “Pen portraits – part 1: The Victorians”
Looking for design inspiration… visiting a living Victorian town.
A few months ago we took our boys to visit Beamish Museum in County Durham, England. This is not your typical museum with artefacts locked away in glass cases. It is an entire town that you can walk around. They have transported real period buildings from their original locations, rebuilt them brick-by-brick and furnished themContinue reading “Looking for design inspiration… visiting a living Victorian town.”
Lindsay & Sons General Store 