NICHOLS, Beverley [247] pp. The Quality Book Club 1958 8" x 5 3/8" Jacket design by FM The very spirit of the Twenties comes to life in this offbeat collection of memorabilia. Perhaps one has to have followed Beverley Nichols down his garden path and to have been born long enough ago to find a nostalgic sense of recognition in these pages to appreciate them fully. Or perhaps it will be like Boy Friend -- sheer enchantment for the young to whom it will be "the olden days", when we were very young. Here we have an unapologetically snobbish portrait gallery of the very rich, the social arbiters, the lion hunters; here we have people who are only names today,- Maggie Greville, Emerald Cunard, Gerald Berners, Syrie Maugham, Sybil Colefax, (or are we too American?) for there are other names that have made for themselves and still stand as symbols:- Elsie DeWolfe, Rudolf Valentine, Elinor Glyn, and today still here Edith Sitwell, Noel Coward, Cecil Beaton. We have the music and the theatre, entertaining and the social mores, the disturbances of the General Strike and the Irish troubles. Some of it is amusing, some of it disturbing, most of it good reading. less

Picture ThisThe Strange • The Old • The Terrifying. Creepy vintage photos to enjoy before bedtime.

…and the women who received these cards probably didn't like them or the men who handed them out. From Alan Mays' wonderful collection of old timey ephemera on Flickr. [via]

First of all, Happy Mother's Day! Looking for some light home entertainment for this evening? Here is a recommendation from Harper's Bazaar in 1868: A Bluebeard Tableau! During my research for Bluebeard Tales From Around the World, I discovered this gem which has delighted me no end. It consists of a poem by Theodore P. Cook along with instructions and illustrations for how to present the story to an audience for an evening's entertainment. Ah, what they did in the olden days before tv to entertain each other! And extra bit of the charm is that the illustrations are by Winslow Homer which has thus merited a copy of the page's inclusion in some museum collections, such as the Smithsonian from where the above image was borrowed. As happened so often back then, this same article appeared in a UK publication, too, but with different illustrations and a slightly different edit. Don't you want to entertain your family and friends with images of decapitated heads tonight? And these days so many women don't have long hair so rounding up seven women to create this image would be a challenge within itself. Unless wigs are readily available, I guess. I included the full text as well as Homer's illustrations in Bluebeard Tales From Around the World in the poetry section.

Welcome to the Lost In History page that brings back to light the rarely seen images of the 20th century.

…and the women who received these cards probably didn't like them or the men who handed them out. From Alan Mays' wonderful collection of old timey ephemera on Flickr. [via]

Olden days

In 1796, Quaker businessman and philanthropist William Tuke opened the Retreat in York, England, for the care of the mentally ill. Prior to this, those with mental health or behavioral issues were treated worse than the most heinous criminal—they were usually locked-up in bedlams, imprisoned in cells or chained to walls in workhouses. As a Quaker Tuke believed in the sanctity of life and of behaving kindly and morally to all humanity. This led him to build a hospital for the care of those suffering from mental health problems. At first, the Retreat was only open to fellow Quakers, but it soon opened its doors to all. The Retreat changed the way mental health was treated in England, and in 1818 the first of four hospitals, the Stanley Royd Hospital in Wakefield, was built under the aegis of the West Riding General Asylums Committee. A further three hospitals were built between 1872 and 1904—the South Yorkshire Asylum built in Sheffield, the High Royds Hospital in Menston and the Storthes Hall built in Kirkburton—which became villages for patients and all four hospital together formed the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Inspired by the Retreat, the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum pioneered...

In Colonial times, quilts were more utilitarian than decorative for the common family. The wealthy were able to obtain elaborate fabrics and the colonial lady could stitch beautiful bedcovers, whereas the lower classes made quilts from the scrap-bag. The earliest Colonial quilts were made of Indian chintz and palampores. Colonial era chintz was an expensive fabric and threatened the mills of France and England as the upper classes were buying this gorgeous fabric over the plainer linens and cottons of Europe. Thus chintz was banned by Parliament in 1720. However the ban was lifted in 1759 once the mills had acquired the necessary skills to make chintz, ending much of the import from India. One pattern still popular today is toil de jouy, which originated in France and was a popular design in Colonial America. Most likely you have seen it as wallpaper and fabric. A relative of mine once papered her bedroom in blue toil and it was beautiful. I find it 'a joy' that toil de jouy is still popular after more than 200 years. Palampores were cotton or linen panels that were hand-painted or dyed. Only the wealthiest of Americans could afford this fabric and you would find it in plantation and estate houses throughout the Thirteen. The designs were colorful and elaborate, made up of ivy, flowers, horses and peacocks. Each design was one of a kind. One thing of interest is how the quilts were made at the end to slip between the bedposts. Some Colonial quilts were made of whole cloth. Fine stitches were made in ivy and floral patterns. In time, the Colonial housewife used quilts that were utilitarian, to keep her family warm and comforted. Slave women made quilts from scraps and you can find some in museums that tell a story of family and culture. Block designs have been handed down through the generations. Here is a quilt I made in between writing historical novels. I've made several, but this is one of my favorites. I change the wall hangings in my foyer with the seasons. I have a leaf quilt for autumn, a snowman quilt for Christmas, and this floral basket quilt for spring and summer. In closing, if you were living in Colonial times, what kind of quilt would you have made? Would it have been practical, or decorative?

In olden times, English speakers used the phrase 'outlandish man' to refer to a foreigner—or, one who came from an outland, which originally meant 'a foreign land.' From here, outlandish broadened in

Co-Le Sales Company asks: “Do you still beat your wife?” Their answer: “Maybe you never should have stopped.”

The will-o'-the-wisp is a flame-like phosphorescence caused by gases from decaying plants in marshy areas. In olden days, it was personified as 'Will with the wisp,' a sprite who carried a fleeting '

The '80s were awesome. Why? If you were there you don't need that explained to you, you'll just know. If you weren't, come and take a look.