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The Real Black Friday

Every year, after filling their bellies with caloric goodness, American housewives wake up at the crack of way-too-damn-early to purchase as many discounts their minivan can hold. That day is called Black Friday -- a 1960's tradition to go out and shop 'til you drop and then some. Now, when I think of Black Friday, I always think about it having a negative conotation since black uaully means darkness and all things bad. But, black, in the 1960's version of Black Friday actually represents being in the black. Back when accounting ledgers were done by hand, RED used to mean you were loosing profits, and BLACK meant you were making profits. And the fact that it was the largest purchasing day of the year meant all of your accounts were in the black again. $_$ cha-ching!

Here at Victorian Supremacy, we're not so cheerful. Black Friday hasn't always meant Black Friday. Before today's meaning of glorified consumer indulgence, Black Friday meant an American Banker and American Financier's glorified day of over indulgence. In 1869, Jay Gould and James Fisk made an attempt to corner the gold market. Not just a little try.. but I very good try. It was a good enough try to cause gold prices to skyrocket and scare the American public into a Financial Panic on September 12 1869. By buying all the gold on the market, Gould and Fisk increased gold prices from $130 to $160 in a matter of weeks. When the government caught wind of their scandal, Fisk and Gould were ordered to sell $4,000,000 of their gold and buy government bonds instead. This massive selling caused a huge drop in the markets and the financial crisis that we call today the original Black Friday.

The Perfect Victorian Tree Decorations

Wax Tapers  aka Open Fire

Wax tapers are basically long really long dipped candles.  The lights on a Christmas tree represent the stars in the night sky. You can learn the ins and out and how to make your own wax tapers here.  Just don't burn the house down.  But open fires weren't the only dangerous thing Victorians put on a dead tree in their living room.

Tinsel aka Lead

Tinsel was originally made of real silver in the 1600's. Later, since silver tarnsihes, it was manufactured from tin. There are two types of tinsel: Icicle tinsel and Garland tinsel.
Icicle tinsel is a strip of metal that has been twisted and hangs like an icicle from the tree branches.

Garland tinsel is what we think of tinsel today -- the messy metallic strings that rest on the tree boughs. Metallic tinsel strands were made mostly from fool's gold which made it really expensive to throw over a tree.  Along with fool's gold, tinsel was also made from lead. It is still eaten by pets to this day. Safe Stuff this tinsel is.

buy official Victorian icicle tinsel HERE.

Various Food Items - Popcorn, Cranberries, Marzipan aka Stuff that Tastes Like Crap. 

Since Christmas tree was a mostly German inspired tradition, and since Marzipan is a german invention, it was used to decorate the Christmas Tree.  Marzipan is traditionally shaped into shapes resembling fruits and placed on the tree.

Stringing together Popcorn and Cranberries is a traditional family pastime at Christmas still. the Popcorn resting on the boughs of the evergreen looks like fresh snow and the Cranberries, as the deteriorate,  would probably give off a nice smell.. much like in medieval times with those clove oranges (See Pomander).

Presents

Christmas time in upon us once again.. consider these 1893 etiquette rules when receiving or giving your gift this year.

HOW TO RECEIVE A PRESENT

"Receive a present in the spirit in which it is given and with a quiet expression of thanks. On the other hand, never, when what you have given in admired, spoil the effect by saying it is of no value, or worse still, that you have no use for it, have others, or anything of that kind. Simply remark that you are gratified at finding it has given pleasure. "

REFUSING A GIFT

"Never refuse a gift if offered in kindness unless the circumstancess are such that you cannot with propriety or consistency receive it. Neither in receiving a present make such comments as 'I am ashamed to rob you;' 'I a sure I ought not to take it,' which seem to indicate that your friend cannot afford the gift"

VALUE OF PRESENTS

"In the eyes of persons of delicacy, presents are of no worth, except from the manner in which they are bestowed; strive then to gain them this value."

source: Wells, Richard A. Manners Culture and Dress. Springfield, MA: King Richardson and Co, 1893.

Past into Present

Pictures from The Leningrad Blockade in Russia. From 1941-1944.

"During nine hundred (!) days a few million people city of Leningrad suffered from cold and hunger, being deprived of almost all supplies of food and fuel. Many thousands died, those who survived remember this not very willingly. The situation with food was so heavy, no food was sold/distributed among people except a few grams (not even tens or hundred grams) of bread, and not each day, that people had to eat stuff that they would never eat in normal life, like making soups of leather boots (because leather is of animal origin) or boiling the wallpaper because the glue with which they were attached to walls contained a bit of organic stuff. Of course many occasions of cannibalism occurred."

LINK

I would really like the try to make photos like these of Columbus. although they won't be that emotional.. I still think it's still interesting.

Bear Your Soul.

Bears have quite a little history with humans. We're both omnivores for one. In the past, they've had the nickname of "four legged humans", "chief's son" , or "old man in fur garment." Some kings even believed their decedents were bears. Other folktale mention humas descending from bears. Even women mating with bears in the mountains.

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The Ainu people of Japan held special places in their hearts for bears. Infact, their own beliefs was based on bears.

"The Ainu practiced an elaborate bear cult into the 1920s which immediately calls to mind the Paleolithic bear cult and the epiphany of the Great Goddess as Bear Mother. The Ainu captured a bear cub, nurtured it for months and then sacrificed it during an elaborate ritual. They are the only people to have retained a full fledged bear cult into the twentieth century and the Paleolithic elements are unmistakable; the Ainu are truly spectacular from a Western anthropologist's viewpoint."

Their bear ritual went like so:
First, a baby bear would be captured and brought to the village. He would be kept and fed for 2-3 years until nice and fat. During mid-winter, at midnight, while the bear had the most fat on him and thickest fur.

They would shoot the bear with ceremonial arrows and then kill it by crushing it with a log.

Women weren't allowed to participate in this festival. The bear is placed on an alter as a sacrafice and there are lots of celebrations with sake and hard liquor.
Organs in the head are removed and replaced with flowers. Afterwards, the bear's skulls are repected by putting them in their huts.

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Animals from the Past

Animals all the way from 1878. I hear birds and a cow, but not much else.. What do you hear?

Link Here

Saint Valentine's Day Greetings

This week's podcast is now out!

Listen Now

In this episode, we mention the first Valentine's Poem. You can read it below, first in it's original writing and then in the English translation.

Charle's d'Orleans - A Farewell to Love

Je suis desja d'amour tanné,
Ma tres doulce Valentinée, Car pour moi fustes trop tart née, Et moy pour vous fus trop tost né. Dieu lui pardoint qui estrené
M'a de vous, pour toute l'année.
Je suis desja, etc.
Ma tres doulce, etc. Bien m'estoye suspeconné, Qu'auroye telle destinée, Ains que passast ceste journée,
Combien qu'Amours l'eust ordonné.
Je suis desja, etc.

I am already sick of love,
My very gentle Valentine,
Since for me you were born too soon,
And I for you was born too late.
God forgives he who has estranged
Me from you for the whole year.
I am already, etc.
My very gentle, etc.
Well might I have suspected,
That such a destiny,
Thus would have happened this day,
How much that Love would have commanded.
I am already, etc.

A Very Early Valentine written in 1848 from a Lady to her Lover.

Valentine's Day at the Post Office. Everyone is sorting the large amount of letters.

An Example of a mock Valentine. This one sent by a lady to an unwanted suitor.

Cherubs are a popular image to see on Valentines Cards.
HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY, LOVELIES!

Look into the Future

Oooh swish! I know this is a little after our time,but this video is still interesting. I don't see anyone going around with lightbulbs attached to their head and telephones attached to their chests.. although, we do have our cellphones. And we do have our cantilever heels ala Marc Jacobs and such.

Episode 2 : Queen Victoria

Episode 2 is now out! you can download it here:

Listen

This week is about Queen Victoria, whom the Victorian time period is named for. I've included this post as a supplement to the podcast including some images of the topics we discussed.

Queen Victoria's Wedding Day. She established the tradition of wearing white.

The Royal Wedding Shoes. They are made by Gundry & Sons and addressed to the queen on the insole's label. Gundry & Sons, located in Soho Square, London, also made shoes for other royalty.
Watercolor of Prince Albert by Queen Victoria herself.
The Royal Family - Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and 5 of her 9 children.

Queen Victoria with one of her pet dogs, Sharp. She loved her dogs dearly and had portraits made of them. Sharp was a Border Collie. The Queen is actually smiling a little in the photo.

Sharp's GraveStereo view of the Queen's funeral. At front is the coffin follower by hundreds upon thousands of mourners. After the podcast was recorded, we realized that we didn't really touch on any of the Queen's accomplishments or influences in today's society. There is so much information about the Queen, it could take a lifetime to study. We wanted to touch on interesting points about her that you didn't know before. If you want to read all about Queen Victoria, I suggest selecting a reading from archive.org about her. If you want to see photos of the family, Victoria's sketches, pictures of the children, please visit Images of Her World. I hope you enjoy this weeks podcast.

Pepsi-Cola

In light of Pepsi's new logo change. I'd thought it'd be interesting to look at Pepsi's first logotype:
Now that is what I call a typeface. Pepsi was originally called Brad's Drink named after the creator, Caleb Bradham. The logotype was designed by one of Bradham's neighbors. Named Pepsi-Cola in 1989, the name comes from the ingredients pepsin and kola nut. Pepsin is actually an enzyme that helps in digestion. Which is reason why it might have helps as a tonic for stomach aches. The Cola Nut comes from the Kola Tree in Africa. The nuts contain caffeine and can also stimulate the digestion of food in the stomach.

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