Dollhouse Diaries: Victorian Period

It's starting to look good, methinks...however, it seems to provide little in terms of support in the crucial area below the knees. I wonder, will two more trainless petticoats underneath solve the problem, or will I have to go the bustle cage way?

Aaand I'm all out of lace. I'm thinking of using tulle lace for the remaining ruffle rows, since it looked lovely when I tried it, but I'm not sure how historically accurate that would be... thoughts?

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Hi everybody. I guess a little explanation of what's been going on is due... I can't believe it has been this long since I last posted anything before the fabric haul post- but a lot of tough things have happened, with a grave injury and illness in my family, so in between of that and my own ongoing health troubles and schoolwork overload there was no space for blogging or creating anything much. I hope it will improve somewhat now that the exams are done and summer is here...

Anyway, for now at least a couple of teasers - stuff that I started working on before all this madness happened, but didn't get around posting them.

1. Bonnet for Ellie's dollies - started working on it seriously ages ago, still not done, but getting there. I hope she'll like it when it's finished...

2. An 1876 dolman - this began as the project for the red HSF challenge from last year, but I didn't make it... Red satin, white flannel interlining, lining will probably be black given the black lace trimming I'm gonna sew on. It seriously needs ironing. And I'm wavering whether to add a black net overlay...

3. The silver 1876 gown that was meant to be finished by the time of Ellie's visit to Prague last year - well, might be it will be finished in time for her next visitXD I need to find silver grey tulle somewhere...and more of this awesome lace. Has anybody seen it for sale anywhere?

4. A turquoise 1876 winter jacket - finally found the fabric which is the right colour! I'm planning to add a white net lace overlay over it; fingers crossed the jacket will look good with the silver dress.
This is the pattern I'll be using, I think:

5. An 1876 petticoat to go with the gown - I started a bit strangely, with the detachable train, because it's the fun bit:-) I ran out of lace and it's only the second row...

Hope you ladies and gentlemen are doing good,
with love,

Rosa

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Hello all, it's been a long time, hasn't it? I hope it's going to get better now:-) Happy New Year to all my dear readers, I hope it treats you all generously!

This is the first part of a series of articles on prices and incomes in the 19th century and I hope at least some of you will find the information useful; it will be periodically updated as I find out more.

This article specifically deals with Victorian period prices as I found them in various publications, websites, 19th century advertisements, women's magazines, household guides, travelling guides and even Old Bailey court proceedings; mostly the prices and incomes apply to a period from 1850s onwards. I will try to mark the years where I remember them.
Various goods including bread, kitchen utensils or clothes were produced in various quality categories; where I know what category it is, I will try to indicate it.
I hope you enjoy:-)

Prices

Food

Bread, 4lbs (1856): 7 1/4 d.
Butter, fresh, in London, per lb (1856): 1s. 6d.
Milk, in London, per quart (1856): 4d.

Coffee, per lb: 2s.
Brown sugar, per lb: 4d.
Eggs, bought in London during winter, per 8-10: 1s.
Eggs, bought at a farm during spring and summer, per piece: 1/2 d.
Cheddar cheese, per lb (1856), best quality: 11d.
Beef sirloin, per lb (1856): 8d.

Mutton leg, per lb (1856): 7d.
Veal leg, per lb (1856): 6d.
Sardines, large box: 1s.
Ham: 8s. 6d.
Tongue: 3s. 6d.
Hare, per lb (1874): 8d.-9d.
Rabbit, per lb (1874): 8d.
Pheasant, per brace (1856): 7s.

Baking powder: 1d. per packet; 6d. per box

Claret, per dozen bottles: 12s.-30s.
Champagne, per dozen bottles: 30s.-42s.

Rough ice, per lb: 1-2d.

Housing - rent

Renting a house in Bloomsbury, per annum: £120
A semi-detached house near New Cross-road (1881), per annum: £40-£60
A house in Granville Park (1881), per annum: £60-£65
A large and handsome house in South Hackney (1881), per annum: £75-£100
An old mansion with garden by the Clapton-road [sic] (1881), per annum: £75-£150
An unfurnished house in Kensington, Argyll Road (1881), per annum: £130-£140
A house in Holland Park (1881), per annum: £340 +
Ditto in Brunswick Gardens (1881), per annum: £100-£150
Ditto near Regent's Park (1881), per annum: £70-£90 (Source: The Suburban Homes of London, 1881)

Utility bills

Telephone subscription, per annum: £20

Household items

Porcelain dinner service: 1-100 guineas
Dessert and tea service: 8/6 - 50 guineas
Toilet set: 3/6 - 20 guineas
12 cut wine glasses: 3/- - 3 guineas
2nd hand silver tea set: £15+

Japanese curtains, per pair: 5s.+
Palmitine ornamental candles, per 1 lb. box: 1s. 6d.
Note paper and envelopes, per box: 2s.+
Mourning note paper and envelopes: 6s.
Pens, per box: 1s.
Carpet sweeper: 12s. 6d.
Washing machine: £6 6s.
6ft kitchen range: £35
Gas cooking stove: £5 5s.

Suite of drawing room furniture: 12-20 guineas

Sewing machine: £3 3s.+
Billiard dining table: £28+
Harmonium: £6+
Pianoforte: 25-85 guineas
Cornet: 30s.+

A good quality doll: 1s. 6d.-2s.

Clothing, shoes, accessories and fabrics

6 pairs of drawers: 12s. 6d.+
6 chemises: 12s. 6d.+
3 nightgowns: 12s. 6d.+
Woolen dressing gown: 12s. 6d.
Flannel dressing gown: 1 guinea
Corset: 7s. 6d.+

Dress shirt: 2s.- 2 guineas

Quilted silk slippers: 3s. 6d.+
Male walking boots: 28s.
Umbrella: 10s. 6d.+
Spectacles: 3s. 6d. - 10s. 6d.
Lady's hat: 5s. 6d.
Lady's boots: 10s. 6d.

Lady's trousseau: from £50

Mourning dress by Jay, plain: 10s. 6d.
Mourning dress by Jay, fancy trimmings: 14s. 6d.+
Garibaldi blouse: 6s.
Harrod's silk tea gown (all the Harrods prices are from 1895): 4.5 guineas
Harrod's silk blouse trimmed with lace: 25s. 9d.
Harrod's silk skirt: 5.5 guineas
Harrod's lady's hat: 2 guineas
Harrod's little girl's sailor frock: 12s. 11d.
Harrod's little girl's lacy hat: 25s.
Worth gown (the simpliest one, 1868): about £64 (1600 francs)

Wolfskin pelisse: £7 10s.-£9 10s.
Sable fur, per skin (this and the following fur prices are taken from a 1911-ish article, I included them here just to give a general idea): £70-100
Sable coat, of esp. fine skins: £3000
Ditto, average skins: £1500
Sable coat collar: £200-£250
Large sable muff of 8 skins: £560
Ermine coat, best quality: £250-£300
Ditto long stole: £100
Ditto short tie: £8-£14
Ditto big muff: £15-£25
Chinchilla coat, best quality: £2000
Ditto three-quarter coat, best quality: £1000
Ditto muff, best quality: £500-£650

Black silk, per yard at 24 inches (61 cm) of width: 2s. 11d.-12s. 6d.
Irish poplin, per yard: 5s. 6d.-5s. 9d.

Beauty products

A bottle of Irish perfume: 2s. 6d.
Kalydor (toilet) soap: 4-6d. per tablet
Hair cream: 1s. 6d.+
Beetham's extract from glycerine and cucumber (to make skin white and soft), per bottle: 1s.-4s. 6d.
Atkinson's Essence of White Rose perfume, a small bottle, per dozen: 16s.
Ditto, a large bottle, per dozen: 28s.

Jewellery

Man's silver pocket watch: £3 3s.+
Lady's silver watch: £2 2s.+
Man's gold watch: 12-20 guineas
Lady's gold watch: 10-20 guineas
Queen Victoria's emerald parure: £20 000
Ditto, but made of diamonds: £15 000

Imitation gold jewellery:
                              wedding ring: 1s.
                                    brooch: 3s.
                                    earrings: 3s.
                                    cross: 1s. 8d.
                                    locket: 1s. 6d.
                                    shirt studs: 1s. 3d.

Miscellaneous

Music lessons by a fashionable master: 1 guinea per lesson
Photo portrait: 2s. 6d.
Portrait by Millais: 2000 guineas +
Opera ticket during the Season: 1 guinea for the stalls, 2-12 guineas for the boxes
Book of Millais's Illustrations: 16s.
A copy of The Times: 3d.
Flowers (a bouquet?): 2s.
A bouquet of violets: 1d.

1st class funeral: £28 10s.
Turkish baths ticket: 2d. 6d.

A drachm and a half of laudanum: 2d. (2d. worth is a large quantity, even for a person who is constantly using it, according to a chemist in 1877)

Incomes

Matchbox maker, per 100 boxes: 2d.
A doll dresser working at home, per dozen doll outfits of cheap quality: 1 1/2 d. - 8d.
A doll dresser working in a company, per week: 10-14s.
West End shopgirl, per annum (1895): £25 + £3-£6 commissions monthly; however, this is the higher figure and less than £15 a year is more likely
A male shop assistant (apprentice) in a grocery shop, per annum: £26
Junior clerk at solicitor's office, per annum: £52
A certified teacher in village school (1840s): £30-£40
A teacher in a London board school (1890s), woman: £85, a yearly rise of £3
Ditto, man: £95, a yearly rise of £5
Butler (in a family with £1000 a year, 1856): £30-£45
Housemaid (1856):10 to 16 guineas
Cook (1856):10 to 24 guineas
Lady's maid (1856): 18 to 25 guineas
Young lady's maid (1856): 12 to 18 guineas
Maid-of-all-work (1856): 4 to 10 guineas.
Lady clerk in the Assurance Company, per annum: starting salary of £32, increases yearly to final £100
Lady accountant, per week: 15s. in her first position, then 18-25s.

Clergymen: That rather depends. The father of the famous Brönte sisters earned £200 a year; in 1881, the Greenwich parish church gave living of £700 and in the same year, the church of St. John in Blackheath yielded £600 a year, while St. Paul's in Hamstead yielded £1026.

A word on governesses

   According to Angeline Goreau, the most a governess could hope for was £100 a year; the usual upper limit however seems to be some £30-£45 pounds. The lower is as little as £12 - for comparison, that is how much a kitchenmaid would make. The fictional Jane Eyre earned £30 per annum; as Goreau states, Charlotte Brönte in her last governess post earned £20.

   How about the expenses though? Agnes Grey, the eponymous heroine of Anne Brönte's novel estimates she might need £20 to cover them if she is very frugal; the Fraser's Magazine estimated £27 of expenses to be the bare minimum.
   The breakdown in the magazine is thus:

£16 for clothes
£6 for washing
£3 for postage and stationery
£2 for casualties

Medical and traveling expenses were not put into account in this estimate. (Source: Agnes Grey, Introduction by Angeline Goreau)

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I remember once watching some make-up expert claim women in Victorian times didn't use make-up at all in Victorian England, basing this claim on - if memory serves well - the fact that no make-up from this period survived. Somehow this kept bothering me, since I've previously come by an article showing as a supporting evidence an excerpt from a book by Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, where make-up practices of some girls were revealed:

"Half the girls do it, either paint or powder, darken their lashes with burnt hair- pins, and take cologne on lumps of sugar or belladona to make their eyes bright."

(An Old-Fashioned Girl, L.M. Alcott, 1869)

So I went digging through several Victorian women's magazines and watching BBC's Victorian Farm Episode 3, et voilà, look at what I found:

Bow Bells, 1866.

Godey's Lady's Book, August 1864

So far, so good. The red lip salve functions like a sort of red lip gloss, according to Ruth Goodman; the recipe for the powder itself states it is for the purpose of concealing pimples. But it was the following article which made my beginner researcher's heart flutter:

PAINTED FACES, transcribed from the April 1876's issue of Frank Leslie's Lady's Magazine:

PAINTED FACES.

   We hear a great deal now-a-days about "painted faces."
   When our good people of the church speak of the wicked actors and actresses who tread the boards of our theatres, they remark upon their painted faces, just as though there were no painted faces sitting Sabbath after Sabbath in their holy congregation.
   Now; for the life of us, we cannot see why there should be so much fuss made about painting, since everybody, almost, is guilty of it in some way or shape, and everybody else knows it.
   We have the pleasure of enjoying a large circle of acquaintances, and, to speak within bounds, nine-tenths of them either paint, powder, dye their hair or whiskers, or "touch up" their eyebrows, and we have no doubt but that the other tenth indulge in the same thing, only in not quite so evident a manner.
   Do not understand us as advocating the practice. We have nothing to say about that at present. We only deal with the fact as it exists. Everybody knows that nearly all our fashionable women, and a large number of our fashionable men, use cosmetics daily, and why they should indulge in so many scornful flings at "painted faces " beats us.
   Now, is it any more reprehensible for an actress, whose good looks is her fortune, to resort to "Magical Balm," and "Pearly White," and "Roseate Bloom" than it is for her aristocratic sister to use "just a little magnesia to take away the moisture and disagreeableness of heat and perspiration "?
   The fact is, nearly everybody paints, and they are foolish enough to imagine that nobody suspects it, when, to the most casual observer, it is us evident as it would be if the placard were placed over their foreheads that we put upon our freshly-renovated houses and fences, to warn the passer-by to keep off—"Paint."
   They may not be outspoken about it, even when questioned—they will lift their hands in holy horror if you intimate such a thing; they will keep their rouge and powder under lock and key, and will go out to purchase it after dark, and in clever disguise, but that does not alter the fact.   Men everywhere sneer at painted faces as if they were the exception, and not the rule, and entirely forgetful that their own cheeks, and probably their noses, are rouged with brandy, which, by-the-way, is the very worst kind of paint in use.
   Ministers may declaim against paint from the pulpit; doctors may point out death in the balm bottle; reformers may inveigh against it; we of the scribbling fraternity may take up our pens to impale it, but men and women always have dyed and painted, and they always will.

Still, there is much to explore yet. Onto the research, I will keep you updated if I find anything!

What's brewing: I've got an article about Polish castle Książ in the making, plus two photoreports from Adršpach-Teplice Rocks stone town and from Turnov Museum, as well as a bustle pad walkthrough and several project dumps; I'm researching 1876's petticoats. For now I'd like to wish...

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Godey's Lady's Book, August 1864

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Welcome to my new Victorian Cookery series, in which I'm trying out recipes from times long gone by, found in women's magazines like Godey's Lady's Book or Victorian cookery books like Isabella Beeton's. First comes a very quick and easy recipe from an August 1864 issue of Godey's - if I understand correctly, it was meant as a little snack, but beware, this meal is very filling - I made only 2 eggs instead of 3, and despite being rather hungry could not finish it.

And here is what it looks like prepared:

Taste-wise, this dish is rather good, especially if you like rich foods; what do you think, was this meant for somebody who labours hard, considering how fatty it is?

Love, RosaJ