The Perfects

The Perfects

By C. A. Asbrey

Helen Alling Davis, third from left

Virginia Wolfe's seminal work, A Room of One's Own, didn't only equip many women with the language to articulate frustrations they had felt for decades, it reflected the times in which it was created. It caught a zeitgeist, albeit one growing amongst the increasingly independent and educated women in the upper middle classes. As reflected in the essay, these women had the resources and the space in which to explore their intellects, abilities, and wants, in a way denied to the poorer women scratching for survival, and dependent upon others. But they only had them because they seized the moment and took them in much the same way as men did. Most women were not so lucky.

First Edition Cover

These women felt stifled by the restrictions of Victorian society, and although the advent of the Edwardian period promised change and a new lightness, attitudes were changing slowly. The Americans called this The Gilded Age, with the sombre haughtiness lifting, replaced by a younger and broader outlook. Where the previous era had been an engine for social change based on philanthropism, the new arrivals began to look less at how worthy the poor were, and more about engineering a change in which the poor were better able to advance themselves. It was about breaking down barriers, understanding why some groups were unable to access opportunities. Social agitation against restrictions grew.

The world's largest freshwater archipelago, in Lake Huron's Georgian Bay, is studded with small islands, leading to the area being known as Thirty Thousand Islands, was an unlikely scene for rebellion. It was to this remote and rugged area that women ventured, wearing long skirts, petticoats, and sun hats, to engage with the wilderness, enjoy new freedoms, and establish a community where women struck a blow for their own independence. These intrepid ladies did more than demand a place of their own. They created a community that lasted for at least two decades.   

These free-spirits loved to kayak, fish, swim (often undressed in such a way as to cause shock on public beaches), pick berries, picnic, cook-out, camp, and hike. Nothing too revolutionary there, you'd think. But these women did more than just pass their spare time. They purchased the islands so they could enjoy the freedom of doing things their own way, and without any of the outside rules they felt crushed them.    

The first island was bought in 1902, when the women were surprised to find that they were being sold remarkably cheaply. The going rate was between five and ten dollars. One woman, Helen Alling Davis, was a gymnastics instructor, and after spending an initial seven weeks enjoying the area, she purchased the first island of the community. She called it St. Helen's, saying it was the only way she would ever be sainted. The three acre island afforded spectacular views and, “rocks and woods, a jungle, hills and ravines, bays and promontories.” The first summer was spent camping, but the second summer Helen Alling Davis had help from her brother, and cheap local labour to build a cottage. This cottage soon became a haven for this group of single women to gather, along with their family, to enjoy life in the way they wanted to live.

Mary Bragdon's Diary

Another woman, Mary Bragdon, was a stenographer and secretary in Rochester, but she desperately wanted to be a writer and photographer. She was another example of the new woman; the educated, confident, and independent women pushing out without men or permission. Back in Rochester, she was a member of a club called, "The Perfect Little Ladies". This was soon abbreviated to "The Perfects." At first the diaries show schoolgirlish superiority at their cleverness, and enthusiasm at finding like-minded friends. Their stated aim at the start was to find good husbands, but that soon changed as they matured. They soon exemplified the image of the new woman: professional, self-supporting, independent, and intelligent. Furthermore, they were prepared to challenge gender-norms that had been around for centuries. They didn't feel the need to get married for security. They enjoyed not having to answer to anyone, relished their fun with female friends, drank, smoked, debated, and demanded that women be allowed to have their own space to grow. The Perfects made this group of islands their own in a way that changed them forever, and created a new kind of tourism.  

Mary kept a diary of her time exploring these islands. In summer 1903, the sisters hosted fellow Perfects May Bragdon and Mary MacArthur, and another Rochester resident, Marjorie Fowler. Helen’s parents, Oscar and Frances, her brother Hamilton, and her sister Katharine also stayed at St. Helena, along with many other guests who came and went. “Then cots, hammocks and tents overflowed and everyone helped bake pancakes in the morning on the merry little Klondike stove.” The land was described as, ''wild, beautiful and apparently untrodden by the foot of man. . . as they explored the rocky islands and gathered fresh berries. Then there were evenings of reading aloud[,] singing & playing cards or toasting marshmallows."

Charlotte Davis and Marjorie Fowler setting off to pick blueberries for dinner in 1903

The Perfects used St. Helena as a base from which to find other nearby islands to purchase. Bragdon called hers Mandalay after Rudyard Kipling's poem, and referred to Katherine's island as Minnehaha. Katherine also later bought Mary's island, Oneeishta (Ojibway for “Laughing Maiden). Charlotte Davis called hers Wonderland, clearly influenced by J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Charlotte explored "almost every inch” by herself, but did enjoy hosting other women to take tea and enjoy the stunning sunsets. 

Mary Bragdon on Mandalay

 

It didn't take long before a lot more women came and joined this summer community to enjoy the emancipation and stunning surroundings. They came from the USA and Canada, and purchased many of the small islands dotted around the bay. Around twenty-five small islands in the area were bought by single, professional women. Hamilton Davis, the elder brother, saw a commercial opportunity in opening an hotel in the area. The Ojibway hotel opened in 1906, and catered for those who loved the outdoor life during the day, but a good meal and comfortable bed when they got back. It closed in 1942 when the islanders bought the hotel and turned it into the Ojibway Heritage Society. It still functions today as a centre for learning, and as a shop, restaurant, and gift shop outside of its social commitments.

Helen didn't have children of her own, she became a leading light in the YWCA, and worked with her sister Katherine to reform women's corrections, education, suffrage, social science, and women's rights. Both were dedicated, respected and overlooked by history. But the family's descendants still use the rebuilt cabin on St. Helena as a holiday home.

Georgian Bay Islands Today

This story may not sound like much, but a mere fifty years before, it would have been unthinkable for a group of single women to go off hiking, camping, fishing, and holidaying without men.—especially for the whole summer. Most Victorian women didn't see free time as their own. It was time to repair or create things for the home, improve themselves, or to do things for the family. The idea of them buying up a collection of islands to keep indulging themselves would have been unimaginable. The Perfects were a small act of revolution that rang down the years, creating a wake bigger than their ripples.

These women all made a difference to those who came after, either as examples of women doing work they previously were denied, or by teaching or campaigning for those less fortunate than themselves. They are largely forgotten by history, but made an enormous difference to people's lives in a myriad of small acts. These women changed society in each woman they helped educate, in every stand they made against inaction, in the families they helped leave abusive homes. They were stealthy mutineers.

The Ojibway Club Today

On Katherine Davis Death, Rockerfeller's letter of condolence to her sister read:

" . . I found her [at first meeting in Bedford]. . . a plain work-a-day woman who deeply loved her fellowmen, who strove in her relations with them to do as she would be done by, and who applied in her work the ordinary principles of common sense and humanity, the value of which her unusually fine mind and trained intellect had long since made clear to her. She was always kind, unselfish and thoughtful to a degree. On the other hand, no one could take advantage of those qualities to get the better of her or to thwart the end which she was seeking to attain. Red tape, unnecessary motion, indirection, she abhorred, and was never willing to waste time on them. What she accomplished at the Reformatory, and in the laboratory, which I helped her build and operate, was epoch-making . . . Her contribution in [the Mitchel administration] . . . was again outstanding. . .I have always had a feeling, however, that her heart was above all in the work at Bedford . . .The years she spent in the Bureau of Social Hygiene were also productive and fruitful. . . .  Your sister was one of the great women of her day. Her life was a long and useful one, and she leaves a record of devotion and service to humanity which few can boast of. I am proud to have been her friend and often her fellow worker, and mourn deeply with you and yours her going."  

  

 Excerpt

“She hasn’t got the combination to the safe,” said the manager. “You can scare her as much as you want. We all know you’re not gonna use that gun on us.”

Rebecca’s breath halted as she felt a careless arm drape around her shoulder.

“I don’t need a gun to hurt someone. Give us the combination.” The manager remained mute and turned his face away. “Your call, sir.” He pulled Rebecca around to face him as she gasped in alarm. “Just remember who you’ve got to thank for this, ma’am.”

He pointed over at the manager, who refused to meet her eyes. “That man right there.”

“Anything that happens to her is down to you. Not me,” said the manager.

Rebecca felt herself dragged from the room by one arm. She was pulled into the office next door and pushed against the wall. The man walked over and pulled down the blind before returning to her. Her breath came in ragged pants of fear. “Please, no. Don’t.”

He leaned on the wall, a hand on either side of her head, and pressed his face close. “You were gonna hold this place up. Are you some kind of idiot?”

She blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

The man pulled down his mask, revealing the face of the fair man who had walked into her office looking for Fernsby. “Don’t lie to me, honey. You had the same idea as we did— look at Meagher’s bank account to see where he gets his money. We’ve watched you march up and down outside this place all day, like you were on sentry duty, while you built up your courage. You even got in the way of us doin’ it. What the hell is goin’ on in your head? How dumb can a woman get?”

“You? Here?” She couldn’t quite decide whether to stop being scared or not.

“Yeah. Me.” He indicated with his head. “Now, Nat’s in there, and he needs the combination of the safe. It’s too new and sophisticated for him to crack the combination. You and me need to put on a bit of a show to make sure the manager gives it up.”

“You’re not robbing the bank?”

Jake huffed in irritation. “Try to keep up, Becky. I need you to scream for help so the manager gives Nat the combination to the vault. We want Meagher’s records too.”

She shook her head. “Me? I can’t scream.”

“What do you mean you can’t scream? All women can scream.”

“I can’t. I’m just not made that way.”

He frowned. “Look, Becky. If you won’t scream, I’m gonna have to make you. Let’s do this the easy way, huh?”

“Please, help! Noooo.”

Jake frowned. “You call that screamin’? That’s useless.”

“I told you. I can’t.”

Jake flicked up an eyebrow. “Last chance, Becky.”

“Aaargh—”

“Nope.” A gloved hand reached up to her hat as his eyes glittered with mischief. “Don’t say you weren’t warned, sweetheart.” 

       

Things Discovered by mistake in the Nineteenth Century

 Things Discovered by mistake in the Nineteenth Century

By C. A. Asbrey

There have been many great scientific discoveries that have made our lives longer, easier, more pleasant, but more of them were stumbled upon than aimed for than you'd think. I thought it might be fun to have a look at some of the inventions that changed our lives for the better while the scientists were looking elsewhere for something else entirely.

Artificial Sweetener  

In 1878 the Russian scientists, Constantin Fahlberg and Ira Remsen, were working on the coal tar derivative benzoic sulphimide, when Fahlberg noticed that something on his hand was sweet. In another version of the story, Fahlberg laid down his cigarette, and found that was tainted. Now, I'd never recommend going around laboratories licking at random chemical reactions sticking to your hands, or tasting things the chemicals adhere to, but I'm sure he knew what he was doing. At least, he knew it wouldn't kill him. What did surprise him was the taste. It was sweet. Remsen and Fahlberg developed a synthesis of saccharin from o-sulfamoylbenzoic acid. Despite the slightly metallic aftertaste, it became hugely popular as an aid to weight loss. Its reputation was enhanced when it was endorsed by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, before it sank in public health warnings in the twentieth century.

Corn Flakes

John Harvey Kellogg built on an invention by his brother, Will, who worked at Battle Creek Sanatorium. It was originally made with wheat, and was popular with inmates there. There is dispute about who did what with the product, with Will's wife, Ella, reputed to be the one who suggested rolling the flakes flat before toasting them. John is said to have designed rollers to do this at an industrial level. What is agreed is that John was testing wheat-berry dough, and left a batch there overnight. Rather than throw it out, they sent it through the rollers and baked it—and it was perfect. Cornflakes were born.

What is less well-known is that the Kelloggs were Seventh-day Adventists who promoted an austere diet as part of their strict moral principles. They saw a link between a teetotal vegetarian diet, restraint from sex and masturbation, and a long healthy life. Their strict moral principles never stopped John, Will, and Ella from each giving a version of the story that favoured their own efforts, and reduced the input of the other two, though. John even claimed to have discovered the secret in a dream.

Worcestershire Sauce

First of all, the pronunciation. It's 'woo-ster' sauce. Not 'wor-chestershire'. Place and proper names in the UK are frequently not phonetic. There are hundreds of them, and this is one. Secondly, etiquette dictates that the 'shire' part is only pronounced when applied to the place - and Worcestershire is a real place. When applied to the sauce, it's 'woo-ster' only. Those are the rules set by the British upper classes to sift the wheat from the chaff hundreds of years ago, and are part of the series of landmines set to catch the unwary. Names like Featherstonehaugh are pronounced Fanshaw, Marjoriebanks turns into Marchbanks, Powell becomes Pole, and Belvoir Castle becomes Beever Castle. Worcestershire Sauce is 'Wooster sauce'. That's how the queen says it, and she's the one to argue to the contrary with, as I'll have moved on and will be writing a different blog post by then. However, she'd probably be too polite to correct you.

 But to the sauce.

The story goes that Lord Sandy had returned from Bengal, India in 1835, and desperately missed his favourite sauce. He commissioned local pharmacists, John Lea and William Perrins, to reproduce it. They mixed spices, tamari, soy, vinegar, anchovies, and numerous other ingredients to come up with a product that was so potent it was soundly rejected not only by Lord Sandy, but by all their customers too.

They put the stock down in the cellar and forgot about it for a couple of years, until it was discovered during a clean-out. The sauce had fermented and changed completely, and they couldn't sell enough of it. Before long they encouraged the transatlantic liners to put it on the tables. That took it to America, recorded as first selling there in 1839.

The fermented fish-based sauce is often compared to the omnipresent Ancient Roman sauce garum. However, garum was based on sauces made throughout the ancient world, and had various names including liquamen. These fish-based, fermented sauces also gave a strong umami flavour based on the presence of glutamates, and perform a similar function to soy sauce in the Far East.

In 2013 the original recipe was discovered and reproduced, giving people a chance to taste the original product. The ingredients were; Barley malt vinegar, Spirit vinegar, Molasses, Sugar, Salt, Anchovies, Tamarind extract, Shallots (later replaced by onions), Garlic, Spices & Flavourings.

Dynamite and Nitroglycerine

Nitroglycerine was discovered in 1847 by the Italian, Ascanio Sobrero, in Turin. He had studied in Paris, a leading centre of scientific discoveries in the nineteenth century, and he initially found no use for it. He called it pyroglycerine, and thought it was far too volatile and destructive to be of any use. nitroglycerine was more powerful than the black powder used at the time. It was over to Alfred Nobel to take the work further. One day he was working in the lab and he dropped a vial of nitroglycerine, but it failed to explode—it had landed on a pile of sawdust, and the absorbent qualities had made the compound more unpredictable. Nobel ran with this discovery, producing sticks of explosives made by mixing nitroglycerin with wood chips, and the rest is history.   

But that wasn't the end of the story. There were numerous medicines discovered by accident, and most of them will be well-known. Cases such as penicillin spores killing off bacteria in a sample left nearby, or Jenner noticing that those who worked with cattle rarely caught smallpox, leading to the advent of vaccinations. There are less well-known ones though, and lithium is a case in point, originally being used for a treatment for gout until other uses were found in the twentieth century.

When Sobrero was working with nitroglycerine, he noted that ingesting just a small amount from his fingers gave him a raging headache. I'll pause once more to reflect how often scientists of the past found themselves licking and tasting their discoveries, before moving on.

Two years later, in 1849, Constantin Hering was working with nitroglycerine, and experimented on healthy volunteers. He found that the headaches were caused with 'such precision' that it merited further investigation. He was originally working on the homeopathic principle of 'curing like with like', and thought that he might have found a cure for headaches, but reached a dead end in his trials.

It was Alfred Nobel who gave a clue to the medicinal application. He had angina, and found that his symptoms were relieved by handling it. Lauder Brunton was working with amyl nitrite, and experimenting on its use as a vasodilator. He picked up on nitroglycerine in 1876, and found it to be a powerful remedy. William Murrel was the first man treated with the compound for angina. It was also used to treat hypertension. Bizarrely, Nobel refused it as a treatment.

Nitroglycerine also contributed to an industrial health scandal known as the Sunday Heart Attack. The production exposed workers to high levels of organic nitrates, and withdrawal over the weekend impacted the health of those working with it.

Mauvine

William Henry Perkin was a British chemist who was working hard on the admirable task of trying to create a synthetic quinine to treat malaria. He didn't find it. What he did find was that aniline could be partially transformed into a crude mixture that when extracted with alcohol, produced an intense purple. It was the first synthetic dye for a colour previously produced from the glands of predatory sea snails. It was so expensive to produce it was largely the preserve of royalty and the very rich. He called the new dye mauvine.

It was a game-changer in the world of fashion, ultimately opening the world up to easier access to a range of inexpensive colours through aniline dyes. However, the first one made an impact, helped by Queen Victoria and the wife of Napoleon III, Empress Eugenie, embracing the new colour. In the late 1850s, mauve was so popular that the press reported an outbreak of what they called mauve measles  

Nikola Tesla

It'd be hard to close a piece on accidental discoveries without mentioning Nikola Tesla. He made two distinct discoveries before anyone else, but—it was only later that the implications became clear—in one case much later. Tesla had the famous writer Mark Twain pose for a photograph using a new device called a Crookes tube. Tesla decided the splotchy photograph was ruined, but weeks later, Wilhelm Röntigen released his discovery of 'x-radiation' using Crookes tubes. Tesla checked again, and found that he had also produced an x-ray picture of Twain, but also that the picture had been ruined by the metal screws in the camera.

The second discovery took much longer to be understood. In 1899, Tesla set up a laboratory in Colorado to investigate the possibility of transmitting information and electrical power over long distances. One day, monitoring lightning storms, he detected a series of bleeps. After ruling out other factors, he concluded the signals must be coming from another space—but he couldn't prove it. It took until 1996 for scientists to replicate the experiment, and far more modern equipment established that the signal had been caused by the moon passing through Jupiter's magnetic field. The man was a genius.   

Excerpt

“She hasn’t got the combination to the safe,” said the manager. “You can scare her as much as you want. We all know you’re not gonna use that gun on us.”

Rebecca’s breath halted as she felt a careless arm drape around her shoulder.

“I don’t need a gun to hurt someone. Give us the combination.” The manager remained mute and turned his face away. “Your call, sir.” He pulled Rebecca around to face him as she gasped in alarm. “Just remember who you’ve got to thank for this, ma’am.”

He pointed over at the manager, who refused to meet her eyes. “That man right there.”

“Anything that happens to her is down to you. Not me,” said the manager.

Rebecca felt herself dragged from the room by one arm. She was pulled into the office next door and pushed against the wall. The man walked over and pulled down the blind before returning to her. Her breath came in ragged pants of fear. “Please, no. Don’t.”

He leaned on the wall, a hand on either side of her head, and pressed his face close. “You were gonna hold this place up. Are you some kind of idiot?”

She blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

The man pulled down his mask, revealing the face of the fair man who had walked into her office looking for Fernsby. “Don’t lie to me, honey. You had the same idea as we did— look at Meagher’s bank account to see where he gets his money. We’ve watched you march up and down outside this place all day, like you were on sentry duty, while you built up your courage. You even got in the way of us doin’ it. What the hell is goin’ on in your head? How dumb can a woman get?”

“You? Here?” She couldn’t quite decide whether to stop being scared or not.

“Yeah. Me.” He indicated with his head. “Now, Nat’s in there, and he needs the combination of the safe. It’s too new and sophisticated for him to crack the combination. You and me need to put on a bit of a show to make sure the manager gives it up.”

“You’re not robbing the bank?”

Jake huffed in irritation. “Try to keep up, Becky. I need you to scream for help so the manager gives Nat the combination to the vault. We want Meagher’s records too.”

She shook her head. “Me? I can’t scream.”

“What do you mean you can’t scream? All women can scream.”

“I can’t. I’m just not made that way.”

He frowned. “Look, Becky. If you won’t scream, I’m gonna have to make you. Let’s do this the easy way, huh?”

“Please, help! Noooo.”

Jake frowned. “You call that screamin’? That’s useless.”

“I told you. I can’t.”

Jake flicked up an eyebrow. “Last chance, Becky.”

“Aaargh—”

“Nope.” A gloved hand reached up to her hat as his eyes glittered with mischief. “Don’t say you weren’t warned, sweetheart.” 

       

 

Victorian Cosmetics and Beauty Secrets

Victorian Cosmetics and Beauty Secrets

By C. A. Asbrey 

unblemished complexion the period demanded. They made most of these themselves, but pharmacies increasingly saw a market for beauty products, and moved to deliver the goods. Propriety demanded that these had to be dressed up as aids to health and youth, as not only was vanity a sin, but only prostitutes and theatrical performers (who were seen as just as bad) used make up.

The basis of a woman's beauty lay in her complexion. It had to be pale, as not only was that a sign of gentility, it was a sign of a woman who didn't have to work outside, and who (horror upon horror) tanned in the sun. Those not blessed with a naturally flawless complexion used various methods to appear as though they had one.

The most approved of cosmetic was cold cream. This had evolved from the moisturising creams of old. Roman moisturisers have been recovered with finger marks still visible. They can be based on oils or beeswax, but the modern addition of emulsifiers made them much more stable, and less likely to solidify. Borax saponifies fatty acids, allowing the basic historical recipe of fat, water and perfume to meld into a soft fluffy grease. It also stopped the mixture from separating, making the commonly added perfumes such as rose, violet, and almond more attractive to the user when they didn't separate from the hard fat Poor women made their own, but as the century wore on cold cream became easier to buy, first of all, from local pharmacies, and later from larger commercial concerns.

Early Commercial Cold Creams

  One recipe used a pound of almond oil, one pound of rose water, one ounce each of spermaceti (waxy substance found in the head cavities of the sperm whale) and white wax, and one half drachm of otto of roses (rose oil). A drachm is a unit of weight formerly used by apothecaries, equivalent to 60 grains or one eighth of an ounce. The ingredients were melted in a bain marie, and stirred together with a lancewood paddle punched with holes. The perfume was added at the end.

Other women used more paint, which was less detectible under poor lighting. They used a whitening paste, with some even going to the lengths to paint on a blue vein. These masks were made of lead, mercury and arsenic, and they tended to crack. This led those using them to avoid using mobile facial expressions. I expect hiding behind fans was also handy, but their cosmetics were one of the reasons some ladies reacted very badly to the advent of electric light. Their conceit was suddenly a lot more obvious. For those using less drastic make up, a simple powder was used to remove shine. 

Other dangerous skin treatments extended to cures for acne. It was commonly supposed that some kind of imbalance of the blood was responsible, and women took supplements of iron and arsenic to treat the problem at source, along with vegetable bitters. Today we only really know Angostura bitters, but a wide array of herb-based infusions were added to wines to boost health. These concoctions could consist of herbs, flowers, barks, botanicals, root, or seed based ingredients. 

Topical applications were also popular. A compound of hypochloride of sulphur ointment is one recommendation, something still in use for various skin conditions today. A less benign remedy was bichloride of mercury—a toxin most certainly not used on the skin today. Sunburn was treated with buttermilk in which grated horseradish had been soaked. Another sunburn remedy was a wineglass of rosewater to a pint of lemon juice. Glycerine was sometimes added to that mixture too.

Freckles were thought of as unsightly when extensive, or when they joined together to form large patches. This was termed epichrosis lenticula, as though it were some kind of medical problem. It was suggested that the 'sufferer' should apply carbolic acid lotion three times a day, and follow that with bichloride of mercury in a bitter almond emulsion. I cannot stress enough that we should never follow these directions today.

Another blight on a beautiful skin was unwanted hair. Plucking was popular in Western countries, but for larger patches, depilatories were applied. In The Woman Beautiful, (1899) Ella Adelia Fletcher said that superfluous hair was a, "a source of extreme annoyance and mortification." There were many recipes, but frankly, the more caustic, the more likely it was to be effective due to its corrosive powers. That's why women happily smeared on arsenic, lye (caustic soda or sodium hydroxide), and quicklime. Depilatories were called a rusma, and they could be tested by applying them to a feather. Once the plumes fell away, the lady knew it was ready for use on her body. It also warns that 'the precise time to leave depilatory upon the part to be depilated cannot be given, because there is a physical difference in the nature of hair. ‘Raven tresses’ require more time than ‘flaxen locks’; the sensitiveness of the skin has also to be considered.”

Quicklime Depilatory, Beeton’s Dictionary, 1871.

Lip balms were a popular home-made cosmetic, with a delicate touch of color providing a natural-looking enhancement, and one that women didn't frown upon unless the colourings were too dramatic and garish. Popular colourings were strawberry, cherry, beetroot, or cochineal, added to beeswax, almond oil, and beef tallow. This balm could also be applied to the cheeks as a subtle rouge—and it had to be applied artfully to avoid being described as a painted lady. Very fair women used petroleum jelly (discovered as by-product in the 1860s) coloured with lamp soot, burnt cloves, or chloride of gold. Brows could also be darkened using the same methods.

Hair was a lady's crowning glory, and many tonics and lotions were used to beautify and enhance it. Rain water was collected for a final rinse in soft water, but a favourite was Eau de Portugal. Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million (1857) gives. recipe. ". . .take a pint of orange flower water, a pint of rose water, and half a pint of myrtle water. To these put a quarter of an ounce of distilled spirit of musk, and an ounce of spirit of ambergris. Shake the whole well together, and the water will be ready for use. Only a small quantity should be made at a time, as it does not keep long, except in moderate weather, being apt to spoil either with cold or heat."  

It's well-known that blondes used chamomile to lighten their tresses, and that brunettes used henna, but there were other methods used to keep greys at bay, but less commonly discussed. Peroxide was used in the hat industry to bleach straw hats, and it didn't take women long to discover that it bleached their hair too. This had to be used with caution, as it could look too false and brassy. For ladies, chamomile and lemon juice in the sun provided a degree of plausible deniability. However, those ladies had to be careful not to get a tan at the same time. Brunettes and redheads had to use different options. 

Dyeing the hair black was achieved through adding walnut oil to a tincture of galls (made from oak galls, sugar and alcohol), and then a strong solution of sulphate of iron was added to the wetted hair. This was a lot less subtle than tinctures with rosemary or sage, both of which gradually darken grey hair, with sage being more efficacious than rosemary. Silver caustic was used to turn hair a deep brown. At least one was used by men, as a black dye using precipitated Sulphur, and acetate of lead is known as General Twiggs' Hair Dye in many recipe books. Indian henna allowed women to turn their hair a whole array of coper tones. Adding everything from saffron, indigo, hibiscus, and senna allowed women to colour their hair from strawberry blonde to almost black, with every auburn tone in between. Again, care had to be taken not to go too far, as the bright crimson hair was perceived as being as common as bright yellow.

Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million by Sarah Josepha Buell Hale is packed with these recipes, and is available for free as part of the Gutenberg Project. You can download it for free here:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46254

EXCERPT  Innocent to the Last

     Rebecca turned over and punched her pillow. Why couldn’t she sleep? There was something worming into the back of her brain, but she couldn’t quite scratch the itch. All of a sudden, she saw herself standing in her office today, waving that check in the face of those damned men. The Farmers & Stockworkers National Bank in St. Louis. That was Meagher’s bank. What was it her father had always told her? If you want to bring someone down, look at where the money came from. She knew Meagher probably paid his henchmen in cash, but whoever he was in thrall to would pay by more sophisticated methods. And Becky Kershaw now had his bank details. She pushed herself upright and ran a distracted hand through her silken blonde hair. The bank. How could she see their records?

     She’d never done anything for the newspaper other than general office and printing work. Her father had acted as the reporter, and when they merged, Fernsby had taken that over. Her role never changed. She knew nothing about how to investigate a powerful man.

     Not for the first time, she wished she knew more about how journalists got private information like bank details. Nobody had ever taught her how. She couldn’t get a job in the bank. They usually only employed men. Rebecca dropped back down, running scenarios and fantasies through her mind, all of them ending with Meagher’s corruption proven by her work. How great would it be to bring down the mayor? It might at least give her some kind of future with another newspaper. And she really needed one. Meagher would arrange an accident if she stayed in Greenville. She had to leave tomorrow, at the latest.

     Schemes and plans percolated until she drifted off to sleep. By the time dawn lit the world she had convinced herself that there was no downside to her grand idea. Even if she was caught holding up the bank, a court appearance would throw enough attention at Meagher to make it worthwhile. She could declare her accusations and get them reported in the press that way. Besides. She wasn’t going to get caught—even if she was, she wasn’t actually stealing any money. All she needed was the name and address of the man paying Meagher.

     What could go wrong?

     

The Victorian Laundry

The Victorian Laundry

By C. A. Asbrey 

Some time ago I did a post on cleaning in the past, and many of the tips and recipes for organic cleaning materials proved very popular. Today I'm going to take us to the laundry and share the secrets of stain removal from days gone by.

In the days before dry cleaning and washing machines, it was the job of the lady's maid to delicately treat stains, repair wear and tear, and ensure that the complex layers of fabric in elaborate gowns were all as good as new for the next wearing. Often, this job would mean removing trims and ribbons before washing, treating those separately, and then reattaching them. Sometimes this involved weaving them through the intricate lace of broderie anglaise. At other times, feathers needed to be cleaned, or the lace itself, not to mention elaborate fabric flowers or motifs.

Before we start on the dresses themselves, how were the trims washed? Lace and broderie anglaise were pretty simple, often hand washed in a gentle soap in lukewarm water. Satin or velvet ribbon received a similar treatment, but it was important not to twist these, or wring them out. That would ruin them. Any stains on the trim were dealt with as per the treatments for the same fabric on a gown, which I'll come to later. Lace was washed around ribbon blocks or bottles, and tacked to keep them smooth, whilst being cleaned by sweet oil, and Castile soap. The lace was dried in the sun and kept flat in paper between books, or wrapped around ribbon blocks until added back to the dress   

Salt was used, not only to soften the water, but to aid in colour fastness in an era where dyeing was less sophisticated. Ribbons were notorious for being less colour fast than bales of fabric, and it simply would not do to allow them to fade in the wash.   

For feathers, there were two methods of cleaning. One was to scatter them with a mixture of salt and bicarbonate of soda, and gentle shake, or brush, away the dust. Brush only in the direction of the plumage using a very soft brush. Feathers can be washed individually in a soapy solution. Again, never rub against the direction of the plumage, and fully rinse away any soap residue. Never wash different colours of dyed feathers together.

They should be hung by the stem to dry. If your feathers, particularly ostrich feathers, lose their fluff, a light steaming can return them to their full glory. Once more, follow the plumage as you gently rub. The steam will make the original fluff return, but once they have reached their original glory, stop immediately. Go too far, or treat the feather too roughly, and you'll lose that plume forever.      

Printed muslin was a very popular dress fabric in the nineteenth century. This too, suffered from the problem of the prints not being colour fast. Again, salt was used to help fix the dye during the washing stage. The salt was also required during the double rinse stage, and when carefully wrung out, the dress was hung so no part lay over another, so no part of the pattern could be inadvertently transferred to another area of the fabric.

Silk dresses were spot treated before being washed. The 1861 edition of Godey’s Lady’s Book described a stain remover for silk as follows:

"Quarter of a pound of honey; quarter of a pound of soft soap; two wineglasses of gin; three gills of boiling water."

This mixture would be applied to the stain at blood temperature with a soft brush. It would be worked in until the stain dissipated. The whole fabric would then be sponged by hand, and the dress dried across a clothes horse after rinsing in softened cold water. Rain water was often collected for this purpose, as well as for a final rinse for washing hair. The lady's maid was advised not to let the fabric dry in direct sun, as that too, would fade a delicate dye. Sal-volatile, a scented solution of ammonium carbonate in alcohol, and better known as smelling salts, was used to help restore colour removed from silks.  

To remove grease stains from silk, French chalk is scraped on the wrong side, left for some time, them scraped off. If the stain is more persistent hold the fabric covered in French chalk near the fire or over steam, until the stain melts and is absorbed by the chalk. The method can be repeated until the stain isn gone.

The Victorians fully embraced formal mourning, and as such, wore black and dark fabrics in a way we do not today. Those dresses were susceptible to stains from food, candles, oil from lamps and cooking, grubby children's fingers, and everyday life. Most of those stains were slightly greasy and shone out in dull fabrics.      

Fig leaves contain furocoumarins that can cause a phototoxic reaction on skin, but that acidic property also makes for a great stain remover. Fig leaves were boiled in two quarts of water, until they were reduced to a pint This solution was then sponged onto a stain as a spot cleaner. It helped dissolve the grease before the fabric was washed.  

To clean shiny black satin, boil three pounds of potatoes in a quart of water, strain through a sieve, and brush the fabric with it on a board or table. The satin must not be wrung, but folded down in cloths for three hours, and iron on the wrong side.  

Mild acid was also used to remove ink. The 1857 book Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million by Sarah Josepha Buell Hale gives a recipe for its removal as follows: As soon as the accident happens, wet the place with the juice of sorrel or lemon, or with vinegar, and the best hard, white soap.

For larger areas stained with ink Mrs. Hale suggests, get a pint cup, or narrow-topped jug full of boiling water; place the stained part of the (linen etc.) dip it in and draw it tight over the top of the cup, and while wet and hot, rub in a little salt of sorrel. The acid should remain on the fabric for half-an-hour before it is washed. As salt of sorrel is a power poison, the paper should be marked poison, and it should be locked up when not in use.   

Pitch and tar were a problem, especially around the hems. It was suggested that the worst be scraped off, and that a mixture of turpentine and lemon juice be used to dissolve away the residue.

There were special rinses use to help preserve the colours of expensive silks. Sometimes, small quantities of dye were added to the final rinse, but also vitriol (sulphuric acid) was used to brighten scarlet, crimson, maroon, or bright yellow. Ox-gall was sponged on both sides of black. Lemon juice was used for pink, carnation, or rose. A pinch of verdigris maintained olive-green, whilst pearlash (a strong alkaline compound consisting mainly of potassium carbonate) worked on blue and purple. 

The wonderful Mrs. Hale also gives a recipe for a portable stain remover for accidents out and about. She suggests a mix of fullers earth, pearlash, lemon juice worked into a paste, them formed into balls that are dried in the sun. These can be used to remove most average stains. Moisten the stain, rub on the ball, and rinse the area. Once dry, the stain should be gone.  

The lady's maid also tended to the shoes. To remove grease from leather, apply egg white and let it dry in the sun. Mix turpentine, half an ounce of mealy potatoes (known to us as the most starchy varieties like russets and Idahos), pure ground mustard, and apply this mixture to the spot. Once dry, rub off, and finish with a little vinegar.

Kid gloves were cleaned by donning them, and rubbing French chalk over the palms and fingers as though washing the hands. Leave the chalk on overnight, then put the gloves on again and clap the hands until all the chalk is gone. Fullers earth can also be used. Dirty spots can be treated with a normal pencil eraser. White or pale kid gloves were rubbed with white rose petals to remove yellowing, and not only did the petals remove the discolouring, but it gave an added protection against stains in the future. 

Straw bonnets were cleaned by using powdered brimstone, a powdered sulfur, but if they were no longer worth saving they could be completely recycled. First the hat could be sponged with soap and water, rinsed and air-dried. It can be stiffened with beaten egg white, dried in hot sun. If you want to reduce it down to fit a child, simply remove the border, and unpick the sewing on the rounds on the crown. Use a hat block to reform the rounds to the desired size, and rebuild a smaller brim. Brims can be reshaped through steaming. The egg white method can be used to stiffen once more.

The maid would also clean and perform minor repairs to jewellery and accessories. Broken tortoiseshell was held by hot pincers between sheets of paper. The tortoiseshell would fuse, plastic-like, back together. Gold was cleaned by boiling it in soapy water, then rubbing it in a cloth with magnesia powder. A soft brush could be used on embossed pieces. Pearls were cleaned by immersion in a mixture of water in which bran had been boiled, salt of tartar and alum. Rinse in lukewarm water, and leave to dry. Storing pearls in magnesia powder, rather than the box provided, ensured that the brilliance was maintained. 

Anyone thinking that the role of a lady's maid was easy, doesn't understand their repertoire of home-made cosmetics, hair dyes, and laundry-wonder. They were part seamstress, laundress, hairdresser, dresser, fashionista, and pharmacist. They had to keep up to date with current modes and styles, as well as identifying how best to style her mistress. I'll cover their makeup and beauty tips in my next post, but until then I hope you enjoy the tips of laundry and the accessories that helped keep the Victorian lady look her very best.  

 

Excerpt

“She hasn’t got the combination to the safe,” said the manager. “You can scare her as much as you want. We all know you’re not gonna use that gun on us.”

Rebecca’s breath halted as she felt a careless arm drape around her shoulder.

“I don’t need a gun to hurt someone. Give us the combination.” The manager remained mute and turned his face away. “Your call, sir.” He pulled Rebecca around to face him as she gasped in alarm. “Just remember who you’ve got to thank for this, ma’am.”

He pointed over at the manager, who refused to meet her eyes. “That man right there.”

“Anything that happens to her is down to you. Not me,” said the manager.

Rebecca felt herself dragged from the room by one arm. She was pulled into the office next door and pushed against the wall. The man walked over and pulled down the blind before returning to her. Her breath came in ragged pants of fear. “Please, no. Don’t.”

He leaned on the wall, a hand on either side of her head, and pressed his face close. “You were gonna hold this place up. Are you some kind of idiot?”

She blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

The man pulled down his mask, revealing the face of the fair man who had walked into her office looking for Fernsby. “Don’t lie to me, honey. You had the same idea as we did— look at Meagher’s bank account to see where he gets his money. We’ve watched you march up and down outside this place all day, like you were on sentry duty, while you built up your courage. You even got in the way of us doin’ it. What the hell is goin’ on in your head? How dumb can a woman get?”

“You? Here?” She couldn’t quite decide whether to stop being scared or not.

“Yeah. Me.” He indicated with his head. “Now, Nat’s in there, and he needs the combination of the safe. It’s too new and sophisticated for him to crack the combination. You and me need to put on a bit of a show to make sure the manager gives it up.”

“You’re not robbing the bank?”

Jake huffed in irritation. “Try to keep up, Becky. I need you to scream for help so the manager gives Nat the combination to the vault. We want Meagher’s records too.”

She shook her head. “Me? I can’t scream.”

“What do you mean you can’t scream? All women can scream.”

“I can’t. I’m just not made that way.”

He frowned. “Look, Becky. If you won’t scream, I’m gonna have to make you. Let’s do this the easy way, huh?”

“Please, help! Noooo.”

Jake frowned. “You call that screamin’? That’s useless.”

“I told you. I can’t.”

Jake flicked up an eyebrow. “Last chance, Becky.”

“Aaargh—”

“Nope.” A gloved hand reached up to her hat as his eyes glittered with mischief. “Don’t say you weren’t warned, sweetheart.”