STRANGE TIMES
Strange Times offers a treasure trove of outlandish, funny, sometimes shocking stories from Victorian Era. Explore Victorian ideas, customs, holidays, clothing, architecture, art, women, men, businesses, leisure activities and more.
Coney Island Dreamland Offered Overheated New York Residents Amusing Summertime Escapes
Coney Island Dreamland Offered Overheated New York Residents Amusing Summertime Escapes
Coney Island Dreamland built in 1904 was one of the shortest lived but most astonishing and forward thinking theme parks. Read More>...
Mary Ann Brown Patten Was The First Woman Clipper Ship Commander Despite Two Mutinies And Multiple Tragedies
Mary Ann Brown Patten Was The First Woman Clipper Ship Commander Despite Two Mutinies And Multiple Tragedies
Mary Ann Brown Patten was nineteen years old in 1857 when she sailed from Boston to San Francisco via Cape Read More>...
Late Bloomer Henry David Thoreau Accidentally Started Forest Fires Before Becoming A Renowned Environmentalist
Late Bloomer Henry David Thoreau Accidentally Started Forest Fires Before Becoming A Renowned Environmentalist
On July 4, 1845, Henry David Thoreau moved into the “tiny house” he built at the northwest edge of Walden Read More>...
Maria Spelterini Celebrated American Independence Week Walking Tightropes Across Niagara Falls While Wearing Peach Baskets
Maria Spelterini Celebrated American Independence Week Walking Tightropes Across Niagara Falls While Wearing Peach Baskets
Maria Spelterini was the only female funambulist (tightrope walker) in history to cross Niagara Falls. She did it in celebration Read More>...
Alice Huyler Ramsey Became First Female Driver For An All Girl Transcontinental Road Trip
Alice Huyler Ramsey Became First Female Driver For An All Girl Transcontinental Road Trip
The trailblazing all-girl road trip started on a rainy day, June 9, 1909. Alice Huyler Ramsey would soon make history Read More>...
Armless Wonder Kittie Smith Astonished Nineteenth Century Audiences With Her Extraordinary Talents
Armless Wonder Kittie Smith Astonished Nineteenth Century Audiences With Her Extraordinary Talents
Kittie Smith did not lead a normal life. Hers was exceptional. She was born with both arms, but they were Read More>...
Nineteenth-Century Mother Photos Ranged From Hidden Mom Photo Bombs To Boldly Beautiful Portraits
Nineteenth-Century Mother Photos Ranged From Hidden Mom Photo Bombs To Boldly Beautiful Portraits
Nineteenth-Century Mother Photos became the rage when photography was still an emerging science. By the mid 1850s it was becoming Read More>...
Shuttered Parisian Apartment Conceals Giovanni Boldini Portrait For More Than A Century
Shuttered Parisian Apartment Conceals Giovanni Boldini Portrait For More Than A Century
His swift strokes spring off the canvas with bold energy. Referring to his unique swirling style, Giovanni Boldini (1842 –1931) Read More>...
Delmonico’s Celebrates First Nineteenth Century Jane Croly Luncheon For Women Only
Delmonico’s Celebrates First Nineteenth Century Jane Croly Luncheon For Women Only
When journalist Jane Cunningham Croly was denied admission to the all male New York Press Club dinner honoring Charles Dickens, Read More>...
Famed Aerialist Miss La La Mesmerized Fans Including Edgar Degas With Her Graceful Strength
Famed Aerialist Miss La La Mesmerized Fans Including Edgar Degas With Her Graceful Strength
Although petite in stature, the delicate Miss La La possessed astonishing strength. Born April of 1858 in what is now Read More>...
Adventurous Kodak Girls Documented Great Moments And Launched Businesses With Early Cameras
Adventurous Kodak Girls Documented Great Moments And Launched Businesses With Early Cameras
Kodak Girls were on the go. Susan B. Anthony said bicycles did more to emancipate women than anything else. Perhaps Read More>...
Leona Dare Soared Above Nineteenth-Century Audiences With Her Jaws Of Steel
Leona Dare Soared Above Nineteenth-Century Audiences With Her Jaws Of Steel
Even by today’s demanding standards, Leona Dare would have been a YouTube sensation. She was strong, she was skilled, and Read More>...
Early Female Olympians Quashed Official Fears Of Boring And Unaesthetic Performances
Early Female Olympians Quashed Official Fears Of Boring And Unaesthetic Performances
The first modern International Olympics were held in Athens, Greece in 1896 with no female competitors allowed. Pierre de Coubertin, Read More>...
Uninvited Nineteenth-Century Mardi Gras Rebels Created Their Own Parades
Uninvited Nineteenth-Century Mardi Gras Rebels Created Their Own Parades
The Mystic Krewe of Comus held its first formal parade in the mid-1800s. The Krewe of Rex, Knights of Momus Read More>...
Stunning Nineteenth-Century Mardi Gras Invitations Inspired The Elegant Celebrations We Know Today
Stunning Nineteenth-Century Mardi Gras Invitations Inspired The Elegant Celebrations We Know Today
The history of New Orleans Mardi Gras is as colorful and layered as the King Cakes baked to celebrate the Read More>...
