 Photo by Lou Daprile |  |
February 1, 1844: Happy birthday to one of the most famous botanists of the 19th-century, Eduard Strasburger! Strasburger developed the principles of mitosis and coined the terms "cytoplasm" and "nucleoplasm".
February 1, 1845: Baylor University founded in Texas.
February 1, 1865: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (abolishing slavery) is approved by President Lincoln. It had been passed by the House of Representatives the previous day, and would be ratified on December 6th of that year.
People interested in human rights history will enjoy this piece by the BBC, comparing modern slavery with the historic variety:
"Slave Labor and Consumer Power: The Long View" http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06sgxg5
February 2, 1882: A baby elephant is born at the winter quarters of Barnum's Circus in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The baby is two feet, six inches high, weighs forty-five pounds, and is covered with shaggy black hair an inch long. More details: Thompson, W.C. On the Road With A Circus. New York: New Amsterdam Book Company, p. 195.
February 2, 1887: The ancient pagan holiday of Groundhog Day is officially celebrated in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA, for the first time. (The Punxsutawney groundhog would become the official representative of the holiday in the U.S.)
February 3, 1850: Happy birthday, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Williams Champney, author of the Three Vassar Girls series!
February 5, 1883: The Southern Pacific Railroad completes its "Sunset Route".
February 7, 1867: Happy birthday, author Laura Ingalls Wilder! (A biography of Wilder, Prairie Fires, by Caroline Fraser, is quite good!)
February 10th: Happy anniversary, Victoria and Albert! Married February 10, 1840.
"The ceremony took place at the Chapel Royal of St. James' Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London conducting the service. The records inform us that twelve young ladies carried the bride's train, and that the wedding-cake was nine feet in circumference and sixteen inches deep, the materials for it costing one hundred guineas. The bride's gift to each bridesmaid was a brooch in the form of a bird, the body of turquoises, the eyes of rubies, the beak a diamond, the claws of pure gold, resting upon pearls of great size. After the ceremony the happy couple drove to Windsor Castle, where the honeymoon was spent." Source: Living Leaders of the World, 1889.
Image courtesy http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/tom-thumb/
February 10, 1853: Charles Stratton (a.k.a. General Tom Thumb) marries Lavinia Warren.
A piece of the couple's wedding cake is now kept in the Library of Congress' collection.
February 11, 1861: Happy birthday, Elizabeth Bisland! Miss Bisland is now perhaps most famous for her 1889-90 race around the world against fellow journalist Nelly Bly. However, Miss Bisland was a sweet, fascinating woman in her own right —and a very skilled writer as well. Her own account of the famous voyage, "A Flying Trip Around the World" makes for absolutely charming reading. For hyperlinks to Elizabeth's book about her famous trip, look under "Travel Books" on http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/favorite-books-etc.html
Elizabeth's sister Mary was also a writer; to read a piece by her on women and bicycling, go to http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/womans-cycle.html
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February 12th: Happy birthday, Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln! They were born on the same day, February 12, 1809.
February 13, 1857: Happy birthday Almonzo Wilder! Husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the subject of her charming story, Farmer Boy.
February 14: Happy birthday, Frederick Douglass! The writer and orater was born a slave and the exact date of his birth around 1818 was not recorded, but he chose to celebrate it on Valentine's Day.
"The past is our wisest and best instructor. In its dim and shadowy outlines we may, if we will, discern in some measure those elements of wisdom which should guide the present and secure the welfare of the future." —Frederick Douglass, 1889.
February 14, 1859: Oregon becomes a state.
February 16th, 1883: Ladies' Home Journal begins publishing
For links to digitized copies, check out the "Magazines" portion of our "Favorite Books, Etc." page (about 2/3 of the way down the page —after the books) : http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/favorite-books-etc.html
Other historical magazine articles: http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/historical-articles-index.html
Victorian images scanned from books and magazines in our collection: http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/historical-images.html
February 18, 1836: A system of gas lighting installed on the public streets in Philadelphia. For details, see "Street Lighting in Philadelphia: A Retrospect." The Record of Growth: A Monthly Journal of Material Progress. February, 1882, pp. 34—36.
From Appendix IV of A Trip and a Tumble:
"…In the May 21, 1885 edition of The Daily British Colonist an article appeared discussing the cost of upkeep for Victoria, B.C.'s electric streetlight towers, and the city's incredibly bright arc lamps are mentioned in various other accounts… In A Trip and A Tumble, seeing Victoria's arc lights makes Felix reflect on the lighting systems in Philadelphia. The idea of gas lighting on the public streets of Philadelphia was first proposed in 1807 and instated on February 18, 1836. By the time Felix was born in 1861, these lights would have been ubiquitous throughout the city. When electric lights were first introduced, there was controversy over whether it was worth the trouble and expense of replacing an entire existing infrastructure of lighting…" —Appendix IV, A Trip and a Tumble
A Trip and a Tumble:
A Victorian Cycling Club Story
On Amazon
Time for a vacation —step right up! When Felix's newspaper sends him up to Victoria, B.C. to report on a visiting circus Ken inevitably tags along, "like a dutiful puppy", as Addie says. Meanwhile, Jacob's sent north to Victoria as well, as an ambassador for the cycling company he represents. Addie tells him to keep an eye on the chums, but no one ever could keep Ken and Felix from stumbling into scrapes. When a vivacious high-society belle and a surprisingly timid circus bicyclist enter the picture, things heat up quickly.
Be prepared for a grand circus pageant —let the show begin!
February 19, 1843: Happy birthday, Adelina Patti, "The Queen of Song"!
February 19, 1847: Happy birthday, Sara Yorke Stevenson, lady archaelogist and first woman lecturer at Harvard's Peabody Museum!
February 24, 1871: Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex published.
February 25, 1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels appointed to a vacant place in the U.S. Senate, becoming the first black congressman in the U.S. (In 1875, former slave Blanche Kelso Bruce would become the first African American to be elected —rather than appointed— to a seat in the Senate.) Revels would go on to found the first African American university.
February 28th, 1854: Isaac Stevens, first governor of Washington Territory, addresses the first session of the territorial legislature and emphasizes the need for a railroad to the Pacific Northwest, saying: "Our commerce doubles in seven years… the necessities of the times imperiously demand that the roads now running westward should not tbe stayed in their course till they reach our western shores." Source: Armbruster, Kurt E. Orphan Road: The Railroad Comes to Seattle, 1853—1911. Pullman, WA: WSU Press, p. 12
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Special days in February
Sunday, February 3, 2019: Super Bowl Sunday. Read an 1895 account of a football game in Port Townsend: <http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/the-old-gold-and-black-victorious.html> Dan Bracken, who lived in our house in the 1890's, was a "smashing fullback" on the Port Townsend team!
February 14th: Happy Valentine's Day!
Victorian Valentine images: https://www.zazzle.com/collections/victorian_valentines-119071845394840472
More romantic Victorian imagery: <https://www.zazzle.com/collections/love_romance-119036511351599603>
Victorian corset images: <https://www.zazzle.com/collections/corsets-119713551707819447>
Victorian flowers:
 | Victorian flower images from our personal archive reprinted on gifts for you: www.zazzle.com/collections/floral-119803436715725387 |
 | The Language and Sentiment of Flowers: |
Victorian romance stories:
A Cycle of the Seasons: A Bicycle Romance in Four Meets (Fiction—1883)
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/a-cycle-of-the-seasons-a-bicycle-romance-in-four-meets.html
A Floral Flirtation (Poem—1889)
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/a-floral-flirtation-poemmdash1889.html
A Header (?) (Poem—1883)
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/a-header--poem-1883.html
Aunt Nancy's Romance (Poem —1889)
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/aunt-nancys-romance-poemmdash1889.html
A Modern Love Sung in Ancient Fashion (Poem—1884)
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/a-modern-love-sung-in-ancient-fashion.html
'Neath the Magnolias (Poem—1883) http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/neath-the-magnolias-poemmdash1883.html
On Wings of Love (Poem—1884)
http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/on-wings-of-love.html
A story on the BBC discussing the parallels between online dating and the lonely hearts classified advertisements of the Victorians and Edwardian eras: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06vkcf2
Enjoy!
An excerpt from Delivery Delayed, Book V in the Tales of Chetzemoka:
"…"I meant to ask if there's anyone in the club who's not already busy on Valentine's?" Her face bore an immensely hopeful expression.
Most of the assembled company regarded her quizzically.
"You see," she continued. "I've always wanted enough friends to put together a real dance, and with the club —and Valentine's Day coming up—" She blushed.
Jacob, sensing his wife's embarrassment, wrapped her up in a reassuring hug. He told the group, "Addie's asking who wants to be involved in a dance in honor of St. Valentine's Day. Some of the other club members who aren't here tonight already said they would play for us, so there'll be two violins and a cello."
Ken clasped his hands behind his head, leaned back, and grinned at his sister. "The dance is in honor of something else besides Valentine's Day, I'm sure."
She gave him a sharp look. He shrugged and kept grinning.
Addie looked hopefully around the room. "Wouldn't it be marvelous?"
Reactions were mixed. Kitty said she would come for the music if she could avoid the more rigorous sets. Rachel seemed excited for an excuse to produce a ball gown, but her husband looked worried when she started discussing velvet prices.
"I'm really not much of a dancer…" David protested.
Lizzie looked shyly over at Isaac. "I'll come if you do," she told him.
He remembered how he had felt singing while she played. He wondered what it would be like to dance with her. "Naturally."
She smiled at him, and somehow that smile felt more like home than any port he had ever sailed into. They fell quiet together.
Ken called out, "Come on, folks! Can't you tell Addie's disappointed you're not showing more enthusiasm?"
"Ken!" She protested, but before she could go any further her brother clasped his hands around his knees and cocked his head at Felix. "What about you, Spark? I bet you can't wait to come to the dance with me!"
Felix set his notebook down. "I'm not sure I can make it. I've been swamped with work lately—"
Ken looked at his chum in irritation. "Come on, Spark! You know that Valentine's Day—"
"Ken!" Addie stopped him again.
Her brother folded his arms and gave her a put-upon look. "Why do you want to keep it such a big secret, anyways?"
Felix snapped his fingers, as though he'd suddenly remembered something. "Of course!" He mouthed. Then he turned a kind smile towards Addie. "I'm sorry, I forgot. I'd be delighted to come."
People around the room looked curiously at them.
Jacob smiled at his wife. "You should tell everyone, Addie. I don't see what harm it would do."
She sighed and looked embarrassed. "I'd just hoped everyone would like the idea of a Valentine's dance for its own sake," she said wistfully.
"I do, Addie," Lizzie assured her.
"Me, too," Rachel agreed. "Now, what's the big secret?"
Ken crossed the room and leaned an elbow on his sister's shoulder, grinning out at the room. "Valentine's Day is Addie's birthday!" He tweaked her nose.…" --Delivery Delayed, Book V in the Tales of Chetzemoka
Delivery Delayed:
A Victorian Cycling Club Romance
On Amazon
It's obvious to everyone in the Chetzemoka cycling club that Lizzie and Isaac could make each other very happy —but does anyone really listen to their friends about affairs of the heart? A prim schoolmarm and a stoic steamship captain are hardly the people to discuss their sentiments, especially with each other. The smallest challenges seem like huge obstacles, even with everyone else trying their best to bring them together. When progress finally seems possible, a well-intentioned little girl steps in with the kind of help they'd be better off without. Will the situation be resolved in time, or will Isaac ship out for good?
February 14th: Library Lover's Day.
February 5, 2019: Chinese New Year.
***
From "Good Housekeeping," March 2, 1889, p. 214.
My first is in Flour but not in Rye,
My second is in Wet but not in Dry,
My third is in Bellow but not in Cry;
My fourth is in Rod but never in Whip,
My fifth is in Running but never in Skip,
My sixth is in Yawl but never in Ship;
My seventh is in Error but not in Miss
My eight in ecstasy not in Bliss,--
My whole, alas, for its cold, cold kiss!
Answer: February
***
PROVISIONS IN SEASON IN FEBRUARY
From Isabella Beeton's The Book of Household Management, 1893 edition.
Vegetables - Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus (forced), beetroot, broccoli, (purple and white), Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots, celery, chervil, cresses, cucumbers (forced), endive, kidney beans, lettuces, parsnips, potatoes, savoys, spinach, turnips - various herbs.
Fruit - Apples (golden and Dutch pippins), grapes, medlars, foreign and forced rhubarb, nuts, oranges, pears (Bon Chrétien), walnuts, dried fruits (foreign), as almonds and raisins, French and Spanish plums, prunes, figs, dates, crystallized preserves.
February fun fact: Conversation hearts are a Victorian invention! Sweethearts have been sharing these sweet treats since 1866.
In your heart of hearts, wouldn't you like to have a conversation around my books?
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