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.
Meet Two Manet Models Behind Olympia
Meet Two Manet Models Behind Olympia
Two Manet Models will spend eternity together on the canvas of Olympia, one of Édouard Manet’s most famous paintings. In Read More>...
Female Moses Harriett Tubman Led Civil War Raid
Female Moses Harriett Tubman Led Civil War Raid
Female Moses, Harriett Tubman was the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the Civil war. With Colonel James Montgomery in the 1863 raid she helped lead more than 750 slaves to freedom.
...Lucky Victorian Pigs Brought Prosperity
Lucky Victorian Pigs Brought Prosperity
The popularity of Lucky Victorian Pigs blossomed in the 1800s. As symbols of good luck in a New Year, they Read More>...
Charles Dickens Spread Christmas Carol Spirit
Charles Dickens Spread Christmas Carol Spirit
Christmas wasn’t always the best of times. Thankfully it underwent a joyful revival during the mid-1800s. Charles Dickens spread A Read More>...
Indian Warrior Queen Battled British Rule
Indian Warrior Queen Battled British Rule
The Indian Warrior Queen fought for her country’s independence from British rule in the mid 1800s. The Rani of Jhansi Read More>...
Sissieretta Jones Graced Carnegie Hall
Sissieretta Jones Graced Carnegie Hall
Sissieretta Jones was considered one of the greatest operatic sopranos of her time. She performed across Europe, Africa, India and Read More>...
Practical Hints Encouraged Lone Lady Travelers
Practical Hints Encouraged Lone Lady Travelers
Increasing numbers of women planned trips—without male escorts. In the late 19th century, these lone lady travelers were still considered Read More>...
Kate Warne Became First Female Pinkerton Detective
Kate Warne Became First Female Pinkerton Detective
Women had proven their mettle as spies for centuries. So when a 23-year-old widow named Kate Warne responded to an Read More>...
Victorian Strongwomen Reshaped Body Images
Victorian Strongwomen Reshaped Body Images
They were heavy lifters of the changing female body image. Women were still discouraged from any exercise that could build Read More>...
Pie Girl Dinner Humbled Powerful Men
Pie Girl Dinner Humbled Powerful Men
The Scandalous Pie Girl Dinner of 1895 is not a dusty history lesson. Rather, it was a lesson never learned. Read More>...
Jean Paleologue Posters Shaped Modern Advertising
Jean Paleologue Posters Shaped Modern Advertising
It was an era of monumental change. Life was moving faster each day. Bicycles promised new freedoms. Automobiles promised even Read More>...
Early Tennis Fashion Did Not Stop First Female Wimbledon Winner
Early Tennis Fashion Did Not Stop First Female Wimbledon Winner
Cyclists were still fighting for the right to wear bloomers. The concept of “rational dress” for female athletes remained fertile Read More>...
Doctors Triggered Victorian Bicycle Face Hysteria
Doctors Triggered Victorian Bicycle Face Hysteria
Bicycles meant improved health and independence, particularly for women in the late 1800s. But “wheeling” came at a high price Read More>...
Charles Courtney Curran Portrayed Daring Women Perched On Mountain Ledges
Charles Courtney Curran Portrayed Daring Women Perched On Mountain Ledges
He was an enormously prolific and successful painter for nearly five decades beginning in the i880s. Charles Courtney Curran (13 Read More>...
Painter Elizabeth Nourse Portrayed Unflinching Social Realism
Painter Elizabeth Nourse Portrayed Unflinching Social Realism
Elizabeth Nourse defied all odds by carving out a successful full-time career as a female painter in the late 19th Read More>...
