Those Crazy Victorians!

I once was fortunate enough to take part in a historic tour which revolved around the strange customs of Victorian America. The extensive cultural rules surrounding death and mourning, the amazing display of hair jewelry and funeral wreaths, and the beautiful black mourning dresses instantly drew me in. I have been reading about them ever since! 
The things that came to define this culture to me, as I suppose one could define most other cultures too, are how they dealt with death. In this case, another component of life, sexuality, appeared to be a major factor! 

I wondered what made the Victorians so frigid, so bound by regulation? I stumbled upon fascinating explanations of these elements of Victorian culture by Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris, a medical historian (Medicine’s Dark Secrets, The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice), and went from there. Here's what I learned:

The Victorian era was during the reign of Queen Victoria in England, which began in the 1830s. She assumed the throne at a time when prostitution was common, but contraception was not. STDs, therefore, were also extremely common. Syphilis was the most prevalent, and the most deadly.... and it was treated with mercury!

People were dealing not only with oozing sores and deteriorating noses from the syphilis, but their teeth and mouths were rotting as well from mercury poisoning. It’s hard to imagine seeing something like that on a regular basis...but it was very common in the 1800s; so common that according to an issue of Star from 1871, "no nose" parties became a regular social thing^2.

Obviously, the Victorians were having sex, the evidence could literally be seen on their faces!… but it was not considered respectable or proper, and never mentioned in polite society. That's why Elizabeth Blackwell's “Counsel to Parents on the Moral Education of Their Children,” discussing not only sex, but masturbation as well, was quite the controversy! 

Blackwell used her notoriety as the first female physician in the U.S. to spread her moral agenda, saying “if sexual power be brought forward prematurely, a permanent injury is done to the individual which can never be completely repaired^1". This notion of sex as the greatest evil took hold, as no one wanted to get ‘the pox,’ and soon it influenced every aspect of Victorian life. By denouncing the act of sex itself, she hoped to steer society away from the epidemic of STDs. The public took off with it.

http://thechirurgeonsapprentice.com/

Things got out of hand, to make a pun. 

Folks began to go to great lengths trying to prevent arousal, or what they called “self-abuse.” Fitzharris gave an example of what people were willing to do to prevent masturbation: 

These jugum (joo-gum) penises were designed to fit around male genitalia. The metal teeth would clamp down when then wearer became aroused.

     She also touched on another Victorian belief, which was that a bland diet would keep people from dying by their own hands.  It was for this purpose that Dr. John Harvey Kellogg came up with Corn Flakes and the Rev. Sylvestor Graham invented graham crackers²   Yummy!

III. Death in Victorian America

Even if a person somehow abstained from sex, they were still headed for an early grave by today’s standards. Disease, lack of sanitation, and lack of medical understanding made the life expectancy very low for the Victorians- and even worse for children. Dr. James Sharp, professor of civil engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland explained in his piece, “Water, Sanitation, and Health,” that as many as 150 children in every 1000 died before reaching one year of age during the years between 1850 and 1900, compared to around 8.6 per thousand in 1998.

https://www.msu.edu/user/beltranm/mourning/mourning.htm

Since Death was so very close to Victorians, it was only natural that the same rigid guidelines that governed every other aspect of their lives would come to govern death and mourning. In 1886, Harper’s Bizarre featured the story, “Mourning and Funeral Usages,” to explain the rules for widows and widowers, parents, relatives, and other loved ones. The rules covered the time period of mourning, the activities one was and was not allowed to participate in, the type of clothes that must be worn, and how people should act towards those who were ‘in black’.

 For instance, “a  widow's mourning should last eighteen months. For the first six months,” which was called deep mourning, “the dress should be of crape cloth, or Henrietta cloth covered entirely with crape, collar and cuffs of white crape, a crape bonnet with a long crape veil, and a widow's cap of white crape if preferred,” along with “dull black kid gloves.” After the deep mourning was over, there was to be a second stage of slightly lighter clothing, then another before she was to wear colors or participate in social events again.

Keep your loved ones CLOSE: 
The bodies could be kept, sometimes for a WHILE, in the home while the burial was prepared. I suppose since they had them around so long, that is why started making photographs made of the bodies, called Memento Mori, and kept them in albums.- You may have heard some about this if you’ve seen the film “The Others” with Nicole Kidman.-decided not to show you any of those, some of us may want to sleep tonite.... but if you want, can see some at The Thanatos Archive!

 According to ‘Victorian mourning traditions and fashion’ by Cemetery Explores, Weaving hair into jewelry also became a practice in this era. It started because soldiers heading to war would leave a lock of their hair behind with their families as a memento, in case they did not come home.

Eventually, the culture really got into making things out of hair, especially dead people's hair! Jewelry was a big thing, as were "domes" which are a type of sculpture, for instance, or in wreaths, like this one:
Whenever a family member passed on, their hair would become a new flower or leaf in the design. Leila’s Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri has the most impressive collection of these pieces! Be sure to Check it out. They sell kits to learn how to make your own, as well. You can use hair from people who are alive, though (if you want).

And so, we have gone full circle. From the creation of life, to these creations from death.     

 I hope I have gotten you all more interested in Victorian culture. I know I was after my first trip to the Oaklands Museum. Exploring the Victorians, perspectives on morality, sexuality, and death give us a more accurate sense of what life was like past the fabulous outfits.

For more, visit:

Dr. Lindsay Fitzharris' , The Chirurgeon's Apprentice: http://thechirurgeonsapprentice.com/ . 

Gloomy Tuesday thanks Dr. Fitzharris for her kindness in putting this article together! We look forward to interviewing her about her new project, coming soon!

About Kellogg's craziness (don't forget The Road to Wellville, too!): http://www.oobject.com/category/15-dr-kellog-contraptions
/
More creepy medical devices: http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn16624-science-museum-medical-objects

References

1. Blackwell, Elizabeth. “Counsel to Parents on the Moral Education of Their Children,” 1880. Brentano's

Literary Emporium: New York. PDF.

2. Fitzharris, Lindsey. “Let’s Talk about Sex: Victorian Anti-Masturbation Devices.” The Chururgeon’s

Apprentice. 2013.

3. Lewis, Lisa. “Victorian Mourning Traditions & Fashions”. Cemetery Explorer. 2010. Web 2013.

5."Mourning and Funeral Usages."n.a. Harper’s Bazaar. 17  Apr 1886. Web 2013.

6. “Origin of the No Nose Club”. Star. Issue 1861, 18 February 1874.

8. Sharp, James J. “Water. Sanitation, and Health: A Review.” Memorial University of Newfoundland. n.d. PDF.
images:

"Victorian Mourning Etiquette"   http://www.tchevalier.com/fallingangels/bckgrnd/mourning/

 "Dressed for Mourning" : https://www.msu.edu/user/beltranm/mourning/mourning.htm