Charm and Ugly Lovers Through History Told in Tales
A column recalls famous figures famed for beauty or ugliness and their romances. It notes John Wilkes’s boastful charm despite his looks, Marat’s unsettling appeal to aristocratic women, Bailly’s horselike face, and surprising matches including Lady Mary X’s marriage to Mr Mudford. The piece blends anecdotes of allure and affection across Paris and London.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Wilkes
London
Wilkes
Mary Mead
Beauty and the
Beast
Potter
Jean Paul Marat
Paris
Marat
Bailly
France
Mary X
Mudford
Mary
Man Monkey
Awkward Text From London Graphic On Hog Killing Note
A butcher, devout Christian, sent business notes with a text. A lady asked him to kill her pigs and he replied he would call on Friday to kill your hogs without fall. Yours, Mr. B. N. B. Be ye also ready.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London Graphic
Cabman Seeks Lord Strathcona in Old Age Visit
An elderly cabman visited Lord Strathcona at his offices to recall driving him to his ship bound for Canada many years ago. Strathcona listened tearfully as the man lamented losing one of two grandsons and falling on hard times. The nobleman offered a small sum of money to ease the old fellow's sorrows.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lord Strathcona
Scotland
Canada
Jeba
Men Who Cheat Themselves In Work And Growth
Orison Swett Marden argues in Success Magazine that workers who scheme and shirk end up laboring harder to avoid real effort. He asserts the youth undervaluing his services cheats himself of future earnings and skill by settling for less.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Orison Swett Marden
Success Magazine
Mule Outsmarts College Education in Georgia Advice
An Atlanta Constitution piece quotes a farmer advising a graduate. He emphasizes practical, plain speech to a mule, arguing college learning may fail in real work and that dialect over fancy language helps work succeed. The anecdote mocks academic pretensions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lve
Atilanta
Judge Hoar Defends Himself in Motion for New Trial
Judge Hoar rebukes General Butler in a case over a new trial. Butler quotes a harsh maxim. Hoar replies the devil once spoke that line in a motion for a new trial.
City of Mexico Life Between Quiet Doors and Open Streets
A Chambers' Journal sketch of Mexico City contrasts siesta silence with a waking bustle. It notes charred casemates behind barred windows, stealth in daily life, and vivid imagery of a vaquero rider, his colorful gear, and the social textures of urban and rural Mexico.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mexico
Frank TI
Shaw
Chambers’ Journal
Why Men Wear Trousers
A reflection on gendered dress history noting men never choose trousers and are shaped by female influence from infancy. The piece argues males are subjected to changing styles through women’s guidance and social expectations.
Woman Forcing Trousers Sparks Fear of Change
A Providence Journal excerpt notes a boy pressured by a woman to wear dresses and later knickerbockers, while finally donning long pants only on her cue. The piece argues gender norms push men to conform, with the man left fearing any deviation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Providence Journal
Virginia Cabbage Recipe From Chicago Record Herald
A small pointed cabbage is prepared by cutting the top and removing the center to form a wall. The filling combines chopped cabbage, ground ham and veal, onion, green pepper, crackers, eggs, milk, melted butter, celery salt, salt, white pepper, and cayenne. Stuff, boil in salted water, slice, and serve with cream sauce. Serve potato croquettes on the same platter.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Virginia
Chicago Record-Herald
Fatherly Advice turns farm into stage in old Chicago note
A country youth asks for stage permission but his father jokes that the world is a stage and he should act at home. The old farmer suggests plowing the acre behind the barn as the setting for the drama Down on the Farm in a humorous Chicago News column.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Granger
Chicago News
Courtship In the North
A Success Magazine vignette describes an Eskimo father instructing his daughter Aurora to court the young man down below. The daughter replies that the suitor has lingered so long he is “frozen to the snow settee,” leaving the task to the father.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Aurora
Success Magazine
Young Poet Hopeful From Sideshow Years
A youth answers a magazine editor’s question about poetry by recalling a two season run as the “fasting man” in a sideshow. The remark captures a humbling, early moment of artistic aspiration.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cincinnat! Enquirer
No man is wise at all times
A succinct proverb attributed to Pliny the Elder notes that wisdom ebbs and flows, warning against overconfidence and urging caution in judgment during changing circumstances.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pliny the Filder
Did Him A Favor Cost The Bank Dearly
A London bank customer with a balance just over £1,000 asked the manager to cash a £1,000 check for a friend to prove he could pay next day. The manager agreed, and pay clerks at four desks cashed £1,000 each, totaling about £5,000, far exceeding the customer's actual balance, and the man disappeared.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Pall Mall Gazette
Fashion Garrick Kills Upswept Hats on Stage
In eighteenth century England women wore grand hats so tall they forced a spectator to sit on the floor of a coach. Samuel Rogers recalls Garrick appearing on stage with a vegetables piled headpiece, a carrot dangling, deflating the trend and drawing audience scorn.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Garrick
England
Samuel Rogers
Ranelagh
Hannah More
Dr Johnson's Resolutions on his fifty first birthday
Dr Johnson compiled resolutions in 1760 on his fifty first birthday. The list commits to opposing idle obligations, pursuing study, reclaiming imagination, and consulting Tetty’s resolves with Deo juvante.
Early morning ritual and life discipline notes
A list describing a regimen to rise early, study religion, attend church, reduce strong drinks, keep a journal, oppose laziness by doing tomorrow's tasks, rise as early as possible, request history books, and organize a personal scheme of life.
Proper Way Curious Visiting Card Custom
A visiting American first timer asks if one should bend the end of a visiting card when calling. The reply says no you bite it in the middle, a quaint etiquette quip from a Ladies' Home Journal noted in a humorous exchange.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
America
Ladies’ Home Journal
Bridled Brides in Abyssinian Custom Report
Cape Colony Argus describes Abyssinian bridal rites where a bride is isolated for three months, covered except for the head, and burn fragrant bainsches to alter skin color from ebony to cafe au lait. Elders feed the bride nutritive ferment balls during the process.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cafe Au Lait
Cape Colony
Dangerous Eggs Joke Hits Cape Town Tour
A famed actor notes risks in show business and recalls Wisham Brown who toured South Africa. Wisham’s cousin reveals he was killed by being pelted with eggs in Cape Town, prompting a wry remark that ostrich eggs would have been deadlier.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Wisham Brown
South Africa
Wisham
Wish
Cape Town
Father and son table manners exchange
A London Mail joke captures a father teaching manners at the dinner table. He notes he leaves the table after eating, while his son quips that is about all he does. The brief exchange highlights humor in family interactions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John
London Mail
No. 1 Focus Draws Attention in Quotation
In a Washington Star excerpt Uncle Eben mocks those who only look out for themselves and end up as the smallest figure in the arithmetic.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Eben
Washington Star
Mosquito Menace Haunts African Hunter in Nyassa
A missionary recounts how African mosquitoes intoxicate and daze him despite nets and fires. He describes sleeping rough under a net as hundreds invade nightly, leaving him feverish and sleep deprived. The piece cites the New Orleans Times-Democrat.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Nyassa
New Orleans Times-Democrat
Queen of Graceful Talent Receives High Praise
The speaker lavishes compliments on the ambitious actress, praising her beauty and magnetism. He claims her genius transcends stagecraft and predicts lasting fame, while she modestly notes a wish for mention of her clothes and figure. Puck.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Puck
Disinterested Lord Monboddo and the Garricks at Hampton Court
Lord Monboddo, noted Scotch judge and Boswell subject, famed for wit both youthful and mature, visited the Garricks at their Hampton Court villa. Hannah More was a guest during a garden stroll with the trio when the scene unfolds.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lord Monboddo
Boswell
Johnson
Garricks
Hampton Court
Hannah More
Lord Declares Love to Tairana Girl in Courtship
His lordship astonishes sprightly Hannah with a love declaration and offer of the heart. She declines, prompting the man to return home and confess to Mrs. Garrick that he regrets the refusal and would have liked to teach Greek to the girl.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hannah
Language Talk and Fashion Slang at Lunch Table
A London Outlook piece notes diners chatting in many languages amid casual chatter about meals and golf. A Countess is described in vivid attire with sea green cloth, bolero, marathon stole, and a burnt straw hat, illustrating women's slang tied to expense.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Homemade Ink Recipe From Nutgalls to Copperas
Instructions describe making ink by bruising nutgalls in water for four hours then adding gum arabic and copperas. Creosote is added to prevent mold and a pleasant smell while avoiding corrosion unlike chloride of mercury.
Preparing For A Siege
A brief quip about financial excuses and a mock household epidemic joke. The husband jokes that the secretary may catch the money problem from the cashier and the teller becomes the tremor in the household.
Methodical burglars in suburban quiet
An elderly man at a whist party explains how burglars have entered his home nightly for two weeks. He notes Mary, his wife, hears them, they wake him, and the burglars leave by the dining room window after locking it. The tale ends with admiration for the burglars’ method.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mary
John
The Giraffe A Curious Creature Of Africa And Allegory
A fragmentary Collier's Weekly style piece argues the giraffe is a surreal mashup of animals and trees. It humorously notes an eight foot neck and distant head, claims incongruous habitats, and ends with a quip about ticks and common sense.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Animal Kingdom
Africa
Collier’s Weekly
Wood oil extraction and characteristics in China
Wood oil is obtained from the wood oil tree by pressing or extracting. The oil color varies by method, with China typically heating it strongly producing a very thick and black oil. The oil forms a very durable substance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
China
Wood Lacquer Outshines Linseed Oil In Hardness And Speed
A Scientific American note claims lacquer for wood hardens better than boiled linseed oil and dries faster in damp weather. It adds that nut residues after oil extraction serve as a fertilizer while also destroying root-feeding insects.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Scientific American
Scottish Miner's Wit at East Lothian Ambulance Talk
In Elphinstone East Lothian a miner mockingly disputed a lecturer's choking remedy. He warned that a knife throat incision could lead to murder prosecutions if death occurred and self prosecution if recovery followed.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Elphinstone
East Lothian
Dundee Advertiser
Early British Museum Hours and Visitor Rules
In its early days the British Museum operated six hours a day on five days in summer and four hours in other months. Visitors could not stay longer than two consecutive hours and only fifteen people were allowed at a time. Each batch of visitors was guided by an attendant.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
British Museum
Ready For It. A Witty Exchange From The Spinster
A brief humorous exchange appears in the Illustrated Bits with a young wife praising a man who always says the right thing at the right time and the spinster replying she could if she had the pleasure of meeting such a man.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Londorup
Missed the Name in London Fun Column
Fragmentary theater note describes a hurried entry escape from the theater with a playful misnaming scene. Dod forgets Victor while a guest hurries in as the Doctor jokes about missing a train and catching the text in a London Fun section.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ate Hom
Cha
Dod
Vitor
TraneJian
London
Rivalry at Revival: Two Degro Women Clash in Kitchen Scene
In New Orleans Mrs. 8’s household, Martha the cook and Eliza the maid clash over religion. Martha leads in church revivals while Eliza initially resists, then attends, provoking a physical, bitter fracas as Martha accuses Eliza of spite. The piece highlights humor and racial tension in a domestic setting.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New Orleans
Ile of
Commmon
Martha
Eliza
Mary
Liza
Miss Mary
New York Times
Montagnais Indians of Canada Hunt and Trade in Bush
The Montagnais of Canada spend most of the year in the bush hunting for pelts and meat. Each band rendezvouses at Hudson Bay posts for trade, rest, and recreation before winter expeditions. They do not farm, with bands named after lakes and rivers in Quebec and nearby regions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Canada
Hudson Bay Company
Lake Mistassini
Mistassini
Nekonba River
Lake St. John
Pointe Bleue
Tadousac
Gulf of St. Lawrence
Also Mentioned on This Page
LIFE
Giraffe
Montagnais
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