Photo I took at a Victorian Medicine Show - This is an old condom packet from the late 1800s! It was prescribed by doctors to those who contracted STI’s.
Setting up a vintage photography exhibit at work - Bliss.
Final of the ladies’ lawn tennis single tournament at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
Valentine’s Day, like Halloween, is rooted in pagan partying. The lovers’ holiday traces its roots to raucous annual Roman festivals where men stripped naked, grabbed goat- or dog-skin whips, and spanked young maidens in hopes of increasing their fertility. The annual pagan celebration, called Lupercalia, was held every year on February 15 and remained wildly popular well into the fifth century A.D.—at least 150 years after Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Here’s something quite off topic from my usual ramblings but I have been compelled to write a bit about … On days like today, a lot of my friends (online and in real life) get very sad if they don’t have a significant other on Valentines Day. I say, to heck with that!
Here are a few things that you can remember; One, you don’t need to be in a relationship to celebrate all of the wonderful things that life offers. Two, you shouldn’t let your relationship status define YOU! Three, spend the day pampering and loving yourself for who you are, because you are awesome and wonderful.
Pop in a period piece dvd, read a book, give yourself a spa treatment, go for a jog - Do whatever it is that makes you feel awesome!
Thank you for listening to my little ramble and enjoy your Valentines day!
Love always, Your Hostess.
Opening Ball of the High Park Curling and Lawn Bowling Club, Toronto, 1911
Bathing Beauties, 1909.
Ring of Serbian Queen Theodora, ca. 1300s.
