The soft blurry edges of a world lit by gaslights was as much a reality as a metaphor for the world of the nineteenth century. The overly crisp outlines and hard edges of the later world of fluorescent lighting were unavailable to the world of the nineteenth century. Perhaps nothing more conspicuously captured this blurriness … [Read more…]
It was in 1843, only five years after the then-young Queen Victoria first sat on the throne, that the modern Christmas Card made its debut. Sir Henry Cole and his artist friend, JC Horsley, devised the first Christmas Card. The postal rates had just been drastically reduced with the introduction of the ‘Penny Post’, and … [Read more…]
It was the 30th of December 1879 and Caesar came home on the Star of Africa. Of course it wasn’t the ancient Roman monarch, Julius. It was an humble seacunny, Trazpero Caesar. Or was it Claspero? Some even called him Trisporong, or simply Proone. Names in the gaslit by-lanes of Calcutta flickered as much as the … [Read more…]
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