Tag: 19th century

The Origin of the Weekend for Workers

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The weekend was invented in the 19th century in Marseille, France (pronounced “mar-say”) as part of a broader societal shift during the Industrial Revolution. During the period, workers within factories and shipyards were often laboring 6 – 7 days per week, with little rest in between shifts. Because Marseille had a bustling port with a strong labor movement and  growing working class, reformers and unions began to push for a scheduled rest day for leisure and recovery. By the mid 19th century, experiments of giving workers Saturday afternoons off began to spread rapidly, which permitted workers more time for their families, religious observance(s), and day to day community life. This practice gradually evolved into the 2 day weekend, beginning in France and then being disseminated across Europe and North America. World governments and industries permitted this shift to occur because it became understood that rest improved productivity and overall job satisfaction

The Origin of Uppercase and Lowercase Letters and the Influence of Typesetting Upon the English Language

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The term “uppercase” and “lowercase” in relation to alphabet letters was derived during the Victorian period within England. Advertising was highly prominent during the 19th century and used ubiquitously by businesses. The poster makers who would serve these businesses would use letters which were essentially stamps, dipped into thick, viscous, oily ink, specifically formulated this way to cling to and transfer cleanly onto coarse paper which was designed to be rough so that it could absorb as much ink as possible. Compositors, which was the name for this particular vocation during the 19th century, would keep their letters in a type case with large letters at the top and small letters at the bottom. The letters were kept in what was effectively a suitcase which did not close which is where the terms “uppercase” and “lowercase” originated from, as the letters were stored in either the upper portion of the type case or the lower portion of the type case. Each individual letter, a block referred to as a “sort”, was cast in metal and crafted backward to be arranged by hand by a skilled craftsperson. The layout of the case, with capital letters in the upper section and lowercase letters in the bottom, was highly pragmatic, as it positioned the most often used letters at the bottom closer to the person setting the typeset. Interestingly, this pragmatism influenced the English language as compositors not only set letters, they also selected when to use punctuation, spacing, and line breaks, all of which shaped how text was read and understood. Because movable type requires physical pieces for every character used, punctuation was to be used deliberately as too many commas, colons, em dashes etc. meant more time spent, more metal used, and more space being taken up upon the page. This physical constraint helped standardize English punctuation use and even influenced sentence structure, encouraging clarity and economy in writing which are themes that have endured into the 21st century

The Fallacy of the American Cowboy Dueling at High Noon

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The classic cowboy motif of two gritty outlaws squaring off at high noon in the middle of the street is a fallacy. Street duels directly related to the American West have only occurred 5x – 10x from 1860 – 1900. The most well renowned high noon dual and the inspiration for much of the cowboy genre aesthetic within Hollywood cinema was in 1865, a standoff between Bill Hickok and Davis Tutt in Springfield, United States of America. This particular dual inspired over a century of cinematic exaggeration and hyperbole within the film genre. In reality, most gunfights within the American West during the 19th century were spontaneous, chaotic, and rarely honorable (e.g. ambushes from behind saloon doors or shootouts from areas with ample coverage etc.). Whilst Hollywood would later romanticize these rare dual encounters, the cowboy lifestyle day to day was far more rugged and utilitarian than it is depicted within media. Cowboys were working class laborers, much like agricultural workers of the modern day, they were often young, diverse in background, and driven by necessity of survival rather than personal glory. These men and women spent long days upon horseback herding cattle across a vast and unforgiving landscape, contending with harsh weather cycles, animal stampedes, and the constant threat of injury via animal or human being. The cowboy period of American history, although brief, played a vital role in shaping the economic and cultural landscape of the American frontier

The Fallacy of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte Being Short in Stature

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Napoleon Bonaparte was not actually short in stature, in fact he was of average height. This misconception stems from paperwork being written about Bonaparte which states that he was 5’2″, written as 5 pieds 2 pouces within France during the early 19th century, but it was from a French town which used an antiquated unit of measurement referred to as the “French foot”, which classified the imperial measurement of 1′ as 13″ instead of the 12″ which is what 1′ is stated to be within the imperial measurement system. When accounting for this error in transcription, it would appear that Bonaparte was actually 5’7″ which during the last half of the 18th and beginning half of the 19th century when Bonaparte was alive, was considered average, or even slightly above average in regard to the stature of height. The fallacy of Bonaparte being short was exaggerated by English propaganda, particularly satirical cartoons which portrayed Bonaparte as small and temperamental, affixing this image to Bonaparte for centuries and into the modern day

One Person Can Change the World Via the Gift of Charity

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It is often said that one person cannot make a difference, but on December 19, 1843, Charles Dickens released A Christmas Carol, with charitable donations skyrocketing seemingly overnight as the book became a best seller and sold out by Christmas Eve of that same year. A Christmas Carol has gone on to become one of the best selling book publications of all time even during the modern day. Dickens’ publication was not only a story, it was a strong critique of the socioeconomic inequalities which plagued Victorian England, and Europe as a whole, during the 19th century due to the development of the Industrial Revolution during the 18th century. Dickens’ work discusses the moral obligations of the wealthy and was successful at projecting a message of social justice and reformation. After its release, the English public’s attitude toward poverty and charity softened, with many becoming more generous during the holiday season, a tradition which persists into the modern day in the form of holiday gift giving on Christmas and/or Christmas Eve. Dickens deliberately retailed A Christmas Carol affordably in a concerted effort to ensure it would reach as broad of an audience as possible. This decision contributed greatly to the novels rapid success and influence within English culture. The book serves as a strong example of how both literature and art can function as powerful tools for advocacy and reformation, perhaps even upon a global scale

How U.S. Teacher Amos Bronson Alcott Influenced the Educatuonal System of the Modern Day During the 19th Century

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Amos Bronson Alcott, a man once described as the most intelligent person of his era, developed the concept of recess for students as well as the concept of raising ones hand in class. Alcott believed in desegregated classes, mixing both Caucasian and African American students during the 19th century. Alcott fulfilled his dream of opening an adult educational institution in 1879 which he entitled “The Concord School of Philosophy and Literature” in Orchid House which was the Alcott family home in Concord, United States of America

The Auctioning of Spouses During the 18th Century and 19th Century

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Traditionally, if a wife was no longer desired by her husband, he would lead her in her Sunday best, to the towns market square, laiden with a rope halter wrapped around her neck or waste, to be sold to the highest bidder. Women were exhibited the same way livestock are sold during the modern day. Over the course of the 18th and 19th century, approximately 300 transactions of a wife for money were exchanged within the U.K. The most recent exchange took place in 1928, in Blackwood, Wales for £1.00. Technically wife sales were illegal but because wives were considered the property of their husbands, English society turned a blind eye to the act

The Original Medical Term for an Intellectually Disabled Person and the Evolution of This Term

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The original medical term within psychology for a developmentally disabled person was “simpleton” during the 19th century which eventually became the wider used “moron”, from the Ancient Greek “moros” which means “dull”, a term originally considered neutral and non-pejorative. Because the term “moron” became used pejoratively within society by the 1960’s, the term was altered to become “retard”, from the Latin “retardare” which means “to make slow, delay, keep back, or hinder”. Because this term also became used pejoratively, the term was changed again in 2010 under the Barack Obama administration to become “intellectually disabled”. Other variants have become common place synonyms, often used interchangeably, either correctly or incorrectly, within society (e.g. “developmentally delayed”, “specialized needs”, developmentally disabled” etc.)

The Parasol and the Advent and Evolution of the Umbrella

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Parasols, the precursor to the umbrella, were initially comprised of tree leaves, specifically eucalyptus and palm branches. The original intent of the parasol was to stop ultraviolet radiation from the sun, from penetrating the skin and causing it to become tan. The term “parasol” is derived from the French term “para” which means “to shield from”, from the root Latin term “parare” (pronounced “pah-rah-ray”), and the French term “sol”, which means “sun”. Parasols and umbrellas can be separated by their appearance as parasols are typically colorful and lively whilst umbrellas are generally solid, muted colors (e.g. black, grey, white etc.). It was not until the 1750’s when English philanthropist Jonas Hanway began carrying an umbrella in public with the intent to avoid rain that the idea caught on as a social trend and a new technology. Umbrellas up until the 19th century were heavy, weighing approximately 10 lbs. as they were comprised of whale bone with wooden rods setup to support the canvas. In the 1920’s, Hans Haupt helped usher the next generation of umbrellas in by inventing the foldable umbrella, the same kind of umbrella used during the modern day

Photographic Evidence of Lewis Carroll’s Alleged Pedaphilia Involving Alice Liddell, the Protagonist of Alice In Wonderland

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A photograph linked to Lewis Carroll was found in the Musée Cantini, a French museum in Marseille, France, which depicts what appears to be a pubescent aged Lorina Liddell who was the older sister of Alice Liddell, the person whom the fictional character of Alice in Alice In Wonderland was based upon. The photograph is problematic as it displays Liddell, fully nude, from a frontal angle. It’s unclear if the photograph was taken by Carroll or only linked to him, and it’s not completely clear as to whether or not the girl in the photograph is actually Liddell. The image isn’t permitted to leave France, so any study upon the subject must be conducted within the borders of the country. In 1993, Carroll expert Edward Wakeling deemed the photo to be not of Liddell after repeated examination and comparison to other images of Liddell. Nicholas Burnett, a picture conservationist with specialized knowledge in 19th century photography technology has stated that he believes the inscription upon the photograph which states “Lorina Liddell, Carroll, Col, MC” is actually a dealers notation which states what the photograph is of, where it came from, and denotes that it’s part of a collection, hence the abbreviation “col”. It’s unclear what “MC” stands for as the Musée Cantini does not use this abbreviation, but it could possibly stand for “Musée Cantini”. Carroll photographed the Liddell girls during the 1860’s which is crucial because the photograph in question has a slow growth mold which is difficult to reproduce fraudulently, beneath a thin layer of egg white albumin used as an outer coating. This photograph is known to have been cropped as the negative is larger than the print which is impossible to achieve unless the photograph itself was cut down. Carrol favored using an Ottawa Walls folding camera which is the same kind of camera which created the photograph in question. Finally, the print was made from a wet collodion negative which is a printing technique which Carroll is known to have used. If the photograph was from a later date, it would have used a paper negative which would have caused it to appear less crisp and clear. The evidence seems to suggest that Carroll did indeed take and develop the photograph. Forensic comparative analysis using modern scientific methods of comparing one photograph to another were used to examine the photograph and experts concluded that the girl in the photograph, is indeed Lorina as the eyes, specifically the epicanthic fold of the eyes, matches that of photographs of Lorina when she is in her adult years, as well as her elder years. The nose provides another example of evidence as the width of the nose at the nasion, meaning the point between the eyes and the bridge of the nose, the width of the alae (pronounced “ail-ee”) which is the spongy part of the side of the nose, and the nostrils are all broadly consistent with later photographs of Lorina. The lips provide further evidence, and perhaps the most interesting of all the compiled evidence as the lips definitively show a Cupid’s bow upon the upper lip, but also a lower lip which is prominent and protruding upon the right side, but not the left. These features forensically demonstrate that there is moderate likelihood that the photograph of the pubescent girl is indeed Lorina. The leader of the forensics team which evaluated the evidence at hand has gone on record to state that because no court case involved, it can confidently be stated that the photograph in question is in fact Lorina, however it should be noted that if a court case were pursuant, the evidence presented may not be enough to garner a conviction as its lacking solid, definitive proof, beyond and to the exclusion of reasonable doubt