VICTORIAN GLOSSARY-
Common 19th Century Words-
A-
Absinthe- A strong unsweetened liquor containing oil of wormwood, usually diluted for drinking, popular in 19th century France.
Antimacasser- Doily placed on back of upholstered Victorian chairs to absorb hair oil.
B-
Bathing Costume- Turn of the century bathing suit consisting of shirt & long bloomers with an over skirt, cap, black stockings & flat shoes.
Boater- 1900 gentleman’s summer hat, also worn by the Gibson Girl.
Bodice- Shirtwaist with boning inside.
Bloomers- Closed drawers worn under petticoat.
Bohemian Garnet- Blood red stone popular for Victorian mourning jewelry.
Bombazine- A twilled dress fabric; black bombazine was used for mourning.
Boning- Whale ribs cut in strips used for corsets.
Boris Durc- Victorian Mourning jewelry made with dried blood.
Bowler- Gentlemen’s hat popular in 19th century England.
Bustle- Padding or framework attached to back of the woman’s waist under her skirt that pushed up the dress in back; a sign of fashion.
Button Boots- Boots with button closures instead of laces. These were always custom made for that particular person.
C-
Cambric Tea- Mixture of milk, sugar, tea, and hot water. A favorite of Victorian children.
Cameo- A carving on an item of jewelry. It features a raised relief image, often of a woman’s face.
Calling Cards- Visitors would leave their card with their name on it at the home of friends that were out, so a return visit to be arranged.
Cape- Type of ladies over coat usually without sleeves.
Caster Set- Glass bottles to hold condiments in a silver holder.
Every Victorian dining table had a Caster Set.
Chatelaine- Worn by housekeepers in the 19th century, it consisted of a decorative belt hook or clasp worn at the waist with a series of chains suspended from it. Each chain is mounted with a useful household item such as scissors, thimble, watch, and keys.
Chemise- Slip, the corset was worn over this garment, never on bare skin.
Cloth Book- Children’s books circa 1890 printed on linen.
Coach - A large four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle covering a fixed route; passengers would ride inside and on top.
Corset- Undergarment worn to bind and shape a woman’s waist.
Corset Cover- Camisole style undergarment worn over corset to hide the boning.
Crepe- crimped silk material mandatory for first year mourning attire in ladies. The fabric is made from silk and similar to crepe paper. Mourning crepe was made from gummed tightly twisted silk threads. It was a volatile and hazardous fabric. In the rain, it would shrivel and practically disintegrate. It was also unhealthy to breathe in its vapors.
Crinoline- Full slip to puff out a lady’s skirt.
Croquet - A game played on a lawn where players knock balls through a set of hoops.
Croup- Any affection of the larynx or trachea accompanied by a hoarse cough. Common in the children of the Victorian era.
D-
Dance Card- To be filled out by dance partner’s names for the evening.
Dyspepsia- Victorian term for indigestion accompanied by loss of appetite, nausea, and or heartburn.
Drawers- Open crotch bloomer style under wear.
Dresser Set- implements used for a ladies toilette usually consisting of mirror, brush, comb, shoe horn, cuticle pusher, nail buffer, powder jars, perfume bottle, hair receiver, on a matching tray.
E-
Edwardian Era- From 1901-1919 when King Edward sat on the English throne.
F-
Fan- Hand held accessory used to cool ladies in the heat. Fans were made of paper, silk, lace, and Ostrich feathers.
Fraktur- An ornate type of written or printed German lettering .
Pennsylvania Dutch made birth and baptismal certificates & other documents using fraktur lettering.
Frakturs- documents themselves are called frakturs, even if they have no fraktur lettering at all.
French Jet- Black glass designed to imitate real jet. It was frequently carved and used for Victorian mourning jewelry.
G-
Garters- Fancy elastic used to hold up a lady’s stockings above the knee.
Gibson Girl- Was the epitome of the feminine ideal as portrayed in the pen and ink illustrations created by Charles Dana Gibson, spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States. Evelyn Nesbit was the first Gibson Girl model.
Gloves- Worn over a lady’s hands to keep her warm and fashionable.
Great Exhibition- An enormous exhibition in 1851 that celebrated the British Empire and displayed advances in technology and the arts. The exhibition was held in the Crystal Palace, in London’s Hyde Park, from May 1st to October 15th 1851.
Guimpe- Lace dickey worn under open neck dresses for modesty.
Gutta Percha- A natural latex obtained from evergreen trees in East Asia, sometimes used for mourning jewelry.
H-
Hair Comb- Ornate accessory used for women’s hairstyles.
Hair Receiver- A round container made of glass, celluloid, or china with a hole in the center lid. Victorian women stored used hair from their hairbrushes in these receivers to build up their hairstyles with their own hair rats.
Hansom cab - A two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse with the driver sitting on a high seat at the back, used as a taxi.
Hairwork Jewelry- intricate mourning jewelry fashioned from a loved one’s hair.
Hat- Worn on the head for fashionable purposes and also to keep ones head warm.
Hoop Skirt- Or caged crinoline, had a series of concentric hoops. This was tremendously popular to women because it lightened the weight of the multiple petticoats hanging from the corseted waist; and was much cooler. Women only had to wear one petticoat underneath and one or two petticoats over the hoop skirt.
I-
Inkwell - Holes or wells at the front of desks in the classroom, these were used to hold ink for writing with a pen.
Interred – Buried.
J-
Jacket- Outer garment, light weight coat to be worn over shirtwaist.
Jet - A type of fossilized coal. The most prized and expensive is from Whitby, England where it washes up on the shore.
Jewelry Casket- A footed, metal ornate jewelry box.
Johnny Cake- A crisp bread made of cornmeal, water or milk, salt, and sometimes an egg. Also called journey cake, probably because it kept well and could be taken on long trips.
K-
L-
Larder- A room or large closet where food is kept.
Lawn- A fine sheer linen fabric that was used mainly for caps, cuffs, & collars in the 1800’s for mourning clothing. By the 1900’s it was also used for white Edwardian Lingerie Dresses.
Leg-O-Mutton Sleeves- Full puffed sleeves from the shoulder that reached the height of popularity in 1895.
Laundress - A woman who would wash other people's clothes, sheets, etc., usually working at home.
M-
Mangle- English term, used to wring water from wet laundry, called a wringer in US.
Middle Class - People who earn enough money to live comfortably, such as doctors and lawyers.
Miser’s Purse- These purses were used by both men and women and the object was to keep the contents secure. They were long, almost stocking looking, narrow in the middle and closed at both ends.
Memento Mori- a Latin phrase that means Remember that you are mortal, Remember you will die. Memento Mori jewelry was made to remember and honor the deceased in the 19th century.
Mourning- Process of grieving an immediate family member according to society protocol. Two years was standard mourning for widows.
Mourning Clothes- Specific black clothing worn as a symbol to show the loss of a loved one. Black crepe was required for the first year.
Mourning Jewelry- Specific jewelry worn during the second half of mourning. Include, Jet, French Jet, Vulcanite, Bohemian Garnet, Stuart Crystal, Gutta Percha and Hairwork jewelry.
Muffler - A scarf.
N-
O-
Omnibus - In Victorian times buses were single or double deckers and were pulled by horses.
Ostrich Feathers- Used as ornamentation trim on women’s millinery and fans.
P-
Page - A boy or young man working as a servant.
Parasol- Much like an umbrella, Victorian women used the parasol to shield the sun from their porcelain complexions.
Parlor- Living room where company visited. Victorian parlors held all of the family’s best things, to showcase their wealth.
Pearlash- The common name for impure carbonate of potash.
Potash was used for dying mourning clothing black.
Petticoat- Victorian slip from hips to ankles used to add fullness.
Phonograph - An early type of music player, invented by Thomas A. Edison in 1877. The wax cylinder was developed later in 1888. You could only listen to about 2 minutes of sound when playing a wax cylinder.
Pinchbeck- False gold used for inexpensive jewelry during the 19th Century.
Pleurisy - A lung infection causing fever, coughing and difficulty in breathing.
Pocket Watch- Gentleman’s watch on a chain.
Polyphon - A large wooden music box that plays large flat metal discs with punched holes which moves over teeth connected to musical bells to produce the notes. Sounds like little bells when played.
Potash- was used for dying mourning clothing black.
Q-
Queen Victoria- British monarch who ruled the throne from 1837-1901. Her reign as Queen lasted 63 years and seven months, longer than that of any other British monarch to date. The period centered on her reign is known as the Victorian era.
R-
Rats- a term for sections of human hair used to build up women’s hairstyles for fullness. Popular for Gibson Girl hairstyle.
Reception Dress- A reception dress was a more somber dress than a ball gown, but much more elaborate than an ordinary day dress and in style resembled the dinner dress of the upper classes .
Reticule- Drawstring purse.
Rose Water- A watery solution made by distilling fresh flowers with water and using as a perfume or scent.
S-
Sally Lunn- A yeast-raised cake originally from Bath, England, supposedly named for the woman who first sold them there in the early 19th century.
Scrap- Also known as lithography, is colored printed papers and embossed die cuts that were used in the Victorian era by both children and adults for a fun past time. Collections of scraps were pasted into special scrap albums.
Scrap Albums- Similar to our scrap books of today, Victorians filled them with newspaper, magazine and fashion pattern clippings, & calling and greeting cards.
Scullery- A room next to the cooking kitchen where cleaning dishes was done.
Scullery Maid- One who worked cleaning dishes in the scullery.
Shilling - Old unit of money equal to twelve old pence (one shilling = five pence in today's money).
Shirtwaist- name for a Victorian woman’s blouse.
Slate - Children once learned to write by writing on black boards called slates with chalk.
Stagecoach - A large four-wheeled horse-drawn passenger vehicle covering a fixed route and stopping at set places along the way.
Steam locomotive - An engine powered by steam and used to pull a train.
Stockings- worn to cover a woman’s legs for modesty and warmth.
Stumpwork- A 19th Century invention that describes raised work embroidery and stuffed work.
Sweetmeats- Any shaped piece of confectionary, whether made primarily of sugar, or chocolate, or of fruit.
Switch- Hair Piece for women’s hairstyles.
T-
Three R’s - Victorian children were taught the three R’s (Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic).
Treacle- English word for molasses, found in 19th century recipe books.
Trifle- A dessert of sponge cake spread with jam, soaked with wine and combined with fruit, custard or whipped cream.
Trunks – Suitcases.
U-
Upper Class - People whose families are rich and powerful, such as landowners, factory owners, or aristocrats (lords, earls etc.)
V-
Victorian Era- From 1837-1901 when Queen Victoria sat on the throne of England.
Vulcanite- A hard rubber made with sulphur used for many items including mourning jewelry.
W-
Widow - A woman whose husband has died.
Widower - A man whose wife has died.
Widows Weeds- A term referring to mourning clothing.
Wireless - The old-fashioned name for a radio. Marconi invented an early form of communicating by radio called wireless telegraphy in 1896.
Workhouse - A place where poor, old or sick people lived and were taken care of. Those that were well enough had to work, also known as Poorhouse.
Working Class - People doing heavy manual work, usually for low wages, such as farm labourers, miners, builders and factory workers.
Wringer- used to wring water from wet laundry. Called a mangle in England.
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