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Unveiling the Dark Side of Victorian Era: Unsettling Discoveries

The History Sleuth 6-7 minutes 2/23/2023

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View of Victorian park scenePhoto bycommons.wikimedia

Victorian times were full of creepy and strange practices, a lot of which died down over the years. However, some of these traditions ( mentioned below) have been passed down over the generations, and as weird as they may seem, these practices are carried out by certain groups still to this day.

Vignettes

The high class, and eventually the middle class, did not have televisions. Thus they kept themselves amused. Friends and relatives would dress up, using extravagant costumes and pose for photos as one of the most common types of amusement.

This may seem innocent, but try to picture your grandmother posing on different tables at home while everybody applauds while she is dressed as a Greek woodland nymph. In actuality, the concept is spooky. However, this was very typical and enjoyable for the Victorians.

Poorhouses

Government-run housing for the needy, elderly, and mentally sick was known as a “poorhouse.” They were frequently filthy and overflowing with undesirable members of society. Poverty was therefore viewed as disgraceful since it resulted from an absence of the moral character of grit.

It was usual for entire households to live alongside other families inside the communal setting of the poorhouses, and many of the residents were expected to work to help pay for their board. The lifestyle of an inmate in a poor house was not all that bad in Victorian times.

Food

English cuisine can be unsettling even at its best, but this was especially true during Victorian times. The Victorians consumed almost all an animal, especially the offal. Turtle soup was yet another well-known Victorian delicacy. The greenish jello-like fat from the turtles was treasured above all else because it was used to flavor the soup cooked from the animal’s long-boil stringy flesh.

Turtles are no longer commonly consumed due to their declining numbers, but you may still buy them in certain US states where they are still abundant.

Surgery

In Victorian times, having a good surgeon and a clean operating room was extremely fortunate, given that one out of four surgical patients died following the procedure. There was no anesthetic, postoperative pain medication, or electric technology to speed up an operation. Not only was surgery in the Victorian era weird, but it was also horrifying.

As 2 of Liston’s surgery assistants, or “dressers,” grab a firm hold of the writhing patient’s shoulder, the assembled group of apprehensive medical students diligently check their pocket clocks.

The fully aware man stares in complete terror at the assortment of knives, saws, and needles beside him. He is already in excruciating pain from the severely broken leg he sustained when he fell in between a train and a platform adjacent to King’s Cross.

Jack the Ripper

The abomination called Jack Ripper haunted London in the late Victorian century. The Ripper eventually killed five or more East End prostitutes, utilizing the pea-soupers as a pretext. Due to the brutality of the attacks and the police’s failure to apprehend the murderer, tabloids, whose readership had been increasing during this time, they heaped widespread and permanent renown on the murderer.

The killings’ stories are a mix of actual historical study, mythology, and pseudo-history because the identity of the murderer was never established. Numerous authors, scholars, as well as amateur sleuths, have put forth hypotheses regarding the killer’s identities and that of his victims.

Freak Show

A freak show was an exhibit of rarities, “freaks in nature” (such as persons who are unusually short or tall or who have both males as well as female secondary sexual features), as well as acts that are meant to shock the audience.

The Elephant Man

He is most likely the freak show’s most well-known performer. Englishman Joseph Carey Merrick, whose physical characteristics were the result of a congenital condition, earned the nickname “The Elephant Man.” There is no doubt that freak shows were among the most creepy aspects of society at that time.

Memento Mori

The Latin term “Memento mori” means “Remember you shall die.” Photography was very new and quite expensive during the Victorian era. Whenever a loved one passed away, their family members would occasionally have a photo taken of the deceased in a pose, frequently alongside other family members. Most Victorians would never be photographed again; it was the lone occasion.

The appearance of life was occasionally increased in these post-mortem photos by propping the patient’s eyelids open or drawing pupils into the photo print. Many early shots also have a pink hue applied to the corpse’s cheeks. Adults posed more frequently in armchairs or perhaps even braced on boards with unique designs—another typical prop in the post-mortem pictures of different types.

Queen Victoria

The Victorian era is named after Queen Victoria, who was, quite plainly, bloody creepy, so she had to be at the top of this list. When the queen’s husband, Albert, passed away in the year 1861, she entered a state of mourning, wearing a black dress up until her death several years later, and she wanted her country to follow suit.

In the years that followed, she rarely stepped foot in London and shunned public appearances. She became known as the “Widow of Windsor” due to her seclusion. Her somber rule put a gloomy shadow over Britain, and her power was so immense that the era was rife with unsettling events. Ironically, London was draped with purple as well as white when Victoria passed away because she detested black funerals very much.