Wine was the drink of choice for members of society in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. While beer was also prevalent and the introduction of gin would threaten to upend the social order and infuse the streets with chaos in the early eighteenth century, wine was the preference of the cultured and ever present at […]

In eighteenth-century England, the wearing of wigs had become so entrenched in public custom that to go without one was unheard of for all who aspired to gentility and a great many who could not. Then as now, hairstyles and the time spent on hair was a reliable indicator of social class and gentility. Precision

Travel in the nineteenth century was an ordeal in every sense of the word. From the moment they or their servants began packing to their arrival at their destination and initial unpacking, travelers were subjected to a seemingly endless series of uncertainties and potential disasters. The unfamiliar led to anxiety and unless the traveler was

I have long been interested in the details of the lives of English and Continental servants from the Glorious Revolution through the present. In English country houses, the three Ancient Universities, and the Royal Palaces, archaic traditions live on in daily life. As a historian of social class, stratification comes up in nearly everything I

You may have come across a porcelain hair receiver at an estate sale or while thrifting and wondered what it was. I have seen them grouped with tea sets, separated, and once, sold with an egg cup as a warming cover. The quotidian items associated with grooming and presentation are some of the most personal

Whether you are curious about what something is, how it was used, or why people thought it was important, Material Culture Club is here to enlighten you. If you have a puzzling piece at home or see something you cannot fathom at a resale shop, chances are I will cover it here or have already

Today we will explore the significance of the hall stand as a piece of furniture in middle class homes during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Hall stands, like many other culturally significant pieces of furniture of the era, embodied the standing and affluence of the household. In middle class households, where the expression