...and other food of the period, or a little after the PotC period, actually. I've been listening to the Aubrey-Maturin series (Master & Commander, etc.) on Books-on-Tape (or CD in this case), and one of the accessory books that's been published for the series is Lobscouse and Spotted Dog, a book about the food of the period, complete with recipes ( Read more... )

"Notes from the Orlop"

is a wonderful blog integrated in the website of the Maine Maritime Museum, and it's truly a treasure trove for the researchers or simply curious among us! There are 34 entries so far, and each of them is well worth reading.

The latest entry, "Pretty Hair", sure kept me glued to the screen for a while. It's both informative ( Read more... )

AKA "Groaning" chairs were used in birthing.

Here is a site with some pictures of period parturition chairs.

Alternatively, Webster's Online Dictionary defines groaning chairs as:

Groaning chair. The chair in which a woman is confined or sits afterwards to receive congratulations. Similarly "groaning cake" and "groaning cheese" are the cake and ( Read more... )

Glossary of 18th Century Costume Terminology
http://people.csail.mit.edu/sfelshin/revwar/glossary.html

The American Colonist's Library
Digital versions of primary documents like the Magna Carta ect.
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a6605427caf.htm

La Couturiere Parisienne Costume and Fashion Site
It's very detailed and her bibliography/sources pages ( Read more... )

Apparently, Christmas was nothing like we have today. Almost all our traditions originate in the 19th Century.

This article on the Colonial Williamsburg website gives a good overview of an 18th Century Christmas ( Read more... )

teenybuffalo's post has me thinking about drink, so here's a bit more on the subject from 1700 by Maureen Waller:

Foreign observers felt that the English drank for the sake of it. Cesar de Saussure wrote home in amazement: 'Would you believe it, though water is to be had in abundance in London, and of a fairly good quality, absolutely none is drunk? The ( Read more... )

 You don't drink rum in pints!

...That's what I've wanted to say to several of my favorite writers in the Pirates fandom.  I don't want to hurt their feelings, because in the examples I've read I love the story otherwise, but it always spoils the mood a little for me when a character goes out drinking and orders "a pint of rum".  (
( Read more... )