Objects in Articles – August Edition
September 8, 2017
August’s Objects in Articles comes with a challenge! Pick one article from this list and read it through! I promise I haven’t included super long ones. If you follow this blog, you probably know that I love all things history. But, I find it really difficult to motivate myself to read about it! This blog has certainly helped and having a community of readers is also encouraging. Perhaps you also find it hard to make the time to read about a topic that interests you. So make yourself a cup of tea and try one of these! Comment below, noting which article you read, to encourage us all to read a little more widely.
- 18th Century ‘Flying Machines’
- What do you think of when you hear the term ‘flying machine’? I’m willing to bet you didn’t think of horse-drawn coaches! This article, written by blogger Sarah Murden, includes some great newspaper clippings that record everyday people’s reaction to the new coaches that ‘flew’ around England at speeds greater than had ever before been seen.
- Convict’s Ticket of Leave
- Some of the best objects are the ones that are intimately connected to specific people in time and those which have survived despite the odds. This article shares about such an object – a ticket of leave given to an Australian convict William Bartlett. A ticket of leave allowed a convict to work for themselves within the colony they were sentenced to. Only a slip of paper, it was always to be kept in the convict’s pocket to be brought out at official request. It’s amazing that this one has surfaced after so many years!
- The Royal Navy’s Size over Time
- This one is for those interested in ships! Historic UK has written a post about the size of the British Royal Navy from 1650 to now. According to this article, the current number of ships in the British Navy is actually less than the number recorded for 1650.
- The Mystery of Mrs Janet Macdonald
- This one is a pretty short article, but I’ve included it because it is about a beautiful dress that has a fascinating back story. Part of the Museum of Arts and Sciences collection, it was a wedding dress worn by an Indigenous Australian in the 1880’s. Read more about this dress here.
- A Berry Old Tradition
- If you like strawberries, this is a great blog post to read! It gives an overview of strawberries from the 1600’s to today, provides a 17th century recipe for a strawberry tart, and discusses why strawberries are linked to Wimbledon.
2 Comments
Gemma
I read ‘A Berry Old Tradition’. I absolutely love strawberries and it was so interesting to read the transition of strawberries over time. It is amazing how strawberries themselves have changed over time from smaller fruits to the larger ones that we know today and how the recipes and traditions have changed too. A really interesting read, thank you 🙂
Memoirs of a Teapot
Thanks for taking part in the reading challenge! Food history is not something we would spontaneously think of to study, is it?! But it’s very interesting when we do! Glad you enjoyed it.