Monday, August 10, 2015

A Taste Of The Macabre

The Victorian era is covered extensively within the Bytown Museum's collection, including a small statue of the Queen herself.


There seems a slightly macabre sensibility in the Victorian era, and it reflects itself in some of the exhibits- perhaps the ghosts that are said to haunt the museum are drawn to such things. They include a mourning fan, small caskets meant to hold keepsakes such as a lock of hair, or an elaborate wreath containing human hair.


Other items are a bit more conventional, such as the painting, the clock, or the tableware.


Period photographs of the building of the Parliament Buildings, both in terms of the original blocks and the restoration work on Centre Block, can also be found here in the Museum.


I leave off today with this item, a wringer. I took other photos in the Museum of another exhibit, but I'm leaving that for the upcoming theme day in September on Curiousities.

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39 comments:

  1. CloudiaAugust 10, 2015 at 12:08 AM

    cool stuff!

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  2. BlogorattiAugust 10, 2015 at 2:33 AM

    Interesting museum and photos.

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  3. HalcyonAugust 10, 2015 at 3:17 AM

    The Victorian age was an interesting time. Love seeing all these trinkets. What will people of the future think of our iPhones and such? ;-)

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  4. GreensboroDailyPhotoAugust 10, 2015 at 6:09 AM

    I could spend all day in a museum like this. The morbid, oddities are trending. Hadn't seen a mini casket before.

    Janis
    GDP

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  5. RevrunnerAugust 10, 2015 at 6:18 AM

    That last pic just reminded me of the saying "through the wringer" as in "You really put me through the wringer today". Probably was even more vivid an expression in the days when people really did have wringers. :-)

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  6. VPAugust 10, 2015 at 6:27 AM

    Some beautiful, some curious, some quite weird...

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  7. biebkriebelsAugust 10, 2015 at 7:02 AM

    Interesting items.

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  8. TamagoAugust 10, 2015 at 7:29 AM

    This is very interesing exhibit! Some weird ones...wreath containing human hair!

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  9. Jan K. alias AfanjaAugust 10, 2015 at 7:54 AM

    Nice to see all these historical items.

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  10. KarlAugust 10, 2015 at 9:11 AM

    Interesting and curious items indeed, William, thanks for sharing !

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  11. Elizabeth EdwardsAugust 10, 2015 at 9:19 AM

    i wonder why the clock & elderly lady painting are conversational? i will have to go look again. i was thinking she had such character. i rather enjoyed her look. i don't like picture much either ... when i am in them i mean. i always look comical ... my mom is great for that. she needs to tell me when she is taking my pics ... i usually have a silly look on my face or whatnot. ha. ha! ( :

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  12. Nancy ChanAugust 10, 2015 at 9:49 AM

    Museums are interesting places to visit. For museum of this sort, especially with weird stuff like mini caskets and locks of hair, I would prefer some company with me.

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  13. LindaAugust 10, 2015 at 9:52 AM

    Very neat!

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  14. RedAugust 10, 2015 at 10:04 AM

    It was a rather dark time so some of the exhibits demontstrate the mood. As for the wringer, I'm old enough to have powered the wringer for Mom.

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  15. Linda KayAugust 10, 2015 at 10:27 AM

    My idea of a wringer, is a washing machine that had an attachment through which to put your clothes to wring out the water.

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  16. William KendallAugust 10, 2015 at 10:30 AM

    @Cloudia: indeed!

    @Blogoratti: thank you!

    @Halcyon: somehow I doubt iphones will last long enough to end up in museums!

    @Janis: this is the only one I know of.

    @Revrunner: I've been put through the wringer once or twice.

    @VP: and more of that to come, but that'll be for the theme day.

    @Marianne: I thought so myself.

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  17. William KendallAugust 10, 2015 at 10:32 AM

    @Tamago: and more of that to come in the theme day post.

    @Jan: it certainly is.

    @Karl: you're welcome.

    @Beth: she certainly looks serious.

    @Nancy: the ghost stories that accompany this museum are fun. Maybe not so much if one's alone in there at midnight.

    @Linda: thanks!

    @Red: that's true.

    @Linda: my grandmothers would have had those.

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  18. SharonAugust 10, 2015 at 10:52 AM

    That wringer makes me remember my grandmothers old washing machine. I was just a kid when I watched her use it but I remember it well.

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  19. EG CameraGirlAugust 10, 2015 at 11:23 AM

    I have to agree with you that many people of the era certainly had some strange ideas. :)) I LOVE the clock, though.

    Congrats for having endured your punishment at FB!

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  20. RedPatAugust 10, 2015 at 11:59 AM

    It looks as if there were a lot of curiosities there, William!

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  21. MarleenAugust 10, 2015 at 1:17 PM

    I love watching the old photos on an exhibition like this.

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  22. cieldequimperAugust 10, 2015 at 3:02 PM

    I used to love everything Victorian but I have changed my mind lately...

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  23. NormaAugust 10, 2015 at 3:55 PM

    Cool!

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  24. KayAugust 10, 2015 at 5:21 PM

    I love exhibits like these, though most I've seen include the more conventional wringers, wood stoves, and bits of daily life.

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  25. William KendallAugust 10, 2015 at 6:15 PM

    @Sharon: my great-grandmother would have had something similar. My grandmother ended up with a washing machine that went to her mother when she and my grandfather immigrated.

    @EG: clocks like that really appeal to me. And it's just a matter of time before I get turfed again from Facebook!

    @RedPat: there certainly were.

    @Marleen: me too.

    @Ciel: it depends on the item with me.

    @Norma: thanks!

    @Kay: there's a share of that here too, but the curiousities are what drew my eyes this time out.

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  26. DeniseinVAAugust 10, 2015 at 6:24 PM

    Definitely a bit macabre that area but very, very interesting. Enjoyed your photos in this museum.

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  27. CherylAugust 10, 2015 at 6:37 PM

    So much fun to imagine living in the past! And I do think the Victorian era held a lot of the macabre!

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  28. Geoff WilkinsonAugust 10, 2015 at 6:38 PM

    An interesting place William but I'll bet you were glad to get out into the sunshine and real world after all that macabre stuff..

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  29. from MadridAugust 10, 2015 at 7:13 PM

    You are digging a lot. do not?.

    Tomás.

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  30. Mari CollierAugust 10, 2015 at 7:49 PM

    What a fantastic place. It looked like a necklace underneath the wreath of the departed's hair. They mourned differently then.

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  31. William KendallAugust 10, 2015 at 7:55 PM

    @Denise: thanks!

    @Cheryl: so it seems!

    @Geoff: oh, yes. A very different mood in tomorrow's post.

    @Tomas: I might be!

    @Mari: it was a different world.

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  32. Jenn JilksAugust 10, 2015 at 8:12 PM

    I wonder if those paintings are online?! With one son working in the election (BC), the running in Nepean...

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  33. PerthDailyPhotoAugust 11, 2015 at 12:42 AM

    Would love to see the old photos! Can't wait to see the 'curiosity' you found here, the imagination is running wild :)

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  34. Gemma WisemanAugust 12, 2015 at 4:04 PM

    Intriguing range of Victorian memorabilia. Yes. I have always felt that keeping a lock of hair is a tad macabre.

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  35. The Happy WhiskAugust 12, 2015 at 7:20 PM

    You get to see such interesting things.

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