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50 Posts From The Victorian Era That Prove It Really Was A Different Time
The Victorian Era was a time of the Industrial Revolution, with authors Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin, the railway and shipping booms, profound scientific discoveries, and the invention of the telephone and telegraph.
However, the 63-year period from 1837 to 1901 (marked by the reign of Queen Victoria) also saw significant challenges in rural life as cities and slums were rapidly expanding, long and regimented factory hours for many workers, Jack the Ripper, and the Crimean War.
Capturing all the progress and turmoil of the epoch, the subreddit Random Victorian Stuff offers a gallery of interesting images, facts, and stories not just from Britain, but from the entire world!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Benedicte Wrensted Photographed Captain Willie, From The Shoshone Bannock Tribe Of The Fort Hall Reservation, At Her Studio On Main Street In Pocatello, Idaho, Ca. 1900
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#2
Portrait Of A Young Woman With Books, Ca. 1890
#3
Portrait Of A Queensland Woman, 1884
#4
Just Straight Up Rock Climbing Up A Mountain In Dress And Heel Boots Because Why Not. Victorian Women Managing A Hard Route, 1890s
#5
A Family Photo, Circa 1890
#6
American Aviator Matilde Moisant, 1912. She Was The Second Woman In The United States To Get A Pilot's License
Mabelbabel 1 year ago
She only kept her licence for less than a year-she crashed a few months after getting her certificate, and whilst she was recovering, her best friend (who had been the first woman pilot in USA) crashed and died. Although Moisant recovered, she never flew again.
#7
Very Elegant Looking Woman In A White Dress, Circa 1890s. Looks Like Studio Photo
#8
Estudio Photo Of A Woman In The Late 1890s. Maybe Early 1900s
#9
Portrait Of A Family In Gainesville, Florida, Early 1900s
#10
Four Generations, Ca. 1905
#11
Photograph Of Aino Sibelius, The Wife Of Finnish Composer Jean Sibelius. Circa 1891
#12
Postcard, Ca 1900
#13
Photo Of A Mongolian Woman In Her Traditional Clothes, Circa Early 1900s. Not Colorized, Autochrome Lumiere
#14
Woman In A Crocheted Shirtwaist, Early 1900s
#15
Ella Williams, Born In 1865 Worked On Her Adult Life As "Giant" For A Number Of Shows And Companies (Barnum One Of Them) In The Late 1890s
Despite being billed a 2.28m, she was more in the lines of 2.08m, but this was solved with heels and some hats.
#16
Actress Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden, Dressed In A 3 Piece Suit, 1890s
#17
Group Portrait Of Native American (Crow) Men, One Woman. And A Child In Front Of A Tepee In Colorado, 1880
#18
Holly And Her Cat, 1902
#19
Group Of Women Dressed In 3 Piece Suits With Different Styles....like Best The One In The Right Is The Best Fit And Looks Like Something She Asked Either To Be Done To Fit Or Bespoke For Her. Circa 1896
#20
Kenyan Woman With Her Pet Deer. 1909
Jai Vorkossa 1 year ago
That is not a deer. I agree it does look like it could be a chevrotain, but given that it is Kenya, it is more likely a dik-dik.
#21
A Woman From Luzon, An Island In Northern Philippines, 1875. Photo Taken By Francisco Van Camp
#22
Maude Fealy (Born Maude Mary Hawk; March 4, 1883 – November 9, 1971) Was An American Stage And Silent Film Actress Whose Career Survived Into The Sound Era
#23
Woman Poses In What I Think Is A Riding Outfit. Like The Double Breastes Low Cut Jacket. Late Xix Century
#24
Three Women From Guadeloupe, On Ellis Island, About 1910, Photograph By Augustus Sherman
#25
Union Soldier With His Family Posing In A Photo. Wife And 2 Daughters. Circa 1860s
#26
Appears To Have Been A Private Photo Of To Women Really Going For It. You Can See The Blurr Of How Fast It Was, Like Something Thought At The Moment. Looks Early 1900s
#27
Small Moment Freeze In Time Of This Couple By The Window, Early 1900s
#28
Woman From Peru In A Nice Dress, Circa 1860s. The Dress Appears To Be Made Of Cotton With Black Lace
#29
Vassar College (Seven Sisters College), 1895. Class Day On The Lawn
#30
Margery Bish Hanging Dolls Clothes On A Clothesline, C. 1895. Taken By Her Father
#31
This Picture Was Taken 137 Years Ago In Nebraska
sofacushionfort 1 year ago
Of course they’d acquired generations of agricultural knowledge, but post-Emancipation in the South offered scarcely better prospects than before. So many moved onto the Plains where they were dubbed “Exo-dusters.”
#32
Paleontologist Thomas Huxley, Who Discovered That Birds Were Descended From Dinosaurs. 1846
#33
Portrait Of An Unidentified Young Girl With Spectacles, 1890s
#34
Women Mountaniers As Well As Men, Crossing Over Glaciers In Switzeland. Love The Casual Umbrellas. Early 1900s
#35
Mourning Mask And Dress Used By Empress Elisabeth Of Austria In 1889 After Her Son Rudolf Took His Own Life
The Mask Is Made Of Black Velvet With Lace Trim And Ostrich Feathers; Dress Is Made Also Of Velvet With Jet Black Glass Beads. Whole Thing Designed By Fanni Scheiner.
#36
Marie Bell Watson, 1902. Little Is Known About This Woman Except That She Died In Junction City, Kansas On May 23, 1913 Of "Consumption." She Was 34 At The Time Of Her Death
#37
Tintype Of A Man With His Pet Squirrel (Circa Mid-19th C.)
#38
Small Part Of A Photobooth Strip Of A Couple Of Women, By The Hair I Say Circa 1890s
#39
Victorian Lady With A Very Dominant Glare Looks Straight To The Camera, I Thin By The Ringlets, Is Mid Xix Century, Maybe 1860s?
#40
Watching The Eclipse, 1912 (Edwardian Photograph)
#41
Group Portrait - Ireland, 1857
lightlywhispereddestruction 1 year ago
There is a chance the woman in the center is actually dead.
#42
Young Woman On Her Roller Skates, Circa Early 1900s
#43
Portrait Of A Woman In White, Ca. 1910
#44
Harem Woman From The Maharaja Of Jaipur, Ram Singh II. The Woman Is Dressed In Silks, Gold, Gold Fibers Practically Everywere. Photo Circa 1857
#45
Portrait Of A Woman With Exceptionally Long Hair From 1890s
Beth Wheeler 1 year ago
Her hair is gorgeous but it would have taken hours to wash, dry, and brush or comb.
#46
Suffragette Frances Willard (1839–1898) Learning To Ride A Bike At 53 Years Old For The First Time With The Help Of Friends. She Even Wrote A Book About It
Ash 1 year ago
This is so cool. Before the bicycle, the only ways to get around were to walk or use a horse/car, and horses and cars were really expensive. When the bicycle came around, women could suddenly travel around by themselves!! It was an enormous symbol of female independence. Unsurprising that a suffragette would want to learn to ride one, even in her fifties!
#47
Portrait Of A Barmaid In Texas, 1885 (Certainly Not The Hollywood Depiction Of What A Saloon Girl Looked Like)
#48
Portrait Of A Woman Suffering From Syphilis
Syphilis Was Viewed As Symbolic Of A Wider Ongoing Moral Crisis. One That Was Closely Associated With Another Great ‘Social Evil’ – P**********n. The Two Were Certainly Linked, But Any Public Blame For The Spread Of Syphilis Tended To Be One-Sided.
Hippopotamuses 1 year ago
It must have been such a miserable existance for this woman. Pain, a lingering death, and moral judgements. Many made by men, who were either lucky, or hadn't yet begun to exhibit symptoms.
#49
Autochrome Lumiere Shot Of A Women In Tall Grass. Circa Early 1900s
#50
Alice Liddell (Of Alice In Wonderland Fame), At Age 18. Photo Taken By Lewis Carroll
#51
Portrait Of Two Children And The Family Maid, Ca. 1900
#52
Victorian Girl Posing With Her Dog, Circa Mid Xix Century. Note: The Dog Is Alive, Changes Position And You Can See The Blurr
#53
Autochrome Photo By Dutch Artist Johannes Hendrikus Antonius Maria Lutz (Around 1910). Autochromes Are Originally Taken In Color, Not Colorized
#54
The Interior Of A Saloon In Utah, Where One Of The Patrons Apparently Decided To Pose With A Horse, Ca. 1890
#55
They Were Roommates
#56
My Family In The 1890s
#57
There Is Something That Cracks Me Up About The Girl On The Left, Like Her Sister Is Trying To Look Dignified And She Just Saw The Most Horrible Thing On Her Life
#58
Us Actress Maude Adams As Napoleon II, There Is Something About That Stare. Circa 1890s
#59
Norwegian Girl From Hardanger (1890s). Photograph Held By The Library Of Congress In Washington, Dc
#60
Portrait Of A Woman With A Rather Large Hat, Ca. 1905
#61
Couple Of Women Pose Together In The Yard, One Of Them Is Dressed In A Nice 3 Piece Suit. The Waist Coat Seem To Be Double Breasted. Circa 1890s
#62
A Couple Of Women, One In A Simple Dress And The Other In A Long Coat With Pants. Not Quite Sure The Context Of The Photo But, The Source Said Early 1900. It Makes Me Wonder
#63
Isabella Grace And Florence Elizabeth Circa 1862. That Side Look She Gives Is Very Interesting
#64
Tinted Photograph Of A Woman Wading Into The Sea, Ca. 1905
#65
Portrait Of An Unknown Woman In An Large Hat, Ca. 1905
#66
A Destitute Woman In London's Covent Garden In 1877. 2
Michelle C 1 year ago
I pray someone took notice of her situation and gave her the help she needed!
#67
Pretty Certain This Elegant Lady Is An Actress Of The Early 1900s, But Not Certain Who She Is. Any Ideas?
#68
Virginia Oldoini Rapallini, Countess Of Castiglione (23 March 1837 – 28 November 1899), Better Known As La Castiglione
She was an Italian aristocrat who achieved notoriety as a mistress of emperor napoleon iii of France. She was also a significant figure in the early history of photography.
#69
What Was Considered Physical Defficient In A Woman During The Early 1900s. The Person Is Pretty Merciles About His Comments
Michelle C 1 year ago (edited)
What exactly was deficient in her? The only deficient thing was how he treated her!
#70
Portraits Of Jane Avril Was A French Can-Can Dancer Made Famous By Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec Through His Paintings. Extremely Thin, "Given To Jerky Movements And Sudden Contortions", She Was Nicknamed La Mélinite, After An Explosive
Multa Nocte 1 year ago
Some of you may recognise her from this poster by Lautrec: Jane-Avril...919cd5.jpg 
#71
Woman In A Witch Costume, Ca. 1900
#73
Group Of Women Posing With Rifles. Side Note, Last Time I Post This Photo People Keep Complaining Of The "Gun Dicipline", Which I Found Oddly Funny. Circa 1880s
#74
This Photograph Is Often Misidentified As A Postmortem Portrait, But As You Can See By The Second Photo In The Series The Child Is Very Much Alive. Early 1900s
#75
Portrait Of A Woman, Alleged To Be Of The Demimonde, Ca, 1900
#76
Florida Pioneer School Children In Front Of Their Improvised School House, Circa 1890
#77
Photo Titled The Darned Club, Of A Double Couple Fo Women. Looks Like The Yards Of A Home. Either Late 1890 Or Early 1890s
#78
Scene From A Victorian Workhouse
#79
Atlantic City, New Jersey, 1905
#80
A Family Poses In Front Of A 1,341 Year Old, 331 Foot Tall Sequoia Tree Nicknamed "Mark Twain" That Was Felled In 1892 After A Team Of Two Men Spent 13 Days Sawing It In The Pacific Northwest
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What do you think ?
Apatheist Account2 1 year ago
It always surprises (and pleases) me how many photos of black people there are that aren't just curiosities or exhibits. It shows that they were much more integrated than we were perhaps brought up to believe (or some would have us believe now).
Janissary35680 1 year ago
Queen Victoria died in 1901 so more than a few of these pictures qualify as Edwardian actually. Apart from that, they're all pretty interesting.
Fred L. 1 year ago
Noting an apparent theme in this post, how do you manage to keep the word "women" out of both title and description?
AGGA Films 1 year ago
Why do you feel that women need to be clearly labelled as such?
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Apatheist Account2 1 year ago
It always surprises (and pleases) me how many photos of black people there are that aren't just curiosities or exhibits. It shows that they were much more integrated than we were perhaps brought up to believe (or some would have us believe now).
Janissary35680 1 year ago
Queen Victoria died in 1901 so more than a few of these pictures qualify as Edwardian actually. Apart from that, they're all pretty interesting.
Fred L. 1 year ago
Noting an apparent theme in this post, how do you manage to keep the word "women" out of both title and description?
AGGA Films 1 year ago
Why do you feel that women need to be clearly labelled as such?
Load More Replies...
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