ThoughtGallery.org > The Wacky World of Victorian Fads

The Wacky World of Victorian Fads

From séances to spirit photography with a lot of truly weird trends in between, the Victorians were among the first to truly embrace the notion of pop culture fads. They missed no opportunity to jump on the latest bandwagon of wacky and sometimes outrageously dangerous medical, fashionable and spiritual crazes.

Hop on Green-Wood’s historic trolley and take a step back in time to explore such complex and compelling figures as Washington Irving Bishop, who performed “muscle reading” which allowed him, while blindfolded and holding the hand of an audience member, to locate hidden objects; Anne Leah Fox, the stage mother behind the most successful psychic hoax of the era; William Wilson, the proprietor of a company that purported to cure ailments with electric and magnetic corsets, and many more.  You will discover the lengths to which Victorian women went to achieve ultra-white skin, and the strange and dangerous obsession with green dye in the fashions of the day. Reservations are recommended.











When: Sat., Dec. 10, 2016 at 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Where: Green-Wood Cemetery
500 25th St., Brooklyn
718-210-3080
Price: $25; $20 for members of the Green-Wood Historic Fund and members of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
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From séances to spirit photography with a lot of truly weird trends in between, the Victorians were among the first to truly embrace the notion of pop culture fads. They missed no opportunity to jump on the latest bandwagon of wacky and sometimes outrageously dangerous medical, fashionable and spiritual crazes.

Hop on Green-Wood’s historic trolley and take a step back in time to explore such complex and compelling figures as Washington Irving Bishop, who performed “muscle reading” which allowed him, while blindfolded and holding the hand of an audience member, to locate hidden objects; Anne Leah Fox, the stage mother behind the most successful psychic hoax of the era; William Wilson, the proprietor of a company that purported to cure ailments with electric and magnetic corsets, and many more.  You will discover the lengths to which Victorian women went to achieve ultra-white skin, and the strange and dangerous obsession with green dye in the fashions of the day. Reservations are recommended.

Buy tickets/get more info now