Victorian Tales of the Macabre: Part One.
Featuring true “Tales of the Macabre” in the 19th & early 20th century at the time of Mr. & Mrs. Andrews. Observing proper & accepted rituals of Victorian Mourning surrounding the death of a loved one, postmortem photography, funeral attire & memorial cards. Taxidermy displays in the Victorian & Edwardians homes & business. Also featured at fairs & museums. Realistic wax sculptures in store displays & anatomical wax figures for medicine practice. These human look a likes featured human hair, realistic glass eyes & sometimes teeth. Medicines & Poisons, side shows, freak shows, 1893 World’s Fair Chicago Columbian Exposition.
True crime tales featured in the papers: H.H. Holmes, Captain Kendall & Scotland yard & the capture of Dr. Hawley Crippen, Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden, realistic wax heads for store display & practices in medicine.
Photo Below: Possibly a P. Imans rendering as his the earlier, late Victorian waxes were of a much darker wax than those found later during the late teens & early 1920’s. Vanaria collection.
Wax head featured in “Victorian Tales of the Macabre” Private collection of Denise D. Vanaria
Links of Interest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawley_Harvey_Crippen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Borden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Columbian_Exposition
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/78e73z/19th-century-wax-figures-slice-open-the-human-body