Tag Archives: pastimes

Christmas: Games and Snap Dragon played at a Bridgerton and Jane Austen Christmas. #Christmas #Holidays #JaneAusten #Bridgerton #RegencyEra

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Games

At Christmas time, households had guests to stay and games were played to either fill in the time inside when the weather was too bad to venture out with sleds or skates, or to keep tradition. Blind man’s bluff, forfeits, and snap dragon were all played.

A list of some entertainments for Christmas…From The book Of Christmas by Thomas kibble Hervey. “jugglers, and jack-puddings, scrambling for nuts and apples, dancing the hobby-horse, hunting owls and squirrels, the fool-plough, hot-cockles, a stick moving on a pivot, with an apple at one end and a candle at the other, so that he who missed his bite burned his nose, blindman’s buffs, forfeits, interludes and mock plays :” — also of ” thread my needle, Nan,” ” he can do little that can’t do this,” feed the dove, hunt the slipper, shoeing the wild mare, post and pair, snap dragon, the gathering of omens….

Snap Dragon A favorite game was Snap Dragon, often played on Christmas Eve. Raisins were put into a large, shallow bowl and brandy was poured over them and then ignited.  Lights were extinguished to increase the eerie effect of the blue flames playing across the liquor. The object of the game was to reach through the blue flames and grab as many raisins as possible from the flaming brandy and pop them into your mouth. The risk of burning yourself increased the excitement.

Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language in 1755 describes the. game as “a play in which they catch raisins out of burning brandy and, extinguishing them by closing the mouth, eat them”. According to an eighteenth-century article in Richard Steele’s Tatler magazine, “the wantonness of the thing was to see each other look like a demon, as we burnt ourselves, and snatched out the fruit.”

Snap-dragon was played in England, Canada, U/S.A, and probably other countries with British backgrounds. The words snap-dragon and flap-dragon can refer to the game, the raisins used in the game, or the bowl with brandy and raisins.

The first reference to Snap-dragon as a game is in Francis Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue  in 1811. “Christmas gambol: raisins and almonds being put into a bowl of brandy, and the candles extinguished, the spirit is set on fire, and the company scramble for the raisins.” Snap-dragon as a Christmas parlour game was mentioned in 1836 in Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers and in 1861, in Anthony Trollope’s novel Orley Farm.  Lewis Carroll, in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There in 1871 describes “A snap-dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum pudding, its wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning in brandy.”

Agatha Christie’s book Hallowe’en Party describes a children’s party during which a child’s murder causes Hercule Poirot to be brought in to solve the case and at which Snap-dragon is played at the end of the evening.

A song went with the game….

“Here he comes with flaming bowl,

Don’t be mean to take his toll.

Snip! Snap! Dragon!

Take care you don’t take too much

Be not greedy in your clutch.

Snip! Snap! Dragon!

With his blue and lapping tongue

Many of you will be stung.

Snip! Snap! Dragon!

For he snaps at all that comes

Snatching at his feast of plums.

Snip! Snap! Dragon!

But Old Christmas makes him come

Though he looks so fee! Fa! Fum!

Snip! Snap! Dragon!

Don’t `ee fear him, be but bold.

Out he goes, his flames are cold.

Snip! Snap! Dragon!

Xmas_Christmas: Games and Snap Dragon
Xmas_Christmas: Games and Snap Dragon
Xmas_Christmas: Games and Snap Dragon
Xmas_Christmas: Games and Snap Dragon

1808 Lady In A High-Waisted Jane Austen Style White Dress Reading A Book. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion

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1808 Lady In A High-Waisted White Dress Reading A Book Outdoors, French. Dress has short puffed sleeves and is worn under a frilled Pelerine, or shoulder cape, long tan gloves, walking shoes and a white country style hat with a blue bow. The lady is leaning on a post and reading a book. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien.

Empire Style Dress:  Named after the First Empire in France. Empire dresses had a low neckline and skirts started directly under the bust and flowed into the classical relaxed wide styles of Greece and Rome. This style of dress is associated with Jane Austen and her contemporaries as a high-waisted dress was worn most days. Cotton, silk or taffeta were the popular fabrics.

Definition Pelerine:  Tippet or shoulder cape, usually waist-length, with long, pointed ends in front. Popular in England and colonial America.

1808 Lady In A High-Waisted White Dress, French. Dress has short puffed sleeves and is worn under a frilled Pelerine, or shoulder cape, long tan gloves, walking shoes and a white country style hat with a blue bow. The lady is leaning on a post and reading a book. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien.
HN_26_D2D Fashion Women 1805-1809.https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
Fashion Women 1805-1809 History Notes Book 26 What did Jane Austen and friends wear? This book looks at early 1800s fashions, which were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon’s first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809

1801 November Men and women play cards at a table. #JaneAusten #Regency #Cartoon #BritishMuseum

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1801 November 9th  Playing Cards. Men and women play cards at round table. Supreme Bon Ton Plate 2. Published by S W Fores. Men and women play cards at round table. Man and woman talk to players. Woman sleeps in upright chair, two others, one with parasol and other fan, walk off arm-in-arm.Men: High-waisted coats, high collars, huge neck-cloths, with pumps or Hessian boots. Women: High-waisted dresses, short sleeves, long trains, very low necklines, short ringlets, two in caps. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)

In Jane Austen’s times, cartoons posted in the windows of shops were one of the main ways people found news. Common people couldn’t afford newspapers so cartoonists ridiculed the people and the places with cartoons of the daily events happening in London and other cities. The ridiculous fashion trends of the late 1700s and early 1800s were easy targets for satirical cartoons as was the addiction to gambling by women and men alike.

1801 November 9th Playing Cards. The Supreme Bon Ton Plate 2. Published by: S W Fores. Men and women play cards at round table. Man and woman talk to players. Woman sleeps in upright chair, two others, one with parasol and other fan, walk off arm-in-arm.Men: High-waisted coats, high collars, huge neck-cloths, with pumps or Hessian boots. Women: High-waisted dresses, short sleeves, long trains, very low necklines, short ringlets, two in caps. Via British Museum, London, UK.

RL_1_D2D_Regency Overview RetailerLinks https://books2read.com/suziloveROver
RL_1_D2D_Regency Overview RetailerLinks https://books2read.com/suziloveROver

1890 ca. Ivory, Enamel, and Gold Carnet de Bal, or Dance Card. #FashionHistory #VictorianEra #Dancing

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1890 ca. Ivory, Enamel, and Gold Carnet de Bal, or Dance Card. Formerly in the collection of lady Mairi Bury. Ribs are of ivory, numbered front to back from 1 to 24, either end decorated with polychrome enamel with a lotus flower motif, attached by chain to a ring. Maker’s marks, fitted case, Payne and Sons. via Sotheby’s Auctions. sothebys.com

1890 ca. Ivory, Enamel, and Gold Carnet de Bal, or Dance Card. Formerly in the collection of lady Mairi Bury. Ribs are of ivory, numbered front to back from 1 to 24, either end decorated with polychrome enamel with a lotus flower motif, attached by chain to a ring. Maker's marks, fitted case, Payne and Sons. via suzilove.com and Sotheby's Auctions. sothebys.com
HN_13_D2D_WritingTools Book 13 What did the lady of the house use to pen notes? What sat on the desk of the man of the house when managing his accounts? #History #Nonfiction #travel books2read.com/SuziLoveWritingTools
HN_13_D2D_WritingTools Book 13 What did the lady of the house use to pen notes? What sat on the desk of the man of the house when managing his accounts? #History #Nonfiction #travel books2read.com/SuziLoveWritingTools

1813 The Theatre In Jane Austen’s and Bridgerton Years. From Poetical Sketches of Scarborough By Thomas Rowlandson. #JaneAusten #bridgerton #RegencyEra #Art #BritishHistory

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1813 The Theatre. From Poetical Sketches of Scarborough By Thomas Rowlandson. Aquatint was added by John Bluck and Joseph Stadler. The sketches by Green were made as souvenirs and not intended for publication. Via Suzi Love suzilove.com
& Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org (PD-ART)

1813 The Theatre. From Poetical Sketches of Scarborough By Thomas Rowlandson. Aquatint was added by John Bluck and Joseph Stadler. The sketches by Green were made as souvenirs and not intended for publication. Via Suzi Love suzilove.com & Wikimedia Commons commons.wikimedia.org (PD-ART)
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RL_5_D2D_RetailerBuyLink_RL_5_2 https://books2read.com/suziloveOLD

1800s French Palais Royal Sewing Box from Bridgerton and Jane Austen’s times. #Bridgerton #RegencyFashion #Sewing #JaneAusten

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1800s French Palais Royal Sewing Box and Twelve Mother of Pearl Enamel Tools. This is the style of sewing box Jane Austen and her family would have used in the early 1800s, or Regency years. via via suzilove.com and 1st Dibs Auctions 1stdibs.com

Definition: Palais Royal: Name of an area around the Royal Palace in Paris, France, that specialized in making small and exquisite works of art during the 18th and 19th centuries. Palais Royal sewing tools were elaborate and usually feature mother-of-pearl, often intricately carved or engraved. During the 19th century, workboxes were often works of art with engravings, carvings, mother-of-pearl, and elaborate gilt metal mounts. Most popular were scissors with steel blades and gilt mounts, thimbles and needle cases which were often shaped like animals or other natural forms. Workmanship was exceptional and the tools almost too fragile to use.

1800s French Palais Royal Sewing Box and Twelve Mother of Pearl Enamel Tools. via via suzilove.com and 1st Dibs Auctions 1stdibs.com
1800s French Palais Royal Sewing Box and Twelve Mother of Pearl Enamel Tools. via via suzilove.com and 1st Dibs Auctions 1stdibs.com
D2D_RL_4_YLD_Young Lady's Day Regency Life Series Book 4 by Suzi Love. A light-hearted look at the longer Regency years and an easy to read view of what a young lady did, wore, and lived. https://books2read.com/suziloveYLD

1660-1700 ca. Green Velvet Gaming Purse For Holding Money, Probably French. #History #France #Gambling

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1660-1700 ca. Gaming Purse, Probably French. Green velvet trimmed with copper-gilt thread. Gaming or gambling with cards popular 17th-century pastime and any gentleman or lady not playing games like Quadrille and Basset would have been considered ‘low-bred and hardly fit for conversation’ according to ‘The Compleat Gamester’, published in 1674. Typically, gaming purses had flat, circular bases with sides gathered on a drawstring. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.

1660-1700 ca. Gaming Purse, Probably French. Green velvet trimmed with copper-gilt thread. Gaming or gambling with cards popular 17th-century pastime and any gentleman or lady not playing games like Quadrille and Basset would have been considered 'low-bred and hardly fit for conversation' according to 'The Compleat Gamester', published in 1674. Typically, gaming purses had flat, circular bases with sides gathered on a drawstring. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.
HN_3_PelisseRedingoteWalkingDress_universal http://books2read.com/suziloveReticules
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1805 Lady wearing Jane Austen Style Half-dress with Sketching Portfolio, French. #RegencyEra #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion

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1805 Lady With Her Sketching Portfolio In Half Dress, French. White, At-Home, High-waisted, relaxed & flowing dress with white cap and pink flowers to match, long gloves, slippers. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. Definition Caps: Worn as morning caps, night caps, or under other hats. Jane Austen and her family and female friends would have worn caps like these, sometimes during the morning at home, to bed to keep their long hair from becoming knotted, or under a bonnet to hold a hairstyle in place. Caps sometimes had hanging ties, or tails, and were also called ‘follow me lads’, or ‘flirtation ribbons’. Or flaps covering theirs called Lappets. Magazine Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien, French. French fashion magazine published between 1797 and 1839 and second oldest fashion magazine published in France. Pierre de la Mesangere was editor and published every five days, which is why there is an abundance of French fashion plates from these years in France and internationally.

1805_HalfDress_WhiteAtHomeDress_LadywithSketchingPortfolio_CP_Lge.jpg ]
1805 Lady With Her Sketching Portfolio In Half Dress, French. White, At-Home, High-waisted, relaxed & flowing dress with white cap and pink flowers to match, long gloves, slippers. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
HN_26_D2D Fashion Women 1805-1809 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809

1815 June Lady Reading Book Wearing Jane Austen Style White Carriage Dress. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion

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1815  June White Carriage Dress, English.  Lady reading a book in a high-waisted white satin Pelisse, or Walking Or Carriage dress in the relaxed Empire style as would have been worn at home in the early 1800s, or during Jane Austen’s time. Richly ornamented with clusters of leaves made in white twilled sarsnet, headed with tull. Open fronts, trimmed to the bottom of the waist with a superb shell trimming of white satin ribbon and tull, loose sleeves trimmed at the wrists. High hat of  white satin and tull with a plume of feathers of the pomona green. Half-boots of similar color. Gloves en suite and a necklace. Lady is viewing paintings and the program in her hand says ‘British Institution’. In this issue of The Repository there is an article called ‘Exhibition of Paintings by the Flemish and Dutch Masters at the British Institution, Pall Mall.’ Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’.

1815 June White Carriage Dress, English. Lady reading a book in a high-waisted white dress in the relaxed Empire style, frill on V-neckline, high flowered bonnet.long white gloves and a necklace. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann's 'The Repository of Arts'.

1815 June White Carriage Dress, English. Lady reading a book in a high-waisted white dress in the relaxed Empire style, frill on V-neckline, high flowered bonnet.long white gloves and a necklace. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’.

HN_28_D2D_Fashion Women 1815-1819 https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1815-1819
Fashion Women 1815-1819 History Notes Book 28 What did Jane Austen wear? . D2D_HN_28_https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1815-1819

1800 Un Salon, Or Public Room, At Frascati, Paris. #Regency #Paris #Art

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1800 Un salon, or public Room, at Frascati, Paris. This plate depicts a group of people at Frascati’s. The man in the foreground is plainly dressed in dark colors while pastels are favored by the women. From: Illustrations by Francois Courboin from Octave Uzanne’s Les Modes de Paris.  (PD-Art) Although this is in Paris, there were similar places in England where Jane Austen and her contemporaries would meet to eat, drink and play games.

Frascati’s was a cafe in Paris, described by the text as “‘A stream of human beauty’, as the expression of the period has it, was still to be seen flowing through the galleries of Greek and Roman antiquities, spreading through the porticos, into the saloons, and smaller chambers, pouring and winding along the garden alleys, and disappearing at last into the kiosks where it was lost to sight. The great mirror at the end of the garden reflected, as in a wonderful prismatic vision, the surging crowd of veiled or turbaned heads of ever-changing couples, each whispering and fondly clasped. While farther off seated at tables in the open air, thirsty nymphs called for creams and tutti frutti and all the various iced compounds then so eagerly consumed.”

1800 Un Salon, or Public Room, at Frascati, Paris. Frascati's was a popular cafe in Paris where people walked through the galleries of Greek and Roman antiquities, past the porticos, into saloons and smaller chambers, winding along the garden alleys and disappearing into kiosks. The man wears darker clothing while the women are in colorful dresses. via Suzi Love ~ suzilove.com & Illustrations by François Courboin, French librarian (1865-1926) From Octave Uzanne's 'Les Modes de Paris, or Fashion in Paris,' the various phases of feminine taste and aesthetics from 1797 to 1897. (PD-Art) via Brown University Library, U.S.A. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819
1800 Un Salon, or Public Room, at Frascati, Paris. Frascati’s was a popular cafe in Paris where people walked through the galleries of Greek and Roman antiquities, past the porticos, into saloons and smaller chambers, winding along the garden alleys and disappearing into kiosks. The man wears darker clothing while the women are in colorful dresses. via Suzi Love ~ suzilove.com & Illustrations by François Courboin, French librarian (1865-1926) From Octave Uzanne’s ‘Les Modes de Paris, or Fashion in Paris,’ the various phases of feminine taste and aesthetics from 1797 to 1897. (PD-Art) via Brown University Library, U.S.A.

From the finish of the 18th century until 1820, men’s fashions in European and European-influenced countries moved away from the formal wear of brocades, lace, wigs and powder to more informal and relaxed styles. Focus was on undress rather than formal dress. Typical menswear in the early 1800s included a tailcoat, a vest or waistcoat, either breeches, pants, or the newer trousers, stockings, shoes or boots, all worn with an overcoat and hat. This basic ensemble was accessorized with some form of neckcloth or cravat, gloves, walking stick, cane or riding crop, handkerchief, fobs, watch and perhaps a quizzing glass or eye glass. 

Skirted coats were replaced with short-fronted, or cutaway, tailcoats worn over fitted waistcoats and plain, white linen shirts. Knee breeches were gradually replaced by tight-fitting pantaloons and later trousers, decorative shoes with buckles were replaced with a variety of boot styles, and fussy and ruffled neckwear gave way to intricately tied, white linen neck cloths. A Regency Era, or early 1800s, gentleman was outfitted in more practical fabrics, such as wool, cotton and buckskin rather than the fussy brocades and silks of the late 1700s. 

HN_23_D2D_Fashion Men 1800-1819