Friday, January 27, 2006
Courtship, Victorian Style
OK, my turn for a candle shot. This is a Victorian courtship candle holder.
A candle holder of this type was used as a timepiece by a young girl's father when her suitor came to visit. If the father liked the boy, he would place the wooden peg on a higher rung and put a long candle in the holder. If he disapproved, he'd put a short candle in the holder and then push the wooden peg down to a lower rung. When the candle had burned down to the top edge of the holder, it was a signal that the visit was over.
I've always imagined that young girls would secretly move the peg up a notch or two when their father wasn't looking, if they desired some extra time for good-byes....of course, there's no way to tell for sure now, is there?
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6 comments:
Fingerprints!! J/K
Very neat story. Now fathers just call the cell phones, right? Amazing how times have changed
My only suggestion would be to close the paerture (if possible) a bit more. It might make the candle flame a bit more star like. I'm not sure though... just a suggestion
Yes, smaller "paerture" would be neat but nicely lit overall and I like the tablecloth. And what a neat entry. I've never seen anything like this. These PaDs are certainly educational.
A neat bit of history here :)I'm with you. I'll bet they figured out some way to make the candle burn longer. Maybe blew it out and relit it later heh. Nice shot.
That is interesting to know. I had never seen a candle holder like that. Excellent shot and it matches perfectly with your background blog color.
Lovely photo, I've never seen a candle holder like that before or heard the story about them.
you're like a living, breathing history lesson. Crazy.
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