Our modern world is full of things to do, consume, and experience to provide us with
effortless entertainment and joy. It is ironic that today we have so many options but so little
time but in the bygone days of the Victorian era, people had a lot of time on their hands
but not a lot to do with it. We have the internet these days and Victorians had to rely heavily on
their imaginations. And when one is Victorian, their imaginations tend to lean towards a grim,
creepy, and overall stranger side. Why were Victorians holding funerals for dolls? Why
did they eat their lunches while sitting on tombstones? And what exactly was “Punch and Judy?”
Welcome to Nutty History and today let's find out what Creepy Hobbies kept Victorians busy.
Behind the Iron wrought walls of cemeteries, the deceased go to rest in peace forever.
But when the living is overtly fascinated with death, it could get difficult to find peace in
your final resting place. The Victorian Era’s gothic kick for all things related to death is
well known and we have explained it in many of our videos. So, when Victorians looked for places to
hang out, once again death triumphed over all the options they could think of. Now, they didn’t have
theme parks like Disney World back then but when death is the theme of a historical period, why
create fake cemeteries when there are perfectly good real ones? Does that make cemeteries the
Disney world of that era? In a “spiritual” sense, cemeteries could be considered the
grandfather of all modern theme parks. Victorians clearly had no issues bothering the dead almost
every lovely afternoon to attend luncheons in places like Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio,
or Saint Paul’s Churchyard in Lower Manhattan as they enjoyed socializing and feasting on fruits,
ginger snaps, and beef sandwiches. This may make Victorians look like they were utterly
disrespectful of the deceased, but having a fun day at the cemetery didn’t become a fad without
a reason. One of the reasons Victorians loved everything gothic was their constant brush up
with the grim reaper now and often. Diseases like Cholera and Yellow Fever were rampant back then.
Cholera alone claimed well over 14,000 lives and Yellow fever almost as much as 150,000
lives. The mortality rate for adolescents was abysmal, women hardly survived pregnancies,
and then heinous criminals committed atrocities without being caught and history today remembers
them as…. urban legends. In short, for Victorians, families gathered more often to mourn than merry.
As cemeteries were the most likely destinations for the departed, families would often like to
visit those who they lost too soon, and slowly such gatherings became a fashion for its time
period. People were breaking bread and enjoying their day with their living and nonliving family
members. As more and more crowds pulled in, Cemeteries stopped looking like quiet, desolate
land of the long-departed but became gothic theme parks for people to socialize. Unlike Church
graveyards that shouted memento mori in the faces of their visitors, the new cemeteries were built
outside city centers and the garden-like flowering designs helped normalize hanging with the dead.
Flower motifs replaced skulls and crossbones, and the public was welcomed to enjoy the grounds.
It is easy to assume that true crime shows like Forensic Files and CSI along with hundreds of
YouTube channels retelling the stories of tragic events happening to innocent people
due to the actions of malicious people is a modern phenomenon. There are many people
today who consume shows and video series based on true crime like they breathe oxygen. Some
do it out of curiosity, some do it to learn and be cautious, while some get a kick out
of them as well. But shockingly this is not a modern trend! We don’t have to say it one
more time but Victorians loved death and if you throw a mystery of whodunnit in the mix,
one would have Victorians chasing the resolve like a cat chasing a laser dot. The Victorians found an
odd sleuthing pleasure in buying and then solving tiny earthenware figures of famous crime sites of
their time. The scenes of grisly delinquencies like “Red Barn” were immensely popular and
allowed people to fulfill their fantasy of sleuthing in the likeness of Sherlock Holmes
and other such characters of the era. Solving these malfeasance memorabilia and celebrating
the tragedies of victims within the comfort of their homes gave Victorians the same level
of dopamine that we get by playing video games these days. These crime reproductions and solving
kits would come with commemorative mugs bearing the criminal’s face which would be the reward
for solving the mystery. Victorians weren’t just creating their own medium of CSI dramas but they
were also merchandising it! Adults passed their time with activities and games that were dangerous
akin to many modern trends such as the cinnamon challenge, CharlieCharlie, and Five Finger Fillet.
Halloween was the time for Victorians to fully embrace their goth, mystic side,
and the games adults played in social gatherings back then resonated with the creepiness and risky
side of the holiday. The women, especially single ones, had a lot of games focused around their
future where they hoped to be married as marriage was an important milestone of a fulfilling life
back then. Of course, who would marry who was the most popular topic for gossip. One such game
involved the pouring of melted lead through a key into a bowl of water and analyzing the shapes for
hints of their future husband’s occupation. It was like reading tea leaves but with a toxic element.
Exposure to lead fumes, which particularly was unavoidable during such a game, may cause anemia,
weakness, and kidney and brain damage. Very high lead exposure can even ‘lead’ to death.
Other games were just weird. The game Marriages and Divorces could be construed as a predecessor
for speed dating where the girls would line up on one side of the room and the boys would line
up on the other. The person standing in front of you would be your partner and, on the spot,
you’d have to write a character sketch and perform a “roast” of your partner which would
not just be about their flaws but also good traits. After judging each other brutally,
the couple would then be openly ridiculed by the “judge” of the game who would decide whether the
couple should stay married or divorce each other. If a couple asked to be divorced,
despite the judge’s opinion that they were suitable, there was a penalty. The two players
had to pay a forfeit. Not going to lie but this kind of game simply sounds like a scam.
One of many ways Victorian times are still very much part of the present western culture and way
of living is the children's games that were either invented in Victorian times or were inspired by
Victorians. Take your doll house, dress-ups, tea party, wedding, or… funeral. Yeah, Funeral! This
particular game may have fallen out of favor in modern times but back in Victorian times, parents
wouldn’t worry if they found their little girls holding memorial services for their dolls. Today,
if parents would find their kids preparing coffins for their dolls or miniatures, they would likely
seek the help of a psychiatrist or a religious mentor to find out what is wrong with their
kids. But, for Victorians, watching their kids officiating last rites for their toys was a moment
of pride! “Playing funeral” was common across the mid-to-late-1800s. Charles Dickens also mentioned
it in a very dark context in his 1840 novel, The Old Curiosity Shop. When his protagonist, Nell,
stumbles across a group of children in a graveyard “playing funeral” with a very realistic doll!
But speaking of dolls, the fascination for dolls was as common among Victorian children
as it has been for any other generation until electronic devices became a thing. Seriously,
do any parents buy dolls anymore these days? Victorian kids loved to cuddle with their dolls,
take them on outings, organize tea parties with them, and use them as devices of their
make-believe worlds. They didn’t care how creepy Victorian dolls were. These dolls used to come
with many accessories just like modern Barbie but one of these accessories was as Victorian
as it could get. A tiny black mourning dress and a tiny coffin. Isn’t that fun?
If you are a fan of the new thriller movie Bullet Train,
there’s a good chance the moment when the twins exclaimed, “The Ol’ Punch and Judy”
you may be left scratching your head trying to get the reference. That is because you’re not British
and more importantly, you’re not Victorian. In the movie, the reference is followed by Lemon
puppeteering the deceased to make it look alive for the observers. That is perhaps
the best way to honor the oldest form of action and creepiest puppet entertainment in Britain.
Victorians didn’t just love death, but surprisingly they also liked it grisly and
horrid. It may come as a culture shock, but one of the most popular forms of children's entertainment
in Victorian England was a puppet show called “Punch and Judy” that revolved around a disturbed
vigilante named Mr. Punch. The level of atrocities in what was supposed to be a “children's show”
was the equivalent of “if Quentin Tarantino directed a Tom and Jerry episode.” Something
that would put criminals like Jeffery Dahmer and Charles Manson to shame. Punch’s crimes in the
shows ranged from mindless termination of London citizens, lawmen that may attempt to arrest him,
etc, just because they were annoying him. The puppet show has continued to this day
in some parts of England but does not match the intensity and aggression of the Victorian era.
Tell us in the comments which of these activities sounds most appealing to you. Thanks for watching
Nutty History and if you enjoyed the video do not forget to like and subscribe.