When we began this blog in June, 2009, our main goal was to amuse one another. We didn't really expect to have much company, but boy, were we wrong! Turns out there were many, many more fellow history-nerds out there than we'd ever realized. Since that long-ago launch, we've written 2,510 blog posts, which have received nearly seven million page views from all of you. We're delighted that you've chosen to spend that much time with us, and helped to build this little history-loving-corner of the internet. But even Cinderella's ball ended at midnight, and the clock is chiming on The Two Nerdy ..read more

Susan reporting, Earlier Loretta shared a few of her favorite nerdy-history books, and now it's my turn. Instead of research books, I'm going to recommend a few history-related books that I've read in the last year or so - perfect holiday gifts for all your fellow nerdy-history friends and family - or maybe just yourself. Unintentional bonus: they're all written by women. Treasures Afoot: Shoe Stories from the Georgian Era by Kimberly Alexander. Beautiful historical shoes captured in beautiful photographs would be reason enough to make this a must-buy for shoe-lovers. But Treasures Afoot ..read more

Globe-Wernicke, ad in American Homes & Gardens c 1905 Loretta reports: Readers often ask which books we recommend on this, that, or the other subject. For this holiday season, it seemed like a good idea to mention some favorites. They might become gifts for the nerdy history person in your life or for yourself. Many are still in print and easily available. Some are trickier to find. While I could recommend hundreds, I winnowed it down to the following, which I often turn to for information and inspiration. Adams, Samuel & Sarah. The Complete Servant (1825). You can read thi ..read more

Susan reporting, I've already written here about the current exhibition, Fashioning the New England Family,  at Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, MA. Among the first pieces greeting visitors in the exhibition are a trio of petticoats, each with a different story to tell. (As always, please click on the images to enlarge them.) Regardless of their status, all 18thc women in New England wore some form of a petticoat: a straight, full garment that covered the lower body and legs, and gathered and tied at the waist. In its most basic form, a petticoat could be made of r ..read more

A bonus round of Breakfast Links! Our weekly round-up of favorite links to other web sites, articles, blogs, and images via Twitter. • Isabella Banks, "Orator" Hunt, and the Peterloo Massacre. • In Ireland, making lace for the love of it. • A brother's detailed guide for his sister on how to tie a new bonnet, 1830. • A different kind of "ghost writing" from the Victorian era - and one that permitted men to take all the credit: W.B.Yeats and his "spirit-medium." • The British royal Christmas list from 1750 included a "large Barril" (?) and a fencing master. • Image: Low 18thc chair o ..read more

Breakfast Links are served! Our weekly round-up of favorite links to other web sites, articles, blogs, and images via Twitter. • A glossary of 18th and 19thc tea and tea terms. • The man who named the Boston Tea Party (and much later than you think.) • Masquerade balls in Regency London. • Nineteenth century astronomer Ellen Harding Baker created this embroidered quilt of the solar system as a teaching tool for her students. • Read the original The Wind in the Willows: the hand-written letters that author Kenneth Grahame wrote to his seven-year-old son Alastair in 1907 that evolved into ..read more

Susan reporting, Perfect timing for the Christmas holidays - our friends at Crow's Eye Productions have just released this splendid video in their "Getting Dressed" series. The maidservant's clothes are wonderfully presented, and the candle-lit atmosphere of a winter's night in Victorian England is gorgeous. Plus there's a guest appearance by a very special celebrity.... Many thanks to Pauline and Nick Loven for sharing these videos with us all this year! If you received this post via email, you may be seeing an empty space or black box where the video should be. Please click here to see t ..read more

Lazzari, Trompe l'oeil Still Life 18th C Loretta reports: There are a couple of interesting bits in this excerpt from Hone’s Every-Day Book. The first part reminds us that ordinary Londoners didn’t have anything like the access we do to music. If you were well off, you could go to the opera, ballet, or theater, or you would dance at Almack’s to some of the latest pieces from abroad. For ordinary people, London had its street musicians, true, as well as cheaper theatrical entertainments. Italian music by Italian musicians, however, seems to have been rather uncommon in the 1820s. Th ..read more

Susan reporting, Sitting for a portrait was serious business in 18thc America. Professional artists were few and portraits were expensive, a luxury for only the wealthiest or most prominent of people. Even for them, a portrait was often a once-in-a-lifetime event. When Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton sat for her portrait in the winter of 1787, she was thirty years old. From a socially prominent New York family, Eliza was the wife of Colonel Alexander Hamilton, an up-and-coming young lawyer and Revolutionary War hero who was already playing an important role in shaping the new country's governme ..read more

December 1922 fashions Loretta reports: We complete this year's historical fashion plate cycle with a set of patterns and fashion news from the Delineator for December 1922. The New in New York by Evelyn Dodge “The jacket blouse and the blouse jacket have elbowed their way well to the front of the Fifth Avenue windows and New York almost killed a very charming style with the kindness of its enthusiastic reception. The jacket and the blouse are twins so much alike that their own mother-designer has difficulty in telling them apart. In many cases they can be used interchangeably, but ..read more