Vindication - a historical nano tale

Hello, there!

Beautiful Sunday here in Rio, no better time for a short story, huh?

Another NANOTALE to color your day, something to amuse you. Who could tell gentlemen could also be vile and vain?...

Vindication

   Woods carried a thorn on his side, a broken heart that weighed more than Cathedral bells. He once surrendered his hopes for a happy future to a lady just to be cruelly rejected. 'Fatty,' she said, wrinkling her nose. Since then, six months prior, Woods had never stopped rummaging and dwelling upon those  words of Miss Abigail - how deranged he was, offering his hand to a lady christened as a chambermaid! - She looked at him with disdain for his lack of the cultivation of a good figure. And she said more! 'Winston, on the other hand, is athletic, swims and carries his body like an aristocrat!' 

    As if. Little did the foolish girl know that Winston was a rake, a regular for the houses of ill repute near the harbour and already booked seasons at the spa town to treat gout due to his exaggerations with the liquors. As for her, who devoted herself to little fondled nut bonbons, her middle was noticeably more elliptical. 

    Whether it was a bastard or sweets, it didn't matter to Woods, who stood in front of the mirror admiring his slim figure. Pity was the face tic of blinkeing his right eye with every two sniffles according the shock of the belt that controlled his fat and manly impulses.

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*THE END*

How about Mr. Woods' efforts to get in shape, huhW

An electric belt! Really?

    Victorians, as many before and tons after, were people with special care for their figures. Science was advancing in full speed, beauty care with it. Arsenic soaps for the skin, lead nipple protectors for breastfeeding women, cocaine tonics for cough and these electric belts to burn away middle fat. Also these belts helped a lot more than that...

Illustrated Penny tales, 1894

history on the net

    We read about charlatanism whenever a medical procedure are fraudulent or simple non-tested, many refer to miraculous tonics and pills. Fala-se que charlatanismo são práticas médicas não comprovadas ou fraudulentas, muitas vezes através da venda ou aplicação de "medicamentos miraculosos". Quackery comes from the middle ages, the term derives from these medicines and itnes where sold on the streets advertised with shouts or quacks.

    Quackers frequently usued boisterous selling techinics to dupe customers such as teathrical stunts, lectures and tricks. These sellers used to jump from town to town before the scheme was discovered.  Only in 1906 did USA pass a bill for Pure Food and Medicins. Before that, lots of contamination came from the search for a cure - direct or indirectly. 

    With the beginning of 20th century came the benesse of electricity, and quackerism reached body aids. Those were a success! Most of these accessories used a slight electric corrent or ultraiolet light and, such as tonics and pills, promissed a wide range of cures and strenghtenings.

 

Belts were a must! 

Something like the magic blue pill + diet! 

    They were advertised in all forms and places, magazines, newspapers, etc. Belts could cure tiredness, impotent males, weakeness, indigestion, you name it! Some have straps, other are like sports supporter. How curious!

    Look at the ads I posted here. I can feel how much it hurts!

etsy

 And if you still want to try, you can find them on line...

Other NANOTALES are here.

see ya!

research came from aqui, aqui, aqui

Cloistered - a historial nano tale

Hello!
Inspiration is something that comes and goes, even in the most difficult times. The other day a friend called me to chat, we laughed a lot, enjoyed the distance between us, complained about other stuff and I kept wondering...
Today it is done! 

Cloistered

Declaration of love, Tolmouche

     Teeta sighed both in sadness and frustration, what good could a letter bring her at that moment? Truly, he did write beautifully, chose long words and used lovely endearments. The problem was that he announced in a pretty manner that indeed he was unable to meet her because stupid Navy ordered him to keep to Dartmouth in stupid Devon when she was to attend her mother’s ball in stupid London. Oh, hell’s bell’s! Teeta loved to curse as such, even if only in her head. Hell’s bell’s! She had had so many plans for the occasion, it would be quite a shock, she was well aware of, her mamma, the dear Duchess of Nectaroy, would feel her heart stop when the dashing captain appeared to claim her first, supper and last dances. Teeta smiled to herself imagining the scandal, Lady Eustaquia conceding three dances to the same gentleman! And a man of uniform, of all possibilities! Why, oh why, had the stupid Navy had to cloister officers in the Naval College? Was a bout of lice so severe as to quarantine all the dashing men? Another sigh. Well, Teeta did admire the great efforts of Miss Nightingale, she had even started the training of the Lady with the lamp. Surely the Navy wouldn’t turn down the aid of a nurse, would it?

* the end *

Mini tale for my dear friend who, as me, is suffering the weirdness of these uncertain days. Ah, this quarantine is affecting so many shenanigans, if only this vile virus could know...

Teeta is whining about her dashing officer's distance while he is to stay at Britannia Royal Naval College, commonly known as Dartmouth, the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the British Royal Navy.
The training of naval officers at Dartmouth dates from 1863, when the HMS Britannia was moved from Portland and moored in the River Dart to serve as a base. In 1864, after an influx of new recruits, Britannia was supplemented by HMS Hindostan. Prior to this, a Royal Naval Academy (later Royal Naval College) had operated for more than a century from 1733 to 1837 at Portsmouth, a major naval installation. The original Britannia was replaced by the Prince of Wales in 1869, which was renamed Britannia. wiki

Also, unbeknowst to her mamma, the Duchess, Lady Teeta was disgracing her noble stance by studying to be a nurse under the revolutionary training of Florence Nightingale who also had disgraced her background by searching a profession. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night. wiki

anyways, quarentine goes on...

apparently FOR EVER!

Oriental beauty, K Carl

stay safe, stay home, stay far from everyone you know,

stay patient & sane

1858. "Adolphus takes his darling Kitty to the Ball ... and might as well attempt to dance with a Chaise Umbrella!"

xoxo

M.

Read my other NANOTALES here.

Knowledge - a historical nano tale

Hello!
My new book is off to revision and beta reading, yay! Soon, probably for Valentines, DIRTY PETTICOATS will be live.

While I wait and bite my nails, I search interesting stuff and found Michel Garnier. How amazing was this 18th century artist!
So, I found a lovely portrait of a lady and her maid and... 

Enjoy!

Knowledge

ebay

She so much wanted to know the man's answer. Begged and complained, repeated all ugly bad words she knew - very mild, actually. If she had bothered to ask, Mimi the maid, could have been of great help. The fashionable drawing room provided resources to any accomplished & powered girl. 'Tea in a black pot, baguette of crispy and hot, porridge in disgusting goop, all make the lover spill the loot.' Be the man strong minded, a few drops of sour herb syrup in his tea would have to be added, but the lady chose the weakest link of a wealthy family, even simple enchantments would have propelled the wretched letter to arrive sooner. 'Bitter tears, deluded sorrow, better sip cat tail beer, or anger follows.'
Sometimes Mimi confounded her witchcraft rhymes with predictions for the future. Maybe, if she knew her letters & numbers, she could include ideas in that book the mistress read...

* the end *

This nanotale has a continuation...

I so loved his work that I composed 

this double nanotale of a complicated romance. 

Maids in old centuries had to be extra cautious with what they heard, didn't they? Laments, promisses, incriminating gossip. 

Jeune femme remmetant un lettre à sa servant - 18th cent. Wiki

A famous romance of the Portuguese author Eça de Queiroz - loooove him - called Cousin Basílio (Primo Basílio) has a dark tale of how a maid could disgrace the life of her mistress simply by knowing too much. It's a great read.

As for sorceres, they are lovely creatures to portrait, love them!
In 18th century, there still was persecution and laws to prevent the malefic acts. Huh!

friends

I watched a great TV show the other day, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell about magicians in England. Only US$ 4,99 the entire season, but so hard to find here in Brazil... It's very interesting, and based on a book!

You can say the show talks about MAGIC not SORCERY. Ah, but that is a lovely discussion!

BBC one

While searching the show, I found lovely vintage trays and well, we can never have too many vintage stuff, Right? What if we decide to play the gossiping maid in the next Jane Austen event?

how precious!

BTW, my new book will be a JAFF! Lovely sweet romance filled with gossiping women and lovely love for Darcy and Lizzy. First time I go PG 13 in English, it felt nice to let the story set the pace and not include hot scenes. 

Anyway... read my other NANOTALES here.