Peter Coddle's Trip to New York

How might the snowed-in Victorians have endured Albany's blizzard of 1888? Find out at Hoxsie.

Crackers and Biscuits

Nice find by Carl - jump over to Hoxsie! and check out the (1860's?) ad for Greenbush Steam Cracker and Biscuit Manufactory.

So what were all those mysterious crackers? The Complete Bread, Cake, and Cracker Baker, J. Thompson Gill, 1881, devotes a full page just to the confusion between crackers and biscuits, before moving on to crumpets and jumbles.

For some more insight into Greenbush in this era, check out this Troy Record article from October 21, 2010: "You could look it up back in 1868".

How to Weave Victorian Love Tokens

My Great-Great-Great Grandmother left dozens of these love tokens made from cut and woven paper. She used every scrap for practice - wrapping paper, receipts, notebook paper, and even the label of a baking power canister. I couldn't find anything about this Victorian-era craft online, but I figured out how to do it, and created my own instructions. You can download the instructions for free here.