Victorian Shopping Etiquette and Black Friday!

I just Love the Victorian era for all it's wonderful fashions, but not for all it's rules of etiquette. A couple of years ago I posted several articles on my Linda's Blog concerning Victorian Traditions and Victorian Etiquette. In re-reading some of them I thought you might like to read some of them, too.

Here's my post concerning Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Have fun shopping or keying! LOL LOL

Today is the biggest shopping day of the year. The day after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Plus, Monday is the biggest shopping day of the year for Internet sales. Given that, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of the Victorian rules of etiquette for shopping to see if they could be applied to today.

According to the Logicmgmt.com website Victorian Shopping Etiquette is as follows:

1) In visiting a store for the purpose of examining the goods or making purchases, conduct yourself with courtesy and amiability. That's always a good idea. Not always practical. Especially when there are only 5 of the latest toy and there are 100 parents waiting in line for hours.

2) Never look over goods without any intention of buying them. Are you kidding? That's the only way to tell if there's an imperfection.

3) Speak to the clerks and employees of the store with courtesy and kindness. Do not order them to show you anything. Request them to do so in a polite manner. In leaving their counter, say pleasantly "Good morning" or "Good Day". It's always a good idea to have manners and treat others with respect. However, if the store clerk is not paying attention to their job or is yacking on the phone with a friend you have the right to speak up.

4) Never take a costly piece of goods -- nor any piece -- into a better light without first asking the clerk's permission to do so. This rule has been changed to "IF YOU BREAK IT-IT'S YOURS!"

5) Should you find another person examining a piece of goods, do not take hold of it. Wait until it is laid down, and then make your examination. This rule definitely was written before they started having the mad rush of bridal gowns on sale at "Macy's" or the last minute rush at Christmas by the parents trying to get their child the "IT" toy of the season.

6) To attempt to "beat down" the price of an article is rude. In the best conducted stores the price of the goods is "fixed", and the salesmen are not allowed to change it. If the price does not suit you, you are not obliged to buy, but can go elsewhere. Didn't the Victorians barter? I bet car salesmen would love to have this rule nowadays.

7) Pushing or crowding at a counter, or the indulgence in personal remarks, handling the goods in a careless manner, or so roughly as to injure them, lounging upon the counter, or talking in a loud voice, are marks of bad breeding. What? The Victorians never experienced the mad rush of last minute shoppers. That's part of the fun.

8) Never let the door of a shop slam in the face of any person, nor permit a stranger to hold it open without any acknowledgement of courtesy. That's just plain rude, but I've seen it happen.

9) Never express your opinion about an article another is purchasing, unless asked to do so. If an item is defective and you know it, then I would think someone would appreciate knowing it. However, don't be surprised if you hear "Who asked you?"

10) You should never ask or expect a clerk waiting upon a customer to leave that person and attend to you. Wait patiently for your turn. A universal rule of shopping that some people do ignore. When they do look out. Talk about "road rage." That's nothing compared to "shopping rage!"

11) It is rude to make unfavorable comparisons between the goods you are examining, and those of another store. Doesn't apply to today. Nowadays with stores all matching their competitors lowest price you'd be a fool not to speak up.

12) Have your parcels sent and so avoid the fatigue of carrying them. Ah, there was a time when stores did this for you. Not anymore. Here's where a foldable shopping carts comes in handy.

I think they forgot a rule. Rule #13) Always let you personal shopper do the walking. You've got better things to do. If you don't have a personal shopper then go on to Rule #14) Always do your shopping in your jammies. Let your fingers do the walking over your keyboard and let the Internet be your guide. Personally, the latter is the best wait to shop.

If you decide to venture out into the wide, mad rush of holiday shoppers please BE SAFE!

Happy shopping to all.

And, remember the most important rule of shopping is - SHOP TIL YOU DROP or your fingers do!

Wonderful Articles From Marta of Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas

I keep going back and back to read and re-read posts from Marta's Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas blog.

You see, it is filled to the brim with pictures of Victorian dolls and information on the Victorian Era and I am fascinated by the amount of information that Marta has within her blog. I can only imagine the amount of effort and work that goes into finding all the material for her posts.

If you LOVE Victorian dolls, history, and pictures from the Victorian era then you'll want to visit Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas .

Here's a listing of the articles from Marta's wonderful Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas  blog.

1. Children of Paris
2. The Queen is Dead...Long Live the King!
3. "The Fashion Doll" Trend Setters of the 18th Century
4. ...and all the King's ladies
5. Edward Albert...Son and Heir Apparent
6. The Regal Beauty of Parian Dolls
7. Little Lord Fauntleroy... The Edwardian Era
8. Bertie...a rebellious prince. "The Edwardians" (part 2)
9. "The Edwardians " (part one) an introduction.
10. Walking Down the Red Carpet 19th century style
11. Porcelain, from the T'ang Dynasty to Meissen
12. Pale yet lovely, glazed and beautiful.
13. "Waifs and Strays" The Poor Victorians
14. "Upstairs, Downstairs" Victorian Middle Classes
15. It was the Best of Times, It was the Worst of Times (Victorian era part 8)
16. The Holly, The Ivy, and the Mistletoe (part 7 Victorian Era)
17. The Ethereal Beauty of Wax (Victorian era part 6)
18. The Art of Victorian Mourning ( Victorian era part 5)
19. Queen Victoria: Wife, Mother and Widow (part four Victorian era)
20. Dolls of the 19th century..The Dawning of Porcelain (part 3 Victorian era)
21. Victoria and Albert (part 2, Victorian era)
22. The Victorian Era 1837 - 1901 (part 1) Princess Victoria of Kent
23. Grodner Tal, "Tuck Comb," Peg Wooden Dolls
24. Biedermeier Period 1820-1836
25. Origin of the Term "Milliner's Model Doll"...What's in a Name?
26. Milliner's Model Doll... A Fashion Model or a Toy?
27. Those Frills, and Flowers, and Buttons and Bows......
28. Street Vendors of the 19th century...Peddlers or Pedlars?
29. Hot cross buns, one ha' penny, two ha' penny hot cross buns...
30. The Georgian Period 1714-1830
31. Georgian Children
32. House of Hanover
33. The Endearing Cranford Ladies
34. A Time of Sense and Sensibility
35. Jane Austen's Regency Gentlewomen
36. Papier Mache Dolls and Key Manufacturers: Muller 1805-1892
37. The Key Manufacturers: Voit 1806-1882
38. The Key Manufacturers: Kestner 1805-1938
39. From the Forests of Thuringia
40. What is Papier-Mache?
41. The Napoleon Influence
42. “Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste” a Fairy Tale Without a Happy Ending
43. A Wedding at Versailles
44. "Marie Antoinette," The Last Queen of France
45. French Court Mannequins and Couture
46. The Beginning of the End
47. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite
48. Queen Elizabeth I "The Golden Age"
49. Elizabethan Children
50. 17th and 18th Century Dolls
51. Medieval Children
52. The Dolls of the Middle Ages
53. Once Upon a Time.....
54. The 12th Century a Time for Knights and Damsels in Distress
55. A Glimpse of Richard Wright’s Incredible Collection
56. I'm all that's left of a bizarre childhood...
57. The Nutcracker
58. The Golden Age of Automata
59. Commedia Dell' Arte
60. The Graham Children
61. The Magical Musical Dolls
62. Mechanical Dolls / Automatans
63. Le Marottes et Folies
64. Kings and Fools
65. Florence, Jane, Mary Louisa, and Julia.
66. A Gift From the Bees
67. Beeswax..The Primary Material
68. Las Meninas
69. Wax Dolls A Victorian Plaything
70. The Origins of Wax-Modeling
71. Santos and Creche Figures
72. Background on Nativity Sets
73. Dolls of religious significance
74. Coming of Age in the Ancient World
75. The Dolls of Egypt, Greece and Rome
76. Doll House of Petronella Dunois based on paintings from the Dutch Masters
77. Interiors by Vermeer and Pieter De Hooch
78. Early Wooden Dolls to the 1850s… Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder...
79. 1700 William and Mary Period English Wooden
80. 1740 Queen Ann Period English Wooden
81. 1800 Georgian Period English Wooden
82. The Reinassance
83. Portrait of Arabella Stuart ca,1577
84. Christ Blessing the Children ca;1540
85. English School,1506 Children of the King of Spain

I hope you enjoy Marta's articles as much as I do.

A Wonderful Blog - Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas

I just love it when I receive comments on my blogs - especially if they are in regards to the Victorian era and Victorian dolls.  Well, this morning there was a comment on my  Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog from Marta of  Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas .

Marta's comment was:

Hi Linda you have a beautiful blog...I'm surprised I didn't run into it before, because we love the same things.

I would love if you visit me at Dolls from the Attic...I think you will like it, and maybe care to follow it.
Bisous
Marta

Of course, my curiosity was piqued as I thought she might love the Victorian era as I do and first checked out her profile.

Marta's profile said - I should've been a Jane Austen character... a Dashwood sister with Sense and Sensibility; but secretly longing to be out in the moors sporting dirty, broken fingernails and wrestling with Heathcliff in another novel.

Now I knew for sure that we shared the same interests and clicked over to visit her blog.

Well, I was in  7th heaven - or maybe I should say, Victorian heaven.  I knew for sure that I would be following her blog and immediately added her RSS feed to my Google Reader.

Her blog was filled to the brim with pictures of Victorian dolls, Victorian people, and Victorian fashions.  Plus, every article was historic in nature.  And, if you're a reader of my Linda's Blog you all know how much I LOVE history - especially Victorian history.

Here's Marta's Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas  blog description: Dolls have always been a part of humankind, found in Egyptian excavations, and in Greek and Roman children's graves. Dolls and history go hand in hand, so is my intention with this blog to convey my passion for the dolls of the Renaissance, and the 19th and early 20th century. By borrowing from the work of the masters and archival photographs, I will be able to link them to the history of the times and briefly touch on the primitives. Welcome to my blog, and stay awhile.

If you love the Victorian era as Marta and I obviously do I hope you'll visit her Dolls from the Attic...Mis Munecas  blog.

I wasn't able to spend a lot of time on Marta's blog this morning, but I'm definitely going back. Next time I'm going to bring a whole pot of tea with me. I'll definitely be there for awhile.

After all, I'll be in Victorian heaven. I might never leave.

My Victorian Dolls - Abigail - Victorian Snowlady To The Core and Chester - Victorian Snowman To The Core

Several years ago I found two patterns from Tenderberry Stitches for making two adorable Victorian snow people and, of course, fell in love with both of them.  I named them  Abigail - Victorian Snowlady To The Core and Chester - Victorian Snowman To The Core and they are shown in the picture below.

Abigail and Chester are an unusual pair of Victorians. They may happen to be snowmen (or should we say snowman and snowlady), but they are also Victorians to the core and gardeners to the core. You could say they are Victorian, snowpeople, and gardening lovers to the core.

Like a lot of Victorians they love their country cottages and love the ivy growing all over outside walls of their cottage homes. It grows in the spring, summer, winter, or fall. As a result they can be seen during any season attending to it. Since today was such a beautiful sunny day they decided to transplant a few new vines. The problem is that sometimes in doing so they get entangled in them

"Abigail - Victorian Snowlady To The Core" is a 25" self-standing wood and felt cloth snowlady with an embroidered and blushed face with black bead eyes and carrot resin nose. She has wool roving hair and bangs and is wearing her favorite lined wool bonnet that is adorned with ivy.

Her favorite burgundy colored wool coat has teal fringed band along the bottom edge and the front edges.  It has cuffed sleeves and is teal fringed collar.  A matching fringed teal scarf is wrapped around her neck and matching teal fringed shawl is wrapped around her arms and shoulders.  She is carrying her favorite draw string lined purse in her left hand and ivy transplant in her right hand.  Ivy also adorns the bottom of her body.

"Abigail - Victorian Snowlady To The Core" just loves being in the garden, especially if Chester is helping her.  She loves her Victorian cottage house adorned with ivy and hopes her new ivy transplants will take.

"Chester - Victorian Snowman To The Core" is a 25" self-standing wood and felt cloth snowman with an embroidered and blushed face with black bead eyes and carrot resin nose. He has wool roving hair and bangs and is wearing his favorite lined wool derby hat that is adorned with ivy.  Ivy also adorns the bottom of his body.

He is also wearing his favorite navy and brown colored tweed wool coat.  It has cuffed sleeves and is gathered at the collar.  A burgundy scar with teal fringe edges fringed  is double wrapped around his neck.  He is carrying his favorite broom adorned with ivy to sweep the soil away from the walkways.

 "Chester - Victorian Snowman To The Core" just loves being in the garden, too, especially if Abigail is there.  He loves his Victorian cottage home, but really loves it because Abigail does.  And, anything she loves - well, he loves it too.  Even the ivy which he often gets tangled up in.

Both dolls were made based upon a Tenderberry Stitches pattern.