Love in a time of corsetry
This is a true story that took place in Victorian-era Australia.
The “rather mature” man-servant, Mr Supple, asked permission to marry the “very young and pretty” servant-girl, Mary.
My husband thought, as she was so much the younger of the two, it was a pity for her to throw herself away, so he spoke to her.
“Mary,” said he, “what makes you think of marrying Supple, a man old enough to be your father – and such an ugly man, and you such a pretty girl?”
“Well, sir, John Supple is NOT a pretty man, but his manners! Oh! Sir, his manners!” said Mary.
We could say nothing to this, and manners carried the day.
-From “Colonial Ladies” by Maggie Weidenhofer.
Tomorrow: The top ten awesomenesses – that didn’t cost a cent.
Felicity Banks 
Ann said,
April 17, 2011 at 11:43 am
I am very suspicious that that photo is not an original Louise Curtis…..
Louise Curtis said,
April 17, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Ann: Your suspicions are well-founded. Using a microsoft stock picture seemed the easiest way to avoid infringing on anyone’s rights. (At least, today it did. In future I’ll draw on some of the steampunk blogs I follow – with acknowledgement, of course.)
Ann said,
April 17, 2011 at 3:34 pm
They are very pretty…. But somewhat incongruous with an anecdote from the Victorians…
Louise Curtis said,
April 17, 2011 at 3:41 pm
Ann: They had flowers, right? Besides, the story is Australian. Orange daisies are about as subtle as Australian culture.