Legends & Myths
The Black Sewer Swine of Hampstead
They believed that the sewers of London were full of monstrous pigs that would one day free themselves from their home and run riot through the city. They believed this because it was just a classic urban legend. It had started when someone had said that a sow had somehow got into the sewer, had babies and fed them the trash being washed into it. It was even mentioned in a Daily Telegraph editorial in 1859.
They believed that the sewers of London were full of monstrous pigs that would one day free themselves from their home and run riot through the city. They believed this because it was just a classic urban legend. It had started when someone had said that a sow had somehow got into the sewer, had babies and fed them the trash being washed into it. It was even mentioned in a Daily Telegraph editorial in 1859.
Spirit photographs
Victorians attempted to capture images of ghosts and other spiritual things. They did this because Victorians saw a business opportunity in a new science. William H. Mumler was the first person to discover and use spirit photography in America. He had discovered it by accident when he had taken a photograph of himself, and found a second person in the picture. He later found out it was a double exposure. He saw this as n opportunity to take advantage of people, so he began to work as a medium. Until, he was caught adding living Boston residents to his photographs but by that time people in London were doing the same thing.
Victorians attempted to capture images of ghosts and other spiritual things. They did this because Victorians saw a business opportunity in a new science. William H. Mumler was the first person to discover and use spirit photography in America. He had discovered it by accident when he had taken a photograph of himself, and found a second person in the picture. He later found out it was a double exposure. He saw this as n opportunity to take advantage of people, so he began to work as a medium. Until, he was caught adding living Boston residents to his photographs but by that time people in London were doing the same thing.
The New Humans
Though Victorians had been preoccupied with the unfamiliarness of the mind, they were also curious about the human body. They wondered if the next stage of humanity was those with unusual appearances. An example of this was the famous gymnast Harvey Leach. Despite having small thighs, a weak pelvis, and his left foot was our of proportion he was a professional gymnast. Other stories such as: the Turtle Woman of Demarara, who was said to have resembalance to a turtle, and the 8 ft tall 18 year old Miss Marian, Queen of the Amazons, were popular during this time period. All these ideas came from Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species.
Though Victorians had been preoccupied with the unfamiliarness of the mind, they were also curious about the human body. They wondered if the next stage of humanity was those with unusual appearances. An example of this was the famous gymnast Harvey Leach. Despite having small thighs, a weak pelvis, and his left foot was our of proportion he was a professional gymnast. Other stories such as: the Turtle Woman of Demarara, who was said to have resembalance to a turtle, and the 8 ft tall 18 year old Miss Marian, Queen of the Amazons, were popular during this time period. All these ideas came from Charles Darwin's book On the Origin of Species.