Unruly History in the News #48
Valentine's Day edition 💝👼🏹 💘
Hey folks,
I have been very un-romantically laid up with COVID for the past week-ish, so today’s roundup is going to be a little shorter than usual. But I hate to miss a themed roundup, so here are some stories about love, romance, and sex.
This week, in the history of love acting unruly…
How did Cupid go from unconquerable Greek heartthrob to cross-bow-wielding infant? Somehow, misogyny plays a really big part in the story.
The history of giving Valentine’s Day cards—they may have started with German friendship cards!
And if anyone wants to bring back Victorian Vinegar Valentine’s, I’m honestly down. These stinging alternatives to sappy romance are incredible.
The image reads: “To my Valentine: ‘Tis a lemon that I hand you and bid you now ‘skidoo,’ Because I love another—There is no chance for you!” Source: Missouri Historical Society. Here are seven unique Valentine’s Day traditions if chocolate and flowers aren’t your jam.
Queen Victoria’s Valentine’s Day cards to her late husband’s ghillie, John Brown, suggest that the two were at least close friends. But were they lovers?
How British postal reform and the creation of the penny post fueled the Valentine’s Day card craze.
Cut flowers weren’t always a thing. How did they become a symbol of luxury?
This ancient toilet spoon was found by a metal detectorist in Wales. It was once used to scrape the last of perfume or lotion out of a long-necked bottle. (Folks use similar spatulas for this today and they make a great gift for your practically-minded romantic partners who haven’t finished the bottle of perfume you gave them last year.)
Medieval chastity belts are a modern-day object of fascination, but they were never actually used. They began as a joke and only in the 19th century did any of them become real.
This terrifying device is a deadly bacterial infection waiting to happen. Source: Wikimedia Commons. And to get a little raunchier—is there a history of porn? Has the internet really caused a “crisis” of access to x-rated material? (Spoiler alert: Yes, then no.)
For those of you who aren’t into Valentine’s Day:
Archaeologists long assumed that all the ancient hunters found buried in Peru were male. However, recent research has revealed that up to 50% of big game hunters were in fact women. And the evidence had been there all along.
If you like this, you’ll love my episode on shieldmaidens.
The lost continent of Zealandia has been mapped for the first time. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke. The sunken continent lurks just out of sight in the South Pacific; the only surviving part above water is New Zealand
Map showing the visible and invisible parts of all the continents, now including Zealandia. Sources: Rosemary Wardley, NG Staff. Nick Mortimer, GNS Science In Rwanda, Lake Kivu is a ticking time bomb of methane and carbon dioxide. The lake has trapped tons of gas beneath its surface, and other nearby lakes have exploded and killed thousands in recent decades.
Thanks for reading! Have a great week!