I was looking on Project Gutenberg and found "The Ladies Book of Useful Information", which by and large is similar to most etiquette and informational books published around the time, but for my sake had good chunks of information that I either thought were silly or potentially—as its title hinted—useful. I'll quote some passages for now, and leave a (link) for others!
Obviously we know about a lot of this information from reading about the Victorian period, but I've found it's another experience altogether to read a VE source rather than on a webpage about the VE. Their reasoning is usually much funnier too :P
— set by MJ! —
Quote:THE FORTUNATE AND UNFORTUNATE DAYS OF EACH MONTH.
FORTUNATE.
In January, six days—the 1st, 2nd, 15th, 26th, 27th, and 28th.
In February, four days—the 11th, 21st, 25th, and 26th.
In March, two days—the 10th and 24th.
In April, five days—the 6th, 15th, 16th, 20th, and 28th.
In May, three days—the 3rd, 18th, and 31st.
In June, five days—the 10th, 11th, 15th, 22nd, and 25th.
In July, three days—the 9th, 15th, and 28th.
In August, six days—the 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 19th, and 25th.
In September, five days—the 4th, 8th, 17th, 18th, and 23rd.
In October, five days—the 3rd, 7th, 16th, 21st, and 22nd.
In November, three days—the 5th, 14th, and 20th.
In December, six days—the 15th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, and 25th.
UNFORTUNATE.
In January, seven days—the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 13th, 14th, 20th, and 21st.
In February, seven days—the 3rd, 7th, 9th, 12th, 16th, 17th, and 23rd.
In March, eight days—the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 28th, and 29th.
In April, two days—the 24th and 25th.
In May, five days—the 17th, 20th, 27th, 29th, and 30th.
In June, eight days—the 1st, 5th, 6th, 9th, 12th, 16th, 18th, and 24th.
In July, four days—the 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 18th.
In August, two days—the 15th and 16th.
In September, two days—the 9th and 16th.
In October, six days—the 4th, 9th, 11th, 17th, 27th, and 31st
In November, four days—the 3rd, 9th, 10th, and 21st.
In December, two days—the 14th and 21st.
Quote:Generally the best age to marry where the health is perfect, is from twenty-one to twenty-five in the male and from eighteen to twenty-one in the female. As a general rule, marriages earlier than this are injurious and detrimental to health. Men who marry too young, unless they are of cold and phlegmatic constitution, [100]and thus moderate in their conduct, become partially bald, dim of sight, and lose all elasticity of limb in a few years; while women in a like position rarely have any bloom on their cheek or fire in their eye by the time they are twenty-five. And all profound physiologists agree that from the same cause the mental faculties suffer in the same ratio.
The rich are qualified for marriage before the poor. This is owing to the superiority of their aliment; for very nutritious food, and the constant use of wines, coffee, etc., greatly assists in developing the organs of reproduction; whereas the food generally made use of among the peasantry of most countries—as vegetables, corn, milk, etc.—retards their growth. Owing to this difference of diet, the daughter of a man of wealth, who keeps a good table, will be as adequate to certain duties of married life at eighteen as the daughter of a humble peasant at twenty-one. Singular as it may seem, it is none the less true, that love novels, amorous conversations, playing parlor games for kisses, voluptuous pictures, waltzing, and, in fact, all things having a tendency to create desire, assist in promoting puberty and preparing young persons for early marriage. Those who reach this estate, however, by artificial means and much before the natural period will have to suffer for it in after life.
Quote:To make what is called “a handsome couple,” the female should be about three inches less than the male, and the parties should be proportionately developed throughout their system.
Quote:The parties should be nearly of one age. The husband should be the elder. The union of the old husband to the young wife, or the reverse, is seldom a happy one. It is seldom that such a marriage occurs in which the incentive is not the wealth of either of the parties.
Marriages are usually contracted to gratify various desires, as love, fortune or position. The results are more truthfully stated by an eminent divine in the following:
“Who marries for love, takes a wife; who marries for fortune, takes a mistress; who marries for position, takes a lady.”
To a man there is but one choice that he can rationally make, a marriage of love. My female readers, I hope, will decide rather to wed a husband than the master or the elegant gentleman.
Obviously we know about a lot of this information from reading about the Victorian period, but I've found it's another experience altogether to read a VE source rather than on a webpage about the VE. Their reasoning is usually much funnier too :P
— set by MJ! —