Memento Mori

Ever since I first learned about Victorian post-mortem photography, I've been fascinated. Earlier this year, I read a book which includes numerous examples of the practice.  I have wanted to start collecting it, but I didn't want to be seen as a weirdo who scours Ebay, looking for sad photos of long-dead people. However, I knew that if I ever happened to come across one in my travels or treks to antique stores, then it would be organic and I know I would appreciate it as a historical artifact that represents a story.

Last Sunday, I was at my local Goodwill and I noticed a dozen or so old photos and cabinet cards on display. I always enjoy antique photos because I like to imagine who the people may have been, or what they may have been like in their lifetime.

I came across one showing a young woman holding a baby, wrapped in white.

If I were not familiar with the Victorian era commonness of documenting loved ones after death, then I may not have imagined it, because the woman looks very serene, with almost a slight smile on her lips.

There is nothing written on the photo to confirm my assumption, but the prevalence of these types of photos makes it the most obvious scenario.

Due to the expense involved in getting a family to a photographer's studio, Victorian era parents rarely had portraits taken in 'good times'. If the children were well and healthy, then there was no need to have their picture taken. However, in an age where diseases such as whooping cough, scarlet fever, diphtheria and others constantly threatened the lives of children, death was sadly commonplace. Parents often had portraits taken of their lost children because the photo was the only picture they would have to remember them by.

I know that many people think this a macabre hobby, but as a historian I can glean so much insight into a by-gone society from this once-popular art. And as someone who has always been sentimental, and is now a mother to a young child, I feel compelled to appreciate this photo for what it represents. 

The baby may not have lived very long, but I doubt the mother loved him any less. My son is only three, but I have innumerable pictures of him: on my computer, in our home, on my Facebook and Instagram.  .  .we are able to take photos without even thinking about it. This is probably the only photos taken of that baby; it may even be the only picture taken of the mother, or at least the only picture that remains of her. She must have treasured it.

I think we all like to imagine that the things we treasure will continue to be treasured by others when we are gone; that is why we hand wedding gowns, ratty teddy bears, hand-knitted blankets and other things down in our families. We don't save them and hand them down hoping that someone will say "I don't need this" and toss it away.

I have other antique photos and even though I don't know the people in them, I don't mind being a surrogate guardian of these treasures.

Japanese Kit Kats: Amazake

This is the most exotic Kit Kat I have tried so far. The green tea was very Japanese also, but I drink green tea all the time. I have never had amazake before. I didn't even know what it was, and I purposely didn't look it up because I wanted to be surprised.

It smells like chai, with subtle sweetness. It tastes like white chocolate, with a slight banana flavor to it.

I didn't know what amazake was, so after I ate the candy bar, I consulted Google. It is a a creamy version of traditional sake (rice wine). It can be served either hot or cold, and is a popular drink served on New Year's in Japan.

And YES: this candy does contain  in it. Each serving has .8% alcohol in it.

I only have ONE MORE FLAVOR LEFT- which will be posted soon.

Beatrix Potter Day

Not many people know, but Beatrix Potter has a connection to New Hampshire. The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion in Portsmouth became the home of the Coolidge family in the later half of the 19th century. Because J. Templemann Coolidge III was an amateur artist and a trustee of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the house became a summer artist colony, and the family became acquainted with a number of artists.

When Henry Coolidge visited England with his mother, he met Potter. She even dedicated her book The Fairy Caravan to him!

I spent a few hours on the grounds of the mansion, indulging my own artistic side:

I agreed to display my Peter Rabbit diorama for the event. It looked perfect, nestled into the landscape:

  I occupied my time by working on my Secret Garden scene:

Eric and John tagged along because the weather was perfect. John decided to try using chalk pastels for the first time:

The day before, I slapped together a few cards, in case anyone wanted to see more photos, or contact me. I know that business cards are more professional, but I feel like artist trading cards are more 'me', so I made them using index cards, washi tape and pages from an upcycled copy of Charlotte's Web.

My favorite one is the one depicting fat Templeton, with my name above.

It was a nice event: not crazy and crowded. I enjoyed having such a quiet day there, and it's fitting with the theme of Beatrix Potter's nature-inspired stories.

Japanese Kit Kats: Cookies n Cream

The next flavor of Kit Kat I tried was Cookies n Cream. I picked this flavor out for my husband actually, since that's his favorite flavor of ice cream. And it matches up pretty well.

The outside of the bar is white chocolate with Oreo-type cookie crumbs in it. It actually smells like Cookies n Cream ice cream!

It's not the most exotic flavor; Hershey's came out with a Cookies n Cream candy bar way back in 1994:

If you've ever had the ice cream, or a milkshake version, or the Hershey's bar, or even dunked an Oreo in milk, then you already know what it tastes like. But, if you're on a mission to taste every variety of Kit Kats, then this is an easy one to swallow.

Japanese Kit Kats: Green Tea

Yesterday I tried the Green Tea flavored Kit Kats. The outside of the candy  is a light green color. which appears to be white chocolate with green dye.

The inside wafers are also light green. The flavor is very light and mellow- I was expecting it to be stronger, or maybe even a little bitter, like tea.

So I guess in conclusion, it didn't seem to taste much like green tea, but it was still good.

Japanese Kit Kats: Strawberry Cheesecake

As a birthday present to myself, I splurged and bought myself some candy bars. Not ordinary candy bars from the grocery store though; I bought some of those exotic KitKat flavors that are only available in Japan.

At first I was thinking about ordering a subscription box, but then I decided to order just a few flavors from a seller on Ebay. I have read candy blogs a few times over the year, and although I have no desire to try some of the strange flavors that are out there (no sour melon logs, or Sweet Heat Starburst for me), I wanted to document my first experience with Japanese candy.

They arrived yesterday, and I was pretty excited to try them. They were a little bit melty, no doubt from the humidity, so I put them in the freezer for a couple hours. I decided to try the Strawberry Cheesecake flavor first:

I had 1/2 of the little bar, and I let my husband have the other half. It was delicious! 

The outside of the candy is white, with small pink flecks.The wafers inside are pink. I don't think it quite tastes like cheesecake, it's more like a strawberry dipped in white chocolate. It reminded me of these strawberry wafer cookies that my old babysitter used to keep in her cookie jar:

So these exotic candy bars are my new babies, and I will guard them like alternate-world-fat-Monica:

Before I was the Tie Dyed Librarian, I was the Tie Dyed Teenager

I was rummaging through some old photos the other day and I found this one:

This was circa 1997, long before I knew I would become a librarian. 

But I loved my tie dye, even back then!