The Victorian Archivist

@victorianarchivist.bsky.social

298 Followers 198 Following

Librarian, historical costumer, tea addict fancymiscellany.wordpress.com

A woman in a burgundy 18th century dress and white cap stands on an overlook, looking off to the right. Behind her is the Neilson House at Saratoga National Park, and hills covered in fog and overcast skies.
Portrait of Sarah Bowdoin by Louis-Léopold Boilly. A painting of a woman who wears 1806-era white dress, trimmed in red and green florals, with a neckline of frills that covers her right up to her chin. Her brown hair is up in the back and curls gently around her face. She stares at the viewer with what seems like exhaustion or consternation or impatience. She has little bags under her eyes and the corners of her mouth are slightly downturned.
A blonde woman leans her shoulder against a red brick pillar with her hand on her hip. She is wearing a pale green 1880-style gown trimmed with cream-colored lace around the neck, sleeves, front, bottom of the jacket, and the layers of the skirt.
An awkward perspective photo of (ostensibly) a human half-reclined on a couch, wearing 18th century undergarments. Visible are: a striped beige and green linen petticoat, a single foot stocking'ed in French blue, the very bottom of a set of laced up stays, and an embroidered pocket.
A tiny black and white dog wrapped in a blanket lays on a person's knee and arm.
A still frame from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Grima Wormtongue leans into whisper in the ear of a reduced, infirm, King Theoden.
Blue and white gingham silk fabric fills the bottom half of the image, held by a pair of white fingers. A computer keyboard on a tan colored desk fills the top half of the image, in the background. On the surface of the gingham fabric a needle and thread are halfway through a buttonhole stitch, in a line of small white stitches.
An image collage of two different views of Omaha Beach in France. The top half is a wide view, looking down the coast line. The sand is warm orange, the water is a vibrant turquoise, the clouds are fluffy and crisp. The bottom half is a screen shot from the Omaha Beach scene in the movie Saving Private Ryan. The shot is dark, gray, and murky. The beach sand is covered in barriers, trucks, equipment, and men. The sky is shrouded in mist and devoid of color.
A photo of a little black and white dog and a person's lap on a couch. The dog is wearing an inflatable blue, donut-shaped medical collar. He lays on a blue and white blanket. His eyes are half closed and his ears stick out at odd angles. On the person's lap is a burgundy-colored bit of fabric. Their hand holds an edge of the fabric with a needle and thread stuck partially through.
A white woman sits in a car with her seatbelt on, giving a peace sign to the camera. Her hair is tucked up under a white cap with a ruffle around her face, and a white, purple, and blue patterned kerchief is around her neck, over a burgundy colored gown. She also wears big black sunglasses.
A woman with long reddish brown hair, in a long dark blue medieval gown with drapey sleeves spins whimsically in front of a marble archway. Leaves scatter the gravel path. Grass and bushes frame the path, and the sun glows golden in the garden and trees beyond the archway.
A young blonde woman clutches a wooden stake slightly seductively. She stares at the viewer with a challenge in her eyes. Behind her is a blue background with the impression of clouds and a wrought iron fence. Over he head are the words "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
In a still frame from the HBO show The Pitt, Dr. Mel King leans on a counter like she is waiting or considering something. An 18th century cocked hat with military braid has been photoshopped onto her head.
A detail of the marginalia of a medieval manuscript. Three figures wearing loose medieval robes and hoods are seated in a woven basket. Their hoods have little ears that make them look like stuffed animals or Teletubbies. One figure looks concerned. One looks resigned. The third appears to be reclining in shock.
A blonde woman in a 1905-style pink velvet and cream silk gown takes a selfie in a full length mirror in a hotel room.
The cover of the April 2026 issue of Reason magazine. Two dolphins dance on the cover, in a pond in front of a data center, with a rainbow overhead and roses on either side. In Barbie-like font the cover story declares "The Joys of Data Centers."
An white man in a baseball cap stands in a sports stadium, holding up a sign that says "I just hope both teams lose."
Screenshot of a photo imbedded in the Huffington Post article. The photo caption states "Right-wing influencer Jake Lang carries a goat during a protest organized by the influencer on March 7, 2026 in New York City." And yeah, the dude is just carrying a goat wearing a doggie harness, with a big old weird smile on his face.
Cm and white drawing of a warrior fighting a skeleton. What are the four core character classes? Wrong answers only.
A collage of photos on a black background with words in video game font at the top that read "choose your opponent!" Photo 1 is Donald Trump looking confused at the Davos world summit. Photo 2 is Border Patrol head Greg Bovino. Photo 3 is a dopplar radar projection of the storm system about to hit all of the U.S. east coast and midwest and southern states. Photo 4 is a journal article with the headline "No Option to Opt Out: The Environmental Impact of Mandatory AI Integration."
A screenshot of the "challenges" page of the Storygraph app. The page reads "2026 Reading Goals: you have read 0 books this year." A progress bar beneath this is all grey and reads 0%. A note below this reads "you're on track!"
Photo of an illuminated manuscript. The central image appears to be a drawing of a medieval hood (garment). Three rabbits are poking their heads out of various apertures of the hood. One rabbit butt and back legs are poking out of the face opening of the hood.
A screen still from the movie The Princess Bride. Inigo, Vizzini, and Fezzik stand at the edge of a cliff, looking down toward the camera.
Elderly Steve Rogers saying "No, I don't think I will."
A blonde woman takes a photo using her phone in a mirror. She wears a floor length dark green skirt with black trim, and an 1890s bodice with purple velvet sides and big puffy sleeves, and a green silk center front and lower sleeves. The look is topped with a black velvet belt at the waist.
A panel from George Takei's They Called Us Enemy, about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, depicting an illustration of an official named Mr BOWRON at a Congressional hearing. The caption reads "testified before Congress that we were 'nonassimilable'."
A disassembled sewing machine sits on an office table. It is in several pieces and lies on its side. Various screwdrivers and tweezers are nearby.
Spongebob props himself against a cave wall with one hand. His eyes are concerned, his lips pursed, and his cheeks puffed as he tries to catch his breath. His expression can best be described as "whew, I ain't touching that." He wears no pants, square or otherwise.
A photo of Regina George from the movie Mean Girls. The text on the photo reads "so you agree, housing IS a right"
A burgundy Victorian-era gown on a dress form stands in the middle of a room, surrounded by sewing machine, sewing box, and other tools. The gown is made in velvet, has a long train with pleats on it, cream trim on the cuffs and collar, and gathers that cascade down the back of the skirt.
Ralphie from The Simpsons wears a cardboard, taped together hat. He proclaims "I'm a engineer!"
A mint green Labubu toy sits on a gridded sewing table, surrounded by a spool of thread, stacks of fabric scraps, and a pin holder. He is tangled in a measuring tape.
Two stylized, illustrated kittens wearing bows stare toward each other, but also off into space. Orange kitten asks "How are you doing?" White kitten answers "The rage consumes me."
A blonde woman takes a selfie in a full-length mirror. She is wearing a high-low skirt in black with buttons down the front, belted with a pointed silver buckle, a black blouse, and a black wool Tudor-style jacket open in the front. A tiny black and white dog stares from the bed behind her.
A still image from That 70s Show. Eric's mom smiles awkwardly. The image is captioned "*laughs uneasily* I'm just... I'm so very nervous."
Screenshot of a FB newsfeed with suggested reels. The primary suggestion is a video of a wave, shaped backward from how waves actually break on shore, breaking into a beach full of beach houses and completely swamping them. It is obvious it's an A.I. video meant to garner views due to the recent tsunami warnings following the earthquake off the Russian coast.
A blue shopping basket sits on a parcel scale, on a carpeted floor. The basket is full to the brim with books and the scale reads "15 pounds."
Frodo Baggins, looking softly at Samwise Gamgee as he says "Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam."
An astronaut looks at earth from space. Superimposed on the earth is a Tweet from Donald Trump that reads "STOP TALKING ABOUT EPSTEIN!!!!!" The astronaut states "he must think we're idiots." A second astronaut points a gun at the unsuspecting first and says "he always has."
A living room scene, depicting a couch arm, an Ikea arm chair, a side table and lamp. A tiny black dog lays on the arm of the couch. His face is turned toward the camera, and his tail curls over the throw pillow, giving him the appearance of a dragon perched upon a hoard.
Beat up, 18 year old Converse All Stars sit on a rug next to gardening gloves and a small rake... thing.
A photo of a lap, clad in black, with a patterned bag and panel of fabric on top. The panel of fabric has stitchlines drawn on and a needle and thread stuck through it. A badge that reads "ALA Annual Conference" is just visible.
A light blue plaid linen dress is displayed on a dressform in front of a green wall, and standing on a blue and white rug.
A small black and white dog is curled carelessly on a person's lap. They sleep peacefully, as if they have never had a single care in the world.
A woman with long blonde hair takes a selfie in a mirror. She wears a long black pinstriped skirt, a black blouse, and a black jacket, open at the front to reveal a linen natural-colored lining.
White azalea flowers fill the entire frame of the photo.
Light pink flowers on the tips of a sparse bush.
Two large 1 pound bags and 5 small 4 ounce bags of loose leaf tea sit on a table, arranged as if they were contraband seized by law enforcement.
Screenshot of a Huffpo article that reads: "In addition to concerns about records not being properly preserved, Schiff flagged the clear national security risks inherent in using a commercial app to coordinate sensitive military operations while abroad. At the time of last month’s military strikes in Yemen, for instance, Rubio was in Canada, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was in Russia and Azerbaijan, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was on an Indo-Pacific tour in Thailand and India. All three participated in the chat. "
A light blue plaid 1880s bodice and skirt on a dress form. The sleeves are still missing, and everything is just pinned on for the moment. The chaos of the sewing room, with boxes, fabric, and sewing machine covers, frame the gown.
Screen shot of an email. Text reads: Dear Caitlin- We’re reaching out to keep you in the loop - because we believe our community deserves transparency and care. Recent changes in global tariffs are impacting many industries, including tea and teaware. While we’re still evaluating how this will affect us long term, there may be some shifts in pricing ahead. Our promise to you remains the same: to source the finest ingredients, craft products with care, and deliver exceptional quality. We're doing everything we can behind the scenes to minimize the impact of rising costs. If you’ve been thinking about trying a new blend, upgrading your teaware, or picking up a gift, now is a great time to order and lock in current pricing. We’ll also continue to share any updates with you and highlight special offers in our emails.
Donald Trump sits in the back of a car wearing a Make America Great Again hat, with his cell phone to his ear, waving to onlookers. White text to the left of his head reads "let them eat cake."
Interior of a library, lined with windows. Book displays can be seen in the foreground. A line of comfy chairs, each filled with a person reading a book, recede to the far wall, where more people sit at tables reading.
Screenshot of a Bluesky post. The poster says "I promise this is posted on the official ICE Twitter handle." The image underneath is a post from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a photo that says "if it crosses the US border illegally it's our job to STOP IT. The words PEOPLE MONEY PRODUCTS IDEAS are listed.
A two panel meme featuring Thor. In panel one Thor has "SCOTUS" written over his forehead and a mug in his hand and he says "This fascism, I like it". In panel two Thor throws the mug on the ground and says "Another!"
A graphic from Albany NY news station WNYT featuring a photo of Democratic candidate for NY-21 Blake Gendebien. He is quoted as saying "I started this campaign because the North Country deserves a representative who truly knows what it means to work hard and deliver for our community--and what's been made clear today is that Washington knows I'm the right person to do so."
An eight panel image featuring Patrick Starr and the manta ray guy. First panel has an ID with "classified war plans" transposed over it. The caption says "yout sent a journalist classified war plans." Panel 2 Patrick responds "no we didn't." Panel 3 the manta ray displays the document and the caption says "he has them right here in his phone." Panel 4 Patrick responds "they aren't." Panel 5 manta ray asks "they aren't what? War plans? Or classified?" Panel 6 Patrick responds "neither." Panel 7 manta ray says "well now they're published and we can see they are!" Panel 8 Patrick responds "didn't happen."
Character DW from the show Arthur stands in front of a door with a sign on it. The caption at the bottom has been altered to read "that won't stop me because I can't read!"
A grocery store shelf with strawberry Honey Bunches of Oats on the left and Vanilla Honey Bunches of Oats on the right. Peeking between them is a postcard-sized paper with the words "did we vote for" and "how does Musk plan" visible.
The new Lady Gaga CD cover, held against a black background.