Anniversary of Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I January 15, 1559

January 15, 1559, Queen Elizabeth was crowned Queen of England, reigning until her death on March 24, 1603. Considered by many as England's greatest monarch, closely followed by her namesake, Queen Elizabeth II.

Elizabeth in her coronation robes... painter unknown.

 

She was known as The Virgin Queen, Gloriana and Good Queen Bess and was one of the strongest monarchs.

Elizabeth was born in Greenwich on September 17, 1533

of King Henry VIII and Anne Bolelyn.  

 This is called the Darnley portrait... after the owner, as the painter is unknown.
 The portrait dates to circa 1575.

Queen Elizabeth by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892

Anniversary of the London Transport System... January 10, 1863

Hi there. Today's post is about a visit to the London Transport Museum by Covent Garden in London, England, in honour of the anniversary today, January 10th of the opening of London Transport Authority in 1863. 

Whenever we were in London, we are at Covent Garden at least twice a week for antique markets. We passed the Museum often and then decided to visit.

 I am fascinated by old transport...having  inherited a huge collection of English railroad and transport postcards from my English Nana.  The card above is an 1870-1880s real photo postcard of a London and North West Railroad  horse drawn parcel van....

And this postcard is an 1880s L&NWR passenger van transporting passemgers between train lines in Holywell....so, we decided to visit the London Transport Museum...

The Museum covers a fantastic length of all sorts of transport from the early horsedrawn street cars and omnibuses...

through the Victorian period to Edwardian period motor drawn vehicles...

to the history and evolution of the Underground or Tube system which we enjoy when we're in London...

2013 was the 150th birthday of the Underground system and they had a gala celebration dinner at the museum...this photo of the dinner is from the DailyMail...

The Museum has a wonderful display of transportation signs, model railroads, underground maps...

And a collection of posters and artwork...

There is a gift shop, a snack bar, and a new cafe that is very nice...

So if you have an interest in London's transportation system or want a nostalgic look at old London, this is a fun place to visit!

Happy Anniversary to London Transport, and...

Happy Birthday Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge

Wishing Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge a very happy birthday.

Catherine was born on January 9, 1982.

Engaged to Prince William in 2010...

Married in 2011

And with their 3 children George, Charlotte and Louis for Christmas 2018.

 

Twelfth Night is Here!

Twelfth Night ends the 12 Days of Christmas... I can hear you humming it now...

And refers in Christian calendars to the 12th night following Christmas, traditionally viewed as the time it took the Magi or Wise man to reach the Christ Child.

 In non Christian England, the traditions were instead related to the solstice, and in the early church, after 12 days of prayer, good deeds and charity, the 12th Night was viewed as an end to restraint.

The above boar's head tureen from the 1770s made by the Chelsea Pottery in England, was probably made for use during 12th Night... immortalized by Shakespeare in his play.

 Revels and theatricals were part of the day.

 also a part of the festivities were costumes, assigning of roles to play, masks and the appointing of The Lord Of Misrule who's commands had to be obeyed.

Needless to say, there was much spirits and license, and many were appalled by what occurred, really in contrast to a religious observance.

Often roles were reversed... servants becoming gentry and gentry becoming servants, or parents being subject to children for the day or evening.

 The above is an engraving of the Lord Of Misrule at the Crystal Palace in London during the reign of Queen Victoria

And the Yule log, brought in on Christmas eve, needed to stay lit until Twelfth Night to insure good luck for the family.

Games were played in Regency and Victorian parlors like Snapdragon above... snatching raisins from a basin of flaming brandy and hopefully not burning fingers to badly. 

Another was Bullet Pudding, but I couldn't find an illustration of that. It consisted of a mound of flour with a bullet on top. Players cut away a slice of flour with a knife until one player's cut dislodged the bullet. Then that player had to grasp the bullet from the flour with their teeth...and a much floured face... to earn the prize.

 Twelfth Night cakes were and are very decorative and reflect the 3 Kings...

The above is from the National Trust and is an exact replica used in a Tudor kitchen

 So wishing you a wonderful Twelfth Night or Epiphany.

With all the lights and decorations put away, it will certainly be dimmer and lack sparkle around here for awhile!

Just want to mention that Time Was Antiques is still having our SANTAFORGOT 15% OFF coupon sale.

On now through January 9th.