Back in Time West London Profile picture
Apr 4, 2021 17 tweets 12 min read Read on X
Happy Easter! Over a 100 years ago this is how you might have celebrated - sending a card featuring giant eggs and women. Across Europe this was a thing. With slight differences between countries. First off the much loved hatching woman (A thread)
In Germany the hatching woman was normally less erotic and more upright - more like a serving hatch or kiosk. ‘Frohe Ostern! kann ich Ihnen helfen?’
Meanwhile In France there’s some weird Easter shit going on. First the giant egg with a scary woman’s face saying PÂQUES!
Also in France, like insta influencers, les femmes pose with eggs, caressing them. Sometimes with a man holding them admiringly, because like Lynx aftershave, eggs make you more attractive
In Estonia the egg lady has hatched an entire weird Easter smirking family.
Meanwhile over in Italy, women know how to present their eggs 🥚 🥚 in a way that renders them irresistible and La Dolce Vita with a moustached man follows.
In Sweden you need to learn a whole new Easter narrative. Forget the eggs, it’s all about the hens. Man turns up with a big grin and a chicken, you are surprised, fall over and it all ends with a puss (a kiss not a cat). I was hoping for better from Sweden...
Austrian women have their own props. An elaborate double basket and sprigs of pussy willow with which to lure the man in jaunty hat. (Beware also their children who drop Easter bombs on you from an airship.)
It’s time to talk about Britain.... What can I say? It’s all here. Caressing crucifixes, hoards of Easter brides in carriages driven by midnight rabbits. None of it looks much fun. Happy Easter 🐣
@RevRichardColes and @revkatebottley Happy Easter 🐣 🥚
Estonia’s Easter cards feature men with beautiful eyes staring intensely at their egg bearing lady friends. It’s all about 🥚 🥚 eggs and 👀 eyes
@marinamaral2 happy Easter xxx
Hungarian women wouldn’t be seen dead at Easter without a big bunch of Pussy willow and a winsome smile.
I don't want to neglect Dutch Easter cards from around 1910 - 1920. Their stares are intense, the hair perfect and lips sumptuous. And they hold flowers and eggs perfectly.
(Images from Wellcome Digital Library)

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Back in Time West London

Back in Time West London Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @OldLondonW14

Jan 25, 2023
You voted to hear more about Hammersmith’s King Street. So, did you know it isn’t in fact named after a king - but is named after John King, Bishop of London, who gave land to the poor of Fulham in 1620. ImageImage
This is what King Street looked like on a map in 1839. It’s roughly 1 and a half miles long, and used to have several posting-houses, as it was the road to Windsor. These were houses or inns where horses were kept and could be rented or changed out. ImageImage
So, King Street got its name in about 1794. By the early 19th century, shops started to appear along the street. Here's an oil painting made in 1869. ( Hammersmith & Fulham Archive) Image
Read 16 tweets
Dec 10, 2022
UK Christmas cards used to feature oddly aggressive cats & dogs (a short 🧵) as well as …
Sinister santas
Snowmen that look likely to kill small children
Read 18 tweets
Dec 3, 2022
In the early 20th century, the Bavarian Enclave experienced a societal shift. Their loyal
Kätze-Mädchen, hired as young girls, were growing old. Many passed away, leading to a shortage of care-workers, lowering living standards as one-to-one care became one-to-three. Image
Their old way of life was becoming unsustainable. They experimented with Katzenjungen but after close observation decided that boys were not capable of displaying the same level of feline devotion as their female counterparts. Image
Kaiser Katze von Rathaus's daughter, the progressive Kaiserin Mackrele Von Rathaus proposed an ambitious plan, an expansion programme far beyond Germany's borders. Image
Read 23 tweets
Nov 20, 2022
It is March 1898. A young reporter Edward Le Breton-Martin, with Pearson’s Magazine, goes out onto the streets of London with a photographer & writes an article about the way people hold their hands as they walk along. Here for your delectation is a thread on London hands. Image
Edward first observes the hands of a labourer, with a rolling gait and a firm dogged fist - as if to say ‘just you keep out of my path’. Edward did and carried on with his hand quest (a thread) Image
He spotted a man in a rush outside the British Museum. His fingers nervously twitching - a sign of ‘a would-be man of letters’ - whom you know ‘will never be famous’. Edward continues… Image
Read 18 tweets
Oct 29, 2022
On March 10th 1914 at the National Gallery, a pale woman, early thirties, took out a small hatchet and attacked 'Venus' by Valasquez. Suffragette Mary Richardson said "I have tried to destroy the painting...as a protest against the government destroying Mrs Pankhurst.'
May 23rd 1914, suffragette Annie Wheeler entered the Egyptian Room at The British Museum, took out a small axe to attack a glass mummy case. The museum announced women would only be admitted to the galleries by ticket with a 'satisfactory recommendation'. She was imprisoned.
Suffragette Clara Lambert, alias Catherine Wilson, smashed a display case with a meat cleaver in the Asiatic Saloon of The British Museum in April 1914 - breaking Chinese porcelain cups & saucers. She joined the first Women's Police Service in 1915 - her life story is fabulous.
Read 11 tweets
Oct 12, 2022
MPs at the 1922 committee meeting aren’t pulling their punches. “Funereal, horrendous” (1/4) ImageImageImageImage
“It’s clear panic has set in.” ImageImageImageImage
“Worst 1922 I’ve ever been to” ImageImageImageImage
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(