Top-rated
Wed, May 2, 2012
In this episode Dr Lucy Worsley and Mark Hill uncover the history of entertainment via antiques related to tea, lighting, sofas, silverware and home entertainment. We learn about the effect the creation of Porcelain and China had on the drinking of tea. The effect the Sofa had on the relationship between man and women and its movement away from the bedroom and into the living room. We learn about the manufacture of Crystal Chandeliers and the way light flickers of the Silverware used at dinner and the function of the assay office. We learn about the history of home entertainment through the invention of the Gramophone and the Magic Lantern.
Wed, May 9, 2012
In this episode Dr Lucy Worsley and Mark Hill uncover the history of travel via various antiques. We learn about the history of Globes and the way they were traditionally made. The invention of the carriage clock, which meant that the wealthy could know the time accurately while on their travels. We learn about The Grand Tour and how Wedgwood developed his Noe-Classical Pottery as a way for travelers and the general public to own pottery base on the objects they had seen or heard about. We learn how the Portland Vase was and still is made. We learn about the impact the Railway had on travel and how the Grand Tour became mass tourism and see the Railwayana of a collector. We learn about traveling by ship and the ill fated journey of the White Star Line ship Titanic and its related memorabilia. We learn how complex Luggage could be. We learn how Thomas Cook created the package holiday with the desire to take people away from the need to drink. His first trip was to take people to a temperance meeting. He wrote guidebooks to help people travel around the UK. We learn about the development of the Slot Machine to entertain visitors to the seaside and of course a visit to the seaside would mean Postcards. so we learn about Donald McGill and how some of his Postcards were banned, we meet a collector of Donald McGill Postcards who shows us cards from his collection. We then learn about Goss China, known as the poor mans Porcelain and the final antique is the Kodak Camera, which enabled travelers to take pictures of the places they had visited.
Wed, May 16, 2012
In this episode Dr Lucy Worsley and Mark Hill uncover the history of Ceremony via antiques. We Learn about weddings, via jewellery from the Poesy ring to the diamond ring we learn how a diamond is cut and where the measurement carat came from. We also learn about the history of the Wedding dress. After the wedding the next important Ceremony is the Christening. We learn about the giving of the Pewter Porringer in which the mother would have been give porridge to recover from having just given birth. We learn how a Pewter Porringer was traditionally made. We then learn about funerals from the black jet necklace to the difference in time that a man or woman would be expected to mourn for their loss. We learn about the development of hair jewellery such as a brochures with some hair of your departed loved one in to have as a memory of them. We then learn about the Ceremonial Sword such as the beheading sword as use in public executions. We learn the way a Ceremonial Sword was traditionally made and the use of various Ceremonial Swords during the coronation of a king or queen. This leads into the collection of Royal Coronation Memorabilia, e'g. Commemorative mugs, plates, etc. We then learn about the history of the Olympics though the collections of Olympic Memorabilia and finally we learn about the Festival of Britain.