tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post7190756919925598846..comments2024-03-27T09:27:33.931+00:00Comments on Idiotic Hat: Quiet FunMike C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-36314503961190021922020-01-24T16:52:40.273+00:002020-01-24T16:52:40.273+00:00Kent,
I'm surprised you'd not come across...Kent,<br /><br />I'm surprised you'd not come across the idea, though it does seem they died out in the US around the Civil War. See here:<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelling_menagerie<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-64090598485037408332020-01-24T16:20:04.476+00:002020-01-24T16:20:04.476+00:00Not going to bother to investigate, but from the r...Not going to bother to investigate, but from the record you present it appears Menageries were a popular form of entertainment in mid 19th century England. And big cats being what they are, didn't take well to confinement and being prodded by humans.Kent Wileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12440197819258194471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-18789923915927396182020-01-23T22:49:27.434+00:002020-01-23T22:49:27.434+00:00Yes, Lion Queen exotic enough. In fact all of the ...Yes, Lion Queen exotic enough. In fact all of the unfortunate events to befall our heroines seem to be the work of lions. A swifter end than any wrought by a donkey, I suppose. I'll have a browse, as you suggest. Yes, the Basingstokes....I knew Belinda a little but not as well as her older sister, Brenda. DMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05722802246011137994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-68869960642059232982020-01-23T09:11:18.813+00:002020-01-23T09:11:18.813+00:00DM,
Ah right, got it! I shall call it Bottom'...DM,<br /><br />Ah right, got it! I shall call it Bottom's Index, for it hath no bottom...<br /><br />Wot, Lion Queen not exotic enough for you?? As I say, the accidents has something for everyone: have a browse yourself (Chadwyck Healey have put it online) and I'm sure a theme will emerge.<br /><br />Someone did actually publish a brief history of Wombwell's Menagerie ("A Zoo on Wheels") which (typically) I bought but have never read. It was named after the original proprietor, George Wombwell, and a pretty unpleasant affair, by modern standards. Curious, though, surnames that are place names. I was always amused by the existence of a member of staff at Soton Uni called Sarah Stevenage, one of the most unlikely names I've come across. Maybe there's a Belinda Basingstoke, too...<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-54023950317373771972020-01-23T07:59:27.865+00:002020-01-23T07:59:27.865+00:00Sorry, late and clumsy writing on my part. 'Al...Sorry, late and clumsy writing on my part. 'All about the boys' - entries related to women seem relatively dull and lacking in the more 'exotic' forms of peril compared to the boys' jeopardy. No doubt the restrictions of the domestic for most women at the time explains a lot. 'The bottom of the index' - feeble attempt at humour - you say that the Index was bottomless. This obviously begs the question: What on earth happened to the bottom of the list? Then I recalled the alarming experience I had on the day out to the zoo in brighton when a rascal llama ripped a mouthful of hair from my head (not my entire scalp, though).<br />Incidentally, until I read the post, Wombwell, as far as I was concerned, was a bleak railway station on the line commuting from Sheffield to Leeds. The village name was comforting, the outlook from the 7:43 on a February morning in 1985 (miners' strike and all)was different.DMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05722802246011137994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-64380534930134499682020-01-22T23:37:36.439+00:002020-01-22T23:37:36.439+00:00DM,
Thanks, though I'm not sure what you mean...DM,<br /><br />Thanks, though I'm not sure what you mean by "all about the boys", or "the bottom of the index"? It's late, however, and I'm feeling remarkably unsubtle. Maybe I'll get it tomorrow...<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-24338669694767883542020-01-22T22:43:19.076+00:002020-01-22T22:43:19.076+00:00Splendid! You're on top form, Mr. C. It's ...Splendid! You're on top form, Mr. C. It's all about the boys, though isn't it? Just a few misguided ponies and some wayward embers for the women. So, what's the revelation about the bottom of the Index ? Maybe it suffered the same fate as my own careful coiffure between the teeth of a vicious llama on a day out at a zoo in Brighton, circa 1964? Verifiable in Palmer's as well, I wonder? Yes, the poetry of peril beside the prose of threat. Stevenage is/was clearly a much richer and more stimulating milieu than Basingstoke. Thank you for another cracking post.DMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05722802246011137994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-45412003749979087992020-01-22T16:05:59.350+00:002020-01-22T16:05:59.350+00:00I expect Dickens was an avid reader of the Index. ...I expect Dickens was an avid reader of the Index. It wouldn't surprise me if half of his best bits are to be found in there.<br /><br />And talking of bits, Nathan deGargoyle, that's very funny, if unlikely, and I'm glad someone remembers their old money.<br /><br />MikeMike C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11279776665185060446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-55707800653582911892020-01-22T15:21:00.595+00:002020-01-22T15:21:00.595+00:00Could one assume that the three ladies saved by a ...Could one assume that the three ladies saved by a young man each offered their tuppence?Nathan deGargoylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140118227491014197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6096844366367766843.post-25966995671263709372020-01-22T14:44:51.673+00:002020-01-22T14:44:51.673+00:00"at Rugby Station, the Horses of a Carriage w..."at Rugby Station, the Horses of a Carriage with Three Ladies in it, taking fright were Miraculously Saved by a Young Man to whom they Offered Sixpence."<br /><br />This is positively Dickensian. The 'to whom they offered sixpence' especially. It is, as the ignorant might say, the punctum!amolitorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15743439184763617516noreply@blogger.com