Victoria Woodhull Martin c1870

I had to stifle laughter in the hallowed silence of the Rare Books Reading Room at the British Library when I first began leafing through the magazine that inspired this post. I was searching for an interview with the Victorian painter E.A.Rowe for last week’s post  in, of all places, The Girl’s Realm for 1907.

The 4 thick volumes were unindexed so I had to turn thousands of pages and in the process was both intrigued and amused by the wealth of other stuff thought suitable for teenage girls in the Edwardian era. Some  I would have expected: serial stories, celebrity interviews and profiles, cookery, pets, travel, arts and crafts but there were also some unexpected articles  which might have widened vision  such as pieces on girls caving and mountaineering.. and who could resist looking at “What a girl does with breadcrumb” – [the answer might surprise you so since its really not connected with garden history  I’ve added it at the very end of this post.]  There were also outlines of the careers of women in all fields – swimming, singing, writing, science, farming…. and even horticulture.

from The Girl’s Realm 1909

So I started to investigate a bit further and discovered Victoria Woodhull Martin  and the story behind The Novel Club for Country Loving Girls … Continue reading →