Features & Stories
Alan Clarke, grandson of Andrew Midlane, contacted us recently and was happy to share some of his memories of visiting Ryde in the 1940s and 50s.
What a variety of Christmas gifts there were in1899. From a Pompadour jewel case or a skunk fur necklet to scent and handkerchiefs. News also of gifts from Councillor Whittaker and the Queen.
Silks, satins and wispy shawls were very popular in the mid to late 1830s, where better to buy them than at S. Stephens' in Union Street, Ryde. Their range of Parisian goods were particularly desirable.
Another year when families in Ryde suffered great loss. All adding to the continuing death toll of war and those left, wondering,
" When will it end and what is it all for?"
A newspaper advert from 180 years ago praises Arenean Soap, which is the result of chemical and geological research in the Isle of Wight, among whose enchanting cliffs a substance of a saponaceous nature has recently been discovered.
Whilst the lady was all for the lower orders having a good time and enjoying themselves, she did wish that it was possible for them to take their pleasures a little more calmly.
The Ryde Temperance Society gave the town's residents a rich treat by securing the services of a highly talented amateur company.
Princess Alice, second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, married Prince Louis of Hesse on 1 July 1862, in the dining room of Osborne House. Seven months had passed since the death of the Prince Consort and the Royal Family was still in deep mourning.
Quack medicines and their advertising were big business in Victorian times. Squire Knight's eye ointment claimed to cure all diseases of the eye, approaching even to blindness.
The Victorian cook looked upon the kitchen as her especial domain, a spot where she was "monarch of all she surveyed," and into which no lady "as is a lady" would intrude.