According to Juliet Nicolson's book, The Perfect Summer at the turn of the 19th century and early 20th, a proper debutante always wrote thank you notes to a hostess who had held a party in her honor.These affairs were lavish and could be very expensive, so the young woman was expected to write a great deal , expressing her thanks in great detail. So much detail these letters came to be known as "Collinses" after the very long-winded Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice.

Did You Know?

Today I am venturing out of my cave to start blogging. I'm going to call it, "Did You Know?" a blog regarding interesting tidbits about Victorian and Regency trivia. So here goes!

Do you know why the British call the bathroom "The Loo?"According to Juliet Nicholson's wonderful book, The Perfect Summer(social hx of the finest kind, describing the summer of 1911 when George V was crowned King of England), Lady Louise Anson was so rude to the children of her host at a summer house party, that in revenge, the children put her door name tag on the bathroom door , misdirecting Lady Louise's maid. Eventually, if one needed to discreetly excuse oneself, you would say you were going to visit "Lady Loo" which became simply the "loo."