Presentation 5/11/26 at the Indianapolis Scientech Club by Alicia and Jeff Rasley Summary written by Judy Weitzman PresentationVideo here The Underground Railroad began in the 1810s and was especially important in the fight against slavery in the USA. Organizers were highly influenced by lessons from the European Enlightenment Period as well as the US […]
——– “Trollope” in this case doesn’t refer to, uh, “women of easy virtue,” but the Victorian-era novelist of political and social comedy/dramas. I have done a long series of posts exploring how Trollope created, developed, and above all RESPECTED his women characters. He understood the primary principle of creating fictional women, which is also a […]
Both whist and picquet are games of skill and strategy. The same cannot be said for FARO (or pharoah), which is entirely a game of chance, barring any cheating, of course. Faro is one of the oldest cardgames still extant, and was the favorite game of the true gambler. It is a dramatic game, […]
PICQUET (pronounced pee-kay by the French, and picket by the English) is one of the few Regency cardgames that requires only two players, so it is often used as a metaphorical duel between the hero and the villain. Variations allow three and four and even seven players (known as roundtable picquet). Picquet uses a 32-card […]
Gambling is called “the English vice” and never was this more true than during the Regency. Regency bucks were known to bet on almost any event with a disputable outcome, including which raindrop would first reach the bottom of the window. But most gambling took place around a green baize table, with cards or dice […]
Introducing Ratafia, the Regency lady’s indulgence. Those of us who read and write Regency-set historical novels (set in the early 19th Century Britain) are often presented with food riddles. What is jugged hare? And how about scotch collops? Not to mention spotted dick! We also notice that the Regency era offered a variety of different […]