DOI Heft:
January 21, 1865
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16875#0031
January 21, 1865.) PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
23
A RE-CONVERTED PERVERT.
No. 1.—Our Curate suddenly takes extreme views—and thinks I No. 2.—The Wonderful Effect shown. Our Curate thinks that,
his new style of dress will have a Wonderful Effect. | on the whole, there is not much in Sartorial Christianity.
A BIRD IN THE HAT.
To the Editor of Punch.
Sir,
A great deal is said about the mission of Woman. In the
opinion of the First Napoleon, Woman’s mission consists in dressing
and decorating herself, and trying to make herself look as pretty as she
can. This view has much in it that is undeniable, but it is not quite
I true. If it were, Woman would have no mission after a certain age,
when the attempt to look anything better than venerable is unsuccessful.
While, however, beauty lasts, it certainly is the mission of Woman
to make the most of it. Fashionable novelties, therefore, which enhance
the personal appearance of young ladies, can reasonably be objected to
by none but those who have to pay for them "without profiting by
them; fathers who do not care about the looks of their daughters, or
do not expect investment in their daughters’ wardrobe to pay by pro-
curing sons-in-law to take those young ladies off their hands.
Sir, I have no sympathy with such curmudgeons. I am glad of any-
thing that vexes them. Therefore, I much approve of a sweet thing
that has just turned up in hats. I mean girls’ hats, of course. The
sweet thing is a stuffed bird—the kingfisher generally; but I have also
seen tropical birds of brilliant plumage in hats. Of course this sweet
thing is expensive, but how very pretty it is, how becoming! Let surly
old fellows abuse it and grumble at it—we youth laugh at them.
What I have to suggest is, that other zoological specimens besides
kingfishers and tropical birds, should be used for the adornment of
young ladies’ hats. There are various British birds—goldfinches,
chaffinches, greenfinches, bullfinches, yellowhammers, water-wagtails,
and golden-crested wrens—that would do equally well for that purpose,
and some of them better, for the kingfisher does not perhaps suit every
complexion. It might become what I believe is called a brunette, but
not perhaps what I think you term a blonde. But I say why should
your daughters and your damsels limit themselves for ornaments of this
description to the domain of ornithology ? Why not travel farther
afield into the animal kingdom ? Rats and mice, small hedgehogs, bats,
toads and frogs, lizards and snakes, might be mounted in the hat with
great effect. Such creatures, if not pretty in themselves, if indeed,
simply considered, horrid things, are eligible for that very reason in
some cases. A toad would not exactly sit gracefully on the head-dress
of an elderly female, but squatting over the brow of youth and loveliness
it would set off the beauty of the wearer by contrast. Let me, there-
fore, suggest the employment of reptiles and vermin for decorative pur-
poses by all young ladies who feel, as probably most young ladies do,
that they can afford, whether their parents can or no for them, to sport
queer embellishments. And then we shall not have the most beautiful
of all British birds extirpated, which would be a pity, even if the
kingfishers were all sacrificed to a consideration so momentous as the
trimming of a hat.
Deinotherium Club. Sir, I am, &c., Smeleungus.
BUONAPARTE’S GULL.
An Ornithologist writes to the Times announcing that a specimen of
Buonaparte’s gull has been shot at Falmouth. He says this is the first
known case of the bird being found in England. Two have been shot,
it seems, in Ireland, and one in Scotland.
We are delighted to hear Buonaparte’s gulls are such a rarity in
these islands. The two Irish specimens were, no doubt, Fenian or
Ultra-montane. Their rarity is the more remarkable here, considering
that in France Buonaparte’s gulls may be counted by millions, and
have occasionally been shot there in great numbers, particularly on
the 2nd of December, 1851.
A Derivation.
“ Why is this new dye called Aniline, dear Mr. Punch ?” asked a
charming young lady philosopher at a recent conversazione. “ It is a
word derived from anile, my love,” was Professor Punch’s reply,
“ and the meaning is, that when people grow anile, they ought to dye.”
“ Dear old thing,” said the young lady, “ the older you grow, the wiser
and wittier you get.” “ The child speaks truth,” said the eminent
Professor.
23
A RE-CONVERTED PERVERT.
No. 1.—Our Curate suddenly takes extreme views—and thinks I No. 2.—The Wonderful Effect shown. Our Curate thinks that,
his new style of dress will have a Wonderful Effect. | on the whole, there is not much in Sartorial Christianity.
A BIRD IN THE HAT.
To the Editor of Punch.
Sir,
A great deal is said about the mission of Woman. In the
opinion of the First Napoleon, Woman’s mission consists in dressing
and decorating herself, and trying to make herself look as pretty as she
can. This view has much in it that is undeniable, but it is not quite
I true. If it were, Woman would have no mission after a certain age,
when the attempt to look anything better than venerable is unsuccessful.
While, however, beauty lasts, it certainly is the mission of Woman
to make the most of it. Fashionable novelties, therefore, which enhance
the personal appearance of young ladies, can reasonably be objected to
by none but those who have to pay for them "without profiting by
them; fathers who do not care about the looks of their daughters, or
do not expect investment in their daughters’ wardrobe to pay by pro-
curing sons-in-law to take those young ladies off their hands.
Sir, I have no sympathy with such curmudgeons. I am glad of any-
thing that vexes them. Therefore, I much approve of a sweet thing
that has just turned up in hats. I mean girls’ hats, of course. The
sweet thing is a stuffed bird—the kingfisher generally; but I have also
seen tropical birds of brilliant plumage in hats. Of course this sweet
thing is expensive, but how very pretty it is, how becoming! Let surly
old fellows abuse it and grumble at it—we youth laugh at them.
What I have to suggest is, that other zoological specimens besides
kingfishers and tropical birds, should be used for the adornment of
young ladies’ hats. There are various British birds—goldfinches,
chaffinches, greenfinches, bullfinches, yellowhammers, water-wagtails,
and golden-crested wrens—that would do equally well for that purpose,
and some of them better, for the kingfisher does not perhaps suit every
complexion. It might become what I believe is called a brunette, but
not perhaps what I think you term a blonde. But I say why should
your daughters and your damsels limit themselves for ornaments of this
description to the domain of ornithology ? Why not travel farther
afield into the animal kingdom ? Rats and mice, small hedgehogs, bats,
toads and frogs, lizards and snakes, might be mounted in the hat with
great effect. Such creatures, if not pretty in themselves, if indeed,
simply considered, horrid things, are eligible for that very reason in
some cases. A toad would not exactly sit gracefully on the head-dress
of an elderly female, but squatting over the brow of youth and loveliness
it would set off the beauty of the wearer by contrast. Let me, there-
fore, suggest the employment of reptiles and vermin for decorative pur-
poses by all young ladies who feel, as probably most young ladies do,
that they can afford, whether their parents can or no for them, to sport
queer embellishments. And then we shall not have the most beautiful
of all British birds extirpated, which would be a pity, even if the
kingfishers were all sacrificed to a consideration so momentous as the
trimming of a hat.
Deinotherium Club. Sir, I am, &c., Smeleungus.
BUONAPARTE’S GULL.
An Ornithologist writes to the Times announcing that a specimen of
Buonaparte’s gull has been shot at Falmouth. He says this is the first
known case of the bird being found in England. Two have been shot,
it seems, in Ireland, and one in Scotland.
We are delighted to hear Buonaparte’s gulls are such a rarity in
these islands. The two Irish specimens were, no doubt, Fenian or
Ultra-montane. Their rarity is the more remarkable here, considering
that in France Buonaparte’s gulls may be counted by millions, and
have occasionally been shot there in great numbers, particularly on
the 2nd of December, 1851.
A Derivation.
“ Why is this new dye called Aniline, dear Mr. Punch ?” asked a
charming young lady philosopher at a recent conversazione. “ It is a
word derived from anile, my love,” was Professor Punch’s reply,
“ and the meaning is, that when people grow anile, they ought to dye.”
“ Dear old thing,” said the young lady, “ the older you grow, the wiser
and wittier you get.” “ The child speaks truth,” said the eminent
Professor.