The first subway system in the United States opened in Boston on September 1, 1897 to help eliminate congestion on the streets caused by trolleys and horses. As this was a time in which many people were superstitious, a number of Massachusetts residents were opposed to the idea of traveling underground, as they believed it would bring them physically closer to the devil.
You move into an old house, and upon restoration you discover an old pair of children’s shoes hidden beneath the floorboards. Would you be creeped out? No need to be! Prior to and during the Victorian era, it was common for families to hide a child’s used shoe under floorboards, in walls, or in a chimney. The belief was that doing so would bring good luck.
18th and 19th century hidden children’s shoes are still being found to this day. Many people assume these finds hold a dark secret to a home’s past, not aware of the once popular good luck superstition.
There were a number of bizarre 19th century beliefs regarding sex and procreation. I found the following to be the most interesting and worthy of sharing. All text below within quotation marks are the original text from books of the time on these topics.
1. Lazy sex will turn your children ugly:
“Any union without true love will bring forth ill-looking, sour and spiritless offspring, while those hoping for good-looking children should remember that sex must not be faintly or drowsily performed.”
2. Ladies, don’t talk when attempting to procreate:
“At the conclusion of the sexual act, the wife must not talk, cough, or sneeze, lest this impede conception.”
3. Have sex with your husband as little as possible:
“Give little, give seldom, and above all, give grudgingly. Otherwise what could have been a proper marriage could become an orgy of sexual lust.”
4. The traits of your child will be determined by who has the more prominent orgasm:
“The party whose temperament predominates in the child was in the highest state of orgasm at the period of intercourse.”
6. One sexual health book encouraged parents “to run children around throughout the day in wild play so they will be too tired to masturbate before bed.” Girls weren’t as much of a concern as boys, as the book states that girls have a “low, almost nonexistent sex drive, so only truly deranged females would succumb to the temptations of masturbation.”
