Inviting History

There was a toilet room at the stables of Versailles in 1682... do you think there were no toilets at the palace itself?

YouTube video by Abby Cox The Truth About Louis XIV & His Unwashed 🍑

There were almost 3 dozen toilet chairs in the royal inventory alone under Louis XIV. He even had a novelty one made to mock the Netherlands. How could Louis XIV have been documented to be deathly afraid of water, when he once took more than 15 baths in 5 days? www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjOB...

Louis XIV didn't have a fear of water. He washed regularly. Being cleaned was a ritualistic part of life at Versailles. There's no evidence Versailles during his reign was disgusting or very unsanitary... it was under Louis XIV that aqueducts taking waste away from the palace were constructed.

Versailles had public and private toilet facilities. No one would be expected to make do without one, and there's no evidence for chamber pots in corners. There were public toilets for visitors and private toilets for people living at the palace.

Exactly! There are published complaints about the usage of "Aunt" and "Uncle" slavery characters in marketing as early as 1918. And "Aunt Jemima" specifically was the subject of an extensive survey of African-American consumers in the late 1920s, who almost universally hated it.

Detail from an engraving depicting Marie Antoinette entering France via Strasbourg on May 7th, 1770.

Drinking water in the Middle Ages The idea that medieval people drank ale or beer in stead of water because the water sources in Medieval Europe were usually polluted is a stubborn myth.In reality Medieval people had relatively eas…

To deal with the stubborn myth that Medieval people drank beer/ale because all water was polluted, I put some information together in an article.

You can read it here;
fakehistoryhunter.net/2026/02/02/d...
or here;
fakehistoryhunter.substack.com/p/drinking-w...

The Great Dictator, Or How (Capitalist) Greed Has Poisoned Men's Souls Silent Sundays: Silent Film Streaming Picks

For this week’s Silents Sundays I wrote about when HUAC came for Charlie Chaplin after he spoke up about fascism.

On January 21st, 1793, Louis XVI was executed. His last words, cut off by drums: "I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge. I pardon those who have occasioned my death; and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France."

While Louis XVI was more or less unanimously voted guilty, the vote for his fate was passed by a relatively narrow majority. Of the 721 voters, 319 voted for imprisonment until the end of the war and then banishment; 361 voted for death without conditions.

Green was never depicted on the logo. "Aunt Jemima" came from a minstrel show. The logo removed in 2020 was from 1989, and didn't depict Green or anyone in particular. How, and do be specific, was Nancy Green erased by changing a name from a minstrel show and a logo that didn't use her image?

Green had no notable financial freedom or stature as a national spokeswoman. There is no evidence she was a leading advocate for anything. She didn't maintain her job as Aunt Jemima until her death in 1923. By 1910, she reported working as a housekeeper. By 1920, she reported no job at all.

There was no "lifetime contract." Green's last known appearance as Aunt Jemima was 1902, decades before her death. There is no evidence she was extremely well paid.

Nancy Green died in 1923. The logo in that photo wasn't created until 1935. The original source says it's from the 1940s. Do you think Green time traveled?

Green was never a living trademark or a wealthy superstar. She died poor. She had to work as a housekeeper until she was almost in her 80s, and when she died, her family couldn't afford a headstone for her.

"The Vis-a-Vis Bisected, or Ladies Coop,." A satirical engraving poking fun at women's hairstyles; 1776.

The deputies found Louis guilty, and the majority voted to not submit the decision to the people.

The next question, to be voted on over the next two days, was: "What punishment shall Louis suffer?"
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On January 15th, 1793, the results of the first vote on Louis XVI's fate were concluded. The first vote was based on two questions: "Is Louis guilty?" And "Whatever your decision, shall it be submitted to the ratification of the people?"

I'm a little obsessed with this letter rack that someone (presumably a Titanic and/or telegraph devotee) later painted to resemble a telegraph rack from the Titanic. Auction link: invaluable.com/auction-lot/...

A smoky quartz jewelry set owned by the duchesse d'Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, from 1827. The set was presented by the city officials of Alençon during her official visit in 1827. Set to be auctioned by Joaillerie.

I hate all the AI slop when I try to look up Marie Antoinette things on Youtube but at least this one is funny

oh no! I'll have to find another source. It was such a handy reference!

it was the one thing I truly hated about the book! it's so unnecessary.

Celina Cummings in W. Christensen’s “Nutcracker”, 1944. (© San Francisco Ballet. Photo courtesy SFMPD.) For information about this unique wartime Nutcracker, check out this information from the SF Ballet: sfballet.org/willam-chris...

A bromide print of an unidentified woman, colored by hand. 20th century. In the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

A daguerreotype of an unknown woman, 19th century.

Left: Young man wearing a pink and white striped jacket, an embroidered waistcoat, and knee-breeches. Ruffled jabot and cuffs. Accessories: hat, walking stick, and breeches. Right: Woman wearing a pink Pierrot, a white skirt trimmed with ruffled strips, and a black and white fichu. On her head, a hat decorated with ribbon and hanging tails. This print is part of the 19th Cahier, 4th year, from the series "Magasin des Modes Nouvelles Françaises et Anglaises." The series consists of 172 fashion prints, published by Buisson, Paris, November 20, 1786 – December 21, 1789. Collection Rijksmuseum. Object number RP-P-2009-2235

Fashion plate from 1789 showing a man wearing a pink and white striped jacket, embroidered waistcoat and yellow breeches. Woman wearing a pink Pierrot, white skirt and pink hat. From the Magasin des Modes Nouvelles Françaises et Anglaises. #FashionPlateFriday #dresshistory #18thc

It adds a layer of irony that the last gown she wore in public reflects on one of the criticisms of the 'chemise portrait' when it was displayed at the Salon: that she was depicted in public wearing, to quote, what "ought to be reserved for the privacy of the palace."

Deshabillé was typically worn when women were at their morning toilettes, where they would receive people. Deshabillé (worn in the morning or otherwise) was generally associated with clothing worn in the privacy of your home.

This matches the other contemporary French accounts of what she wore, along with what Rosalie Lamorliere noted, that she wore a white morning gown over her chemise and stockings.