S. W. Raine

Happy July, everyone!

Being a steampunk author, I’ve found myself doing a lot of research, especially when it comes to the Victorian era. I know that steampunk is fiction, but I like to put as much realism into certain aspects of the novel as I can.

I’ve done a lot of research for Rise of the Sky Pirate. Like, a lot. Hell, I’m still doing lots of research in my edits. So I thought you’d like to grab a sneak peek into my research world and see what I’ve learned about people, life, and locations during the Victorian era.

1. 1. Prostitution.
   Did you know that many prostitutes were married women? Since many of the lower-class jobs simply didn’t pay enough to support a large family, it was common for the wives to offer their sexual services on the side. Believe it or not, there were somewhere between 8,000 and 80,000 prostitutes in London during the Victorian era.
2. 2. Vanity Tables.
   Did you know that the ancient Egyptians stored their makeup, perfumes, and oils inside fancy decorated boxes? And other than getting fancier, it wasn’t until the 17th century that the first vanity tables in Europe saw the light of day. In fact, the mistress of King Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, commissioned a vanity table where she could carry out all of her important tasks while she was held up for hours during her beauty routine. The rest, they say, is history.
3. 3. Orphanages.
   Did you know that it wasn’t just abandoned children that ended up in orphanages, but runaways and children whose parents were too poor to take care of them too? If a child was not adopted upon adulthood, they were forced to leave the orphanage and become homeless, unless they went to a workhouse, which attempted to house orphans in exchange for work.

Let me know what your most surprising takeaway was, and I’ll post a few more of these later!

Raine