Victorian Easter Cards – Part Two
Today we have more anthropomorphism, but this time there is an even darker aspect to it. Subjugation. One type of animal using the other as a mount or making it pull his cart. I suspect that this didn’t even seem odd to the Victorians at the time, a time of extreme inequity among classes of humans, and these were just animals after all. A rabbit riding a chicken in a duel probably didn’t seem all that odd.
The fourth one showing a rabbit using not only a chicken but another rabbit to pull his cart is very odd. The other rabbit does not merit clothes apparently. And would that arrangement not make the cart quite unbalanced? I would half expect to see it going in circles!
Then we have a rabbit riding a poodle. Um. Moving on.
The last one depicts a couple of rabbits in an automobile. The crash has dislodged the chick from the giant egg in front of the car, but the puzzling part is why it was there. It almost looks as if the egg and chick were the engine for the vehicle, since the regular sized eggs were stored in back and there could not be any other space for an engine. I am quite uncertain as to how a chick in an egg could be used to power a vehicle, but it does seem like a rather temporary and difficult solution.
So the Victorian artists didn’t seem to take a lot of time to think through these concepts, but the art is nice. I hope that the odd images didn’t give the Victorian children any pause or worse yet nightmares. “But mummy, why does one rabbit get clothes and the other has to pull his cart alongside a chicken?”
Victorian Easter Cards – Part One
As a fan of anthropomorphism, I am generally amused by the animals on Victorian greeting cards.   Cute little clothes and vehicles can help the cards tell wonderful stories with just a scene. As I began to gather more and more Victorian greeting card images, I noticed a couple of odd trends. I’ll save one of them for the next blog, but this time it’s about relationships. The first couple of cards below depict rabbit couples. It seems normal enough. The next three though are much more odd and if you think about it, a bit sinister. I suppose if a pig and frog can have a thirty seven year relationship, then a rabbit and a fowl can too. I think the really disturbing part is that the rabbit’s love interest is not a full grown chicken, but a mere chick; a child to be frank. There is also the fact that she is topless. If you are going to put clothes on them, you can’t really skip random pieces. The last picture shows them with their offspring. Did this rabbit somehow stunt the growth of his feathered child bride? Well, obviously I don’t know what the artist actually had in mind, but it certainly makes one think.
Next post will be about animal subjugation. Oh those Victorians!
Steamcon’s Eggstravaganza at Norwescon
Once again at Norwescon on Easter weekend, Steamcon will be running a promo table and Eggstravaganza. We will be selling golden eggs filled with candy and a prize code. The prizes include Steamcon V memberships, Steamcon IV pins, Steamcon stickers, Steamcon magnets, and lots more fun things. You will also get a ribbon. We’ve made four new ones just for Norwescon, but the supply is limited so get them while they last.
If you have not gotten your Steamcon V membership yet we will have them for sale at a discounted rate and for an even better discount if you pay by cash or check. You will receive a ribbon for purchasing memberships as well.
So drop by in your steampunk finery and chat with us about this year’s Steamcon. It’s going to be the best yet!
Only Eight Days left!
O
nly eight more days to order my fund raising t-shirt to help with my dream steampunk trip! This is an extremely limited edition shirt. Don’t miss your opportunity to own one and help a good cause!
Thank you!!!!!
Emerald City Comic Con 2013
So ECCC was good. I am so tired today. Bone weary. Dry air, hard chairs and concrete floors for three days are hard on the old bones. My ankle hurts where a moron ran into me with a cart when we got to the car after packing up the table. Luckily I managed to not fall on my face into the glass display case I was carrying, but my ankle is still complaining.
We made many children and adults happy with the bin o’ cheap toys and the bin o’ stuffies. Met a lot of pin and action figure collectors. Overall we did pretty good.
My art got some notice, but not as much as I would have hoped. It can be so disheartening to watch thousands of fans pass you by for all the big name artists, but every now and then someone would stop and look appreciatively. I did get to meet a few of my very enthusiastic fans. I even signed a Magic card, which I don’t think I have done in years. I only painted three ever and one was cut from the deck. One person had an odd moment when he realized that I was also the person responsible for Steamcon. We did manage to promote Steamcon a bit and it’s amazing and worrisome how many folks still have just not heard of it. Short of wandering the streets in costume, handing out flyers, I am just not sure how else to reach them.
I wore three different purple steampunk ensembles and they were well received, but as usual we only managed to get pictures of Saturday’s outfit.   I know that my picture was taken on other days, but I doubt I’ll ever find the photos. Overall I think there was less costuming this year, but it could just be that they never got back to our table. The show floor doubled this year and it was very difficult to get through the bottleneck on the Skybridge. There were lots of attendees but there was even more stuff to buy so it’s hard to say if that works in our favor.
I bought a few cool things, like Brian Kesinger’s Tea Girl Calender, a pair of gorgeous goggles from Blonde Swan, and a couple steampunk appropriate necklaces. I managed to resist the urge to shop like mad, which at ECCC is a superhuman feat.
I reserved my table for next year, so I need to make notes about what works and what doesn’t. I am glad that I don’t do this too often, like many others do. It is fun, sometimes rewarding, but so much work.
The rest of my photos are here.