Listener discretion advised: This tangisode discusses infant death, baby farming, murder, child neglect, and Victorian-era adoption abuses.

In this tangisode of Dressed for the Grave, we wade into the foggy, filthy waters of Victorian England to tell the story of Amelia Dyer, one of Britain's most infamous baby farmers. Behind the lace bonnets, newspaper ads, and polite promises of "care," Dyer built a business on desperation, shame, and blood money. For unmarried mothers, poor families, and women with nowhere safe to turn, baby farming was sold as a solution. In Dyer's hands, it became a graveyard with a receipt book.

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Before wealthy Victorians wandered the slums for thrills, they were already lining up to watch public executions, touring prisons, and peering into asylums. In this episode of Dressed for the Grave, we explore how punishment, madness, and suffering became public entertainment. From Maria Manning's infamous black satin execution and William Calcraft's long career as Britain's executioner, to Pentonville Prison, Bedlam, and Georgina Weldon's fight against wrongful confinement, we uncover the unsettling ways fashion, spectacle, and social class collided in Victorian Britain. Sometimes the darkest attraction wasn't the criminal. It was the crowd.

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• Ward, R. (2015). A History of British Executions. The History Press.
• The National Archives. A Victorian Prison.
• Capital Punishment UK. William Calcraft: One of Britain's Most Prolific Hangmen and Maria and Frederick Manning.
• Royal College of Physicians. John Conolly (1794-1866).
• London Museum. London's Public Executions and Elizabeth Fry: Pioneering Prison Reformer.

Today's tangisode drops the blade on the history of the guillotine, that oddly elegant little death machine France tried to sell as humane, modern, and equal opportunity. We're talking Enlightenment ideals, Revolutionary bloodlust, public spectacle, political theater, severed heads, terrible timing, and the deeply uncomfortable fact that people once packed into execution crowds like it was brunch with better screaming. It's colorful, grim, weirdly bureaucratic, and very Dressed for the Grave.

Listen now, follow the podcast, share it with your favorite beautiful little history goblin, and tell us: would you have watched a public execution, or are you pretending you would have stayed home like a well-adjusted person?

This week on Dressed for the Grave, we step into the smoky world of nineteenth-century opium dens, laudanum bottles, absinthe cafés, and the Green Fairy's very dramatic public downfall. From Limehouse moral panic to Victorian medicine cabinets, and Belle Époque absinthe rituals, this episode looks at how addiction could be dressed up as medicine, art, scandal, or vice depending on who was holding the glass.

SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP
Free, confidential treatment referral and information for mental health and substance use support.

FindTreatment.gov: Search for substance use and mental health treatment options near you.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
For emotional distress, mental health crisis, substance use crisis, or if you are worried about someone else.

Naloxone/Narcan: If opioids are involved, naloxone can reverse an overdose and save a life. Many pharmacies and local health departments can help you find it.

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In this Tangisode, we ride into the stormy world of Norse mythology to meet the women who chose who lived, who died, and who earned a place in Valhalla. From blood-soaked battlefields and fate-weaving Valkyries to swan maidens, and the terrifying power of destiny itself, we're exploring the myths behind some of the most fascinating figures in Viking lore. Valkyries.

Grab your helmet, mind the ravens, fill your chalice and pull up a stool.

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🦢 Tell us: If a Valkyrie appeared before you today, would you be relieved... or absolutely terrified?

And remember: Dress to impress yourself, not the coroner.

Sources

Larrington, Carolyne. The Poetic Edda. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Sturluson, Snorri. The Prose Edda. Translated by Anthony Faulkes, Everyman, 1995.

Price, Neil. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings. Basic Books, 2020.

Price, Neil. The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. Oxbow Books, 2019.

Lindow, John. Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press, 2001.

Davidson, H.R. Ellis. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. Penguin Books, 1964.

Listener Discretion Advised: This episode contains discussions of prostitution, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, infant death, human trafficking, violence against women, and other difficult aspects of Victorian life. Some listeners may find portions of this episode disturbing. Please listen with care.

In this episode of Dressed for the Grave, we continue our stroll through the wonderfully rancid world of Victorian slumming, where wealthy Londoners treated poverty like an after-dinner attraction and brothels became one of the more scandalous stops on the tour.

We're talking prostitution, syphilis, mercury treatments, the Contagious Diseases Acts, Josephine Butler, Mary Jeffries, baby farming, and more. It's sex, shame, disease, reform, and hypocrisy, all dressed up in gloves and gaslight.

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-☠️Tell us: which part of Victorian hypocrisy made you want to throw a glove across the room?

And remember: Dress to impress yourself, not the coroner. 🖤

Sources

Acton, W. (1857) Prostitution, Considered in Its Moral, Social, and Sanitary Aspects, in London and Other Large Cities and Garrison Towns. Available at: https://archive.org/details/prostitutioncons00acto

Arnot, M.L. (1994) 'Infant death, child care and the state: the baby-farming scandal and the first infant life protection legislation of 1872', Continuity and Change, 9(2). Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/continuity-and-change/article/infant-death-child-care-and-the-state-the-babyfarming-scandal-and-the-first-infant-life-protection-legislation-of-1872/B309B47188B9987FB185980D0543945E

BBC (n.d.) Josephine Butler. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/butler_josephine.shtml

Cunnington, C. (2025) Mary Jeffries. Available at: https://clairecunnington.com/2025/02/28/mary-jeffries/

Diniejko, A. (2013) Slums and Slumming in Late-Victorian London. Available at: https://www.victorianweb.org/history/slums.html

Hindmarch-Watson, K. (2012) 'Male Prostitution and the London GPO: Telegraph Boys' "Immorality" from Nationalization to the Cleveland Street Scandal', Journal of British Studies. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-british-studies/article/male-prostitution-and-the-london-gpo-telegraph-boys-immorality-from-nationalization-to-the-cleveland-street-scandal/62CFF3F1791076C8AA8A82E8F7DE37E3

Legislation.gov.uk (n.d.) Offences against the Person Act 1861: Attempts to procure abortion. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/100/crossheading/attempts-to-procure-abortion

Pharmaceutical Journal (2016) Syphilis and the use of mercury. Available at: https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/opinion/syphilis-and-the-use-of-mercury

Science Museum (2023) The history of syphilis part two: Treatments, cures and legislation. Available at: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/history-syphilis-part-two-treatments-cures-and-legislation

Sheffield Gender History (n.d.) Josephine Butler, Mary Jeffries and the age of consent campaign. Available at: https://sheffieldgenderhistory.hcommons.org/?p=48

Stead, W.T. (1885) The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon. Available at: https://www.attackingthedevil.co.uk/pmg/tribute/

Thames Valley Police Museum (n.d.) The Baby Farmer. Available at: https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/police-forces/thames-valley-police/areas/au/about-us/thames-valley-police-museum/the-baby-farmer/

University of Iowa (n.d.) Josephine Butler and the Campaign Against the Contagious Diseases Acts. Available at: https://victorianfboos.studio.uiowa.edu/josephine-butler-and-campaign-against-contagious-diseases-acts

Was Lilith truly Adam's first wife, or is that one of history's most successful pieces of mythological gossip?

In this Tangisode, we follow Lilith's extraordinary journey across nearly 5,000 years of history. From her origins in ancient Mesopotamian demonology to her brief appearance in the Book of Isaiah, from medieval folklore's rebellious first wife to the Victorian era's dangerous beauty, and finally to her modern reinvention as a symbol of feminine autonomy.

Along the way, we'll explore childbirth fears, demons of the night, Victorian femme fatales, feminist reclamation, and why societies throughout history have been deeply uncomfortable with women who refuse to do as they're told.

Was Lilith a monster, a warning, a scapegoat, or simply a woman who walked away?

Pull up a chair. This one's been causing trouble for thousands of years.

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Dress to impress yourself, not the coroner.

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Sources

• The Alphabet of Ben Sira (c. 8th-10th Century CE)
• Patai, Raphael. The Hebrew Goddess
• Hurwitz, Siegmund. Lilith: The First Eve
• Schwartz, Howard. Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism
• Jewish Women's Archive
• Delaware Art Museum, Lady Lilith by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• ESOTERICA (Dr. Justin Sledge)

Dressed to Slum: Penny Dreadfuls and the Love of Murder, Monsters, and the Urban Underworld

Before true crime podcasts, horror films, and dark tourism, there were Penny Dreadfuls. For just one penny, Victorian readers could dive into tales of murder, monsters, vampires, highwaymen, and urban legends. In this episode, we explore the sensational stories that captivated nineteenth-century Britain, sparked fears about corrupting the youth, and helped transform London's underworld into a place of fascination. From Sweeney Todd and Varney the Vampire to Spring-Heeled Jack and the rise of slumming, discover how Victorian society's obsession with crime, scandal, and the macabre helped shape the entertainment we still consume today.

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🖤 Tell us: Which Penny Dreadful character would you have spent your hard-earned penny on?

And remember: Dress to impress yourself, not the coroner. 🖤

• Altick, Richard D. Victorian People and Ideas. W.W. Norton & Company, 1973.
• Britannica. Penny Dreadful. https://www.britannica.com/art/penny-dreadful
• Edward Lloyd Project. Edward Lloyd. https://edwardlloyd.org
• Koven, Seth. Slumming: Sexual and Social Politics in Victorian London. Princeton University Press, 2004.
• Springhall, John. Youth, Popular Culture and Moral Panics: Penny Gaffs to Gangsta Rap, 1830-1996. St. Martin's Press, 1994.
• Rymer, James Malcolm. Varney the Vampire; or, The Feast of Blood (1845-1847).
• Reynolds, George W. M. The Mysteries of London (1844-1848).