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Asylums -

Tours of mental institutions were commonplace during this era. Visitors would be allowed to walk through an asylum and mock patients. 

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Asylums -

The thing is, some people didn't even belong there. They were totally sane!

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Marriage - You might think it was normal for women back in that era to marry young. But in fact it was the opposite.

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Marriage - Women during the Victorian era tended not to marry until around the age of 26. It wasn't until the 20th century that the average age began to fall.

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White wedding - And speaking of marriages, it was Queen Victoria who started the white wedding dress trend, upon her marriage to Albert.

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White wedding - She wore this stunning white dress. A gown fit for a queen!

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Black - It was also after Queen's Victoria wedding that black became a color of mourning, with black attire worn at funerals.

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Black - Back then industrialized cities suffered from major pollution. Black was the sensible color to wear as things like coal ash didn't show up as much on dark materials.

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Pollution - Their biggest cause of pollution problems were factory smoke, animal waste, human waste leaking from sewers, and rotting food being discarded in the streets.

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Pollution -

The smell was so bad that city visitors would often get sick from the stench. Train conductors would warn folks to get their smelling salts out as they reached their destination.

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London fog - London fog was everywhere. No, not the tea. There was an actual pea soup "smog" that greatly affected London, all due to extreme pollution levels.

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London fog - The combination of smoke from factory fires and fog rolling off the River Thames made for an extremely thick, heavy mist that made it hard to see and breathe.

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Alcohol -

Even the water was polluted and highly contaminated due to the sewage creeping into well water. For this reason people drank a lot of alcohol instead.

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Alcohol -

Alcohol was the only thing that was guaranteed germ-free and able to kill bacteria. It wasn't uncommon to see even pregnant women guzzling booze!

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Corsets - Corsets were fatal. Some were so tight they served as appetite suppressants, and there are accounts of women dying just from not being able to breath!

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Corsets - It wasn't unusual to see waists as small as 53-55 cm (21-22 in).  

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Morbid - People in the Victorian era were unusually obsessed with death. Considering all the pollution, disease, and food poisonings, it really is no wonder, since deaths were so frequent.

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Morbid - Funerals for the dead were social events involving cake, and even taking photos of the dead. This practice was called "memento mori."

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Psychics - Because of their creepy fixation with death, it is only natural that psychics took advantage of this and made a lot of money during the era. Fake, gimmicky photographs of past loved ones were shown to those who sought out a psychic.

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Psychics - People's fascination with the unknown allowed the psychic industry to flourish. Hosting psychics and spiritualists at parties, where the sole purpose was to communicate and connect with the dead, was popular in plenty of circles.

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Human zoos -

If you were not white during the Victorian age, you were not really seen as a person.

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Human zoos - In fact, white people of the time saw anyone of any other race as animals and sadly, human zoos were a shameful reality. Races from all over the world were dressed up in tribal wear and even made to act like animals.

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Egypt -

Egypt was the trendy "it" spot, and the top travel destination of the times. 

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Egypt -

People would go in search of big game, or old and mysterious artifacts—some even brought back mummies.

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Fern hunting - Fern hunting was an actual leisure activity during the Victorian era.

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Fern hunting - Collecting ferns became such a popular pastime that some exotic flora became extinct due to overhunting.

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'English As She Is Spoke' - A popular read at the time was a book called 'English As She Is Spoke,' by Pedro Carolino.

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'English As She Is Spoke' -

Carolino was a Portuguese man who didn't speak English and yet created a document filled with humorous literal translations. The result was a totally unintelligible yet comical piece of work.

See also: The weirdest royals throughout history

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