exhibition – Journal of Victorian Culture Online

Crafting Communities: Rethinking Academic Engagement in Pandemic Times and Beyond

April 29, 2021 Andrea Korda, Mary Elizabeth Leighton, Vanessa Warne Other, Roundtables, Victorians Beyond the Academy, Victorians on Display

This is the first post in the ‘Crafting Communities’ series on JVC Online. See Part Two and Part Three. It is July 2020, the summer of Covid. Libraries are closed. Museums are closed. University courses and conferences have moved online. A small group of Victorianists gathers on Zoom to learn how to make hair art. Led by Vanessa Warne (U of Manitoba), the event is a test run for the upcoming semester, when Vanessa plans to make hair art with

Jumbo the Elephant: a very Victorian institution

April 8, 2021 Steve Ward Other

When I was a toddler, like many other children I hauled around a stuffed toy with me wherever I went. While many had the ubiquitous Teddy Bear, and some had a rabbit, I had a battered and well-worn stuffed elephant. It was grey and threadbare and its name was … Jumbo. Now, I never questioned why it was so called. I just assumed that all elephants were known as Jumbo. But Jumbo the Elephant was a particularly Victorian creation. Jumbo