S05E03: The very Victorian art of dating and the hidden codes in Victorian love letters.

Sit down for a bit of old fashioned Victorian dating advice, flirting etiquette, and fan wielding tips, then cozy up by the fire to search for hidden meanings within the latest sweet missive penned by your most beloved. So many rules! So much mail!

S05E02: A brief history of love spells and how they’re still being used today.

As long as there have been people, there have been love spells. They’re sometimes beautiful, frequently horny, and nearly always ethically questionable. They also might make you want to hide your fingernails, put off buying supplies for that candle-making project, and never buy stick pins again. Which is all to say that love spells are messy. Just like emotions, and just like all of us.

S05E01: The Oneida Cult.

Ever wonder if your silverware was once in a questionable cult? No? Just us?

S04E08: The secret drawers, hidden compartments, and locked cabinets nestled into pieces of antique furniture.

S04E07: American islands that never lost their British accents (from the 16 and 1700s) and the unnatural origins of the Transatlantic Accent.

S04E06: The USS Recruit (1917), the dreadnought in Union Square, and the Unsinkable Molly Brown

S04E05: Metal detecting, geocaching, and digging up stuff in your own backyard!

It’s digging in the dirt and tromping through the woods season! Come along with us while Haley contemplates metal detecting, breaking the law, and digging up her basement, and Natali goes on a fantastic geocaching and letterboxing adventure (and also partakes in some light botanical thievery).

S04E04: Poisonous Plants and Drury Lane Gardens.

Take a stroll around a garden so dangerous that just walking through it can cause you to faint, then scamper off to the world of London’s pocket parks for a wholesome reinvention of a place with a deadly past.

The lore of black cats, crows, and ravens.

Us, to literally every black cat or corvid we see: Who’re our good little witches’ familiars? Sweet baby omens of doom? The bestest spooky speakers of truth ever?

Corvids and black cats:

Us: YES YOU ARE!!

Beauty entrepreneur and philanthropist Madam C. J. Walker and Boston bicycling trailblazer Kittie Knox.

Fan of a multi-step beauty routine? (Same.) So, as it happens, was Madam C. J. Walker, who built a national beauty empire while providing a path for other Black women to build businesses of their own. Meanwhile, over in Boston, Kittie Knox was riding and racing her bicycle, charming reporters, and challenging the idea that the sport was solely the domain of white men.

Weird pope facts and the bizarro world that is Vatican City/the Vatican/the Holy See.

S03E17: It’s National Native American Heritage Month, so we’re talking about stone cold badass Madame Marie Dorion, and the many ways in which Native and Indigenous Americans have contributed to medicine and public health, from baby bottles, to pain killers, to early syringes!

S03E16: Victorian dress reform, the Rational Dress Society, and the history of bicycles.

For Victorian women, bicycles usher in both a newfound freedom and a new wave in practical, flexible fashion: Pants!

S03E15: Madame Tussaud and her famed museum of lifelike wax figures, and Grand Guignol, a pioneering theater at the forefront of shockingly realistic body horror.

Marie Tussaud’s exceptional talent brought a spark of (kind of creepy) life to the art and craft of creating wax portraiture, inviting the public to mingle with likenesses of the famous. The masterful craftspeople at Grand Guignol, by contrast, brought a truly dramatic spark of death–and an in-house doctor–to audiences looking for a different kind of thrill.

S03E14: Celebration, Florida and Arcosanti, Arizona: Two very different approaches to building a (mostly failed) utopia.

Learning how to almost successfully thrive in the desert, and why we wouldn’t want Disney in charge of our HOAs.

S03E13: The Legendary 1892 Topless Duel between Princess Pauline von Metternich of Vienna and Countess Anastasia Kielmansegg, and the Teddy Girls (who got a bad rap).

S03E12: The spy gadgets of WWII and a married couple–Jonna and Antonio Mendez–who were very real masters of disguise.

Spy craft meets spy crafts with lipstick compasses, pencil daggers, and a truly ingenious use of foot powder.

S03E11: The history of women in pants and boobs in fashion.

Ah, yes. The perennial drama of possessing cleavage and/or legs.

S03E10: The Brattleboro Retreat Tower, a Victorian structure tucked away amongst the trees and boulders on a hiking trail in Vermont.

Haley goes solo this week with a tour of one of her new hometown’s most notorious haunts, the Brattleboro Retreat tower. Note: The Brattleboro Retreat was formerly known as the Vermont Asylum for the Insane, and some historical references use that name.

S03E09: Perfume making techniques, enfleurage, and musk.

It’s all flowers and frippery…until it’s not.

S03E08: Boobs and bling: the history of sports bras and custom grills.

Two jock straps walk into a marathon with some pretty mind-blowing mouth jewelry.

S03E07: Abandoned structures and Architectural Salvage.

We don’t want to tell you how to live your lives, but maybe avoid that underground toilet bunker, okay?

S03E06: The stories behind the names for full moons and how the moon does (or doesn’t) impact the human body.

Did you know that a blue moon is actually a thing, and that blood moons really do exist? Connect with your inner (North American) moon witch and prepare to be both baffled and delighted by the names we’ve decided to call each month’s full moon. Then, switch to your front-facing camera and examine the science and the spooky behind the effects that the moon might have on your–and everyone else’s–body.

S03E05: Abandoned Waterparks and Neverland Ranch.

The heyday of bad-idea waterparks, when the kids were probably drunk and their 1980s parents decided to just roll the dice on safety, and the dark and over-the-top remnants of Neverland Ranch.

S03E04: The Not Terribly Good Club of Great Britain and a fascinating look into the history of fraternities and sororities in the United States.

Private clubs can be fraught with countless problematic behaviors, but our favorite find turned out to be charming, weird, and so successful that it ceased to exist. Meanwhile, back in the US, we learned that the story of the rise of fraternities is as old as the country itself.

S03E03: Entomology (insect collecting) and the taxidermy of Walter Potter.

Some people like academic displays with carefully labeled insects, some like kitten weddings. Who are we to judge?

S03E02: The history of the valentine and the hypnotic love spell murderer, Dr. Carl Coppolino.

From penning sweet nothings to vinegar valentines, Natali explains why the history of these cards is far more creative–and more grown up–than today’s grade school-geared counterparts. Then, like a rain cloud over your lovenest, Haley ruins everything with a story of hypnosis, heartbreak (in the literal and figurative sense), two states, two mistresses, and probably two murders.

S03E01: “Princess” Alice Roosevelt, the irrepressible eldest daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was pretty much always up to no good, and Princess Alexandra of Bavaria, who was pretty much never up to no good, because she was quite sure that she’d swallowed an entire glass piano.

S02E24: The mind-blowing plot twists of WWII bomber pilot Si Spiegel (and his artificial Christmas trees), and the glittering nostalgia that is a box of Shiny Brite Ornaments

In short, Mr. Spiegel basically WAS his own action movie. And I’m pretty sure Shiny Brite ornaments don’t need an introduction. Just picture a Christmas tree–they’re what’s on it.

S02E23: Mary Sachs, the Merchant Princess of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Coco Chanel, who was very good at both designing clothes and being a horrifyingly terrible person.

S02E22: Historical ways to confirm death and the art and science of modern embalming practices.

S02E21: Kate Warne, the heroic first woman Pinkerton detective, and Pearl Tytell, handwriting detective and trailblazing forensic document examiner.

When you need a tricky job done, you have to hire the best! As the first lady detective, Kate Warne’s work with the Pinkertons opened new investigative doors for the agency, helped foil a presidential assasination plot, and paved the way for the creation of the CIA. (We’re also told that she did a fabulous southern belle cosplay.) Pearl Tytell’s groundbreaking document investigation techniques exposed fraud in the highest levels of the government and the lowest reaches of backroom business deals and career-ending gossip mills. (She once even uncovered a fake claim to Russian royalty!) At times, her analysis carried more weight in the courts than the opinion of the FBI. From typewriter quirks to ink colors and paper stock, when Pearl was the expert witness, everybody listened!

S02E20: Slender Man and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Heads up: The first story involves violence against children. Listen at your own discretion.

Whether written at the dawn of a nation or crowd-sourced on the internet, all urban legends hold within them at least a tiny kernel of truth. Here’s what happens when those distorted stories stop being fiction and become real living nightmares.

S02E19: Mrs. Margaret Smith-Wilkinson, nicknamed the Countess of Monte Cristo, and Lady Jane Lewson, the possible real life inspiration for Miss Havisham.

Come meet a hotel mogul turned high society con artist (who probably wasn’t a black widow), and the enigmatic walking fire hazard that might have inspired Dickens’ fictional jilted bride; two women whose actual lives are truly the stuff of fiction.

S02E18: Woven spells, sewing magic, and the history of spinsters.

Is there someone in your life who knits with glass needles, spins their own yarn, sews their own patterns, or dyes their own thread? Yes? Well, we strongly discourage getting on their bad side. You know, just in case they decide to throw that project into the fire.

S02E17: Personal Ghost Stories and Haley’s Haunted Mom.

I mean, who doesn’t want to hear stories about a spooky local legend, a whispering apparition, a 1970s UFO, and Haley’s mom talking about the little girl ghost in her hall who looks just a bit too familiar?

S02E16: Sewing spacesuits and the science lab at the Eiffel Tower.

Did you know that the Eiffel Tower doubles as art and science? It’s true! Also true: sewing a space suit is hard, and then your work gets shredded.

S02E15: Catacomb saints and the Sedlec Ossuary.

Here for all of your bejeweled skeleton and fancy skull garland needs!

S02E14: The doctor-prescribed history of condoms and vibrators.

From “American tips” to hysteria treatments (and, somehow, maybe also bees), the history of getting off is exactly as awkward as you think it is.

S02E13: The history of Summer Solstice celebrations, rituals, and crafts.

You like fire, right? Because, honestly, you’re going to need to like fire for this one.

S02E12: Historical queer love letters and lavender languages past and present.

S02E11: Dr. Cyr, the father of School Bus Yellow, and the concerningly yellow canary girls of WWI.

S02E10: Dentures and false teeth throughout history and street dentist Painless Parker. Chipped porcelain, cocaine, and an actual dental circus with a side of rehab? Obviously, we’re in.

S02E09: Recycled silk parachutes and garments made from escape and evade maps. Honestly, what’s hotter than lingerie made from the very map that helped your hot RAF pilot boyfriend escape the Nazis? Nothing! The romance novel practically writes itself.

S02E08: Interesting epitaphs and headstone symbology. Thanks to chisels, stone, and, for some reason, zebras, the dead don’t need to be ghosts to communicate with the living!

(If you can explain the zebras, please get in touch. We’re so confused.)

S02E07: Green burials, body farms, and the inner workings of tombs, vaults, and mausoleums: We jump into the world of burial and interment, and somehow come out on Team Mausoleum. (We’ll also take Team Grad Student Road Trip, pending availability.)

S02E06: The Night Witches (the Nazi-bombing war heroes), and Lilith, the original Night Witch (possibly a demon, a goddess, or Adam’s first wife): These badass babes have at least one thing in common: if they’re around, you definitely won’t be getting any sleep.

S02E05: The Ring of Senicianus (The Real ‘One Ring to Rule Them All’ that inspired Tolkein?) and the Prague Orloj: Meet a cursed Roman artifact that just might lead to Hobbits and an astronomical clock with a rumored penchant for murder. (This is why we can’t have nice historic things.)

S02E04: Mourning attire and practices and black widow murderers: You know, when you think about it, it’s actually kind of unclear which one of these categories is more deadly.

Post-mortem photography and mourning jewelry: It’s not all sunshine and hair locks, my friends.

Let’s take a moment, shall we, to drop in on a dissectable, completely inexplicably orgasmic wax woman or two? Or maybe you’d prefer a mid-kick soccer player who’s just casually stepped out of his skin? Good news! You can totally see both, because, turns out, science and art play together quite nicely!

Victorian Christmas Candle Fires and Creepy Holiday Traditions: Spoiler alert–Victorian times were deeply flammable.

Spiritualists, Fraudulent Mediums, and the Cottingley Fairies: You can question the trustworthiness of spirit mediums all you want, but we still wouldn’t recommend fucking with the Fae. Ever.

Tarot History, Tarot Cards, and Pamela Colman Smith: Shuffle the deck and determine your fate! Unless, of course, you’re a woman called Pixie in the 1900s.

Talking boards, spirit boards, Ouija boards: so many names, and so many ways to contact the beyond and/or open up a demon portal to hell.

S01E14: The life of serial killer H. H. Holmes (Herman Webster Mudgett) and the creation of His Murder Castle. (Part 1 in a 4-part Halloween series, including 2 main episodes and 2 episodes for our supporters on Patreon!)

S01E13: Samhain and Halloween history, witchcraft crafts (corn dollies/corn mothers, witch bells, and candles), and creating your own witchcraft altar.

S01E12: The Victorian Language of Flowers (Floriography), Victorian Botanical Scrapbooks (Herbariums), and Seaweed Hunters.

S01E11: Wartime Crafting: Girl Guide Spies and Knitting in Codes –
You’ve probably heard of the Girl Guides (and Girl Scouts), but did you know that they were properly badass in WWI and WWII? And, if knitting patterns have ever looked kind of like a secret code to you? Well, there might be a good reason for that!

S01E10: Witch Bottles and Tomb Curses.

Can we please all just agree not to open the tomb, drink the mystery liquid, or make glass bottles filled with nails and pins to explode in fires?

2020 doesn’t need any excuses to get weirder or more terrifying, okay?

S01E09: The History of Grimoires and How to Make One. Join us today in the restricted area of the Curiosity Shop, where a squeaky old library cart holds grimoires aplenty!

S01E08: Mannequins, Automatons, and a Trip into Hell’s Own Uncanny Valley.

Did that automaton just move? And how long has that mannequin been standing behind me? Hello? Is anybody here?

S01E07: Historical, Medical, and Modern Corsets. In this episode, Haley and Natali discuss sexy potential death traps and boobs. So very many boobs.

S01E06: Making Mummies, Mummy Unwrapping Parties, and Mummy Brown Paint.

Hello, and welcome to the Season 1, Episode 05 of the Bones & Bobbins Podcast!If you're looking for this episode's show notes, options for listening, and ways to connect with us, you're in the right place. Welcome, creepy, vintage-y friends!Listen:The Bones &...

S01E04: Victorian Chatelaines and the History of Pockets in Women’s Clothing.

S01E03: Death Masks, the Unknown Woman of the Seine, and the Paris Catacombs.

S01E02: Scheele’s Green (Arsenic Green), Cadmium Red, and the Radium Girls.

S01E01: Mother of Forensic Science Frances Glessner Lee’s Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death and Miyu Kojima’s Miniature Replicas of Lonely Deaths.