Victorian Adverts (Commercials) Quiz

Answer: Sluggish livers

In this instance the advertiser said his compound was good for "sluggish livers", which probably meant constipation. For centuries dandelion has been known as a diuretic and has many other uses. The leaves may be used in salads, the roots may be roasted as a coffee substitute. You can even make dandelion wine, if you are adventurous - or desperate.

Answer: Tools for tending an open fire

Used domestically, fireirons usually come as a set - poker, tongs and shovel, often with a stand on which they may be hung.

Answer: A smoker's pipe with a bowl made from a chalk-like material

Meerschaum is a German word meaning "sea foam" on account of the look of the mineral given that name. Technically called "sepiolite" it comes from the Black Sea region, occasionally found floating. It was the Germans who thought of using it as the bowl of a pipe - possibly because it has a beneficial effect on the burning tobacco, but more likely just because it looks good..

Answer: Vaults have entrances

A grave is simply a rectangular hole dug in the ground, into which a coffin is placed; it is then filled in with earth, and a memorial or gravestone may be placed over it. If a second burial is to be made in the same grave, the earth has to be dug out again.

A vault on the other hand is intended from the start to hold a number of coffins, usually intended for one family. It is often a building, with prepared places for later coffins to be put, and with an entrance that may be a wooden door. Even if the vault is built below ground, it will have an entrance, usually a removable stone slab that covers a flight of steps.

Answer: Drink it for your health

At that time a naturally occurring mineral water containing lithium salts (called Lithia Water) was used in medicine as a diuretic, and as a treatment for gout and rheumatic conditions. Its benefits have been acclaimed by many users over the years, but although it is now thought to be fairly ineffective, bottled lithia water is still available from its original source at Lithia Springs, Georgia, and a few other places.

Answer: Sheepskin

The word 'roan' is generally used to describe a horse of a brownish colour mixed with white or gray. In bookbinding it refers to a soft leather made from sheepskin, coloured in the same way. Book collectors usually consider a roan binding as an inferior substitute for morocco leather, although in practice it is quite serviceable.

Answer: Go for a ride.

The clue is in the fact that the advertiser is a "posting master", that is he kept horses and carriages for hire. The spelling is misleading, as it is usually spelled "brake". Commonly called a shooting brake, it was a carriage used to carry shooting parties and their equipment.

The term "brake" comes from the early use of a chassis to which unbroken horses were attached, in order to get them used to pulling carriages; in other words, to break them in.

Answer: A kind of gauze-like weave

Leno is a particular cotton weave (a type of muslin) that gives the fabric an open gauze-like appearance. It is done by making some threads swing across adjacent warp threads during the weaving process. Such varieties of cross weaves can be very beautiful.

Answer: A person who owned or managed a wharf

A wharfinger is a person (or business) who owns or manages a wharf. A wharf is a large open building usually on a dockside. Goods are unloaded from a ship and placed in the wharf, in preparation for their later distribution to other destinations.

Answer: A small overcoat costing 7 shillings and 11 pence

An "ulster" was a kind of everyday overcoat, often provided with a cape.
In this advertisement, 7/11 is the price, which was seven shillings and eleven pence. Remember there were twelve pence in a shilling, and twenty shillings in a pound.

Answer: Someone who engraves dies

A "heraldic die" would be an engraved stamp for marking your correspondence with your personal design. The person who engraved such a design on the stamp, which was usually made of metal, was called a die sinker.

Answer: A mutton cutlet cooked a la maintenon

Mutton Cutlets à la Maintenon, that is in a style that originated in Maintenon, in France. A typical recipe would involve thick chops, cooked with a sauce containing a variety of herbs and breadcrumbs, and wrapped in oiled or buttered paper for cooking, to keep the sauce in. Veal as well as lamb and mutton may be cooked a la Maintenon.

Answer: The use of language to persuade or convince

Rhetoric is the art of using language to produce a desired impression upon the listener. The word is Greek, and was an important part of public life in ancient Greece. convince or persuade. Aristotle defined rhetoric differently from previous writers who were concerned with emotions, but he thought it should consist of careful marshalling of relevant facts and presenting them effectively.

He thought it a combination of logic and of politics.

Answer: A printer

This was presumably thought to be a witty reference to typefaces, and was about as naughty as you could get in those days in a reputable publication.

Answer: Dentist

The use of nitrous oxide, or "laughing gas" had come into use around 1860 for anaesthetising patients in order to undergo dental operations. It was popular because the effect of breathing it was quite pleasant. The description "laughing gas" was coined by Humphrey Davy on account of its euphoric effect.

It earlier had the name "factitious airs" and was thought to be useful in curing tuberculosis. It has also been used from shortly after its availability right up to the present day as a recreational drug.