Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Down the Rabbit Hole with Mr. Google


We awoke to more snow and bad roads. My day rapidly became limited to taking/letting dogs in and out . . . Bob adores the snow and went off leash with John down to the chicken house  and down to the lower place.


But I'm in a hurry to get back to my writing and researching -- 
good old Mr. Google has so many answers.


A remark by Mario on Facebook, in response to my post about Civil War photographers, about the discarded glass plate negatives  being used to make greenhouses gave me an idea for a scene set some years after the war so off I went in search of more information.
 .

said the following:

" Each photo left a negative plate, I mean a plate of glass like 8in x 10in. The question is what happen to these photo negative glass plates? 
If you go to a greenhouse built in the years following the civil war to 1900, you will find them. They were used as the glass the made up the greenhouse. The sun has faded most of the images away but if you go in the dark corners of these greenhouse, you will still see images on them from the civil war...."

But then some questions were raised as to whether this is factual. Evidently many of these glass negatives survive in collections.

Wikipedia had more on the subject:


Evidently nothing is proven.  But I'm writing fiction and it's such a lovely image, I'll probably use it -- perhaps not a whole green house, maybe just a bay window for house plants. And the wife of the disgraced Colonel will tend her indoor garden under the fading gaze of  Confederate and Union soldiers. . .

But what house plans would she tend? Mr. Google to the rescue!


Ferns, evidently, abutilon, citrus, palms, and aspidistra would have been popular.

And I learn that in the Victorian era, "houseplants became a moral issue. . . preachers and writers insisted that the beauty of nature could effectively lead people toward moral goodness. Plants provided the easy path toward salvation."

Ooh, I think I see how to  use this . . .  thanks, Mr. Google!


9 comments:

Ms. A said...

Google has a wealth of info... except where blogger is concerned. It fails miserable there! Throw another log on the fire and Google until your heart is content. Stay warm!

Ms. A said...

Oops, miserably.

Thérèse said...

A great find with the negative plates used for a greenhouse.
Mr Google can be such a life savior!

Barbara Rogers said...

What a great thing to think about, the recycling life of Victorians! Love Kitteh (is it Corey?) on the shelf peering through fern.

Brian Miller said...

what a cool thought...if it was fact it would be really cool to find one in your greenhouse, never really knowing what you had....

Stella Jones said...

Well fancy that! I knew nothing of those glass plates. I do know that the Victorians were mad about ferns. They were decoratively on everything.

Carol Crump Bryner said...

What an interesting way to spend a snowy day. I'm glad you'll be able to use what you discovered "down the rabbit hole" in your writing, Vicki. I always love the way one thing can lead to another when doing research. Stay warm down there in the south!

Darla said...

Fascinating! I love this kind of thing, so I appreciate when you share them …

Linda said...

Beautiful series of photos. :)