The Regent's Park Skating Disaster of 1867 | Episode 98

About this episode

This episode explores the Regent's Park Skating Disaster of 1867 and the peculiarities of Victorian society and fashion.

Nothing says ‘fun afternoon’ quite like adding cutlery to your feet, bruising most of your body, and then going for a nice swim. And to clarify, when I say nothing, I mean because that’s not something that anyone has ever said before. On today’s episode: we’ll see how the former digs of axe murderers and corpse thieves and child labour body pits became one of the most beautiful green spaces in London; we’ll learn why early ice skates were only marginally more comfortable than being eaten by wolves; and we’ll learn why Victorian fashion doubled as de facto funeral attire with the addition of simple water. And because you are listening on Patreon… you’ll hear about how early animal captivity turned one man into a bloody Stretch Armstrong doll, complete with blood spray effects; you will learn how the Dutch invented a new high-speed form of knife-fighting and ice skates for horses; and you will hear how London had a unique form of Winter Fair that only closed up for the year once people started drowning. There’s no risk of drowning in feces or burning to death in today’s story, so in a way this is our nicest visit to Victorian England we’ve ever attempted – you’re welcome. But that…

People in this episode

Host: Brad Choma

Topics covered

• Victorian England
• ice skating
• historical disasters
• fashion
• animal captivity
• society

Keywords

• Regent's Park
• skating disaster
• Victorian fashion
• ice skates
• historical events
• animal captivity
• London

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Regent's Park, London

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