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orchidlady01
Upstart Joined: 05 Oct 2006 Posts: 19 Location: Pembroke Pines/South Florida	Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:45 am    Post subject:   In your antique collection of vinaigrettes, do you also have the original sponges? I would think they would be sort of disintegrated by now. Especially having been in an acid like vinegar - maybe they are really pickled sponges?
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Candice
Queen of the Board Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 2731 Location: Minneapolis, MN	Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:33 pm    Post subject:   orchidlady01 wrote: In your antique collection of vinaigrettes, do you also have the original sponges? I would think they would be sort of disintegrated by now. Especially having been in an acid like vinegar - maybe they are really pickled sponges? Several of my vinaigrettes include a sponge. (You can see one in Figure 2 in the collections article). I don't know if any of them are the original sponge. I tend to doubt it, for the very reasons you mentioned. But who knows? Some of them are pretty funky. _________________
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Mary H
Upstart Joined: 04 Nov 2006 Posts: 34 Location: California	Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:39 pm    Post subject:   What a great collection. I never saw a vinaigrette before and have to say I was one of those people who figured it was a little bottle with smelling salts inside. I love how you put your collections up on your website for all of us to see. It really helps to know what these things look like. I enjoy the articles, too, I always learn something new. Your house must look like a museum!
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JenniferY
Influential Member of the Ton Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 285 Location: Georgia	Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 8:04 pm    Post subject:   Those sound very neat!
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KeiraSoleore
Moderator Princess Joined: 03 Oct 2006 Posts: 5898 Location: Seattle	Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 8:14 pm    Post subject:   Ah, that's how they did it. I thought vinaigrettes were like perfume bottles -- you simply lift up the stopper and take a cautious breath.
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deltajojo
Upstart Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 35 Location: Memphis, TN	Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:47 am    Post subject:   Candice, Candice, Candice. You have really upped our Regency savvy.lol Believe it or not, I just started my first Georgette Heyer book - The Grand Sophy. Lo and behold, on the second page, mind you, Lady Ombersley uncorked her vinaigrette bottle which was never out of her reach! Oh my, I had just been to a very good Heyer website which mentioned repeatedly about her dedication to researching the Regency era, and I know I risk catching some heat here about nitpicking. But I can't help it! Thank you, Candice, for this totally fantastic website you have provided for education and FUN! Joy
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Candice
Queen of the Board Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 2731 Location: Minneapolis, MN	Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:13 pm    Post subject:   I was sort of surprised at that, too, Joy. Vinaigrettes seem to be much more well-known in the UK -- it's usually American authors who get it wrong. But please don't dis the Great Georgette. She may have missed this detail but she got most everything else right trough diligent research. _________________
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deltajojo
Upstart Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 35 Location: Memphis, TN	Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:01 am    Post subject:   Candice, I said I'd catch some heat from seeming to be overly critical of the most brilliant of Regency authors. I told you it was all your fault, too, for providing us with all this wonderful Regency knowledge. LOL. Seriously, I would never dream of dissing Ms Heyer - just surprised the heck out of me to catch that nitpicking little error early on in The Grand Sophy. I am having a grand time with the book - just sparkling wit on every page. Can't wait to go back to the library for more - my branch has a ton of Ms Heyer. The website I mentioned in the earlier post is www.georgette-heyer. com, and it is chock full of fascinating info about Ms Heyer and background info on all her books. The pages of Regency terms that were taken from her books are just absolutely wonderful. I plan to go back to the site again and again, and try to soak up as much as possible. I would recommend this site highly for any Regency fans period. Joy
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Michele Gardner
Baroness of the Manor Joined: 14 Feb 2007 Posts: 861 Location: Pittsburgh	Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:37 pm    Post subject:   Candice they are pretty cool. Now I can actually visualize correctly when reading a story. Thanks for Sharing. I alway imagined in my mind when reading a story those ones that you snap and they smell that we have today.lol Michele
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Melpomene
Poor Relation Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 95	Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 12:07 pm    Post subject:   Candice wrote: orchidlady01 wrote: In your antique collection of vinaigrettes, do you also have the original sponges? I would think they would be sort of disintegrated by now. Especially having been in an acid like vinegar - maybe they are really pickled sponges? Several of my vinaigrettes include a sponge. (You can see one in Figure 2 in the collections article). I don't know if any of them are the original sponge. I tend to doubt it, for the very reasons you mentioned. But who knows? Some of them are pretty funky. Oh, I can imagine! I hate the smell of vinegar, never mind two-hundred-year-old vinegar with perfume and sea creature. (Yet I have a feeling if I ever see a vinaigrette with a sponge in it, I will still smell it! I'm curious like that...) What would they originally have smelled like? Strongly vinegary as the name implies, or with enough perfume to sort of cover that up a bit? And what scent would the perfume have been?
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Melpomene
Poor Relation Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 95	Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2008 12:07 pm    Post subject:   Hey look, I'm a poor relation!
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Lucky47
Influential Member of the Ton Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 287 Location: New Jersey	Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:24 pm    Post subject:   CrystalGB wrote: I always imagined a bottle when I read about them. I had no idea they were boxes. Now when I read I will have a correct image in mind. I too thought they were little bottles. Candace , your collection is phenomenal. Figure 9 is beautiful. Thank you for such a complete understanding of them. Carol
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Candice
Queen of the Board Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 2731 Location: Minneapolis, MN	Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:33 am    Post subject:   Melpomene wrote: What would they originally have smelled like? Strongly vinegary as the name implies, or with enough perfume to sort of cover that up a bit? And what scent would the perfume have been? They primarily used aromatic vinegars, which would have been much stronger than anything we have today. But sometimes they simply used lavender or rose water or other sweet-smelling liquids. Those would only have been used to inhale a sweet scent in an unpleasant-smelling situation, and would not have been of any help in reviving a swooning woman.You'd need those strong aromatic vinegars to make her eyes pop open again. _________________
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