Worn by a mid-19th century women who lost her nose to syphilis, an STI which can cause the bridge of the nose to collapse, the above contraption is testament to an era when sexual promiscuity was far more abundant than the Victorians would have liked us to believe.
In fact, so common was it to encounter a noseless fellow that people began to form clubs, asThe Star reported in a February 1874 article entitled "The Origins of the No Nose Cub":
Miss Sanborn tells us that an eccentric gentleman, having taken a fancy to seeing a large party of noseless persons, invited every one thus afflicted, whom he met in the streets, to dine on a certain day at a tavern, where he formed them into a brotherhood ... This club met every month for a whole joyous year, when its founder died, and the flat-faced community were unhappily dissolved.
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The Oddment Emporium
Historical FictionA book based on actual events, a collection of fantastically odd short stories, a cornucopia of eclectic delights with accompanying images on every page.
