Let's Talk About WEIRD Victorian Deaths (happy holidays?) 

When I die, bury me with another person. Doesn't matter who. I just want the tombstone to say "And they were tombmates"

“He was a gas fiend, a feathered victim of the gas habit”

Bro I can’t stop looking at that seal plushy with a fedora in the background.

Theory: Thomas Dougherty’s killer was not his sweetheart, he was harassing her and she stabbed him with a needle or hairpin she had handy but their families made up the hug story to save face 🤔

"I wish people had how they died on their tombstones." [Swoons in archaeologist]

Obituaries today: "Bob Smith, 74, died today. He is survived by his wife and 3 children." Obituaries back then: "It was a dark and stormy night..."

Biologi nerd here: there is absolutely no way any lizards that's adapted to live in spring water would survive human stomach acid. So either it's a tall tale or the where dealing with some supernatural or exstraterential shit.

I have a parrot who is generally detested by everyone but myself, and I can definitely see him accidentally killing me.

"I feel butterflies flying in my stomach"= weak "I feel *lizards* crawling and hissing in my stomach"= METAL AS HELL

These sounds like so badly disguised murders lol "The parrot did it" "She had... lizards in her stomach! No need to look for poison!" "Yes officer... I accidentally stabbed him with my needle I keep with me-" *dramatic sob*

"an evil-dispositioned bird who was cordially detested by everyone except his mistress he would follow her room to room and was never happy except in her presence, he was generally regarded as a devil" i know parrots can live a long time but i didn't realize my sweet Seymour was alive in the eighteen hundreds...

a feathered victim. of the gas habit. thank u for this gift, rachel. this will truly stick with me forever in the best possible way.

Victorian Man: *Opens mouth* Random mouse: "It's free real estate"

Rachel: "Don't eat any lizards" Captions: "Don't eat any wizards" 😂😂 ..... to be fair, good advice either way

I think we can all agree that the "sweetheart" of the guy who died from the needle stab wound DEFINITELY murdered him and got away with it

I imagine the death-by-parrot reporter was carrying some serious parrot-related emotional baggage, and at last found an outlet for the deep-seated bitterness against all psittaciformes that was festering in his soul.

alternate title: rachel does her toilette for 22 minutes ("toilette" used to basically mean doing your hair and makeup)

Rachel: “Let’s keep things light and merry” Also Rachel (shortly after): “He died after a little time...in horrible agony”

"What would you like for breakfast, dear?" "Eggs please" "STOMACH LIZARD MIND CONTROL!!! J'ACCUSE!!!"

15:50 Translation: She was mending a tear a rabid dog left in her apron and when she finished she cut the thread with her teeth instead of scissors, so she got rabies from the residual saliva left of the tread from the tainted fabric.

best way to die: mid sewing project so people are like "oh how talented, how dedicated" and you dont have to reveal that the finished product was a large banana costume for your dog

So in 2020 I’ve learned: do not eat lizards, do not eat rats, and do not, for the love of God, eat bats

the concept of random strangers on the internet laughing at my tragic death 100+ years from now is hilarious

Girl who took poison just for fun was totally trying to get high

"I want to talk about death" Sweet "Victorian death" You officially have my attention, Ma'am

In Victorian times "toilet" meant getting dressed, a thing I learnt when reading Anne of Green Gables. I am really curious how the lizards didn't get digested though? Stomach acids are STRONG. Edit: I wrote this comment half way through the video but now that I've finished it I have to add, that hairstyle is so cute!

Most of these definitely sound like badly covered up murders... especially the needle one, and the strychnine poisoning. "oh, yes, I swear, she came up the stairs and said she'd taken it for fun, and then she died!" Like really??? C'mon.

Sad Victorian death from my city: when they were building the town hall, they were hauling up a block of stone and it came loose falling on a little boy who was walking with his dad. Now, those massive blocks were expensive- although they couldn't have it on the outside of the building anymore, so behind a tapestry in the hallway that block is there, still stained with the boy's blood. I always wonder if the people that get married there know the story.

This is a memento mori in RU-vid form, but I'm not mad about it.

Glad to see that looking at literal poison and going "forbidden snack" is a behaviour as old as time.

Toilet used to mean the application of makeup, perfume and/or jewelry. I hit the same stumbling block when I was reading a book on mythology and found something to the nature of, "being the goddess of beauty, she was, of course, very fond of the toilet"

"Laughed himself to death" My brain: **plays that one Mary Poppins scene**

“Her toilet completed” means she’s done getting ready. Like she’s done putting in her makeup and her perfume, and any powder and day creams and such like. A ladies toilet comes from the French toilette, which at the time was all of the stuff she did in the morning, in front of her mirror and such-like before getting dressed. I think the toilette was the room, the vanity she sat in front of, and the time of the day during which she got ready before she finished actually putting all her clothes on. I have no idea when toilette changed to toilet. But there you are.

"Let's have some poison...Just for fun" Is that the tide pods of the Victorian era? Thanks for another fun one, Ms. Rachel. Take care.

"Mad Dog" used to mean a rabid dog, I think anyways. My best guess is that the woman unintentionally gave herself rabies when she bit the needle being used to sew up the hole that the rabid dog made. Also, these all seem like deaths written on Haunted Mansion tombstones at Disney.

"Throw up and twist" made me vividly imagine someone vomiting all over the dance floor while grooving to The Twist... It was not a pretty sight 😳🤢

We all agree that our large-needled seamstress totally murdered that guy, right?

Merry Christmas! Here's how women 200 years ago died ❤

actually, "her toilet complete" in that era meant that she had put on make-up, her maid dressed her hair, and she's properly dressed. But someone must have already pointed that out

We had a relative who died in such an interesting way, it made the newspaper. He died "of a slow mortification" which sounds a lot like he died of embarrassment.

"Sorry I can't come, I am dying of lizards in the stomach" is gonna be my excuse to get out of social engagements from now on

"completed her toilette" just means she brushed her teeth, washed her face and hands, combed her hair, etc. this is an amazing vid, j'adore

Oh my god Rachel, I've done the EXACT same thing to my tooth. More than once. Apparently my primate brain is like "TEETH ARE TOOL" before I rationally decide it's a bad idea.

One of my great aunts died as a teenager and her cause of death was that she went swimming when menstruating. I wonder why she really died? 🤔

"Don't live in Victorian times" is the best advice I've ever received.

omfg that gas-huffing parrot killed me 😂 when they reported that after killing his owner and nearly himself, parrot tried to remove the gas cap AGAIN 😂😭

fun fact: there's this beautiful musem in stockholm dedicated to the sunk ship vasa, on board of which there were still some human remains. the archeologists were able to recover the bones and tell the stories of the passengers. one of them was a young lady who was believed to be a seamstress, and they base their theory on a little gap in her tooth, just like yours :)

"i feel like with the right amount of bobby pins, you can do anything". Aah, yes, add some duct tape and worbla and you are indestructible/ omnipotent! lol

Rachel without makeup: soft, dewey, sweet, youthful Me without makeup: "Sir are you okay? You look ill."

"Something we all do...die" Ask A Mortician has been summoned!

OMG!! My mom wrote the “Victorian Book of the Dead” she just commented with a thank you and some links you may be into. I really love your videos they have made my 2020 better (seriously). Thanks for shouting out my mom and her book!!

"Hidden" needles in the carpet are my biggest fear! When I was about 14 I was working on a project on my bedroom floor when my dog (a very grumpy miniature dachshund) came in, saw a stray needle on the carpet, picked it up and swallowed it. I didn't even realize what had happened because it was so fast, the only reason I knew something might be wrong was because he had developed a soft-ish cough later that evening, though he seemed totally unbothered and was drinking water just fine. I attributed it to allergens (being such a tiny dog so near to the ground sometimes he would get a little seasonal respiratory irritation) Then the next morning he refused to eat his breakfast, which was weird but he was super picky about food and some days he would skip breakfast. It wasn't until dinner time came and he showed no interest in his food that I really became alarmed and we rushed him to the emergency animal hospital.. I felt like the worst person alive when I realized what had happened. I still have his X-rays showing the needle stuck in his throat. The vet told me that he must have picked up the needle, imediately realized it was not food and tried to spit it out but the sharp end got caught in the back of his throat, and the coughing was a result of him trying to clear his throat and dislodge the needle. We were very lucky that the needle caused no real injury or damage (other than obviously being uncomfortable) and the vet was able to retrieve it without any issue, or having to medicate him. We were also very lucky he was such a small dog, if he had been a larger breed the needle could have travelled further down his throat and require surgery. Or worse, it could've gotten into his stomach and perforated vital organs, and we wouldn't know until it was too late. Thankfully it turned out fine, but now I am obsessively careful to keep anything I'm sewing up off the floor and even put up baby gates to keep nosy pets away while using all things tiny and sharp and then I check everything about a dozen times when I'm done to ensure nothing could be missing. There's nothing quite as traumatizing as almost accidentally seriously injuring or killing a beloved pet. And the guilt really never goes away.

This reminds me of the “things women in literature have died from” parody article, including hits like “Someone said ‘No’ very loudly while they were in the room” or “Haven’t seen the sea in a long time”

Re: not biting thread. Archaeologists can tell if a person did sewing regularly because of a dent in their front tooth where they’ve been cutting thread with their teeth! If you sew a lot, you’ve probably got one! I know I do!

As an anthropology student, this intro is exactly what I sound like when people ask me why I’m majoring in it

can you imagine hugging your lover and then immediately dying

My husband’s ancestor drowned in a mead tank...I literally had to double check before I typed it in his tree lol.

The parrot one was written wonderfully " the little murderer" How about olde reports on animals doing daft/funny things? (if there are enough for a video)

Rachel: "Let's talk about...DEATH! That wasn't as funny as I thought it would be." Me: *Snorts beverage* I beg your pardon?

Fun fact: in the Victorian era people used to ingest small amounts of strychnine to get a buzz. They called it a "heart starter", but anything more than the tiniest pinch was fatal.

Last year: Weird Victorian Christmas Cards (dead birds...) This year: Unlucky Ways to Die in Victorian times I'm very excited for next year's version 😆

“Toilet” in Victorian speak refers to what you were doing in this video: getting dolled up.

My tombstone will be inscribed with a poem copied from a poem on a tombstone in Boston. Stop here, my friends, and cast an eye, As you are now so once was I, As I am now so must ye be, Prepare for death and follow me.

If you like books like this, you'll also like "The Mystery of Exploding Teeth and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine". They're basically physician's notes of super strange medical cases with comments from the writer. Hilarious!

More for the needle stories: when I was about 2 years old my mother found me playing with a packet of needles on the floor. My mother, being alarmed, asked me if I swallowed them (for some reason) and being two and not really understanding what was going on, I nodded enthusiastically. Cue a four hour trip to the emergency room and several nurses holding me down to x-ray my stomach, and it turns out I did not swallow any needles at all. I was just a toddler and didn’t really understand. But! Guess whose first memory is being held down in a dark room by lots of ladies in scrubs?

My cat heard your cat meow and started responding. Now she is upset that her new friend wouldn't come out of the TV to play with her.

"she died as she lived...potato" - actually me and my love of potatoes :)

"She took the poison 'for fun'" is basically the 1907 version of gen z eating tide pods "because"

Imagine catching a mouse and then one thing leads to another and you *SWALLOW IT-*

"I'm super nosy and that includes wanting to know how people died" Is EXACTLY me

This makes my mind just repeat the horrible histories “stupid deaths” song, and the “dumb ways to die” song at the same time..

“She finished her toilet...” Read Twaahh-let. She finished getting ready.

"I look like a Grandma that's confused about which time period she belongs to." Goals, honestly.

I don’t understand how you can just put your hair up and it looks cute and old fashioned but when I try it I look like I’ve been camping for 2 weeks

Am I the only one that thinks that that "embrace" was of a different nature? 👀

Getting a needle in the foot was a right of passage in my childhood. Ah! The life of an artist’s child. (Not all bad, I wanted to make a hoop skirt for a doll and tahdah, my mom had the supplies. This was an everyday thing, not hoop skirts, but always something!)

“She died how she lived: PO TA TO”

The girl who licked the thread after fixing the rent in her dress died of rabies. 'Mad' is often how they would describe rabid animals, and the virus is just that dangerous that a trace of saliva getting from the dog's mouth, to her dress, to the thread, to her moth was enough for her to catch the disease.

Recently, I was at work and someone was moving a large pallet of bathroom supplies including a ton of tampons. They were coming down a ramp and misjudged the slope, started to loose control, and came straight at me. I almost got trapped in a corner and crushed. I told my boss about my near death by tampon. I requested that should I die that way, they hold an annual tampon safety day in my memory and at my vigil light tampons instead of candles.

"i look like a grandma who is confused about what time period she belongs to" is how im going to describe my style to people from now on 😂

I really want to see Rachel telling spoopy ghost stories. Very christmassy if you're going down the victorian route hehe

For anyone really into this kind of thing, I HIGHLY recommend the book, The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum. It goes into detail about several different types of poison, how they work, their symptoms, how tests were developed, and real stories of murder involving them, all around and after 1910 in New York City. Seriously, I can't recommend this book enough, it was so interesting.

You filmed yourself at your toilet. 😆 Oxford Dictionary's 2nd definition is, "the process of washing oneself, dressing, and attending to one's appearance."

"She died as she lived: Potato" is definitely what I need on my headstone. 🥔🍟

“Her toilet completed” probably means she had gotten read to go out. Let put on powder, did her hair& what not.

My dentist is always on me about not biting needles while sewing. I've had a chip in my front tooth patched so many times

If you haven't seen Horrible Histories' "Stupid Deaths" skits, you are missing out!

rachel: i'm not a lizard person. -proceeds to snicker me: doubt. (also I too wish to be remembered as a potato)

Body: *wakes me up at 3 am* Me: why Body: (echoing Rachel Maksy voice) TODAY WE'RE DOING SOMETHING A LITTLE BUT DIFFERENT

"Let's talk about [ *DEATH* ]" That was plenty funny madam. That hair bounce was epic. Maybe glove gal was allergic to the glove material. That one definitely got rabies from dried dog spittle on the thread.

"her toilet completed" might mean that she finished her bathing, makup, hair routine, getting dressed etc

RACHEL: "She died as she lived...Potato" ME: Thinks PO-TAY-TOES... Boil em Mash Em Stick Em in a stew... Releasing how much of a LotR Nerd I am 🤓

me: has a 30 page report for uni due at midnight also me: masky veido

So much Binx in the sponsored section, made me watch the whole thing

Ace Attorney: the parrot is a vital witness Ace Attorney's Victorian era prequel (dgs): the parrot is the murderer

"Sealing an abrasion on her upper lip-" (The ad): soothe your lips with blisterex!

I believe the 2nd definition of “toilet” is what the article was referring to Rachel. 2. the process of washing oneself, dressing, and attending to one's appearance. No bowel movements in obituaries please, unless death by BM.

Just imagine Sherlock Holmes reading all of these in search for cases. 🤣

Crushed by his invention: "hung up by his own petard"

"Cordially detested." -- Oh yes, of course I despite your handsome feathered gas fiend, Mis Knott. I do most often dream of its demise. Yes I WOULD like more tea.