In the Venn diagram of crafting, true crime, and morbid curiosity, you’ll find Bones & Bobbins digging through dusty old boxes in a curiosity shop parked right at the center.
S01E16: Tarot History, Tarot Cards, and Pamela Colman Smith:
Shuffle the deck and determine your fate! Unless, of course, you’re a woman called Pixie in the 1900s. If you are, then I’m very sorry. Your fate is probably to illustrate the most recognizable deck of tarot cards around, and then get exactly zero credit for it for the next century or so.
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/11/20/season-1-episode-16/
S01E15: Talking boards, spirit boards, Ouija boards: so many names, and so many ways to contact the beyond and/or open up a demon portal to hell. (Or, so says pop culture.) Believe what you want and do what you will--even make one for yourself, if you feel so inclined--but never EVER forget to say goodbye before you turn out the lights.
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/11/06/season-1-episode-15/
S01E14.5: Down to its name, the 1893 World’s Fair: The Columbian Exhibition was as problematic as it was dazzling. So, once again, we’d like to set some ground rules: 1. Actual human beings should never, ever be used as amusing exhibits, 2. the world extends farther than the US and Europe, 3. you really shouldn’t assassinate the mayor, and 4. if you think that labeling an exhibit with a slur is a good idea, you’re an asshole. Wine fountains, however, are always welcome, as are desserts. Additionally, we can also confirm that modern-day Brooklyn folks would have fit in quite nicely in the parts of the Agricultural Building devoted to brewing beer, keeping bees, processing fancy wool, and running a small dairy.
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/10/28/season-1-episode-14_5/
S01E14: The life of serial killer H. H. Holmes (Herman Webster Mudgett) and the creation of His Murder Castle. (Part 1 in a 4-part Halloween series, including 2 main episodes and 2 episodes for our supporters on Patreon!)
H. Holmes is a legendary serial killer with a bad habit of amassing extra wives, and a reputation for luring young women into his deadly hotel during the leadup to the 1893 World’s Fair: Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World’s Fair). Except, was the Murder Castle even a hotel at all? And was there actually a dissection room and crematorium in the basement? And just what, exactly, was really going on on that second floor?
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/10/23/season-1-episode-14/
S01E13: Samhain and Halloween history, witchcraft crafts (corn dollies/corn mothers, witch bells, and candles), and creating your own witchcraft altar.
As we descend into this year’s Spooky Season, we would just like to say that things maybe wouldn’t have been so messy with this Samhain/Halloween stuff if Constantine had properly hydrated. But, nobody asked us. So, instead, we’ll take you on a trip through some abridged pagan history, Haley will walk you through the sparkly treasures atop her witchcraft altar (and tell you how to set up your own), and Natali will bring in the bells, harvest husks, and candles to meet all of your witchcraft crafting needs!
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/10/09/season-1-episode-13/
S01E12: The Victorian Language of Flowers (Floriography), Victorian Botanical Scrapbooks (Herbariums), and Seaweed Hunters.
This week, we learned that you can, in fact, send death threats to your enemies by way of harmless-looking flower bouquets. (Who knew?! Well, apparently the Victorians.) Then we meandered through the colorful world of botanical scrapbooking, which, for upper class Victorian women, turned out to be an unexpected pathway to independent adventures and a subtle way for them to be exposed to science at a time when they would otherwise be completely barred from that knowledge.
We also learned that seaweed collecting was an actual Thing. Because, apparently, it was. And one should always wear men’s boots while doing it.
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/09/25/season-1-episode-12/
S01E11: Wartime Crafting: Girl Guide Spies and Knitting in Codes
You've probably heard of the Girl Guides (and Girl Scouts), but did you know that they were properly badass in WWI and WWII? And, if knitting patterns have ever looked kind of like a secret code to you? Well, there might be a good reason for that!
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/09/11/season-1-episode-11/
S01E10: Witch Bottles and Tomb Curses.
Can we please all just agree not to open the tomb, drink the mystery liquid, or make glass bottles filled with nails and pins to explode in fires?
2020 doesn't need any excuses to get weirder or more terrifying, okay?
Show notes here: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/08/28/season-1-episode-10/
S01E09: The History of Grimoires and How to Make One.
Join us today in the restricted area of the Curiosity Shop, where a squeaky old library cart holds grimoires aplenty!
Please note that the Curiosity Shop adheres to a strict no demon summoning policy to all browsers without proper credentials.
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/08/14/season-1-episode-9/
S01E08: Mannequins, Automatons, and a Trip into Hell’s Own Uncanny Valley.
Did that automaton just move? And how long has that mannequin been standing behind me? Hello? Is anybody here?
Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2020/07/31/season-1-episode-8/
