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Welcome! BoredReading is a fresh way to read high quality articles (updated every hour). Our goal is to curate (with your help) Michelin star quality articles (stuff that's really worth reading). We currently have articles in 0 categories from architecture, history, design, technology, and more. Grab a cup of freshly brewed coffee and start reading. This is the best way to increase your attention span, grow as a person, and get a better understanding of the world (or atleast that's why we built it).

Dr Alun Withey

Dr Alun Withey
The Troublesome Gibbet of John Haines, the ‘Wounded Highwayman’ of Hounslow. For this post, I am going to wander into the world of crime in the late eighteenth century, and the...
a year ago
67
a year ago
For this post, I am going to wander into the world of crime in the late eighteenth century, and the grisly fate that befell many who committed the heinous crime of highway robbery. (Full disclosure: I’m not an historian of crime, gibbets or highwaymen…perhaps the case I’m about...
Dr Alun Withey
Finding Your Beard Style in the 19th Century In the previous post I noted the variety of facial hair styles that were worn by men in the...
over a year ago
66
over a year ago
In the previous post I noted the variety of facial hair styles that were worn by men in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, depending on factors including status, location and age. Rather than each age having one particular style of facial hair that was ubiquitous, the...
Dr Alun Withey
Cuts, Rashes & Chatter! The Pain of the 18th-century Shave! Unless there are particular reasons, for example a skin condition, or a faulty razor, shaving today...
over a year ago
66
over a year ago
Unless there are particular reasons, for example a skin condition, or a faulty razor, shaving today is usually a pretty mundane – if not a pleasant – experience. Indeed, the rise of traditional barbershops over the past few years, offering shaving as an experience, together with...
Dr Alun Withey
Should I Stay or Should I go?: Encouraging travel in the early modern period. Travel today is often portrayed as a healthy activity, good for body, mind…and what’s left of the...
9 months ago
63
9 months ago
Travel today is often portrayed as a healthy activity, good for body, mind…and what’s left of the spirit!  A good holiday is generally viewed as a tonic, and holiday company advertisements extol the virtues of ‘getting away’, encountering new places, people and cultures and (if...
Dr Alun Withey
News Just In: Dr W Joins TikTok – @dralun7 Yes, it’s true – I’ve finally joined the 21st century and decided to try something new. I am still...
3 months ago
62
3 months ago
Yes, it’s true – I’ve finally joined the 21st century and decided to try something new. I am still only setting things up, so please be patient with the extremely cheesy and clunky vids as I try to work out what I’m doing! I’ve only got a couple of videos up at the moment too, …...
Dr Alun Withey
Creams, Clothes and Cases: The material culture of pre-modern travel. I am currently on study leave, getting on with research for my new project on the history of travel...
a year ago
62
a year ago
I am currently on study leave, getting on with research for my new project on the history of travel preparations. One thing that I’m particularly interested in is the material culture of travel, and what sorts of things were available for travellers as they got ready for their...
Dr Alun Withey
Barbers and (the lack of!) Polite Advertising Over the past few years, I have spent much time looking at ‘polite’ advertising in the 18th century....
over a year ago
56
over a year ago
Over the past few years, I have spent much time looking at ‘polite’ advertising in the 18th century. During this period, a whole range of retailers advertised their goods and services to appeal to ladies and gentlemen of taste. Without discussing anything so base as price or...
Dr Alun Withey
Medicine on the Move: Early Modern Travel and Remedies As my new project on the history of travel, health risk and preparation begins to get underway, one...
a year ago
56
a year ago
As my new project on the history of travel, health risk and preparation begins to get underway, one of the things that I am thinking about is the place of travel within early modern medical remedy culture. What kinds of conditions could befall travellers? What did early modern...
Dr Alun Withey
The Health Risks of Travel in Early-Modern Britain As I start to make some progress on my new research project on travel, health and risk I am turning...
over a year ago
54
over a year ago
As I start to make some progress on my new research project on travel, health and risk I am turning my attention to the sorts of things that early modern travellers were fearful of. As a bit of a nervous traveller myself, it’s quite comforting to know that there is actually a...
Dr Alun Withey
Packing the Essentials!: Preparing to Travel in the 18th Century. Now that Covid restrictions have finally been lifted, and summer is at least theoretically here –...
over a year ago
54
over a year ago
Now that Covid restrictions have finally been lifted, and summer is at least theoretically here – it’s raining outside as I write! – many people are returning to travel and undertaking the holidays that have had to be postponed over the past couple of years. The pandemic aside,...
Dr Alun Withey
To Tip or Not To Tip: A Victorian Traveller’s Perspective Like it or not, tipping is a big part of hospitality and the service industry. Debates about how...
2 months ago
53
2 months ago
Like it or not, tipping is a big part of hospitality and the service industry. Debates about how much/whether to tip rumble on, but they are not new. Even in the 18th and 19th centuries, travellers were complaining about the amount of unwanted or unexpected extras they had to pay...
Dr Alun Withey
How Much?! Barbers & the Price of Shaving. One of the central themes of my new book is how the practice of shaving has changed over time and,...
over a year ago
52
over a year ago
One of the central themes of my new book is how the practice of shaving has changed over time and, more importantly, who has been responsible for it. From the second half of the eighteenth century, individual men began to take more responsibility for shaving themselves, helped on...
Dr Alun Withey
Are Beards Over? A Historical Perspective. Recently I spoke with the Guardian journalist Tim Dowling for an excellent article he was writing...
over a year ago
52
over a year ago
Recently I spoke with the Guardian journalist Tim Dowling for an excellent article he was writing (published last week) about whether beards are finally ‘over’, and I thought it would be interesting to reflect on some of this. Since re-emerging around 2014, gaining popularity...
Dr Alun Withey
Beard Fashions and Class Over the past few centuries, fashions in facial hair have changed substantially. In the mid...
over a year ago
52
over a year ago
Over the past few centuries, fashions in facial hair have changed substantially. In the mid seventeenth century many men wore the ‘Van Dyke’ style of a small, pointy beard and moustaches. By the end of the 1600s, beards were in decline, leaving many men with just moustaches. The...
Dr Alun Withey
Victorian Swappers! Adverts for exchange in the 19th century. Victorians were inveterate 'swappers' (NB: this might not be what you think!). Newspapers and...
5 months ago
43
5 months ago
Victorians were inveterate 'swappers' (NB: this might not be what you think!). Newspapers and journals were full of ads for objects sought and to be exchanged. These offer a fascinating insight into what was considered desirable, the value of objects, and the processes of...
Dr Alun Withey
The ‘Celebrated Inventions’ of Alexander Ross. One thing that has continually fascinated me throughout all of my research on medical practitioners,...
over a year ago
34
over a year ago
One thing that has continually fascinated me throughout all of my research on medical practitioners, barbers and retailers in the long eighteenth century, is the extent of what historians call ‘occupational diversity’. Rather than having one occupation, people might have...
Dr Alun Withey
Health and the Habitual Traveller in the 19th Century Recently I’ve been contributing to a new series of stories, drawing on the archives of Lloyds’...
over a year ago
29
over a year ago
Recently I’ve been contributing to a new series of stories, drawing on the archives of Lloyds’ Register – a fantastic archive, with a wealth of sources on many aspects of maritime, but also broader social, history. The full series can be found here:...