Albion Tonight

Storytime Snack: Sweeney Todd, Pies, and Women

Welcome to an unconventional and experimental episode of Albion Tonight! Join me for an evening of storytelling where I read and react to the original penny dreadful version of Sweeney Todd. During which I share my insights on gender, food, and history related. See how literature and history are interconnected. Most of all, please sit back, relax, and enjoy this raw and riveting episode relating to Mrs. Lovett and the Demon-Barber of Fleet Street. *Disclaimer*: The text as read is left as is in the Gutenberg Press addition, with a few minor differences from my quirks and mistakes. The opinions and problematic languages therein are those of the 19th-century authors and their text, not my own. Kimball, Courtney. “Sweeney Todd’s Dreadfuls and Mass Readership.” The Journal of Publishing Culture Vol. 7. (2017): 1-12.  Prest, Thomas Peckett and James Malcolm Rymer. The String of Pearls: Or, The Barber of Fleet Street: A Domestic Romance.  R. Loyd, Salisbury Square, 1850. Project Gutenberg, 2019.

The Bovine and the Beautiful?: Beef and Burgers

This episode is the first request of the show! Due to an email request, I researched beef and burgers in Britain. Join us to learn a bit about why beef is historically and culturally embedded in British identity. See how hamburgers crossed the Atlantic.  Journey with us from beloved markets and butchershops to the homes of 1960s housewives and beyond, and find out how even beef made its impact on gendered performance, expectations, and beauty standards.  Barnsbury, G.A. “The origin of Smithfield Cattle-Market.” Notes and Queries vol. s3-VII no. 178 (1865): 411–413. https://doi-org./10.1093/nq/s3-VII.178.411 [https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/10.1093/nq/s3-VII.178.411].   Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Project Gutenberg, 1839.  Drummond, J.C. and Anne Wilbraham. The Englishman’s Food: Five Centuries of the English Diet. Pimlico, 1991.  Durbach, Nadja. “Roast Beef, the New Poor Law, and the British Nation, 1834–63.” The Journal of British Studies vol. 52 no. 4 (2013): 963-989.  Ernest Dichter Associates Inc. “A Pilot Psychological Survey on Stewed Steak and Canned Meat Pies.” Institute For Motivational Research Inc, 1962. https://www-marketresearch-amdigital-co-uk./Documents/Images/Hagley_Dichter_BX070_1522D_Vol_I/1 [https://www-marketresearch-amdigital-co-uk.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/Documents/Images/Hagley_Dichter_BX070_1522D_Vol_I/1]. Hilborn, Emma. “Where’s the beef? The feminisation of weight-loss dieting in Britain and Scandinavia c.1890–1925.” Gender & History vol. 38 no. 1 (2024): 191-206. DOI: 10.1111/1468-0424.12787 [https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/10.1111/1468-0424.12787].  (I highly recommend reading this article. It explains all the nuances and aspects of women’s beauty culture and confusion around what to eat and what not to eat, and it does a much better job than I did in this casual episode).  Mayhew, Henry. London Labor and the London Poor Volume 1. Project Gutenberg, 1865.  Metcalfe, Robyn. Meat, Commerce and the City: The London Food Market, 1800–1855. London: Routledge, 2012.  Morgan, A.W. “Rationing and the Black Market.” WW2 People’s War, BBC. October 15, 2014. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/59/a3914859.shtml [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/59/a3914859.shtml]. Accessed March 27, 2026.  Norman, Jill and Micheal O’Mara. Eating for Victory: Healthy Home Front Cooking on War Rations: Reproductions of Official Second World War Instruction Leaflets. Michael O’Mara Books Limited, London, 2014.  Philpotts, Trey. “Mad Bulls and Dead Meat: Smithfield Market as Reality and Symbol.” Dickens Studies Annual vol. 41 (2010): 25-44.  “Rations (prior to 1813).” The King’s Body Guard of the Yeoman of the Guard. n.d. https://www.yeomenoftheguard.co.uk/rations-and-waterboarding [https://www.yeomenoftheguard.co.uk/rations-and-waterboarding]. Accessed March 27, 2026.  Smith, Andrew F.. Hamburger : A Global History, Reaktion Books, Limited, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=420812 [http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=420812]. “The History of Smithfield Market.” London Museum. n.d. https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/history-smithfield-market/ [https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/london-stories/history-smithfield-market/]. Accessed March 28, 2026.  West, Candice. “Sunday Roast— A Tasty History.” Oxford Open Learning. October 29, 2021. https://www.ool.co.uk/blog/sunday-roast-a-tasty-history/ [https://www.ool.co.uk/blog/sunday-roast-a-tasty-history/]. Accessed March 27, 2026.  Witts, Sophie. “How Five Guys conquered the UK Burger Market.” restaurant online, April 27, 2021. https://www.restaurantonline.co.uk/Article/2019/09/20/How-Five-Guys-conquered-the-UK-burger-market/ [https://www.restaurantonline.co.uk/Article/2019/09/20/How-Five-Guys-conquered-the-UK-burger-market/].

A Sparkling Saga: Sodas, Lemonades, and Soft Drinks

In this episode, discover how sparkling waters made it from spa towns to middle class homes. Discover the mysteries behind the soft drinks that pervade our lives, from the sparkling lemonades in British pubs to ginger beers, colas, and fruity sodas galore. Learn the ways in which women appear in the archive. Spoiler alert: they have a big role in the history of soda, pop up in soda trade journals, and in some silly shenanigans! Enjoy!  My favorite soda is whatever lemonade they serve at  George & Vulture, London. What’s yours? Leave a comment on Spotify or YouTube and let me know!  P.S. Turns out the podcast recording studio at my local library caused some of the audio for this episode to jump around and be a little funky. My sincerest apologies. I hope it will still be enjoyable. I put many, many days and hours into this episode, and I hope that still shows. Booth, John. Life and labour of the people in London. London, Macmillan, 1892-1902. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/lifelabourofpeop00bootuoft/page/256/mode/2up [https://archive.org/details/lifelabourofpeop00bootuoft/page/256/mode/2up].  Burnett, Professor John, and John Burnett. Liquid Pleasures : A Social History of Drinks in Modern Britain, Taylor & Francis Group, 1999. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=165241 [http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=165241]. Crabtre, A.D. The Funny Side of Physic: or, the Mysteries of Medicine,Presenting The Humorous and Serious Sides of Medical Practice. An Expose of Medical Humbugs, Quacks, and Charlatans in All Ages and All Countries. Project Gutenberg, 1872.  Diarist 5445. “Diarist 5445 (1963 Entries). 1963. Mass Observation Database, University of Sussex Special Collections, Brighton, UK. https://www-massobservation/Documents/Detail/diarist-5445-1963-entries/23545241?item=23545263 [https://www-massobservation/Documents/Detail/diarist-5445-1963-entries/23545241?item=23545263]. Emmins, Colin. Soft Drinks: Their Origins and History. Shire Publications Ltd. 1991.  Jeffries, Nigel. “A Biography of a Stoneware Ginger Beer Bottle: The Biucchi Brothers and the Ticinese Community in Nineteenth-Century London.” In The Materiality of Individuality. New York, NY: Springer, U.S. 2009: 57-74.  Levin, Judith. Soda and Fizzy Drinks : A Global History. Reaktion Books, Limited, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=6621491. Lucas Balfour, Clara. The Confessions of A Decanter. London. HathiTrust, 1862. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t4dn4127c&seq=1. Mayhew, Henry.   History of London Labour and the London Poor, Volume 1. London. Project Gutenberg, 1851.  McAllister, Annemarie. “Mary Anna Paull: The Flowering of a Temperance Novelist.” In Writing for Social Change in Temperance Periodicals. United Kingdom: Routledge, 2023: 63-80.  Mineral Water Trade Review and G [https://anyflip.com/qbni/tjoe]uardian Vol. XXXIII No. 388. Crutched Friars, London, 18th July 1905. AnyFlip, https://anyflip.com/qbni/tjoe. Paull, M.A. (Mary Anna). Step by Step. National Temperance League, London. HathiTrust, 1882. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015065392196&seq=7&q1=18 [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015065392196&seq=7&q1=18].  The British Colonial Mineral Water Trade Journal Vol XL No. 247. Stationers’ Hall, London, 17th August 1908. AnyFlip, https://online.anyflip.com/qbni/ljzl/mobile/index.html. Webster, Dr J. “A true and brief account (with directions for the use) of the Cerevisia Anglicana; Or, Celebrated English diet-drink...” John Ash, London. Gale Primary Sources, [1800]. https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/apps/doc/CB0127320328/ECCO?u=marriottlibrary&sid=gale_marc&xid=14f76d58&pg=1. For photos, go to albiontonight.com!

Tea and Tea Culture

An Afternoon Tea is considered a quintessential British experience nowadays, but have you ever wondered what lies beneath this elegant tradition? In this episode, I discuss some of the history, origins, and fun facts about British tea and the culture surrounding it. Most importantly, we look at how tea affected women’s lives at work, at home, and on the dance floor! Pour yourself a cuppa, eat some biscuits, and settle in for one of my favorite episodes yet.  Bohne, Hartwig. Tea Cultures of Europe: Heritage and Hospitality. De Gruyter, 2024.  David, Worton and Bert Lee. “At Our Tango Tea Last Week (1914).” Published by Sheet Music Singer. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8ZWCOXPjis [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8ZWCOXPjis]. (You can also find this song, along with others from the musical “The Girl From Utah” in some college’s digital music libraries).  Eyben, Rosalind. “‘The thin edge of the wedge?’ Tea-shop waitresses, the British press, and the women’s suffrage movement.”  Women’s History Review, vol. 33 issue 3 (2023): 335-354.  Flor, Susana Valera. “‘The Palace of the Soul Serene’: Queen Catherine of Braganza and the Consumption of Tea in Stuart England (1662-1693) [https://utah-primoprod.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_cdi_scielo_journals_S1645_64322021000200171&context=PC&vid=UTAH&lang=en_US&search_scope=EVERYTHING&adaptor=primo_central_multiple_fe&tab=everything&query=any%2Ccontains%2Ccatherine%20of%20braganza%20and%20tea&offset=0].” E-journal of Portuguese history, 2021-12, Vol.19 issue 2 (2021), p.171-191. DOI: 10.26300/90dv-xn35.  Fromer, Julie E.. A Necessary Luxury : Tea in Victorian England. Ohio University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=1743704 [http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=1743704]. (all chapters written by Julie E. Fromer. I accidentally referenced Chapter 5 on David Copperfield as if it had been written by someone else, but it was also by Fromer).  Gao, Hao. Creating the Opium War : British imperial attitudes towards China, 1792-1840. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2022.  Information, Ministry Of and World Wide Pictures. “Rationing in Britain.” 1944. Imperial War Museum Film Collection, London, UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9wNJ78S2GY [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9wNJ78S2GY].  Levin, Judith. Soda and Fizzy Drinks : A Global History, Reaktion Books, Limited, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=6621491 [http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=6621491]. Nereson, Ariel. “New Women and Girls of Today in Motion: The "Strenuous Clasping" of Tango Teas.” In Performing the Progressive Era: Immigration, Urban Life, and Nationalism on Stage. University of Iowa Press, 2019.  Saberi, Helen. Tea : A Global History, Reaktion Books, Limited, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=692189 [http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utah/detail.action?docID=692189]. “Tea Commercial: Under 12S.” 1979-1980. HAT59/004/011/493. History of Advertising Trust, Norwich, Norfolk, UK, https://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/8be9272b-81fb-4863-ae00-4394d6c5bb06 [https://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/8be9272b-81fb-4863-ae00-4394d6c5bb06].  (photos on albiontonight.com)

Ad-Venture: Victorian Vibes Edition (Bonus Episode!)

*Some content in this episode may be suggestive and unsuitable for children. * In this special episode, some of my guests of podcast past, present, and future come together to guess what in the world some of my favorite Victorian (and Victorian-ish) ads are for, since these ads are notoriously obtuse and eccentrically euphemistic. Please feel free to play along at home and put your historical chops to the test. Some of these ads feature women, of course, and advertise some indigestible items, so they are still on par with this season’s theme. Some of these ads contain views that are inherently racist, colonialist, sexist, or prejudiced. This was not okay then and it is not okay now, but hopefully, we can learn something about the past through play, and also acknowledge how advertising reflects and shapes culture, sometimes for better and, oftentimes, for worse. If you are interested in learning more and hearing some more critical thoughts on Victorian advertising, you can email me and/or continue to listen to other episodes in which such issues will have time to be addressed in greater depth. Carnell, Jennifer. “Victorian Advertising.” Sensation Press. sensationpress.com [http://sensationpress.com/]. Accessed February 3, 2026.  Maines, Rachel. 1989. “Socially Camouflaged Technologies: The Case of the Electromechanical Vibrator.” Technology and Society Magazine, IEEE. 8. 3 - 11. 10.1109/44.31556.  “The Genuine French Letter. H. Cook, Bookseller, 5, Sims' Alley, Broadmead, Bristol.” The Lilly Library Online Exhibitions. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://collections.libraries.indiana.edu/lilly/exhibitions/items/show/1894.