Paws and Petticoats: A Digital Exploration of Victorian Pet Ownership in Britain

For this project, I propose to examine the evolving culture of pet ownership in Victorian-era Britain (1837-1901). Much like today, pets in the Victorian era became constant companions and societal markers of significance. For the first time, animals were seen as part of the family, not just animals on the periphery. Whether a small lapdog or an exotic canary, the Victorian era saw the rise of a “pet future” that reflected contemporary attitudes toward class, gender, domesticity, and the human-animal bond. By investigating various forms of media such as paintings, photographs, newspapers, and advertisements, this project seeks to answer several key questions. The first question is: How did social classes view pet ownership? Did the type of pet or variety of pets differ between social classes? What constituted an aristocratic pet as compared to a middle or lower-class pet? How were these pets portrayed in media? These essential questions will be the foundation for the following examples and examination.

This project will utilize several varying technologies. The first aspect of the project will be an Omeka exhibit highlighting various representations of pets between classes and times. These photographs and artworks will also give the viewer a deeper connection to the history of pet ownership and the continued trend today. Each of these items will be sorted into easily accessible collections that will include the categories of artwork, photographs, and mass media. This allows the user to see a variety of popular culture representations of pet ownership between the classes. Moreover, having a variety of sources throughout the Victorian era will highlight how the culture shifted throughout time. This will also be aided by a historical timeline of the images mapped out. The timeline will highlight the trends that persisted and the changes that occurred. This will also allow the viewer to better understand the time frame of the Victorian era with significant events throughout to reinforce the age’s significance further.

Beyond the exhibit created in Omeka and the timeline, Kepler.gl will be used to map the various places each media originated and show the distribution of the images and artwork. This also shows how culturally diverse and the distance that pets were represented. Add some form of data visualization, whether a graph or word cloud, to highlight keywords throughout the text-based artifacts, such as newspaper articles and magazines. Advertisements will also be used for coverage and a better understanding of the societal implications pets had during the period in question.

The intended audience of this project is multifaceted and complex. The first group this project seeks to appeal to is pet owners interested in learning more about the history of pets. Particularly those who have a persistent curiosity about things new. This will usually be in the early twenties to late sixties. Pets are the project’s central theme; thus, pet owners are a targeted audience. Another intended audience is those who enjoy museums and are just general British history enthusiasts or citizens. Naturally, if they have a remote interest in British history or have travelled to Britain, this project would connect with them on some level. Pets are still a vibrant part of British culture, so some may be curious to learn more about their history. Finally, historians of modern British history would be interested in researching the connectivity and potential connection to their projects.

Through these various platforms and tools, this project seeks to bring the unique and remarkable history of pet ownership in Great Britain to life by exemplifying the cultural and social currents of the Victorian Era and those that persist to this day.