Hey all, I finally snapped the last of the pictures I need for my next Brayton update, so now I just have to write it up. That’ll only take a few hundred hours, right? Well, hopefully that won’t be the case this time. ;-) I’m pretty excited about this update, so expect it within the next day or so.

In the meantime, I’ve plugged all of the Braytons and Haddaways into my Tribal Pages family tree site, so you can refer to it if you ever get confused about who’s who. I don’t have pictures for everyone yet, mainly because most of them are going to age up in the next installment, and I figured I’d wait. Also, the Hutchins/Lloyd side of the family isn’t up yet, but will be soon.

And if you enjoy history, fashion, and architecture from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, check out these cool sites, all of which have helped inspire and educate me while writing about the Braytons:

Fashion-Era – Just a great all-around resource for fashion trends and social history of the past century. For the Braytons, I’ve been focusing on La Belle Epoque (1895-1914).

The Gamble House – Built in 1908 and my inspiration for the new Brayton abode. (I’ve got a looong way to go!)

Antique and Vintage Dress Gallery – Some of the most gorgeous clothes I have ever seen. And they’re available for purchase! You know, if you’re rich and stuff.

Victorian Station – Vintage Victorian house plans. I never got to use any of these, but they are extremely cool.

Internet Archive: Oldtime Audio – Here you can listen to recordings from 70-100 years ago and marvel at how much popular music has changed over the last century.

The Mount – Edith Wharton’s estate and gardens, now a National Historic Landmark. I’ve been on an Edith Wharton kick lately, mostly inspired by my scant research of the Victorian era. I just finished reading The House of Mirth, which I liked very much, and am now reading The Age of Innocence, which I love so far. If you’re not a big reader but enjoy the Victorian period, check out the movie versions of both — they’re excellent.

1900 House and Manor House – These PBS/BBC programs are amazing. For the 1900 House, they took a modern British family and installed them in a house refurbished to be exactly as it would have been in the year 1900. They had to live their lives as closely as possible to how they would have lived them in 1900. Completely fascinating show. Even better is the Manor House series, which takes a modern British family and puts them in an enormous and elegant Edwardian manor house, then employs 14 everyday people to be their servants. The contrast between upstairs and downstairs is almost disturbing at times, and it’s intriguing to watch the two worlds develop. These shows aren’t currently being aired on PBS, but you can rent them from Netflix or perhaps your local video store. If you’re interested in social history, the Victorian/Edwardian eras, and reality-type shows, you might enjoy these.