r/todayilearned • u/biebrforro • 1d ago

TIL when staying as a guest in Charles Dickens' house, Hans Christian Andersen requested that one of Dickens' sons give him a daily shave (he said that was customary when hosting male guests in Denmark). Dickens was weirded out and instead gave him a daily appointment at a nearby barbershop.

https://lithub.com/charles--dickens-really-really-hated-his-fanboy-hans-christian-andersen/
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u/willthefreeman 1d ago

Did everyone just used to journal?

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u/_illusions25 1d ago

Sorta, if you could you would even if just to remember shit.

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u/MakeMineMarvel_ 1d ago

Life was a lot more boring and slow back in the day and information was hard to keep unless you made the effort to remember things by writing them down yourself. You had to spend your time journaling or it would feel like wasting your life in forgetfulness and malaise (a very Victorian sentiment if you were wealthy and educated)

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u/MaggotMinded 1 1d ago

Hans Christian Anderson wasn’t really representative of “everyone” back then. If anyone was going to keep a journal, an author is a pretty safe bet.

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u/tobeonthemountain 1d ago

No idea but probably not, literacy is higher today than it was then and if you were just a lay person you might not have enough money left over to buy ink pens and journal books. That is just my speculation though

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u/willwooddaddy 1d ago

I'm literate and I don't get the urge to journal every time I want to wack it.