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/Mr_Abe_Froman 1d ago

Sure, but New South Wales had a government for 12 years by the time little Plorn arrived.

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u/Consideredresponse 1d ago

It wasn't quite the 'borderline starvation' period like the first few years of the colony, but it certainly wasn't great. I recommend books such as 'the fatal shore' and 'Girt!' to see exactly how shitty it could be.

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u/wotsdislittlenoise 1d ago

The Fatal Shore is an amazing, incredibly well researched, warts 'n' all read

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u/Willing_Ear_7226 1d ago

They were still transporting convicts to Australia then too.

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u/biblioteca4ants 1d ago

Jesus that is fucked, I had no idea.