Breakfast Links: Week of January 4, 2016

Happy new year! We're back with a fresh round of Breakfast Links for you - our weekly round-up of fav links to other web sites, blogs, articles, and images via Twitter.
• Hypnotic GIFs of Victorian optical toys .
• London's oldest theatrical tradition involves eating cake .
• "Stand fast in the liberty": a very rare 18thc. waistcoat belt .
• How did women in the past cope with their periods ? Another view here .
• A walk through 1873 London  (and earlier) by way of Walter Thornbury's illustrations.
• The mysterious seaweed tunnel of Pegwell Bay, Kent.
• Image: Skating on the Serpentine , 1839.
• A dangerous freedom for unmarried women: Anthony Trollope, pillar post boxes, and love letters.
• How did people sleep in the middle ages?
• "No stimulating drinks ": Thomas Jefferson lays out guidelines for students at University of Virginia, 1819.
• A fiercely festive feline from Egypt, 6th-7thc BC.
• Image: Perfect title of an 18thc novel (with a ton of spoilers.)
• Because you never know when you might NEED to know: vintage user's manual for operating Disneyland's monorail .
• An unsolved 1920s murder case : the mystery of Annie Hearn's sandwiches.
• Not too late: how to make cuneiform gingerbread cookies for the new year.
• Image: A little medieval humor from the Abbey of Sainte Foy.
• Buried under a boulder: the grave of a Lancashire " witch ."
• The morning after the night before: detoxing in history.
• Image: An 18thc back-scratcher .
• Why the 1960s were swinging (at least fashion-wise.)
• An 1860s acrobat's special corset for "flying."
• A c1800 book to read online, with advice for every kind of lover: The Complete Art of Writing Love-Letters .
• Old Judy, keeper of the Newcastle Upon Tyne town hutch .
• Image: Martha Washington wore these shoes for her 1759 wedding to George.
• Why is the Flying Scotsman so famous?
• Not historical, but still breathtaking: traffic camera catches snowy owl in flight.
• Just for fun: the V&A lets you design your own over-the-top  18thc. wig.
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Above: At Breakfast by Laurits Andersen Ring. Private collection.