- When you’re really bored, you’ll do anything to entertain yourself. And we mean anything.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. To this end, people have always had hobbies and other ways to pass the time.
As it always goes, however, our hobbies have not stayed static over the years. Many pastimes have fallen to the wayside, and some of them seem quirky or straight-up weird in today’s world.
Here are eight hobbies and pastimes from the years gone by that used to be popular — at least in one place at one time.
1. Matchbook Collecting
Back in the day, people smoked a lot more than they do today and most didn’t have lighters. So, almost every restaurant, bar, and gas station handed out small promotional matchbooks.
Each one typically had a colorful, eye-catching cover. As such, they made for great collectibles.
Matchbook collecting used to be fairly common a few decades back. Even your grandfather might’ve had a collection of matchbooks.
Today, this hobby is virtually dead since matchbooks don’t really exist anymore. There are some dedicated collectors who go after vintage pieces, but for the most part, public awareness of the dangers of smoking has killed off this hobby.
2. Fern Collecting
In the mid-1800s, the ladies (and some gents) of Victorian England went crazy for ferns. Collecting ferns became so insanely popular, that it earned the name pteridomania, or fern fever.
Absolutely everybody, from the English aristocracy to the kids of rural farmers, suddenly wanted to go gather ferns and stick them in a pot to grow. Those with the means constructed special terrariums, called Wardian cases, for the plants.
One of the reasons fern fever likely took off was the freedom it gave to women. Ladies weren’t supposed to walk outside unescorted — but if they were just going to the woods to pick up some ferns, they could get a few moments of time just for themselves.
3. Wax Bullet Dueling
Dueling with pistols was a popular way to settle disputes for a long time. Eventually, people started getting iffy about “shot to death” part about dueling, but they did like the sporting aspect.
That’s how we got wax bullet dueling. The duelers followed the same old rules of a duel — just while wearing a protective mask, chest armor, and firing a soft wax bullet instead of a metal one.
As a testament to how popular mock dueling was, it was featured as an official event in the 1908 London Olympics. Although the sport never picked up again after World War I, paintball still remains as its spiritual successor.
4. Medieval Football
Today, football is popular all over the world. Back in the late Middle Ages, however, it was a local English sport.
The rules were a little different, though. Sure, you still had to get the ball to the opponent’s end of the playing field and kick it to a goal.
But that was pretty much it. The only other solid rule was that you can’t kill opposing players — otherwise, you were free to go nuts.
It was a bit of a different game.
5. Hair Jewelry
Did you make friendship bracelets as a kid? Well, people did that in Victorian England, too.
Only, they made the bracelet out of their own hair.
Making all kinds of jewelry — from bracelets to rings, necklaces, brooches, watch chains, and more — was very common for a while in the 1800s. That said, jewelry made out of human hair has been found already in Ancient Egypt, so this wasn’t an English invention.
The hair jewelry was supposed to be sentimental, as it was meant to remind you of the person whose hair the piece of made out of. Still, kind of gross.
6. Mummy Unwrapping Parties
Yet another way those wacky Victorians entertained themselves were mummy unwrapping parties. And yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like.
People with more money than common sense would import an ancient mummy from Egypt. Then, they’d invite their most distinguished friends to come over and watch as they peeled off the mummy’s wrappings.
Afterward, we assume they just gawked at the desiccated corpse. As bizarre as this sounds, these events were the crème de la crème of Victorian social life.
7. Corpse Viewing
At least the English entertained themselves by staring at bodies of those who had been gone for thousands of years. The French, however, liked their corpses fresher.
In the 19th century, one of the most popular attractions in Paris was the city’s morgue. People would waltz in to view the bodies the morgue staff placed on public display.
With all that said, the corpse displays weren’t meant to be a spectacle. It was just the only way people could go in and check if their missing loved ones had turned up dead.
We can’t even begin to imagine what people anxiously going in to potentially see their family member on the slab thought of the corpse tourists.
8. Fox Tossing
When you’re an aristocrat with infinite money and time, you can entertain yourself with pretty much anything you can imagine. In the early 1700s, German nobles took this to the extreme with the game of fox tossing.
To play the game, you first needed a partner. You’d then lay a bunch of tarps or blankets on the ground before releasing a bunch of foxes (and rabbits, badgers, and other critters) to run over them.
Whenever an animal stepped on a tarp, you and your partner would race to it, grab the edges of the tarp, and pull it taut so that the animal was sent flying through the air. Seriously, who came up with this?