Author: Julia Nurse

While researching the role of dance as a form of therapy for the latest Wellcome Collection exhibition ‘Bedlam: the asylum and beyond‘, I discovered a richly illustrated cross-cultural discipline that spans many centuries. It quickly became clear that dance has… Continue reading

For the next in our series, the Asylum and Beyond, Julia Nurse explores our asylum archives to find some of the earliest examples of art therapy – and some fascinating artworks! As the first asylum to actively encourage and collect… Continue reading

The travel writer Bill Bryson recorded that Virginia Water, the home to Holloway Sanatorium, had a charm about it because “it was full of wandering lunatics”. Bryson worked at the sanatorium in 1973 as a janitor on Tuke Ward. In… Continue reading

On the Global Day of Parents, Julia Nurse highlights the moving drawings of Käthe Kollwitz. It is every parent’s nightmare to witness a sick child but it was a frighteningly common scenario before the discovery of penicillin in 1928.  Arguably,… Continue reading

If you’ve been inspired by the This Is A Voice exhibition at Wellcome Collection to exercise your voice more than usual, you may be in need of something for a sore throat. Here are some herbal remedies from the past.… Continue reading

With the opening of the This Is A Voice exhibition in Wellcome Collection, it is timely to take a look at voice-related curiosities within the Wellcome Library. The story of St Blaise offers a good starting point. Like many saints,… Continue reading

Few patent medicine advertising campaigns could have been as quirky as that of the Sequah Medicine Company. A browse through the late 19th century issues of the Chemist and Druggist journal traces the rise and fall of the Sequah business.… Continue reading

Dip into the recently digitised issues of the Chemist & Druggist journal and you will find some colourful examples of pharmaceutical advertising – especially at Christmas. Medical suppliers frequently used the pages of this trade magazine to promote their wares.… Continue reading

How many Christmas cards will you send this year, if at all? The vogue for hand-crafted cards is gradually disappearing as we become ever more digital in sending out festive wishes each year. There is a particularly interesting example of… Continue reading

For troops at the battlefront during World War I, letters and postcards were the only form of communication with home. Writing to their families and loved ones held particular significance at Christmas. It appears that some army divisions produced their… Continue reading