Mrs. Barker’s Morning Room, or private study, adjoined her bedroom. At the turn of the 20th century, while husbands worked and children attended school, affluent women like Mrs. Barker capitalized on the chance to enhance their roles, both within the household and in the wider community. The Morning Room was a convenient and cozy space where she would take her breakfast, write correspondence, and receive servants to give them their tasks for the day. Writing was very important in Victorian society; it was the only way to communicate with people (besides telegrams!) and vital to upholding high standards of etiquette. A proper Victorian had to know the right color of ink and paper for each circumstance, the right seal (black for mourning, for example), and even when it was appropriate to write in the third person. Notice the ornate four-piece brass desk set with matching blotter, pen holder, double inkstand and desk protector. Because dip pens have no reservoir of ink, using them requires dipping the pen tip into a bowl or bottle of ink to recharge it. Eventually, these types of ink pens were replaced by the invention of the ballpoint in 1938.
