The mysterious death of George Warden and his Stove Pipe Top Hat

I just obtained the above CDV from E-bay. If you wish to reproduce it please write to me for permission and provide attribution – but ask me first.

It’s a CDV (Carte de Visite) and these were popular in the 1860s and 1870s. I understand that the cameras could take multiple image of the same shot. It was easy to give copies to your friends and relatives. The CDV had the press report glued to the back of the card. There is no date or newspaper name. A quick search in Google revealed no results. I intend to follow up and see if I can find more information. You will notice that Mr. Warden, who looks a lot older than 28, is holding a shiny black stove pipe hat made famous by Lincoln. The date of the image is probably late 1860s or 1870s. I am not certain right now. It is wonderful that a name and story comes attached to the picture. Do you know a Warden they may be related to this unfortunate fellow?

This blog is not the place to explore Opium smoking by Victorian Intellectuals. There is an article here discussing it and the current threats. Here is another article referring to a Chinese Opium Den. The Victorian Web has an illustration showing opium smoking in a place of ill repute. You may recall that opium comes up frequently in Sherlock Holmes stories. The Victorian times were the age of elegance and top hat wearing for the favored few, but the dark side was the Opium smoking. George Warden was one who fell victim to it – smoking to control “chest pains”. Times were different then – quite interesting eh. Today we would have no hesitation calling this a drug overdose. Read more about Opium in the Wikipedia. It was very common as you will read to use opium as a medicinal drug well into the nineteenth century!

I just love the shiny top hat. It makes you want to get into a time machine to pay a visit to Victorian England and watch the elegant handsome men strut in their lovely top hats. Will we ever get that back again?