Kink Circa 1910

By Cari Silverwood (Guest Blogger)

One hundred years ago people had sex. Shocking, I know. They were kinky too, terribly so, and all before the term BDSM had been invented—for that happened after WW2. Yet the great spanking revolution in France happened prior to WW1. It's even termed the Golden Age of Spanking Literature. No other country got quite so into it as France, although a large part of Victorian pornography involves spanking or erotic flagellation.

I discovered all sorts of fascinating facts about sex in history while researching for my novel, Rough Surrender. Some of it made the grade and became a part of the story. Some I meant to put in but forgot to. Of all the colorful facts that got left out, the one I most regret not mentioning was Franz von Bayros. One of his illustrations was supposed to grace the walls of Leonhardt’s bedroom. You’ll see why if you go and check the links below.

Yes, he drew really kinky! Much of it was lesbian art, or f/f as we term it in erotic romance. Lots of kinky paraphernalia featured in these rather art nouveau style drawings – phalluses, riding crops, ropes going places most ropes never get to go…alas. And there’s one kink he skirts, that never gets a look in with ‘mainstream’ erotic romance – bestiality. So don’t look at those pictures if it is likely to scald your brain cells.

But I do think many if not all of his drawings are beautiful pieces of pornographic kinky art. And I'm sorry, Leonhardt for not writing in one of those for Faith to look at while you flogged her. Actually, I think she was blindfolded, so that couldn’t have happened.

A little quote from that scene in Rough Surrender:
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Then he stood and got her to do so as well, drew her dress over her head. Undid her corset and removed it. Undressed her, divested her of jewelry and let down her hair so as to gather it into a ponytail, explaining that the pins might be dangerous if they got in the way of a flogger.

Flogger?

He put his hand at the base of her neck and caressed her collarbone while she considered rolling the word, sphinx, off her tongue.

“You’re perfectly safe, Faith,” he said, clipping a black leather cuff about each wrist. “I’ll only hurt you as much as you want me to.”

Well then. The breath hitched in her throat. That was all right. Wasn’t it? She swallowed past a lump, raised her wrists to look at them. The night had gotten…interesting. 

                                                                                             *******
However spanking literature did get a mention in Rough Surrender:

                                                                                             *******

“Intriguing.” Leonhardt gave her foot a last squeeze then let her lower her legs. “Though not surprising given your taste for adventure. Paris is a hotbed of lesbians and the nouveau flagellation movement -- you can’t turn a corner in some bookshops without a spanking book falling on your head.”

“Um. Yes. I had noticed.” Using a fork, Faith toyed with the last of the waffle on her plate.

Though I cannot imagine this being a common discussion at the breakfast table, there was a plethora of spanking books around 1910. Even before this time there was a well-known establishment where men could go to get their own spanking or flogging kink on. One of the first devices for restraint was from then - the Berkley horse above. If you’re keen, you can buy copies of some of this early spanking literature on Amazon, and probably at antique book stores that don’t mind stocking such books.

In the 1820's if you were a customer of Mrs. Berkeley  you could choose which implement was used on you, as well as the amount of injury to be inflicted. I’m sure their customers were most satisfied.
To read more about her establishment go here

To put it in perspective, people have always been kinky. I think it’s hard-wired into the minds of some of us. So it stands to reason, even the ancient Egyptians would have had their kinks. They just forgot to chisel it onto the walls of the pyramids. Or maybe they did, but someone chiseled it out.

And this is the link to the main page of wikimedia for Franz von Bayros

Rough Surrender was just released on June 4th from Lyrical Press. Leave a comment,  and you might win a copy of your very own! Don't forget to include your email address.

Blur

At a time when airplanes are as new-fangled and sensational as the telephone, Faith dares to fly. The one territory she has not explored is her own sexuality. In Leonhardt she discovers the man who can teach her how a woman surrenders her body and her mind. However, Leonhardt has a shadowed past and his own learning to do. He doesn't have the right to keep Faith from flying, even if he thinks airplanes are flimsy death-traps made of canvas, timber and their inventor's prayers.

Faith has her limits, Leonhardt has his flaws, and sometimes the nicest people get murdered by unscrupulous bastards. Even if Leonhardt can save the woman he loves, the battle for Faith’s heart will be the hardest one of all.

WARNING: BDSM, anal sex, orgasms galore, and a Dom who likes to claim his property with pen, ink and bondage.

~ Cari Silverwood

Scorched Souls, Bound Hearts

http://thirtyoneflavors.weebly.com/
http://www.carisilverwood.net/