At the height of the Victorian era, Edward Lovett (1852-1933) spent his days working as a bank teller in London's financial district and his nights exploring the city's poorer areas. He was on the hunt to amass what would become one of the world's largest collection of amulets, charms, and talismans. Among his curious findings were horseshoes hung above the bed to ward off nightmares, flints to cure bouts of gout, and acorn-shaped pulls for window blinds to protect houses from lightning. Lovett charted the history of these objects and other English folklore in numerous articles and lectures. In 1916, he curated the exhibit "The Folklore of London" at the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum.