Only a historical novelist would think about these things on a day-to-day basis:

• My character wants to hug another character. I can’t say hug. Do I use the word embrace?
• How hard is it to tie a stay or a corset in the back by yourself? How would a poor widow with no female companions or maids do it?
• Will readers doubt me when my poor characters eat oysters? They were for the poor back then.
  
• On second thought, maybe that hug shouldn’t be there at all. What were the social mores regarding physical contact?
• How many research books can an NYC apartment hold?