Introduction

It was fashionable in New York at the end of the 19th century for ladies to wear live lizards as broaches. With a pin on them? Well, actually with a small leash, it seems. This was in an article in the archive of the New York Times about the RSPCA complaining about it. The lizards have been sold as chameleons. They were fastened to cushions by means of tiny colors and chains. Sometimes they were worn in the streets by women who had them attached to their bodices. It doesn't really give any more information than that.