Did anyone see the first (of four) episodes of this wonderful PBS series last Monday night?
They took a British family and put them into an old house, remodeled to be exactly as it would have been in 1900, and they have to live in it for three months. It’s like “Real World/PBS” or a brainier version of “Survivor.”
Catch it, it’s fab!
Yup, I watched it. Fascinating. Lots of stuff I don’t think I could do - didja see what she had to use for her period?!?
It does seem like a brainier version of “Survivor.” No question, it has to be hard to spend 3 months in the 1900 house than it is to spend however long on the dessert island. All that clothing they had to wear… and keep clean. All that cooking they had to do on that old fashioned stove. Yikes!
I saw it and I can’t wait to see how long it takes for the wife to lose her knickers.
It’s like The Real World for the PBS set.
I’ve been stoked for this show since I heard about it 2 months ago. I’m delighted that they don’t seem to be pulling any punches, viz. the “sanitary belt.” I read somewhere on the official website that the organisers even swept the house several times for electronic goodies like cell phones.
Here’s the official Channel4 webpage: since I am on a bakelite steam-operated computer, I can’t see the video clips from the diaries, but I don’t really want any spoilers, anyway:
http://www.channel4.com/1900house/
I think that this series will leave us with a much, much greater repect for our grand- and great-grandparents. They must have worked like drudges! This series would be great for schools in both the US and UK to remind kids (and adults) just how exponentially life in western society has changed in the last 100 years.
…Hope none of the family get sick!
Mmmmmmm… He said Bakelite…
A couple of recipes from an 1889 book I have on my shelf called “The Toronto Ladies’ Cook Book”:
FOR HEADACHE–Pour a few drops of ether on one-half ounce of gum camphor and pulverise; add to this an equal quantity of of corbonate ammonia pulverised; add twenty drops peppermint; mix and put in an open-mouthed bottle and cork.–Mrs. A. M. Gibbs
Do you sniff this or swig it? A belt of this stuff and you’d be open-mouthed and corked yourself!
TO RESTORE FROM STROKE OF LIGHTNING—Shower with cold water for two hours; if the patient does not show signs of life, put salt in the water, and continue to shower an hour longer.
CAMPHOR ICE—One ounce of lard, one ounce of spermaceti, one ounce of camphor, one ounce of almond-oil, one-hald cake of white wax; melt and turn into moulds.–Mrs. A. M. Gibbs
Where does one find good spermaceti these days?
From the introduction:
“HOUSEKEEPING: Word of grace to woman; word that makes her the earthly providence of her family, that wins gratitude and attachment from those at home, and a good report of those that are without. Success in housekeeping adds credit to the woman of intellect, and lustre to a woman’s accomplishments. It is a knowledge which it is as discreditable for any woman to be without as for a man not to know how to make a living, or how to defend himself when attacked. So, no matter how talented a woman may be, or how useful in the church or society, if she is an indifferent housekeeper it is fatal to her influence, a foil to her brilliancy and a blemish in her garments.”
And on dinner-parties:
“When the ladies are quite through with dessert the hostess catches the eye of each or raises her gloved hand slightly, as a signal, and they leave the table, the oldest lady going first, the youngest last, followed by the hostess–the youngest gentleman, or the one nearest the door, taking it on himself to hold the door open. After half an hour a guest is at liberty to withfraw, but a dinner party rarely breaks up till half past ten or later, if cards and dancing follow.”
This is pretty much how I imagine the NY Dopers get-togethers…
Big deal, I bought a 140 year house and am in the process of remodeling it, so it now looks exactly like it did in
1859. (Remember, it’s a 140 year old house).
Well the show is great, but I have one beef. The show implies that in 1900 everone lived this way. Let me tell you this isn’t true. I’m from the South (usa) and in 1960 my mother had no indoor plumbing, no gas or electric lights, no fancy sitting rooms, etc… And this wasn’t uncommon. In Alabama, Missippi, and Louisiana in 1965 the were 3 millon white and one millon black sharecropper families who lived in these conditions.
reference James Agee’s book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.
michael
Finagle and Labdude: the premise of the series is that the family has to live exactly as a middle-class British family would have lived in 1900. Cooking, cleaning, dressing, everything (though the dad does go to work and the kids to school, which I think is cheating!).
I collect old beauty and etiquette books, which have some great tips in 'em. You know that if you can’t get any bella donna to drop in your eyes to make them sparkle, you can use orange juice?
“Look at that poor woman writhing around on the floor shrieking in agony!”
“Yes, but don’t her eyes look LOVELY?”
No, the show was very clear as to it’s purpose (being to represent the BRITISH SUBURBAN/URBAN MIDDLE CLASS.) They even went into detail about choosing only a house that was in an area specifically designated as upper middle class on a social map of the period.
The house and the “props” are correct to the time and PLACE. The amount of research and item hunting these people did is AMAZING… they aren’t using reproductions… they are dealing with the real original products… restored to working order in some cases… but not modifided from their original design.
For example, they did mention that indoor plumbing was just becoming common among the upper middle class in that area in 1900 (and the tiolet is still outside of the main house because sewer gases were a problem with early plumbing)
Houses and products in London now don’t look like those in the southren US. It’s not possible to make a similar project that would be a “average” house over the developed world. some things just have to be specific
Eve, when I saw this show, I thought of you, with your penchant for things both older and finer. I thought the show was very interesting; I’m wondering how long it will be before the teenaged girl totally loses it and runs screaming down the street – “My kingdom for a Walkman!” I’m definitely going to make a point of watching the next four episodes.
It was fun seeing the audition tapes of the families who didn’t make the cut . . . Like when one Mum is saying, “it will be interesting to live without video games and telly and computers” and you can see her small son beating his head against the floor in despair.
I hear they hire a maid in one of the upcoming episodes—however do they find a modern maid who would be willing to cook and clean like it’s 1900? They’ll have to pay her a HELL of a lot . . .
Wouldn’t an upper middle class family have had a staff at that period? I mean at least a cook and a couple of maids? I’m also surprised that they would be doing things like heavy duty laundry at home.
I recall reading a book about Victorian domestics and it made it sound like anyone who had any money at all had a small army working for them.
The one thing I was most amused/intrigued by in the first episode was the fact they could NOT get the hot water to work. Day after day they’d test it . . . no hot water. The night before the family moves in and the little decorator boy is staying over night in the house . . . no hot water. Was that ever solved? It didn’t appear to be. It was more like, “Oh, well, no hot water – here comes the family! Have fun!” Three months in a house without hot water would suck big time, so I’m wondering how they’re going to handle that.
You’re right, Cher, I think they would have had a few Bridgets or Colleens slaving away in the kitchen.
I loved the Safety Inspector guy, who said with a perfectly straight face, “We do NOT want the family to DIE.” Those dubious gas outlets scared the bejeebers out of me.
I thought the “trickle of tepid water” added authenticity to the whole thing. From my readings that was “running hot” water!
I feel sorry for the fools that are doing this because the producers are not making them live like people back then, but are making them do it with crap a hundred years old! That “vacuum” was junk in 1900. It’s worn out junk, now. Its bellows are breaking down, it has a century’s worth of rust on it. Sheesh–give the poor bastards a wire rug beater. They’ll at least have a fighting chance.
I, too, thought of Eve and have been waiting for this thread to start.
Goodness, everyone has a mental image of me as the Perfect Gibson Girl!
I don’t know why they gave them a vacuum at all; they’ll only be there three months. I have easily gone that long without dusting . . .
I thought it sounded like fun, until I got to the part about the woolen underwear.
Forget about it.
You aren’t burning coal in a semi-open hearth. But my wife, a fan of Victorian domestic novels, thinks that the Victorians wanted us to believe they were cleaner than they were.
And if you don’t want us to think of you as the “Perfect Gibson Girl,” post a picture where you don’t look like her instead of that one on the interview site.
I only got to see part of the program, but I intend to tape it next week. I actually work for a public television network and am on a live show from 8-9, and then we air “1900 House” at 9:00. (I’m sure you’re thrilled with hearing our programming schedule, LOL.)
At any rate, I look forward to jumping in on this discussion next week! Any other ground rules stuff I missed that you all can fill me in on? Thanks!