# "1900 House" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2000, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602 "2000-06-16T16:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/41 "2000-06-20T14:50:49Z")
I saw this show for the first time last night and I loved it. It reminded me a lot of some of my personal experiences: I do a good deal of charity work in the grossly underdeveloped country of Nepal. Last night, when the wife had a breakdown over the fact that they had no hot running water for three days, I snickered to myself in the same way those who have completed boot camp snicker at the new arrivals. I wished I could tell her, “I know, it sucks, but the first month or so is the hardest. After a while, no hot water will seem entirely normal.” ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/42 "2000-06-20T14:54:52Z")
It’s funny how so much was so hard (washing clothes comes to mind) but certain other things were much easier. When I saw the guy showing up with the lovely loaves of bread, my first reaction was “Damn! I want to have 'em coming to MY door.” Then the butcher showed up with what looked like wonderful meat. 'course, I’m not sure I’d want to eat meat that some guy had been carrying around in a basket all day, but I’m sure nowadays they could use a refridgerated truck. ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/43 "2000-06-20T16:43:03Z")
…for our British friends: first did women really dress in all of those petticoats/undergarments EVERY day? Second: the father is an officer in the Royal Marines-what does he do in his 1900-era uniform-does he make appearances? Finally, the medicine cabinet intrigued me-they had a big bottle of laudanum (opium mixed with high-proof ethyl alcohol)-that stuff would work just dandy to quiet the nerves after a hard day washing clothes, cooking etc. Could you really buy laudanum in a drugstore in those days?-London must have been full of dopeheads! Finally-I just finished reading a book about Capt. Scott’s (disastrous) Antarctic expedition of 1907. The theory today is that he and his men were suffering from scurvey (vitamine C deficiency), so in the Victorian era, it is probable that most people were inadequately nourished. Heck, itf the doctors of the day (who advised Scott) didn’t know about nutrition, it is logical to assume that the people of the day had a poor diet. Makes me GLAD I live in AD 2000! ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/44 "2000-06-20T17:53:17Z")
I think the family is supposed to be middle class, not well off. The narrator has used the MC phrase several times; also, the family is described as being one that would not have been able to afford either electricity or even gas lighting on the second floor, so it’s not as if they are supposed to be rich. But, I am sure they could have afforded a nice Irish girl to help out. egkelly, to answer your questions: I think that not just British women, but also American women of the same social class as the 1900 family, dressed in those petticoats every day. As for the father, he is working in a recruiting office during the 3 months that he will be living in the house; I think he’s a drill instructor normally. I think the bottle of laudanum we saw during Episode 2 wasn’t actually in the house; it was just being shown to illustrate the medicines available at the time. I don’t think the BBC could provide opium as a medicine because it’s now illegal, even if it wasn’t back then. And you really could buy it in a drugstore, as you could heroin and cocaine. There were all sorts of medicines, tonics, tinctures, etc., widely available back then that were made from now-illegal drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/45 "2000-06-20T17:59:53Z")
Missbunny is right. Petticoats came in after crinolines and hoops went out—in the 1870s. Fewer and fewer petticoats, till they were down to about 2 (with ruffles) by 1900. They vanished around 1908, with the slim-line look. By the way, I love petticoats—there’s nothing like the feeling of them swishing around your ankles as you walk! And yes, all KINDS of lovely drugs were available. They didn’t have “shaken baby syndrome” then, because a few drops of opium would put Li’l Swee’Pea right out for the night. And there WERE a lot of hop-heads. Did you notice how the teenage daughter perked right up when she thought Mum was going to dose her with heroin for her cough? ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/46 "2000-06-20T19:01:31Z")
I was surprised that the Mum wigged out (or as they say in the UK “threw a wobbly”) so soon. Must be lack of protein, or something. It’s good that she decided not to shave armpits or legs: this is in keeping with the period, as women did not generally start to shave these areas until they were put on public view in the mid-'teens-early twenties, IIRC. Dad is in the Royal Marine Commando in real life, a very tough unit, comparable to the Green Berets in the USA. Even if he is in recruiting, his standard of fitness will be fairly high. I was amazed that they had so much trouble finding a uniform for the Royal Marine Artillery of 1900: I’m responsible for about 35 replicas, complete with white helmet (for colonial service, don’tcha know,) and white leather bondage gear–err, sorry, belt and accoutrements. Our staff make appearances in these, both in the Fort and in the community (schools, parades, etc.), and they never fail to draw a huge crowd. The Japanese tourists in particular love having their photos taken with a Royal Marine “sentry.” The thought of wearing original clothing of the period is anathema to museum professionals: replicas, people, replicas–keep your filthy body oils and acids off those originals! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/47 "2000-06-20T19:16:34Z")
“The thought of wearing original clothing of the period is anathema to museum professionals: replicas, people, replicas–keep your filthy body oils and acids off those originals!” —You’re so right, Rodd. I worked in my college’s costume history collection (we had clothing as far back as the 1820s), and the theater department’s costumer was always borrowing our originals to use in shows! Ruined 'em, of course. It got to the point where we had to hide them or even smuggle them out to keep her claws off them! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/48 "2000-06-20T19:55:31Z")
Clearly the idea of comfortable clothes hadn’t hit the Victorian era. Starched collars for little kids? Layers of petticoats and narrow corsets for women working hard around the house? Anyone want to guess when the pendulum will swing back from today’s business casual/t-shirt and jeans? ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/49 "2000-06-20T20:26:50Z")
What was the average alcohol consumption in 1900s Britain? With people having such a hard life (especially the poor housewives!) I would expect a couple of drinks at the end of the day would be in order. And-how did people cope with all the various psychological complaints (that we have today-depression, ADD, etc.)? - maybe they worked so hard they didn’t have time to get depressed! Serously-Freud was still spinning his theories in 1900-was there any chance that if Mum had really “wigged out” that dad would have taken her to an uptown shrink? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/50 "2000-06-20T20:31:49Z")
eg—Ever read “Wisconsin Death Trip?” Great book, try and find it There were a LOT of nervous collapses, suicides, hop-heads and people carted off to the Laughing Academy back then. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2000, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/51 "2000-06-20T20:55:47Z")
Heavy drinking after work (or more often on payday) was certainly a problem for the working-class in Britain, but with a life of such drudgery (far worse than our lower-middle-class 1900 family), it was one of the only escapes. There was also one hell of a lot of what we would now classify as random violence and spousal abuse in working class Britain. Since our Royal Marine has risen to a certain level of respectability, he would do any of his boozing in the Sergeant’s Mess, or at the very least, send one of the kids with a bucket to get beer at the local, and drink behind closed curtains. Mrs. Marine might have been a Rechabite, or signed the pledge, as many women did, through the Church of England, or one of many Temperance movements. On the other hand, she may have been nipping at patent medicines, tonics, or elixirs that were full of alcohol. If she had middle- or upper- middle class pretensions, she might have had a sherry or maderia in the late afternoon, but decent women didn’t appear in public houses. And as for ADD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc., they didn’t have time for such luxuries! Seriously though, a depressed manic, or “hysterical” woman might be presecribed a vibrator by a modish doctor (assuming that they could afford to see a doctor: no health care plan!). Failing seeing a doctor, a dose of salts or some other purgative might be given to a troublesome teen. If you could afford it, you might go to a sanatorium for the cure. But there were probably many thousands of poor souls who never saw a doctor their entire lives, and the most unfortunate of them simply suicided, or lived mad in the streets of the slums, or in the workhouse. The British Royal Pharmaceutical Society apparently advised on the medicine chest for the 1900 House: **(WARNING: small spoiler for episode 3!)** [http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/19991002/news/TVadvice.html](http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/19991002/news/TVadvice.html) Here’s a link for Victorian patent medicines, which probably buried as many people as they “cured:” [http://www.cyberus.ca/~sjordan/pmmain.htm](http://www.cyberus.ca/~sjordan/pmmain.htm) Now, where did I put my bottle of Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound? ---
**Author:** ![lswote](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lswote/32/5737_2.png) [@lswote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lswote)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2000, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/52 "2000-06-26T01:55:09Z")
I finally got to see this program this evening. Apparently my PBS station is behind because I saw the show where the people moved into the house and the mother had a birthday that several of you mentioned viewing a week or 2 ago. I think everyone is doing pretty well. The son seems to be very unhappy with the food and I was surprised the mother got so bent out of shape over things. Afterall I think she was the real reason the whole family got into this thing in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/53 "2000-06-27T13:49:28Z")
So, did anyone see Part III last night? I must say my eyebrows shot heavenward when the narrator said, “To honor guests who were coming to stay, families at that time threw ‘faggot parties.’” WELL. That rendered me speechless which, as you all know, is QUITE an accomplishment. They got a great maid. Glad I don’t have to take my bed apart every year and scrub it with a toothbrush . . . And here am I feeling sorry for myself because I’m painting my own apartment over the weekend of the 4th! ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/54 "2000-06-27T14:05:02Z")
I found episode III very interesting-especially the part about cleaning the beds! The Victorians were so obsessed about germs-yet they “disinfected” their beds with borax solutions-worthless(even in 1900, any respectable bacteriologist would know this). The poor maid-15 hours a day of backbreaking work! I also saw that they enjoyed swimming-of course, the bathing suits were riot! I wonder what the Victorians would do if they saw a bikini? Interesting that London HAD fast food in those days-fish&chips (and for 2 cents!). ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/55 "2000-06-27T14:39:29Z")
**Ep 3 spoilers** Again I found the mum to be whiney. The whole “Poor me, I can’t shampoo” rant is an example. I would guess that was one reason the women wore their hair up, as well as to keep it out of the fire and for modesty’s sake as well. However, I’d be ready to adopt the twins in a heartbet. And Elizabeth is a treasure! I don’t really blame her for feeling left out during the party, however that definitely would’ve been the reality of the times. I thought the husband’s little snit at the dining table was unfortunate. He probably has no real clue how much work she’s doing. And as a military officer he’s probably used to giving an order and having it obeyed immediately. StG ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/56 "2000-06-27T14:56:52Z")
St., I agree that the kids are coming off much better than the parents—and I was amazed that Mum hadn’t thought of vinegar and eggs for shampoo; even I know that! I don’t care what she says or what the books said—I WANT her corset! I am quite willing to have my internal workin’s squeezed a bit to have a figure like that and get rid of my “middle-aged lady tummy.” What do you suppose they did with their corsets after the show ended? Will they give one to me? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/57 "2000-06-27T15:03:05Z")
**Eve** - I have a friend who is a beautiful seamstress and costumer, as well as a martial artist. She makes her own boned “sport corsets”, which keeps her ribs from separating from a well-placed kick. I’m sure she could whip up a regular corset. StG ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/58 "2000-06-27T15:15:32Z")
Ooooh—can she make me an Anna Held model, so I can stroll down Fifth Avenue humming “Why Do They Call Me a Gibson Girl?” And did anyone else catch that remark about “faggot parties,” or was I hallucinating? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/59 "2000-06-27T16:04:30Z")
**Eve** if you’re really interested, I can ask her if she wanted to do it and how much she’d charge. I have to warn you, she doesn’t work cheap at all. StG ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602/60 "2000-06-27T16:07:58Z")
I taped it and will look for faggot parties. Powdered borax gets into a bug’s joints and abrades the little legs right off. Not a PETA-friendly solution. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1900-house/22602.md?page=4)