:wally
I was surprised to hear that a maid in 1900 made the equivalent of $150 per year (versus $700 for Warrant Officer Bowler). What was that–about £30? Plus room and board and the missus’ hand-me-downs. Sounds like better than she’d do in a mill. With less likelihood of sudden and grisly death.
Too bad she lives off-site and the experiment is only three months long. Otherwise, she might catch the mister’s eye and …
“Catch the mister’s eye,” Drop?
From what I saw the other night, she’s more likely to do in the mister with a fire poker and bury him in the cellar!
Just to pick up some bits and pieces:
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They made it very clear in the first episode that SOME items were authentic (like the stove) because it would be impossible to reproduce, but other items were new-made. Like the clothes, which were tailored for them. (In episode III, they find a 1900s reference that says that wearing corsets is bad for you, so they could have justifiably stopped wearing the corsets. However, the mother says that her clothes would then look ugly, so she’s continuing with the corset. It’s because she really can’t get other clothes, they made the clother for her with corset.)
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It’s small wonder the mother went loony. All the labor-saving devices she was used to are gone. The rest of the family get to leave the house for school and work, and she’s stuck there all day, 24/7.
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With the shampoo, after the bought the shampoo, she clearly said that she felt guilty about it and was going to pour it down the drain, to be more authentic. Whoever criticized her for being so “wimpy” about shampoo: you try going without shampoo for a few weeks, and see how you feel.
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Yes, it’s true, it’s not “authentic.” They have to learn to do some things (like cook or shave) that, if they were truly 1900s people, they would have been taught as children or teens. They are given reference books to look things up, and they can ask for advice when needed. They are coached in many things, and they have to explore. That’s what makes this show fun – the process of discovery and the shock of realization. If you just want to watch a “authentic” family living in a 1900s house, get the old UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS (OK, OK, that’s a few years later) and you’ll see actors and actresses acting exactly like a 1900s upper class family would.
[semihyjack] Hey, Eve. I’ve found your modern day corset. Stapless-backless bras. They basically have the hook and eye closures at the small of your back, elastic running up the side to the cups. And there is plastic boning sewn into the front and sides. Makes breathing harder, bending over difficult, and life all-around miserable! But no messy bra stapes, so slippage like strapless bras, and plunging backs are no problem. [/semihyjack]
“Elastic,” Swimming? That’s baby stuff! A REAL corset, to do any good, has to be whalebone (or metal) and canvas! You also have to have a maid to lace you up while you hang onto the bedpost.
Eve, I thought Marines liked that sort of woman. Aye, a spirited lass! At least she doesn’t whine like the missus. Her complaints are grounded in reality. And burying people in the cellar leaves such a nasty odor. They have a freshly dug garden. No one would ever miss him.
CKDextHavn, Mrs Bowler cannot order up a sewing machine or sew by hand? She calls herself a woman? Geez, I’m a GUY and I can do THAT much. As for her going loony, she’s the one who got them into that mess. Didn’t her husband teach her to never volunteer?
Swiddles, as far as I’m concerned no discussion of fancy lingerie qualifies as a hijack nor needs any apologizies.
Anybody here ever brush their teeth with a real hog-bristle brush? Rips your gums right up.
Real bristles in hair- and toothbrushes. Darned socks. Prefering castille soap. I’m suddenly feeling real old. I think I need a nap.
I wonder what the irish girls would think of that!!! 
Well, it’s over. I thought the end was somewhat anticlimatic, and I couldn’t believe what Joyce did to Elizabeth. I was thinking that, by the end, Joyce would end up wnating her one day a week at her house. It was a very interesting and enjoyable show, and I agree with what Joyce said - 3 months wasn’t really long enough. Just as you’re figuring things out, it’s time to leave.
StG
Joyce really was a fluff-headed wet smack, wasn’t she? “Oh, I’m a women’s rights suffragette, so I will set my skivvy free!” What the hell does she think the maid will do now,run for Prime Minister? She’ll go out and get another maid’s job, to keep from starving!
I was also somewhat shocked to see Joyce go OUTDOORS in her CORET. Tart.
Eve - LOL!! That’s exactly what I thought when I saw her go out in her corset! And, speaking of Elizabeth, being turned out as a maid-of-all-work probably would’ve been terrible for her at the Victorian era. I think Joyce’s real motivation wasn’t the feminist cause, but rather she didn’t know how to reprimand her for being late. So she took the easy way out and sacked her. By letter.
StG
I saw the last one-it was strangely anticlimactic-on the one hand they were glad to leave, but they missed “csome” aspects of 1900 life. When they removed their old clothes and dressed in modern garments-wow! They said their 1999 clothes weighed 2/3 less!
Now, were can I get one of those victorian men’s overcoats (the kind Sherlock Holmes used to wear)with the cape over the sleeves?
Where’s my laudanum?
Hmm…in my mind’s eye, I see Eve in a French coutil (“Bernhardt”), underneath a Victorian silk evening dress
For the gentleman, perhaps thisfrock coat and, of course, a Homburg or Trilby.
Here are two excellent sites for Victorian (and vintage) clothing, both original and reproduction:
http://www.victorianelegance.com/index.html
Be sure to check out Queen Victoria’s views on “Pregnancy, Children, Marriage and Men”.
It’s been bugging me since the show ended–what has happened to the house since the Bowlers bugged out? I can’t see anyone going to the expense of returning it to “as found” condition (let alone restoring the awful 1970s decor!).
I’m assuming that it might well have been turned over to a non-profit society and run as a museum/living history exhibit. I don’t think that the National Trust, the agency that looks after many heritage buildings in England would take it, as I know they are short on cash as it is (all those Stately Homes don’t heat themselves, after all), and the long-term upkeep of a masonry building without central heating in that climate would be pricey.
After some false leads, I have located the whereabouts of Daru Rooke, the curator of the 1900 House project (he was t’lad wi’ the pointy sideburns). I have fired off a letter to Mr. Rooke, asking for a follow-up to the house at 50 Elliscombe Road. If it is open to the public, I will put it on my list of things to visit if I get to the UK as planned this October.
I’ll keep the Dopers posted as to what Mr. Rooke has to say. I expect a letter in flowing cursive, written with a fountain-pen–an email somehow would ruin my image of him!
Oddly enough, a good friend of mine in Britain had never heard of the show! I’d gotten the impression it was as big there as “Survivor” is here, but I guess it passed right under HER radar screen . . .
I’ve not been to Jolly Olde England, but could it have been that the 1900 lifestyle strikes too close to home to people who were still living a fairly miserable wartime existence well after WWII and crappy old houses are a shilling a dozen?
BTW, Eve, Showtime (Cinemax? HBO? The Playboy Channel?) has done a documentary treatment of Wisconsin Death Trip. It got panned in my local paper because it contains some “re-enactments” that fall flat and remove the aura of eerie and unsettling mystery that are at the core of the book. The reviewer, Ted Cox, would have preferred a plain Ken Burns approach, using photos from the book while actors read the stories and fiddlers fiddle. To quote:
“…(Director) Marsh comes to rely on incidents concerning Marie Sweeney, ‘the Wisconsin window-smasher,’ as a form of comic relief. Sweeney, a former schoolteacher who developed a compulsion to break windows wherever she went, is an odd, entrancing figure in the book, where one gets the impression that she is some sort of angry, early equal-rights radical. In the documentary, however, she comes across as Ernestine Bass.”
Too bad. Fitting reality into a dramatic framework can kill it.
Seems like these days, it’s turned around. You see the Victorian era men wearing long, upper body covering suits
which are, however, very tight and leave little to the imagination, and the women go swimming in long dresses.
(NB. I haven’t seen the show, I’m thinking of other Victorian swimming scenes I’ve seen pictures of.)
Nowadays here in America it’s the women who are wearing bikinis, while men’s swimwear just keeps getting baggier and more modest. Those of us who buck the trend and wear Speedos, or even less, are usually thought by others to be gay. There are actually message boards where people are discussing this, getting and giving pointers on where guys can wear skimpy swimsuits without getting hassled, and so on.
Would that be an island covered in chocolate and whipped cream? Cherry on top?
My local PBS station aired the entire thing a couple months ago. I’m fascinated… loved it. And way glad I was born when I was. I like how it comes out that many people today over-glamorize the Victorian era. I think the Mrs. used the term “romanticize.” She’s right. We think it’s all pretty, when the reality was that life wasn’t all that pretty at all.
765 digital cable channels and I can’t stop watching PBS…
I finally watched the series only a month ago, and considered bumping this thread at the time.
Does anyone know what’s become of the Bowlers since filming completed? Or Elizabeth, the maid-of-all-work? I thought she was by far the most interesting “character” on the series. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s parlayed her fame into some sort of entrepreneurial endeavor.
Hey, and apropos of nothing, Kathryn (the teenager) was a total hottie. Rrowr!
Can any UK Dopers supply us with an update?