According the to quiz, I “live alone and have a private income . . . The man from the parish you are engaged to is killed at war. You never marry which will set you apart from most of your contemporaries. When World War One starts you join a women’s auxiliary force and survive to be awarded a 1914 Star and a bronze Victory Medal.”
—Doesn’t take into account that my “civil engineer” father Married Money, so I think I actually would have been a little better off than the quiz implies. I still could have been a writer, like Elinor Glyn!
The only thing I that disappointed me was the dinner party scene. I understand that you can’t expect peple to discuss current events of the day as if they were really living them because they don’t have the intimate knowledge they need. But, the superficial details seem to have been overlooked. The ladies did not seem to be wearing corsets and their posture was not as rigidly upright. They just didn’t seem as composed as Edwardian ladies. I can’t comment on much else because I didn’t tune in until about 35 minutes before te end. But, I can’t wait to watch tonight. The previews show the family becoming more and more “in their roles,” and the servants’ resentment of that attitude. Although, the servants wouldn’t have dared to express that irl, it is a comment on why the entire class structure has changed.
That scullery maid was unbelievable! Whining about how she missed her boyfriend! What did she think?
I think one large problem (other than not having been born in the same type of strict hierarchel society, as previously mentioned) is that for most hall boys and scullery maids, this would have been a step up in life in 1906. It would have been more prestigious to be a scullery maid in a grand home than a higher position in a lower home. But of course, the modern scullery maids don’t see it that way.
And ivylass, in the interviews on the pbs.org website, they maids talk about their afternoons off, as was typical in that time period, so they did have some time off.
Personally, I’m hooked on the show. Can’t wait for the next episode.
And did anyone else notice that there didn’t seem to be anything about Charlie on the website? Or maybe I just didn’t look hard enough?
You know I’d pop in on this thread. Thanks for starting it.
Yesterdays USA Today had a chart on the 3 houses, listing the senarios and problems that came with them. From this I get that Edgar gets to be surrogate Pops and a Maid and Footman get busted in action.
Company was over through the first hour, so I didn’t get to see much of it. They were gone by the second hour.
Ol’ Edgar has to be the most amusing person there. Surely, he is remembering his Grandfather through this whole experiment. I’m hedging my bets here but I say he is the one person who will get the most out of this experience. Did anyone else notice he sounded like Mrs. Doubtfire?
The lack of Valet came up here as well. Did Edgar notice this slip? surely a fast change was in order.(but perhaps not done regardless?)
Keep you Footman and Hallboys. I want that pretty blonde Horseman. Yowza! What a hottie.
The Master and Lady’s kiss in the Hall before guests began arriving was cute. Were PDA’s acceptable in those days?
Boy, those volenteer servants are a bunch of whinners. I liked the one fellow (A Footman I believe) who defended Edgars tough love of the Servants. This guy came into this knowing what to expect.
Throwing a servants party on the night before the Masters party was not the smartest timing. Give the folks thier drunken reward the day after. When they’ve done thier jobs right! They did get thier reward in the end, cleaning out those wine glasses.
That wine. They were two of 12 in exsistance. Somebody kicked in pretty hard for those bottles. When they came up missing I suspected that one of the Servants had sconded with them.
The French Chef cracked me up. I agree he has got to be the guy with the toughest transition to his job. But, Damn I bet this will look good on a resume. I bet he’s not lost for technique on his next camping trip.
We were discussing food products of the days with a neighborhood teen who’d been by and you should have seen his eyes pop when we began extolling the virtues of mouldy hams and green bacon as shown on Frontier House. Pitty the kid who’s never had a good country ham.
It says I’m only 72% snob, when everyone here knows I am 100% snob! Some of the questions were obviously written by people who are NOKD. I mean, what does “unemployed” mean to them? To me, it means one has independent means. And converse with the bag-packer? Of course one is pleasant to the servants.
I get killed at Ypres in World War I, after being the first of my family to attend college and becoming a schoolteacher in the meantime. Hurrah! God Save the King!
Amen to the valet comments - that was my first thought as well.
“Shut up aboutyour stupid boyfriend” was possibly the most priceless line of the evening.
I think the casting was marvelous. Especially Mr. Edgar, but I think they did very well with the family as well. Lady Oliff-Cooper has slipped into her role incredibly well and her husband has as well. I can really believe in them as Lord and Lady of the Manor. They really seem to have absolutely no sense of all the work and drama going on beneath the stairs, which is as it should be. It is shocking to my 21st Century sensibilities however to hear him say “The poor will always be with us; if not for serving me they’d not have a job”. Yikes!
The chambermaids are wimps. I’d never in a million years sign up for the job, but if I was to, I’d have an idea of what I was getting myself into.
I’d also like to see more of the tutor. And the coachman. Yum!
I thought that comment was indicitive of some kind of odd psychological phenomenon that was blossoming forth in Sir John’s brain…some never-before-felt kind of domestic pride was swelling in his bosom regarding his now-truly-ladylike wife? “Who is this radiant creature, so gracefully floating amongst the great lords of my fair land? No mere bimbo she!” I would imagine I would say all sorts of silly things seeing my sensible doctor husband wearing tails and a waistcoat whilst speaking freely with a Dutch baron and sipping 1876 Tokay.
On another note…does this program strike anyone else as a toned-down version of the Stanford Prison Experiment?
Oh yes, Ivylass, I’m glad someone mentioned that line! It really set my teeth on edge. Not a bimbo. Good grief.
I have to confess I’m not really liking Lord John much at all, actually. I’m also curious (hopefully we’ll see this later in the series) with how the upstairs folks are coping with 1906 life. I remember the 1900 House women were horrified by not having products like shampoo. Although she is wealthier, the hygiene products for Lady O-C probably aren’t too much better.
M…FD, if I understood it correctly, the guests at the dinner party weren’t particularly from 1906, that is, they’re just guests. None of the women wore 1906-style fashions. I think it’s only the actual participants who have to live as if it were 100 years ago. This suprised me, actually.
It’s too bad they don’t have a valet, but it’s my understanding that a footman could in fact strive to be promoted to valet. So possibly a footman could pick up some of those duties as a 1906-style on the job training sort of thing? I think it would be unusual for the master of the house not to have his own valet, but I think that a footman might do occasional double-duty valeting gentlemen house guests (who didn’t bring their own valet).
Even though Mr. Edgar is much more personable, I also think the housekeeper, Mrs. Davis, is a real sweetie. And I agree with Mrs. Zebra, the groom is the cutest of all the guys!
