Surviving a Day in the Victorian Era (24 Hours in the Past)

[Demovictory9]

[Rhiannon12866]

1. There used to be a show on PBS called "1900 House"

In which a family lived in a house for 3 months the way people lived in 1900. It was very labor intensive:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_1900_House

The 1900 House - episode 1 - The Time Machine

This extraordinary living experiment in understanding science and technology's transformation of family life begins with locating, restoring, decorating, and appointing the house in which a family will recreate the rigours of life in 1900. Once found, every trace of modernisation installed over time is painstakingly removed: all electrical wiring, the indoor lavatories, kitchen improvements, plasterboard covering old fireplaces -- the works! As the project proceeds, special pains are taken, down to the smallest detail, such as recreating original wallpapers when samples are unearthed, and combing the countryside for nuances of décor. After scenes of a nationwide search for the right family, we meet the Bowlers. The hour chronicles their introduction to period practices at Shugborough Hall, and joins series curator Daru Rooke on a final home inspection before the family moves in.

[Demovictory9]

2. I watched all those "living in the past" shows.

the three families living like the 1800s.
the family living like the old west.
there was a 1960s one.
and others.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. I would have loved to watch it with my grandmother who was born in 1900

Unfortunately, she passed away in 1998 and this show was on in 1999 - my grandmother had such interesting stories. She was born before automobiles were common, yet she lived long enough to travel on jets - she saw so many changes.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Oh, my.

I'm about half way through this episode (and there are several others you'll find at the link) and it's fascinating.

First off, the 21st century people still don't understand just how different and difficult life was nearly 200 years ago. They are only going to be spending 24 hours there, which most of us could do standing on our heads. Make it a month, or even a week, and it would be a very different story.

The 1900 House and others of that ilk were incredibly good, in no small part because the people involved spent much more time inhabiting the earlier era.

Not quite the same thing, but I keep on wanting to write a time travel story in which someone from 2020 goes back to about 1980 and spends the rest of the story pissing and moaning about no internet, no smart phone, and the like. Even for someone like me (born 1948) although I grew up before any such things, I'm as used to them as a current 10 year old. I would HATE it if I didn't have even a basic cell phone, let alone the internet. Heck, even a computer before the internet was amazing.

Back to the point of this post. These people are given relatively short shifts to work. Back then 12 hours or more straight would have been the norm. We modern people have no real clue how much physical labor was involved in most work back then.

I can suggest reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, a somewhat fictionalized account of her husband, Almanzo Wilder's childhood. Pay attention to the food, especially the breakfasts. Everyone got up very early. The men and boys did serious chores while the women cooked. After a couple of hours they consumed an amount of food that most of us cannot even imagine. And they needed it because of the very physical work they were doing.

I am very grateful I live in this era, and I'm the beneficiary of all of the advances that have brought us here.

[Demovictory9]

6. episode #2 is very interesting

[BigmanPigman]

5. I was just thinking about this yesterday.

When I turned on the hot water in the shower and it was hot right away I thought about how great we have it now and why we are so out of shape as a country. I read all the "Little House" books. In 1860 I would have had to carry water in a bucket, that is if there was any water to carry from a well or fresh water source. Just digging a well is Hell. Then you have to build a fire in the stove with wood you had to chop down, if there are any trees around that is. Next you have to schlep it to a big tub in the middle of the floor and reuse the same water to wash and rinse. If you have family members you have to do this for each one. And don't forget about soap that you have to make yourself. No wonder people only bathed once a week.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. And perhaps more to the point, it never ended.

In the shows referenced, the participants always return to the 21st century after a period of time.

I am a huge fan of time travel novels. I happen to know one writer of such, and next time I see her I'll have to ask her some questions about this.

Okay, so you go back even 100 years, and you know you will be without the modern technology of cell phones and the internet. But even that long ago, what is coyly called feminine hygiene products would have been quite different. Kotex, which made sanitary pads for women's menstrual periods, came about around 1920, although a quick internet search indicates that similar products came into existence around 1900. But much earlier? Rags that had to be washed. And no very good way to use them, meaning you'd have to cram some inside your underpants, and the blood would soon leak through, depending on how heavy a flow you had. I know, too much information, especially for the guys reading this. But the reality of such things matters. I am sure that among the reasons men got to dominate women so thoroughly is connected to the inconvenience of our monthly cycles.

Perhaps this is a bit odd. but these are the kinds of thoughts that are always lurking not far below the surface for me. It's almost as if I've recently arrived from sometime in the past and so I always notice modern conveniences.

[BigmanPigman]

8. I saw a Barney Miller rerun last week where an Amish man was stuck in NYC

and he described what his life was like to a guy in the Squad Room. He said, "I get a couple of acres plowed, milk the cows, etc". The other guy asked, "Then what do you?" and he answered, "Eat breakfast".