Some how I found this BBC television series on YouTube called the
Victorian Farm. I was curious so I watched the first episode and found it super interesting. I ended up binge watching the entire series, as well as the spin off series'
Victorian Pharmacy, Edwardian Farm, Monastic Tudor Farm, and
War Time Farm. Right now I'm watching the one they did about the Railway in England, but haven't had a ton of time to watch it. I really loved the shows. They featured my favorite type of history, the nitty-gritty parts of everyday life. I love seeing the everyday reality of peoples lives, how it was then compared to now. There was so much difference between now and then, but also so much the same. While watching, I saw a promotional video that one of the main historians on the shows wrote called
How to be a Victorian. It sounded really great, and I decided to check it out.
This book was everything I hoped it would be. It covers all of the day to day stuff people expereinced, from when they woke up in the morning till when they went to bed at night. It covered all sorts of interesting things that I didn't know about like the fact that they rarely lit the fireplaces in their bedrooms, even the wealthy ones. They saw it as a frivolous expense and only lit fires in bedrooms if someone was ill. They also had this idea that disease was spread by bad smelling air so people would have their windows open all the time, even in the middle of winter. There were stories of extremely poor people who had a clutch of children all huddled together for warmth with the window wide open. Also, poorer people didn't usually make their own clothes, they would by them second hand; explains why having the latest fashions was such a big deal.
The craziest stuff was how human waste was disposed of. I knew people in rural communities just used outhouses and either filled them up and then moved them or kept them regularly composting. I actually know of a few people who live in the boonies out here in the American West who still use outhouses. But I had never really given it much thought on what people in urban areas did with all that extra waste. Well, they would fill up lined cesspits and they night-soil men would come and remove it. The system was far from perfect and there were some serious problems that came up while they were creating a system that actually worked (e.g. huge cholera epidemic).
Probably the worst part about the Victorian era was its unregulated and excessive use of opioids in everyday, over the counter medicines. Not only could you easily and cheaply get opioids for adults, but they were widely used for infants and children. Medicines that were that were meant to help babies with things like teething or tummy bubbles were full of addictive substances. On top of this the amounts even in the same product brand varied. The risk of overdosing your child was very real. She gave some crazy statistic like one in five infant deaths was caused by opium overdose. The infant meds weren't the only terrible products designed for babies. Ugh, the Victorian era has to have been one of the worst times to be a baby. I have a hard time giving my kids any medicine, even tylonol, I think the craziness of the Victorian times might have made me even more leary. This book made me so grateful for things like modern science, vaccines, indoor plumbing, sewage treatment plants, and central heating. A really great read.
No comments:
Post a Comment