Manor House

[DogStarMan]

Did anyone catch this (http://www.pbs.org/manorhouse/) on PBS last night? I think PBS does reality TV better than anyone else. It's historically accurate and though provoking.

[hlfzephyr]

OMG! I was just so talking to people at work about this! I love PBS reality tv! I knew that one girl, Jennifer - I think, who was the skullery maid (sp?) was not going to make it - she was spoiled little princess...

by the way did you see Frontier House (i think that's what it was called) when the families had to build their own homes and raise and kill their own food?

PBS does reality TV correct. It's not about getting $ or voting people off. What it's about is to see if you can do, just for the experience.

[DogStarMan]

Yup, I watched Frontier House too. Good stuff. I don't think they were allowed to really kill anything because of strict gaming regulations where they were at. I remember that one rich guy brought all of his guns and then wasn't allowed to use them.

I wouldn't last 5 minutes as a scullery maid / hall boy, so I give her credit for staying two days. But she definitely didn't know what she was in for.

[hlfzephyr]

Hall Boy would suck, you literally sleep on a bed in the hall!

But on Frontier House, I thought I remembered one of the kids getting upset about the pig being slaughtered for food, cuz he was treating it like a pet or something like that?

[DogStarMan]

Oh for the days when you could take a piss in a pot and store it under your bed.

[LadyJo]

Manor House is great! I also loved Frontier House and 1900 House. I'm fascinated by the past and always wondered what it would be like to live in different historical periods. These shows really opened my eyes. Of course, I think we're all pretty damn lucky to be living in the modern day America. I come from a working class background, so if I were living Edwardian England my only options would be service or prostitution. :eek:

[DogStarMan]

Originally posted by LadyJo
I come from a working class background, so if I were living Edwardian England my only options would be service or prostitution. :eek:
Heh :p Did you take the test (http://www.pbs.org/manorhouse/1905/index.html)?

[LadyJo]

yep.

You'll be in Service!
- A Snapshot of your life as it might have been in 1905

Education
You go to elementary school where you learn cookery and housework and occasionally a little arithmetic, history and geography although this is thought to be unimportant for girls.

Career Prospects
You go into service, working extremely long hours. You leave the job when you marry, but you supplement the family income by doing unskilled temporary work whenever you can get it.

Leisure Time
You escape when you can to meet friends at the music hall or in pubs.

Living Conditions
You're one of two servants working in a new villa on the outskirts of a city. You spend much of the time on your own in the house, working 14 hour days. When you marry and leave the house, you live in one gloomy room in a run-down house with your husband, children, your mother, father and brother. You share one smelly latrine between several families.

Marital Relations
You marry at the age of 25.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Quite depressing, except for leisure time. If I had to live that kind of life, the pub would be my second home!

[slow-dog]

Originally posted by LadyJo



Quite depressing, except for leisure time. If I had to live that kind of life, the pub would be my second home!

You think that's bad....I died in WW I

[DogStarMan]

Originally posted by slow-dog
You think that's bad....I died in WW I
Me too, but it looks like I'll have a full life of drinking and mistresses up until then, so it won't be half bad.
You are a Boilermaker!
- A Snapshot of your life as it might have been in 1905

Education
You leave school at 16 and go straight into the job which you'll do for the rest of your working life.

Career Prospects
You work as a boilermaker. With your fellow union members, you strike to campaign for better working conditions and better pay but are disappointed by the slow rate of change.

Leisure Time
You spend a lot of time in the local pub – ale and porter (heavy beer) are cheap. You read the newspaper as often as possible – you enjoy reading stories about upper class extravagance and waste, they only confirm your worst fears. You join a football team made up of other workers and play matches every weekend.

Living Conditions
Your wife and daughters look after the home and do much of the shopping at the back door. Meat is a special treat on Sundays but otherwise you'll have a diet of bread, with cheese or butter, margarine or jam, lard or beef dripping.

Marital Relations
You're unfaithful to your wife whenever you get the chance.

World War One
You join the Navy as a stoker in the boiler room and will be killed at sea at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

[redbobsled]

I live alone and have my own money!

Woooo-hoooo! I'm a spinster!

But apparently that puts me near the top of the social ladder in Edwardian England.

I like the part about how I have 2 servants but I'm not so sure if they're doing great work. Then why don't I fire their asses?