The 1900 House
Encyclopedia
The 1900 House is a historical reality television
programme made by Wall to Wall/Channel 4
in 1999. The show is about a modern family that tries to the live in the way of the late Victorian
s in 1900 for three months in a modified house. It was shown on Channel 4
in the UK
and PBS
in America (with American commentary).
The series was accompanied by a book titled 1900 House: Featuring Extracts from the Personal Diaries of Joyce and Paul Bowler and Their Family by Mark McCrum and Matthew Sturgis.
. An 1890s-built two-storey
terraced house with a drawing room
, a dining room
, a kitchen
, a scullery
, a bathroom
, three bedroom
s (there were actually four, but one was used as a safety room with a telephone) and an outside loo
. To make it the 1900 house, all modern elements were removed, including electricity, insulation, indoor toilet, and central heating. Period fixtures such as a 'copper' (a large pot used for heating washing clothes over a fire), cast iron oven and fire places were installed.
. In the house, he worked in the recruiting office in London (for two months after that he had to go to his regular job in the Marines). He felt that the role of "Man of the House" was difficult to act.
Joyce was the mother of the family. In her normal life, she was a civil servant for Somerset
Social Services. She looked after the family and later in her free time she looked at the growing suffragette
movement. She had problems with her hair (shampoo
hadn't yet been invented in 1900) and difficulty with incorporating her vegetarian lifestyle into the project.
Kathryn was a 16-year-old performing-arts student. In the house, she missed modern cleanliness, her friends and her social life
.
Ruth and Hilary were 11-year-old twins. In the house, they missed their friends and their music.
Joe was a 9-year-old boy. In the house, he missed sweets
and fast-food.
to the series who helped the family adjust to the 1900 lifestyle. He later visited the house for a dinner party with the family. He also equipped the family with a useful reference manual to aid their stay at the house, based on sources of the period such as Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management and Cassell's Household Guide.
.
Each of the following is related, or a direct sequel, to the UK series Tales from the Green Valley (2005):
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
programme made by Wall to Wall/Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 1999. The show is about a modern family that tries to the live in the way of the late Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
s in 1900 for three months in a modified house. It was shown on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
in America (with American commentary).
The series was accompanied by a book titled 1900 House: Featuring Extracts from the Personal Diaries of Joyce and Paul Bowler and Their Family by Mark McCrum and Matthew Sturgis.
The house
The 1900 House in question is 50 Elliscombe Road, Charlton, South-East LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. An 1890s-built two-storey
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
terraced house with a drawing room
Drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...
, a dining room
Dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level...
, a kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
, a scullery
Scullery (room)
A scullery is a room in a house traditionally used for washing up dishes and laundering clothes, or as an overflow kitchen when the main kitchen is overloaded. Tasks performed in the scullery include cleaning dishes and cooking utensils , occasional kitchen work, ironing, boiling water for cooking...
, a bathroom
Bathroom
A bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....
, three bedroom
Bedroom
A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...
s (there were actually four, but one was used as a safety room with a telephone) and an outside loo
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
. To make it the 1900 house, all modern elements were removed, including electricity, insulation, indoor toilet, and central heating. Period fixtures such as a 'copper' (a large pot used for heating washing clothes over a fire), cast iron oven and fire places were installed.
The Bowler family
Paul was the father of the family. In contemporary life, he was a Warrant Officer in the Royal MarinesRoyal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
. In the house, he worked in the recruiting office in London (for two months after that he had to go to his regular job in the Marines). He felt that the role of "Man of the House" was difficult to act.
Joyce was the mother of the family. In her normal life, she was a civil servant for Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
Social Services. She looked after the family and later in her free time she looked at the growing suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
movement. She had problems with her hair (shampoo
Shampoo
Shampoo is a hair care product used for the removal of oils, dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles that gradually build up in hair...
hadn't yet been invented in 1900) and difficulty with incorporating her vegetarian lifestyle into the project.
Kathryn was a 16-year-old performing-arts student. In the house, she missed modern cleanliness, her friends and her social life
Social relation
In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two , three or more individuals . Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social...
.
Ruth and Hilary were 11-year-old twins. In the house, they missed their friends and their music.
Joe was a 9-year-old boy. In the house, he missed sweets
SweetS
was a Japanese idol group. Put together through auditions, the group debuted in 2003 on the avex trax label. Although the group met minor success, they disbanded after three years with the release of a final single in June 2006....
and fast-food.
Daru Rooke
Daru was the consultant historianHistorian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
to the series who helped the family adjust to the 1900 lifestyle. He later visited the house for a dinner party with the family. He also equipped the family with a useful reference manual to aid their stay at the house, based on sources of the period such as Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management and Cassell's Household Guide.
Elizabeth Lillington
Because looking after the house became difficult, the Bowlers decided to hire a maid-of-all-work. Elizabeth was chosen, however after a few weeks the family sacked her as Joyce decided that she could not reconcile her views on women's emancipation with employing a woman as a domestic. However, being 'liberated' was not the view Elizabeth herself took of her dismissal. It was pointed out that a woman in Elizabeth's position in 1900 would have faced desperate poverty had she been denied housekeeping work.Afterwards
The show was a ratings winner for Channel 4, so much so that after the programme had finished another series was commissioned, The 1940s HouseThe 1940s House
The 1940s House is a British historical reality television programme made by Wall to Wall/Channel 4 in 2001 about a modern family that tries to the live as a typical middle-class family in London during The Blitz of World War II. It was shown on Channel 4 in the UK in 2001, and in 2002 on PBS in...
.
UK
- The 1940s HouseThe 1940s HouseThe 1940s House is a British historical reality television programme made by Wall to Wall/Channel 4 in 2001 about a modern family that tries to the live as a typical middle-class family in London during The Blitz of World War II. It was shown on Channel 4 in the UK in 2001, and in 2002 on PBS in...
– a family “living” through the Second World War. - The Edwardian Country HouseThe Edwardian Country HouseThe Edwardian Country House was an acclaimed British mini-series in the reality television genre, produced by Channel 4. It was first aired in the UK in April, 2002 and was later broadcast in the U.S. on various PBS stations in 2003 as Manor House, where extra footage was added...
- Regency House PartyRegency House PartyRegency House Party is a historical reality television programme made by Wall to Wall/Channel 4 in 2004. It is the fourth in a series of historical reality series produced by Channel 4, preceded by The 1900 House, The 1940s House, and The Edwardian Country House.In the series a group of five men...
- Coal HouseCoal HouseCoal House is a Welsh television series made by Indus Films for BBC Wales, and broadcast on BBC One Wales, with a subsequent UK wide repeat of both series on BBC Four. Series 1 was set in the depressed economic coalfields of 1927, while Series 2 was set in 1944 as World War II draws to a close...
– a 1920s Welsh mining community - Coal HouseCoal HouseCoal House is a Welsh television series made by Indus Films for BBC Wales, and broadcast on BBC One Wales, with a subsequent UK wide repeat of both series on BBC Four. Series 1 was set in the depressed economic coalfields of 1927, while Series 2 was set in 1944 as World War II draws to a close...
at war – a 1944 Welsh mining community
Australia
- Outback HouseOutback HouseOutback House was an Australian historical reality TV series that originally aired on ABC TV in 2005. The series was based on several series produced by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and PBS in the United States, in which the concept was to have a modern day family living in a facsimile of an...
– a family running a sheep stationSheep stationA sheep station is a large property in Australia or New Zealand whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or south-west of the country. In New Zealand the Merinos are usually in the high country of the South...
in 1861 OutbackOutbackThe Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... - The ColonyThe Colony (2005 TV series)The Colony is a reality television program in which two modern families from Britain and Ireland try to survive in the conditions of New South Wales, Australia 200 years ago when it was a penal colony...
- Four families and several individual "convicts" try to live life in New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
of 1800.
New Zealand
- Pioneer House - essentially a New Zealand production of The 1900 House.
- Colonial House - a recreation of the experiences of typical British immigrants to Canterbury, circa 1850; complete with a Sea Voyage from AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
to LytteltonLyttelton, New ZealandLyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....
, tramping over the Bridle PathBridle Path, New ZealandThe Bridle Path is a steep track that traverses the northern rim of the Lyttelton volcano connecting the city of Christchurch and the port of Lyttelton in the South Island of New Zealand....
to ChristchurchChristchurchChristchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
with their children and belongings, setting up house in a canvas Tent, and eventually, building their own house. - One Land - A new show, also recreating New Zealand in the 1850s. It features three families, one PakehaPakehaPākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
and two Maori, and aims to replicate the experences of British migrants and the indigenous Maori of the period. The Maori families will be housed in a traditional Maori PaPa (Maori)The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
, and one of those families has been specifically chosen for their knowledge of Maori language and customs. This family has been asked to speak only Maori throughout the Series.
Germany
- Schwarzwaldhaus 1902 (Black ForestBlack ForestThe Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
House 1902) – a family “living” without electricity, on rural Kaltwasserhof in MünstertalMünstertal, Black ForestMünstertal is a municipality in the southern Black Forest, which belongs to the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is 3 miles east from Staufen.-Notes:...
(August 2001 - January 2002) - Windstärke 8 – Das Auswandererschiff 1855 (about an emigrationEmigrationEmigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
ship for the United States) - Die Bräuteschule 1958 (teenage girls attending a domestic science school in the 1950s)
- Abenteuer 1900 - Leben im Gutshaus (The 1900 Adventure) - about a noble family and their servants in a manor near BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. - Abenteuer 1927 - Sommerfrische (The 1927 Adventure) - life in the manor from Abenteuer 1900, this time in the Roaring TwentiesRoaring TwentiesThe Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
- Steinzeit - Das Experiment (The Stone Age Experiment) - life under conditions of the stone ageStone AgeThe Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
. - Die harte Schule der 50er Jahre (Difficult 1950s School) - teachers and students experiencing a boarding schoolBoarding schoolA boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
under 1950s conditions. - Abenteuer Mittelalter - Leben im 15. Jahrhundert (The Medieval Adventure) - people living in a 15th century castleCastleA castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
.
USA
- Frontier HouseFrontier HouseFrontier House was an educational reality TV series that originally aired on PBS in April 2002. The show, which was filmed over the course of five months, followed the lives of three family groups that agreed to live as homesteaders did on the American frontier in 1883. Each family was given a ...
– three families live as 1883 homesteaders in MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,... - Manor HouseThe Edwardian Country HouseThe Edwardian Country House was an acclaimed British mini-series in the reality television genre, produced by Channel 4. It was first aired in the UK in April, 2002 and was later broadcast in the U.S. on various PBS stations in 2003 as Manor House, where extra footage was added...
– family of five and staff of 14 live in a 1900 English manor house (re-presentation of The Edwardian Country House) - Colonial HouseColonial houseAmerican colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English , French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, German Colonial and Georgian Colonial...
– set in the American frontier of 1628 (shown in the UK as Pioneer House) - Texas Ranch HouseTexas Ranch HouseTexas Ranch House is an PBS American reality television series that premiered in May 2006. Produced by Thirteen/WNET New York, Wall to Wall Media Limited, and PBS, the show placed fifteen modern day people in the context of 1867 Texas...
– set in the American frontier of 1867
Similar Series
Although not involving a normal family living the experience, the following series are similar to The 1900 House and its sequels in that they include historians reconstructing period lifestyles and customs.- The Victorian Kitchen GardenThe Victorian Kitchen GardenThe Victorian Kitchen Garden was a 13-part television series produced in 1987 by Jennifer Davies for BBC2. It recreated a kitchen garden of the Victorian era at Chilton Foliat in Wiltshire, although at the time the series was made Chilton Foliat was in the county of Berkshire...
(1987) recreates a Victorian kitchen garden in the WiltshireWiltshireWiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
village of Chilton FoliatChilton FoliatChilton Foliat is a village and civil parish on the River Kennet in Wiltshire. The parish is in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is on the county boundary with West Berkshire and is about northwest of the Berkshire market town of Hungerford.-Parish church:The Church of...
. It spawned three sequels:- The Victorian Kitchen
- The Victorian Flower Garden
- The Wartime Kitchen and Garden
Each of the following is related, or a direct sequel, to the UK series Tales from the Green Valley (2005):
- Tales from the Green ValleyTales from the Green ValleyTales from the Green Valley is a historical documentary TV series in 12 parts, first shown on BBC Two in autumn 2005.The series was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion TV. It was directed and produced by Peter Sommer. The Series Producer was David Upshal...
, focusing on life in a Tudor-era 1620s farm community in Wales. - A Tudor Feast at Christmas, a direct sequel special, which showcases attempts to recreate a Tudor Christmas banquet.
- Victorian FarmVictorian FarmVictorian Farm is a historical documentary TV series in six parts, first shown on BBC Two in January 2009. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television and filmed on the Shropshire estate of Acton Scott. The farming team was historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists...
, in which the team lives for a year recreating life on a Victorian-era farm in Shropshire, England. - Edwardian FarmEdwardian FarmEdwardian Farm is an historical documentary TV series in twelve parts, first shown on BBC Two from November 2010 to January 2011. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television and filmed at Morwellham Quay, an historic quay in Devon. The farming team was historian Ruth...
, a sequel to Victorian Farm, using an Edwardian-era farm in Devon, England. - Victorian PharmacyVictorian PharmacyVictorian Pharmacy is a historical documentary TV series in four parts, first shown on BBC Two in July 2010. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television. It was filmed at Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire. It is a historical documentary that looks at life in...
, a four-part series focusing on the daily running and evolution of a town pharmacy during the Victorian era.