The 1900 House

Infobox Television
bgcolour = #D6D6FF
show_name = The 1900 House


caption =
genre = Historical reality television
camera =
picture_format = 480i (SDTV)
audio_format =
runtime = 60 min.
creator =
developer =
executive_producer =
starring =
country = UK
network = Channel 4/PBS
first_run =
first_aired = June 12, 2000
last_aired =
July 3, 2000
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 4
list_episodes =
website = http://www.pbs.org/wnet/1900house/
imdb_id = 0250838
tv_com_id = 27192

"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 Victorians 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. [Macmillan, London, 1999. ISBN 9780752217116]

Introduction

The programme was originally going to be a documentary about late Victorian domestic life, but the idea of a living family doing it was suggested. The concept of reality television at the time was relatively new. After 400 applications, the Bowler family was selected and the house was “made”.

The house

The 1900 House in question is 50 Elliscombe Road, Charlton, South-East London. An 1890s-built two-storey terraced house with a drawing room, a dining room, a kitchen, a scullery, a bathroom, three bedrooms (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, major changes were made, such the electricity being taken out and a copper (a large pot used for heating washing clothes over a fire) installed.

The Bowler family

Paul was the father of the family. In normal life, he was a Warrant Officer in the Royal Marines. 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 wasn't invented) and difficulty with her vegetarian lifestyle.

Kathryn was a 16-year-old performing-arts student. In the house, she missed 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..

Other people

Daru Rooke

Daru was the consultant historian to the series who helped the family with 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 the mother decided that she could not agree with women's emancipation but at the same time hire a woman as domestic house. 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 House.

Sequels

UK

*"The 1940s House" – a family “living” through the Second World War.
*"The Edwardian Country House"
*"The Regency House Party"
*"Coal House" – a 1920s Welsh mining community

Australia

*"Outback House" – a family running a sheep station in 1861 Outback Australia

Germany

* "Schwarzwaldhaus 1902" (Black Forest House 1902) – a family “living” without electricity, on rural Kaltwasserhof in Münstertal (August 2001 - January 2002)
* "Windstärke 8 – Das Auswandererschiff 1855" (about an emigration 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 Berlin.
* "Abenteuer 1927 - Sommerfrische" (The 1927 Adventure) - life in the manor from "Abenteuer 1900", this time in the Roaring Twenties
* "Steinzeit - Das Experiment" (The Stone Age Experiment) - life under conditions of the stone age.
* "Die harte Schule der 50er Jahre" (Difficult 1950's School) - teachers and students experiencing a boarding school under 1950's conditions.
* "Abenteuer Mittelalter - Leben im 15. Jahrhundert" (The Medieval Adventure) - people living in a 15th century castle.

USA

*"Frontier House" – three families live as 1883 frontier settlers in Montana
*"Manor House" – family of five and staff of 14 live in a 1900 English manor house (re-presentation of "The Edwardian Country House")
*"Colonial House" – set in the American frontier of 1628 (shown in the UK as "Pioneer House")
*"Texas Ranch House" – set in the American frontier of 1867

References

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/1900house/ 1900 House website (PBS)]
*imdb title|0250838