The 1900 House (1999)
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 United Kingdom and PBS in America. 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.
Seasons & Episode
We go behind-the scenes to find out how an ordinary terraced house in the shadow of the Millennium Dome was transformed into a time machine and why the Bowlers were selected
In Somerset, the Bowlers indulge in a last supper of junk food before saying goodbye to 1999 and hello to life in 1900
The Bowlers wake up to their first morning in the 1900 house. There is no water, potties need emptying and the milk has gone off. The dream is over.
It is a week since the Bowlers began their time travel experience. But no one has had a decent bath. The range cooker, which should provide hot water, hasn't produced a drop.
After four weeks of the drudgery of a Victorian level of housework, Joyce comes up with a 1900 solution: finding a servant to do the dirty work, as most women in her position would have done a hundred years ago.
A newcomer arrives at the house as Elizabeth, their new "maid of all work' starts domestic service. Scrubbing, washing, ironing, carpet beating, black-leading the range - all for 4d a day.
The arrival of the maid has given Joyce the freedom to investigate the history of the suffragette movement. But the more she learns about the battle for women's rights, the worse she feels about employing a maid.
eriment in living history to investigate how radically our lives have been changed by technology, a modern family swap the luxury of 1999 for a life of urban Victorian domesticity A night out at a Music Hall is a great success but proves a rude introduction to the seedy world of Victorian London
After three months of living in the past, the Bowlers' Victorian odyssey is coming to an end. Before they leave, they decide to throw a party for their friends and neighbours.
The Bowlers reflect on the highs, lows and unforgettable moments of their three month living-history experiment.
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