The 1900 House
| The 1900 House | |
|---|---|
 PAL VHS cover (UK) | |
| Genre | Historical reenactment reality television |
| Country of origin |
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| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes |
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| Production | |
| Running time |
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| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 28 December 1999 – 3 July 2000 |
The 1900 House is a
PBS
in America (with American commentary).
The series was accompanied by the book 1900 House: Featuring Extracts from the Personal Diaries of Joyce and Paul Bowler and Their Family by Mark McCrum and
Peabody Award in 2000 for being "an often humorous, always perceptive, series about the realities of life in 1900 that reveals themes of perseverance, human adaptation and family dynamics."[2]
The house
The 1900 House in question is 50 Elliscombe Road,
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, 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 fireplaces were installed. Gas lighting was reinstalled using original remaining pipes.
The Bowler family
- Paul was the father of the family. In contemporary 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 vegetariandiet 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 fast-food.
Other people
Daru Rooke was the consultant
Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management
and Cassell's Household Guide.
Because looking after the house became difficult, the Bowlers decided to hire a maid-of-all-work. Elizabeth Lillington 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.
Sequels
The success of 1900 House has since led to other related productions and co-productions:[3]
United Kingdom
- Second World War.
- The Edwardian Country House
- Regency House Party
- Coal House – a 1920s Welsh mining community
- Coal House at war – a 1944 Welsh mining community
- Victorian Slum House – London slum life during Victorian era
- The 1900 Island – a 1900 fishing village in Anglesey[4]
Australia
- Outback House – a family running a sheep station in 1861 Outback Australia
- The Colony – Four families and several individual "convicts" try to live life in New South Wales of 1800.
New Zealand
- Pioneer House – essentially a New Zealand production of The 1900 House.
- Bridle Path to Christchurchwith their children and belongings, setting up house in a canvas Tent, and eventually, building their own house.
- One Land – Also a recreation of New Zealand in the 1850s. It featured three families, one Pākehā and two Māori, and aimed to replicate the experiences of British migrants and the indigenous Māori of the period. The Māori families were housed in a traditional Māori Pā, and one of those families was specifically chosen for their knowledge of Māori language and customs. This family was asked to speak only Māori throughout the Series.
Germany
- Schwarzwaldhaus 1902 (Black Forest House 1902) – a family "living" without electricity in a traditional Black Forest house, 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 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
- 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 1950s School) – teachers and students experiencing a boarding school under 1950s conditions.
- Abenteuer Mittelalter – Leben im 15. Jahrhundert (The Medieval Adventure) – people living in a 15th-century castle.
United States
- homesteaders in Montana
- Manor House – British family of five and staff of 14 live in a 1900 Scottish manor house (re-presentation of The Edwardian Country House, exactly the same but with bonus footage)
- 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
Switzerland
- Leben wie zu Gotthelfs Zeiten (2004 TV series) – about a Swiss family living without modern technology in a traditional Swiss farmhouse as in the era of the Swiss author Jeremias Gotthelf (1797–1854), similar setting as in the German TV series Schwarzwaldhaus 1902, mentioned above
Home video releases
The 1900 House was released, alongside The 1940s House by
Acorn Media UK
. It was released on VHS on 27 June 2000 and on DVD on 5 August 2003.
| # | Episode List | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Year to Remember | 28 December 1999 |
| 2 | The Time Machine | 12 June 2000 |
| 3 | A Rude Awakening | 19 June 2000 |
| 4 | A Woman's Place | 26 June 2000 |
| 5 | The End of an Era | 3 July 2000 |
References
- ISBN 978-0-7522-1711-6
- ^ "1900 House (PBS)". Peabody Awards. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
- S2CID 194087176.
- ^ "The 1900 Island filming location: the history of Llanddwyn, and the cast of families on the BBC documentary series". i. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
External links
- The 1900 House at IMDb
- The 1900 House at PBS
- The 1900 House at Channel 4
