A History of Private Life; BBC Radio 4

Penelope_Penguin

Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years, drawing on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries

I've been listening to this series on i-player, and this week it's fascinating - concentrating on running the home in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Monday; All my life is a struggle with dirt - the British led the way in our reputation for cleanliness, beaten only by the Dutch :cool:

Monday was wash day, so as to have clothes ready for Sunday Best. Leaving it later branded you a !!!!!! (unless you were wealthy enough to have enough clothes for a monhly wash ).

Women appear to have spent all their waking hours at war with dirt

People didn't wash their bodies, prefering to show brilliant white linen at collar and cuff. Spotless linen reflected your family's reputation - proof that the housewife had fought, and won, the Good Fight against dirt :T
Avialable as listen again, for up to 7 days after broadcast

Is anyone else listening?
Penny. x

Boodle

Nope, but I will be when I get home later today. Thanks for that. It sounds interesting.

mummysaver

Oh I've been listening to this too, really interesting. I hadn't realised that they expected their undies to suck all the dirt off them as they didn't wash a lot, due to thinking that the dirt from their skin would enter their bodies through any orifice if they were submerged in water! Pots and pans one was good too!

Worth a listen if you have time, medicines one was good yesterday.

Mrs_Thrify

Nope, I do not listen to the radio alot although I should to get motivated. Music plays at work.

annifranakapan

Thank you for this - I love listening to the radio online while I'm at the computer. This sounds like a gem!

rosieben

Sound very interesting, thanks pp; no use to me as I'm deaf but I've just contacted them to see if transcripts are available.

morganlefay

I loved the one on pots and pans: made me feel how fortunate we are with all our kitchen kit, and easy hot water, washing machines etc etc.

foxgloves

I enjoyed the one about pots and pans too. I suppose as most ordinary people would have eaten so much stew and pottage and what we think of as 'one-pot' meals, and didn't have ovens as we think of them, large cooking pots would have been expensive and really vital pieces of equipment. After all, tinkers used to make a living knocking door to door and mending pots and pans, didn't they, so that shows how much they were valued. My Gran used to say when we used to say 'If this' and 'If that'........"If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd be no need for tinkers". I'm just thinking now how much I'd miss my own pots and pans.....my huge stock pot for doing all my batch cooking in, my preserving pan which was left to be by my Nana, a set of saucepans we received as an engagement present, etc. I have never owned a microwave, I don't know how to use one. I'm not ancient, I just like using traditional cooking paraphernalia more.

pol

These have been briliant programmes so far. Talk about how other people live, it's amazing what people had to put up with.
If anyone missed it, there's an omnibus edition broadcast on 2 October at 9.00pm, still available for a few hours yet.

pol

Penelope_Penguin

Tuesday; Pots & Pans - Pots and pans were a valuable asset for women; they were her only weapon should she be assaulted :eek:

It wasn't until the 17th century that a discrete kitchen was commonly available to ordinary people. Before that, cooking was done on an open fire, in the middle of the room, with one central roof vent. Cooking was done with a stewpot hanging over the fire.

The introduction of the hearth and chimney transformed life, allowing slower cooking and the development of the saucepan and frying pan.

The gift of a pan from a man implied a long term relationship, followed by marriage woe betide the man who went back on his word :rolleyes:

Ready-made food was widely available by the 17th century. Samuel Pepys tells of sending out for a meal, and being greatly embarassed by the food being sent in dishes which clearly belonged to someone else :rotfl:

Pots and pans lasted many years, and were often bequeathed to daughters. Account books of the time show households paying for as many repairs as new items.

mummysaver

Did you catch yesterday's one about needlework - apparently it was greatly encouraged as it kept women still and quiet, and having vast amounts of needework was a good thing for their marriage prospects as it showed they stayed at home and were industrious, and more importantly weren't out and gadding about!