I always find it terribly funny to compare things in our generation, to things in the 1800's. There are some very amusing differences if you stop to think about it. Some people have the impression that things were so much more moderate back then, but alot of things are more moderate still now! :) Here are some of the things that have made me laugh:
In the eighteen hundreds, you scandalized folks if you were climbing into your carriage and showed an ankle. (Now? Well, I am sorry to say it, but "people" aren't scandalized by much.)
The regular dinner hour for fashionable society was not till 8 or 9 o'clock p.m. (Now? 5-6 p.m.)
There were "Cinderella balls" that went till midnight for young ladies, and then grown-up balls often stopped dancing only at 4 a.m.! (Now? Well, in our circles, we just about turn into pumpkins or shrivel up and die if we aren't home from something by 10:30 or 11:00!)
If someone died, the women in the house wore mourning clothes for at least a year or two. i.e. dark blues, blacks, and purples at the brightest. (Now? Well....people try to wear black on the day of the funereal! :)
A women, during the last month or so of her pregnancy went into "confinement", in which she never went out, and very seldom received visitors. (Now? Well, Mama was in the mall a few hours before Daniel was born! :)
Rich people in America spent the summers up North and the winters down South, and chose leisurely where they went. (Now? Well, I can't tell you the last time we went on a family vacation that was anywhere close to even "out of state". Actually, I think it was CA 8 years ago.... but then...we aren't rich so that evens out.)
Very few people were homeschooled- public school was the mania. (Now? It is sort of the same but thankfully I now dare to say: "Move over yellow school-bus! The fifteen-passenger is barging through!" ;)
There were two very, very distinct "classes" as many of you already know. (Now? Well, let's just say that I don't think any young man shall inquire how much my annuity is worth, and whether I come from "gentry" before he'll ask to court me, or whether my father made his "fortune" in trade, or did he "come by it honestly", which after all, simply means that he inherited it? ;)
Women prized long, flowing hair and wore fake hair to achieve the idea. (Now? Um....how many of you have seen women with spikes and buzz-cuts?)
The idea of a "beauty" in the eighteen hundreds was a young lady with a round face, creamy skin, little hands and feet, and a bit plump, so that they perfectly achieved the classic "hourglass" shape with only the help of a whale-bone and steel-reinforced corset. (Now? Grrr.... super tall, super skinny, super blond, super tanned.....very coarse and unfeminine. I despise the modern look I see all over the place!!! It angers me to see women so mistaking the natural beauty the Lord has blessed them with! I totally missed my era as far as this topic goes! :)
The new "moter-car" was reputed to fly along at the dizzying rate of 8 miles an hour! (Now? Hee-hee. Anyone ever heard of Daytona 500? Wait. That is racing right? I've never been into that, but it seemed a good analogy! :)
See what I mean? I love the 1800's!!!! But I also love my life today, at least in the family I have been blessed with! :) Yay for history! -Rachel
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