THE DINING ROOM circa 1880

WALLS
Some Americans called the dining room the “eating room”. Ella Rodman Church wrote, “The common practice of furnishing dining-rooms in green has much to do with their cold appearance, for green is eminently a cold color ; and the absence of any play of flame, from the apertures in the wall that usually serve for heating purposes, gives a hard, set look to the stiff belongings“. On the other side of the Atlantic, Robert Eddis pleaded, “but, for goodness' sake, avoid the dreary commonplaceness of light apple and sage greens, which seem to be the only colours thought appropriate for dining-room walls”.


One recommendation for the dining room walls was for a darkly painted dado, with a chair rail or painted paneling about 3 to 4 feet high, then paint or paper above to within 2 or 3 feet of the ceiling. It was felt that a warm brown, or chocolate was a good background color for pictures.


Below is a picture of a dining room decorated by Robert Eddis, and his description.

“In this room the mantel-piece, with the étagère over, is made to form an important feature of the general design ; the wall space is divided by a high dado or picture rail slightly moulded with ½ inch gas piping under, as a picture rod. The frieze is painted in plain vellum tone of colour, and decorated with stencil pattern enrichment. The woodwork generally is of deal (pine)varnished, the panels of the doors and shutters filled in with stencil decoration in a light shade of brown under the varnish. The general wall surface is hung with an all-over pattern paper of good warm golden brown tone of colour, admirably adapted for pictures. The furniture throughout is executed in Spanish mahogany, and designed to harmonize with the general character of the decoration.
The use of what is called a flatting coat, or finishing coat, of paint mixed with turpentine only, for wall surfaces, so as to produce a dull flat or dead surface without gloss, is, I think, a mistake, for this kind of work does not last when exposed to the weather; it shows every mark of dirt, and will not stand washing. This picture-surface, if painted, should not be varnished, but the dado and all woodwork of the doors and windows will be made much more effective if varnished, as I have before recommended. The woodwork should be painted of similar colour, as a rule, to the walls, but of much darker tone in two shades, and the panels covered with good ornament, stenciled on, all of which is inexpensive, and adds materially to the general artistic effect. The broad frieze, above what I call the picture or general wall space, should be much lighter in tone, and here of course there is an opportunity for real art-work. A broad decorative painted frieze, painted in compartments or panels, with figure-subjects, is of course, to my mind, the most desirable finish.”

***
The American, Mrs. Church, admitted that for the average American homeowner, the illustrations and styles described in decorating books of the day were much too expensive. Chair and picture rails would not be found in a moderately priced American home of 1880.
She advised that a large room should have “dark, rich furnishings, while a smaller one requires lighter coloring and style”. Walnut, rosewood and dark mahogany were woods for a large room, while oak and other lighter colored woods were better suited for a smaller room. Many critics of the day suggested the use of crimson in dining rooms, though brown or green were the more often used colors.
Church described the following wall treatment. Place a picture rail 12 to 15” below the ceiling and a chair rail about 3 feet off the floor. These should be painted crimson, dulled slightly with Indian or Venetian red, using a flat paint. Between the picture and chair rails paint or paper the wall in a green-gray tint. Use a light olive-green, somewhat darker than the field color, and finish with a crimson line at the top, about one inch wide, of molding or paper. Use a dark, rich, maroon and gold or black and gold in the dado space.
An ad for lincrusta

I wanted to point out something on the subject of the chair rail or height of the dado. Nowadays people feel all too often that it must be 3 feet high. This is not necessarily so. In the dining room, most chair backs were approximately 3 feet high, so if they were pushed back against the walls of the room, the chair rail would stop them from causing any damage. If the chair backs were higher, a higher chair rail would be needed. In other rooms, the height of the dado or rail would depend on the overall look desired, they were a decorative element, as opposed to their function in the 18th century, when furniture was ranged along the walls of a room and only pulled out to the center of the room when needed.
Further on Mrs. Church points out that since “In all probability, neither chair-rail nor picture-rail will be found in a moderate-sized, inexpensive house, ……crimson lines may be placed to advantage on the flat surface. The wood-work where walls are so colored should be neutral-tinted green or black, with some of the moldings in crimson ; and a bright look would be given to the whole by papering the frieze, the space above the picture-rail, with a gay pattern of birds or flowers“.

FLOORS

Eddis advised the householder paint or stain and varnish the floor for 2 or 3 feet all around, then place a good Indian or Persian rug in the center.
Mrs. Church felt one could dispense with carpets in a dining room altogether, staining and varnishing the floor and using a drugget in the center under the table. She went on to describe a covering of painted burlap. “This home-made floor covering will look quite like an old-style Turkey carpet if worked in arabesques of light blue and scarlet, with a judicious mixture of black and white, and fringed on two sides with either of the bright colors scarlet being, perhaps, the more desirable. It is a very convenient fashion to do without carpets, for they are perfect locusts to a limited purse, and nowhere can they be better dispensed with than in the dining-room”. She did write that for those who feel they must have carpets, there were new designs with black backgrounds, some with Japanese figures and bordering, which would go well with a red and gold Japanese wall paper.
If you read the article about the front hall, you’ll recall that the Japanese style decorative touch was popular.
Parquet flooring

Church referred to parquet flooring several times in her book.” Parquet or inlaid floors, sometimes known as wood-carpeting consists of narrow strips of oak, ash, walnut, or other hard woods, kiln-dried, and cemented to heavy muslin. An ornamental border and center-piece in contrasted colors usually accompany each design. ……. Parquet borders are often laid in a room, with a carpet in the center. The material may also be used as wainscoting, and even ceilings and walls may be paneled with it. This flooring is a quarter of an inch thick, and can be rolled up like oilcloth”. These wood carpets were used to cover old softwood floors that were unsuitable for staining and varnishing, and I’ve mentioned them before.
An ad for "wood carpet".


If you’ve read the previous articles, you’ll know that until the 1870’s homeowners generally covered their floors with carpet, wall to wall. It was in the 1870’ and 80’s that the move toward varnished hardwood floors began. Design critics had been suggesting the use of hardwood floors for some time, but they took quite a while to catch on. Some could not afford to redo their old softwood floors in hardwoods, others liked their carpets.
One design critic exclaimed “It is a matter of astonishment to me, to find that there are still a large number of people who are content to keep this exceedingly bad arrangement of floor covering, and who object altogether to having a certain amount of plain floor space all round the sides of the room. In the first place, this covering of the whole surface is unhealthy ; in the second place, it is dirty; and, in the third place, the cost of the carpet is infinitely more than the cost of painting or staining the edges of the rooms.
By these last few words, one can safely assume that many were still purchasing new carpeting instead of replacing their old floorboards with hardwood flooring.

FIREPLACES




If one didn’t have a fireplace similar to one of these in their dining room, having only an old fashioned, outdated marble one. Mrs. Church had a suggestion, “…..the ordinary marble mantel-shelf will be much improved by a covering of maroon leather, or velveteen, finished with fringe. These coverings, when well made and harmonizing with the rest of the furniture, are extremely ornamental; and foundations of satin, felt, or momie cloth will also be found suitable“. She goes on describe how it was done.
“To make the cover fit smoothly, a board is cut the exact size of the mantel-shelf, and an under covering of cambric muslin is fitted carefully over it. The embroidery is put on the curtain, or lambrequin, which is usually made quite straight and without fullness. For a rich material, heavy fringe is sufficient ornament; while crewel or cretonne embroidery is very handsome on the last-mentioned fabrics, and affords scope for the exercise of artistic taste.”
To add additional ornament…..
“At the sides of the fireplace, tiles painted on a pale pink or green ground are a bright and suitable ornamentation. A skillful amateur could do this herself, and the numerous representations of mediaeval dining-tables and customs would furnish appropriate subjects. If tiles are impossible, small wooden panels, painted a dead white and ornamented with transferred French pictures, the whole highly varnished, and set in narrow maroon-colored frames or borders, will produce the desired effect. A legend across the front, in old English lettering, is very appropriate for a dining-room mantel, the ground-work being of the same color as that of the tiles or panels, and the letters either in black and gold or maroon and vermilion“.
If one could not have an open fire in the fireplace, a screening of ivy or other plants would do.
In another article, I mentioned the practice of using a curtain in front of a fireplace. Here's an example used in a dining room.


WINDOWS
Ella Rodman Church liked the colorful look of a bit of stained glass in dining room windows. If stained glass was out of the question, one could achieve a nice effect by pasting thin figured muslin or lace over each pane. One could go a step further by arranging ferns and autumn leaves over the lace, or perhaps pressed pansies or daisies.

A plain brass or wooden rod, or even iron gas pipe was considered more appropriate for hanging curtains than “the heavy lacquered brass or wood poles and unmeaning fringe valances, which only serve to show dirt and dust, and are execrable in taste“.
The curtains themselves could be made of almost any fabric.
“Unbleached muslin trimmed with parallel bands of blue and red has a macaw-like effect that is quite wonderful considering the material; horizontal stripes of Turkey-red and crash-toweling are very Oriental-looking ; our maroon-furnished room would be elegantly finished with curtains of horse-girths or netted twine, separated at intervals of half a yard or so by five-inch bands of maroon velveteen. All the pretty Oriental stuffs that are to be had at such fabulously low rates seem to find their natural sphere as dining-room draperies; while curtains of crewel-work, appliqué on Turkish toweling, cretonne-work almost everything that can be invented or made appear to be just the thing in the dining-room. Anything but lace draperies, on the one hand, or material that is too rich and heavy, on the other“.

FURNITURE
The most important article of furniture in a Victorian dining room was considered to be the sideboard. It was a massive piece, as a rule, and all the glittering best china, glassware and silver were arranged upon it.
In addition to the table and dining chairs buffet and sideboard, both Church and Eddis recommended a couple of comfortable lounge or arm chairs, perhaps with a hassock for each.
A dining room lounge


A sideboard

The normal lighting in a dining room was a gas chandelier, or gasolier, hung over the table. Out in the country it might be replaced by a lamp sitting directly on the table. Apparently neither was quite satisfactory.” Side-lights, or sconces, may be placed on either side of the sideboard and the mantel-piece, one or both. It is better to have them on two sides of the room. It is also very pleasant to have one set, those by the sideboard to burn gas, and those on the chimney-piece made for candles. Many designs are now produced, and many very good ones ; some are wholly of brass, some enclose a bit of mirror or a plaque of pottery. "
Some pleasant pictures were advisable for the walls of the room. Paintings of fruit or flowers were agreeable, pictures of dead animals were passé. Though portraits were often hung in the dining room, Mrs. Church felt they should be kept out of the dining room or parlor .
Finally, an example of a very simple dining room

THE FRONT HALL circa 1880

The information in this section is culled from two books, one British the other American, published in 1880 and 1882. Both were very similar, and expressed opinions I'd seen echoed in other, later books.
In both cases the books were geared toward the well to do for the most part, but they were also read by the budget-minded.


The above sketch shows an “inner” hall for a large, important house designed in a “modern Jacobean style….as a fair example of the kind of internal work suitable for the new style of architecture, yclept, for want of a better name, ' Queen Anne.'.” Just as a note of interest, the word yclept is not a misprint. It is a word that was already archaic in 1880, meaning, more or less, ‘called’ as in, called, for want of a better name, ‘Queen Anne’. I went and looked it up.

THE FRONT HALL
A Victorian era house’s front door was generally painted, then varnished for protection against the weather and for easier washing. A recommended color was chocolate or some other warm shade of brown.

FLOORS
Most London town houses apparently had stone floors in the front hall. Though stonework could be kept clean and white with judicious scrubbing, Robert W. Eddis suggested that it may be desirable to paint the stone margins in a soft brown or other similar color. The center of the hallway should be covered with a rug or thick felt drugget. Oilcloth and linoleum were also commonly used, but some didn’t feel that the painted pattern on the oilcloth bore up well under daily wear and tear, over time they could crack. Linoleum was a new product that found favor with many, and came in assorted colors and patterns.
Parquet floors, in squares of one inch thick solid wood were another option, though quite expensive, so not as often seen.
Ella Rodman Church suggested…
“A strip of cocoanut or Japanese matting looks very well …..and a brightly checked Canton matting also makes a pretty and inexpensive hall carpet. A band of color at either edge, blue or crimson flannel or felt, makes a very good finish. A width of carpet running through the hall, with a bordering of inlaid wood, wood-carpet, or the brown walnut stain of the floor, showing at either side, will also look well. The carpet itself, if in harmony with the walls and staircase, may be in two shades of green, crimson, or chocolate-brown, in small set figures. If the hall is square in shape, the carpet should be so also, with the bordering on the four sides.

Marble mosaics and plain or encaustic tiles had come into the forefront, and it was advised by some that when using tiles one should stick to simple patterns and plain colors like red, grey, or buff….“the all-over patterns, which are published in most of the pattern books laid before the public ; not only are these elaborate geometrical patterns unsatisfactory when laid, ….but they are infinitely more expensive than plain red 4 or 6 inch tiles laid over the whole space, with a simple border of black or buff. A plain red tile pavement of this kind is infinitely pleasanter, warmer, and more suitable for a town hall, than any of the elaborate patterns which are offered for the public choice, and repeated ad nauseam, in oilcloth and linoleum.” The marble mosaics and tiles were more expensive in America, and at this point were not often used

WALLS & CEILINGS
The walls of the front hall could be treated in several ways. One, which was considered the most suitable option, was to paint the walls about two thirds of their height with a pleasant color that wouldn’t show up finger marks. A pattern could be stenciled onto the painted wall, a dark over light or light over dark. The wall was then varnished to make it easier to clean. The upper third portion of the wall could be divided from the lower by a “plain wooden molding” which could, if desired be made in the form of a narrow shelf to display pieces of porcelain or stoneware, etc.
The question of how high the dado should be was a matter of personal choice. As stated above, some preferred the 2/3 height, while others specified a height of about 3 feet. The “plain wooden molding” mentioned, when lowered became what is known as a chair rail. The chair rail was sometimes dispensed with and a paper border was substituted.
Around this period the idea of a dado was a rather new one, and many still preferred the entire wall painted or papered as one. American critic Ella Rodman Church wrote,
“The field to choose from is so large, and so much is to be considered in the way of harmony with regard to the other furnishing, that the covering of walls is a subject for almost endless discussion. Among the things to be absolutely excluded, however, are " wall-papers in imitation of moldings, pilasters, and heavy carved cornices, which are vulgar in the extreme. In the vast majority of instances, the things imitated would be out of place; for no one wants a row of fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals or elaborate cornices in an ordinary hall. If the reality would be objectionable, the cheap imitations are much more so ; and, if it is considered desirable to break up the blank walls, it can be done much better and at less cost by other means. Papers printed in imitation of marble,
granite, and wood graining are also in bad taste. Perfectly plain tints are very much handsomer."

Among Mrs. Church’s recommendations were “…. dado of paper, the ground of a dull red, with the pattern in black, and the wall above painted in pale buff, green, or gray. …
For a hall, the palest of greens or browns is usually the most pleasing in effect; or the walls may be paneled artistically.”

The upper portion of the wall under the cornice usually became discolored quickly from the effects of gas lighting. Robert W. Eddis recommended using distemper, a paint that could be washed off every year and redone cheaply.
“In the frieze might be panels containing birds and figures, which could be done in distemper with good effect, the general drawing being done in plain red outline, contrasting well with a cream-coloured general tone of ground. ………a plain running stencil pattern of foliage, shields, and birds, as an enriched border just below the cornice, might be judiciously introduced, or a good light-toned and simple pattern, or stamped paper…..may be hung over the whole space instead of distemper. …….Decorative wreaths of one or two colours, and pots of flowers or foliage sufficiently large to form a good decorative frieze in distemper colouring, may be done from 2s. 6d. to 3$. 6d. a yard run, and the patterns may be kept, so that the work may be renewed, if necessary, each year, or changed with new patterns, which can be cut out at a very small expenditure of time and money. The ceiling should be lightly tinted in a vellum, pink, or grey tone, with some slight stencil decoration to relieve it, and the cornice treated in very light shades in distemper.”
The author continued…….
“Remember these ceilings are certain in a little space to get dingy from ordinary town atmosphere, and the wretched impurities of gas. It is unfortunate that in this nineteenth century we are still obliged to burn gas which is generally impure and a disgrace to
modern science and civilisation. Consumers are made to pay a large price for this kind of light, and ought fairly to expect to be supplied with it free from all those impurities, which tend to destroy, not only the painting and decoration on our walls, but all pictures, gilding, and other works of the kind which are left unprotected by glass. At a little extra cost, plain deal or canvas plaster ribs might be laid over the existing plaster work, and the panels thus formed could be filled in with good flock paper to relieve the general flatness of the surface, and could be painted whenever required, or the whole surface may be covered with canvas plaster in a delicate all-over pattern of naturalistic or conventional leaf ornament cast in low relief, the ground work being tinted golden-yellow colour.”

Another wall treatment recommended for the hall was to panel it to a height of 6 or 7 feet with a plain inexpensive wood, like pine, then paint it in red or dark blue lacquer. Above
Use a flocked wallpaper, painted golden yellow, flecked with a bit or a reddish or golden color.
Polished marble or mosaic tiles or slabs were another wall recommendation. It was advised that the woodwork be painted in two colors, with the moldings done in a darker shade, “….if the mullions and framing of the door be done in a dark shade, let us say of chocolate or brown, the panels might be lighter in tone, with stencil decoration of flowers, birds, or fruit in a darker shade. Here let me say that all woodwork, such as doors, windows, and shutters, which are subject to the wear of not always clean hands, should be varnished throughout “.
Yet another decorating option…….
“A warm golden-brown or yellow forms a good general tone for a hall and staircase, with a Pompeian-red dado painted, with black skirting and rail, and a frieze of light pattern paper or cream-coloured distemper ground, with line enrichment in dark golden brown or red. The general woodwork should be painted black, where there is not too much of it, or in two shades of good red or brown, or the general tone might be peacock or light blue, with soft vellum grey and blue pattern papers or distemper. A deep frieze
of boldly designed painted or stencil ornament will assist much in breaking the usual bad proportion of the staircase wall, while panels may be formed in bold lines of paint or distemper, wherein may be framed pictures or other art work. A good neutral tint or warm grey ground, with ornament in green and vermilion, has a good effect if the colours be carefully treated; or a wide diaper, with patterns interchanged, and charged with shields and legends here and there. Any good photographs, sketches, or studies are useful to hang on the rake of the staircase, on the eye line, to take off the general coldness. Many varieties of tints will suggest themselves, which will help to give a bright and cheerful character to the passage-way of the whole house, in place of the cold and dreary, rightly called, well, to which we are so accustomed.”

There was, at this time, a great interest in Japanese and Chinese art. Markets were full of colorful, inexpensive Japanese fans and prints, etc., and they were considered to be good pieces with which to decorate halls and staircases. Stencils done in an Oriental style were also in favor.
These fish stencils were used to decorate the panels of a door. The stencil was done in dark chocolate over a light reddish brown. Mr. Eddis felt that a door stenciled in such a manner was a marked improvement over the “……dull monotony of imitation graining of oak, maple, or satin wood, to which we are so much accustomed. “


* * * * * *

Sometimes the front hall was divided in two, the front portion consisting of a vestibule.
The inner door, with perhaps sidelights, was often glazed in plain plate glass. Critics advised the use of leaded or stained glass panels. Lace and figured Swiss muslin were two popular glass coverings. Some people used their crafting skills and applied things like diaphane and vitromania. If you’d like more information about these crafts check this book.
HOUSEHOLD ELEGANCIES: suggestions in household art and tasteful home decorations.
1875

In larger homes, with larger front halls, there could be a small fireplace.
‘If you wish for places for china, have plain painted deal shelves, made in groups, gradually diminishing from the lower to the upper shelf, and fixed above the mantel-piece. Do not, as is so often done, cover the mantel-shelf with a wooden top, covered with cloth or velvet, nailed on with a fringe and brass nails ; this will be an endless source of annoyance, from the fact that it never can be kept free from dirt and dust, not to say anything of its spotty and unartistic effect.”

For the basic, garden variety hall, finishing touches included a hat rack and umbrella stand, which in those days was one, often fairly large piece of furniture. A massive hall table flanked by similar chairs was in order when there was room for it. If the hall was a small one, a chair and a wall hat rack would do.

THE BEDROOM AND BOUDOIR CIRCA 1880

Victorians were developing a mania about clean, undisease-laden fresh air. One of the reasons for having a fireplace in the bedroom was that the chimney flue helped ventilate the room.
“I take it for granted that every one understands the enormous importance of having a fireplace in each sleeping-room in an English house, for the sake of the ventilation afforded by the chimney”. The author of Bedroom and Boudoir (1878), went so far as to suggest that perhaps a brick in the wall might be loosened, or perhaps some holes drilled by an auger into the panel of the bedroom door.
If for some reason, one couldn’t sleep with an open window, then they should leave their door open at night, as long as there was a window open in the hallway all day and night, no matter what the weather.

If one cannot afford carpets, bare wooden floors with a simple animal skin will suffice.

It was advised that you paint or paper bedrooms in delicate colors. One author advised the walls be painted for washability with “harmoniously contrasting lines” at the ceiling. She also advised patternless cretonne curtains of the same shade as the walls, edged with stripes matching the ones near the ceiling. For those who preferred wallpaper, “…let it be all of one soft tint, a pearly gray, a tender sea-shell pink, or a green which has no arsenic in it; but on this point great care is requisite”.
Chintz, stretched tightly in panels, so it could be taken down for cleaning was another decorating idea for the bedroom wall. Yet another scheme mentioned was for panels upon which gathered white muslin was stretched over pink, blue or apple-green silk.
On the other hand, sometimes dark colors were desirable. The following paragraph illustrates a case.

“This pretty room is in a handsome, moderately sized country house, that was built and furnished by the occupants after their own cherished ideas. The result was eminently pleasing; and the bedroom in question, having plenty of windows and sunshine, was not furnished in the light colors that usually predominate, as this would have made it altogether too glaring. It was a large, square apartment; and the dark, brilliant coloring seemed to produce the effect of a gorgeous tropical bird. The ebonized furniture was relieved by scarlet cushions, and the curtains were in stripes of Turkey-red alternating with cream-colored stuff, and finished with a plaited ruffle of the red. The wall was covered with a particularly rich French paper, the pattern wrought in bouquets of poppies, daisies, and morning-glories“.

Assorted kinds of lightweight fabrics, generally washable cottons, were used for curtains.
If cheesecloth was used for the bedroom curtains, it was recommended that it be lined with a fabric the same color as the trim, with perhaps a simple straight lambrequin or valance.

Described as a Dutch bedstead


Beds
The old four poster beds were out of style, replaced for a time by “…frightful and vulgar frames of cast iron, ornamented with tawdry gilt or bronze scroll-work…” . But in 1884, noted design critic Ella Rodman Church suggested that an inexpensive metal or cane bed could be improved with a little gilding.

She gave instructions on how to make 2 kinds of bed canopies.
Head canopies, so much in use, have a very inviting effect. They are not objectionable in regard to ventilation, like close curtains, and they can be arranged with very little expense on almost any bed. Take two upright pieces of wood, two or three inches wide and as high as is desired for the canopy; have two short projecting side-pieces fastened at the top, and with these support a horizontal strip the whole forming a framework which may be covered with colored cambric stretched tightly over it, and afterward with dotted or plain Swiss, or any other thin material that may be desired. The curtain part is then gathered on to the back, sides, and front of this oblong frame, which should project not more than half a yard or so from the head-board ; then ribbon to match the color of the cambric loops them back at the sides, where they are fastened to the strips of wood. The curtains may also be lined with cambric, or silesia, which is softer.
Should the bed stand with one side against the wall, as it must where it is desirable to economize space, a very pretty canopy can be made on a frame shaped like half of a circle with the rounded part in front, and supported at the back with a narrow strip of wood fastened to the side of the bedstead, and also secured at the top against the wall. This is also to be covered with cambric and draped all around, the drapery at the back corning in front of the wooden support to conceal it. If the rounded top can be fastened to the wall (bracket fashion) without the strip of wood, it will be all the better; and a pretty finish can be made when the curtains are attached to this frame by a pointed valance of the cambric covered with the thin material, and trimmed with a plaiting or fluting of the same or lace. The trimming on the curtains should be of the same ; and they may be gracefully laid back over the head-and foot-board.
A canopy of this sort gives a peculiar grace and quite an elegant look to the whole room ; and curtains of dotted or figured Swiss, with the same at the windows, have a fresh, airy appearance that is very desirable in a sleeping-room.
People slept on the new, improved mattresses . The author of Bed and Boudoir felt that two mattresses, one of horsehair and another of wool made as soft a bed as anyone could want. “Frowsy old feather beds” were out, as were mattresses stuffed with chopped grass or seaweed. In the US, mattresses were also filled with cornhusks.

With about 8 yards of muslin and 3 bales of cotton-batting one could make a very nice “comfortable” or comforter. This, together with a couple of good wool blankets would keep most any Victorian warm on cold winter nights.
A popular kind of bedroom furniture of the day was painted and enameled, decorated with flowers and gilding.
Mrs. Church describes a bed ;" The bedstead of elder wood is painted white, varnished, and ornamented with red, blue, and green Turkish arabesques. The bedding consists of a spring mattress and a curled-hair mattress. The linen sheet is hemstitched on the ends. At the head and foot of the bed are bolsters, filled with curled hair, the length of which corresponds with the width of the bedstead. The bed is also furnished with a large and a small square pillow and an edredon, or down quilt. The fine linen pillow-cases are trimmed with embroidered insertions and ruffles, and the upper side of the case for the edredon is trimmed besides with embroidered foundation figures. In the center of the case for the small pillow is a monogram."

A draped toilet stand. The box held milady’s face powder, and any other cosmetics of the time that she may have used.

Described as a simple toilet table.


Toilet Tables
Although the ladies of the day didn’t use make up as we know it ( perhaps a burnt match to darken the lashes), they did use an assortment of creams and lotions to keep their skin soft and white. There were also hair preparations, back in the days before shampoos, to make one’s hair silky smooth.

Toilet tables made of drapery over a pine framework were a popular furniture item in a ladies’ bedroom of the 70’s and 80’s. Male design critics apparently railed against them, but the ladies mentioned them in their books with favor.
“If the room be an essentially modern one, and especially if it be in the country, nothing affords a prettier spot of colour in it, than the old-fashioned toilet-table of deal (pine) covered with muslin draperies over soft-hued muslin or batiste. Of course the caricature of such an arrangement may be seen any day in the fearful and detestable toilet-table with a skimpy and coarse muslin flounce over a tight-fitting skirt of glaring pink calico, but this is a parody…..” .
Ella Rodman Church felt it was “quite an article of convenience”, and described how to make one in detail.
An "antique" toilet table



“ Quite an inexpensive one may be made from a dry-goods box three feet high, four wide, and two feet six inches deep, with four blocks of wood one inch thick and four inches square nailed beneath each corner, to which casters are screwed. The box is placed with open side out, and fitted with a convenient shelf or two. The whole interior should be neatly papered or painted and varnished.
On each side (at the back) of the top are fastened two long, narrow boxes, which may be obtained generally from the drug or dry-goods stores. These should be about two feet long and one wide, and from eight to ten inches deep. By sawing pieces of lath to fit the sides, and tacking them on in proper position, shelves may be made that will be convenient for holding various articles. The covers to the boxes, fitted with small hinges, will make doors ; and the whole must be neatly finished with moldings put on with small brads, and an ornamental top and base made of square boards an inch or two deeper than the cases themselves. To these are screwed a pair of the iron brackets which we can purchase for from thirty-five to fifty cents, or for seventy-five cents to one dollar, fitted with lamps
complete.
These cases are screwed or nailed very securely on the top of the table, as they are to sustain the glass, which is of 'comfortable size 'perfectly plain, but of good quality and neatly framed. Such a one can be purchased new for three or four dollars, and at second hand frequently for half of that sum.
Over the top of the glass is fastened a frame …..around which is draped a hanging made of Swiss (figured or plain), lined with rose-color or other tint. First, a width reaching from the top to within a few inches of the floor is fastened to the upper back ends of the semicircular tester, the ends finished with a deep ruffle of the same ; then on the tester above this are arranged two pieces made by tacking a width of the Swiss and lining two yards long, folding it diagonally from corner to corner, cutting and trimming the two cut edges with ruffles of the same, and arranging them back of the boxes on either side. Around the top tack another ruffle made with an edge above the cord, which runs along the center of all the ruffles.
The table-top is covered with a piece of the Swiss over a lining like the curtains, and a drapery arranged around the front made with rings at the top, which slide on a wire beneath the narrow ruffle finishing the edge. This allows access to the shelves within. The wood-work of this table should be carefully polished and ornamented to correspond with the rest of the furniture, which may be ebonized, enameled in colors, embellished with marquetry, ivory inlaying, decalcomanie, painting, bronzing, and gilding, or enriched with carvings at pleasure. Any one of these methods of beautifying will be found elegant, and may be made perfect of its kind."
Some felt that the fashion for draping the mirror above the toilet table was a fire hazard, seeing as it was a time of open flame lighting, but others continued to do so.
A "modern" French washing stand


Other furniture
Folding screens were a favorite item in many Victorian bedrooms. One could dress behind them privately, if one was sharing a room, they could protect one from the ever present drafts, and they were pretty.
A couch or lounge, a low easy-chair or a rattan chair with a bright cushion were some other pieces to complete a room. Another example of seating was described as “ a round box on casters, with a low wooden back attached, curved to fit the back against it, and generously stuffed and padded. This should be covered like the other furniture, and finished with a deep fall of the material all around the seat.”
A round or oval table which could be used for writing or sewing was a very convenient item for the bedroom. In 1882, Mrs. Church described a bedroom table cover.
“A very appropriate table-cover for a bedroom may be made of squares of cretonne. There is a bordering cut from the striped material, and the groundwork of this bordering and that of the central square should be the same. These squares, for quite a large cover, are three eighths of a yard each, and seven in number, the ground of the central one being black like that of the border, and the other six being two each of red, blue, and buff. These colors may of course be varied to suit different tastes. The squares are joined like patchwork, and the seams are covered with a black worsted braid about two thirds the width of skirt braid, herring-boned with gold-colored silk. A lining of silesia, blue, pink, buff, or gray, and a deep edging of antique lace, completes an exceedingly pretty table-cover.”

Every bedroom of the period should have a wash stand, with a large basin and water jug, and space for sponges and soap. If there was no maid, or for convenience sake, one also needed to have a receptacle for the dirty water, which would be emptied occasionally during the day. The author suggested a china one, as tin ones began to smell from the dirty water and soapsuds. Some wash stands were available with a tipping basin feature. They looked rather similar to a sink, with running water, but when you finished washing, you’d tip the bowl and it would empty into a basin inside the cabinet. Of course, later someone had to come and take out the bucket of dirty water.


A wash stand for a corner of a boy‘s bedroom or downstairs corner or closet with a “long towel on a roller behind it”. My boys would have knocked this one over constantly.


If you didn’t have a separate room for bathing, you could bathe in your room behind the ever present folding screen. An oil cloth would be spread on the floor, and the tub placed upon it, then filled.

A small bedroom fireplace.


A fireplace in the bedroom was a desirable item, as mentioned in the opening paragraph, for proper ventilation, but also for aesthetic reasons.
On the subject of fireplaces, “When one thinks either of the imitation marble mantelpiece, or its cotton velvet and of false-lace-bedizened shelves, the artistic soul cannot refrain from a shudder.” The fireplaces now in favor harkened back to the old fashioned looking open hearths, lined with tiles. In England an iron basket for coals would be set within it, in America, where wood was abundant, a different sort of grate or iron “dogs” would be used.
It was a common practice to cover the mantel with drapery, which could match the curtains or the table covering. It could then be covered with china candlesticks, vases and a clock.



To finish off the bedroom, “one or two light stands are always convenient”, and a shelf by the bed for a book for bedtime reading. Some photographs, engravings and brackets for china statuettes or vases of flowers, though “china twisted into such outlandish forms as dolphins, frogs, porcupines, or small pink dogs is not to be tolerated “ as were “slippers with cut flowers in the toe, fishes with open mouths for the same purpose, and a host of other preposterous devices in china“.

A bedroom could be decorated and furnished simply, as seen from this 1880 illustration.



Or as lushly as this example from 1882. The lady is seated in her boudoir, her bed can be seen in the alcove in the background.



Finally, the following is a paragraph on a boy’s bedroom .
“If I had my own way, I would accustom boys as well as girls to take a pride in making and keeping their bedrooms as pretty and original as possible. Boys might be encouraged to so arrange their collections of eggs, butterflies, beetles, and miscellaneous rubbish, as to combine some sort of decorative principle with this sort of portable property. And I would always take care that a boy's room was so furnished and fitted that he might feel free, there at least, from the trammels of good furniture. He should have bare boards with only a rug to stand on at the bed-side and fire-place, but he should be encouraged to make with his own hands picture-frames, bookcases, brackets, anything he liked, to adorn his room.”

A view of 19th century architecture as seen from 1907

An excerpt from the book
THE HOUSE: its plan, decoration and care
1907 Isabel Bevier


TRANSITIONAL HOMES
The word transition suggests change and that suggests variety, uncertainty, and these are the words which characterize the period beginning about 1825. The war of the revolution was over, but the spirit of it yet remained; traditions and customs were being questioned. The Americans were experimenting in politics, business, and social customs and naturally this spirit of experimentation expressed itself in architecture. For a time Colonial customs and traditions were maintained, but they were bound to yield sooner or later to the demands of the revolutionary spirit for a newer style of architecture as well as changes in social order and business methods. Architecture is too complex to yield easily to experimentation. As a result the dwellings of the period show all sorts or incongruities.

The well-trained handicraftsmen lost much of their skill in their attempt to build quickly rather than well. They lost, too, the inspiration of association with skilled workmen and good standards as they journeyed westward. The amateur architects lacked judgment and adaptation. Greek art and architecture have been the standard of beauty for all ages, but these architects overlooked the fact that these models of beauty were public buildings, not private residences. The results were incongruities in domestic architecture. Imitations of Greek and Doric temples made strange looking houses on the Hudson. Many towns in the United States are still in their transitional period as regards art, and architecture, witness the tiny cottage with Doric and Ionic columns of a size sufficient for a Greek temple, or the house with Dutch gambrel roof, French windows and old Colonial outline.

The wooden Parthenon endured longer in the South. The veranda with pillars served to shut out some of the heat of the Southern sun. This lawless imitation of old world forms obtained not only in architecture, but furniture and furnishings as well. Empire furniture lacking the refinement and simplicity of Colonial became common and what one has called the "Dark Middle Age" of American interior decoration began.

The condition of New York residential architecture in the fifties may be gathered from the complaints of one-writer who does not like to have the "streets of New York filled with costly and meaningless copies of Greek porticos, of Gothicized dwellings, of ambitious imitations of baronial castles, Egyptian tombs, turreted churches, useless campanile towers." The writer adds, "As yet there is no American architecture whose name is known beyond the circle of his own employers" and he predicts that we must outgrow our childish dependence upon the old world before we shall be able to boast of our architecture as we boast of our ship builders. One style followed another in rapid succession. All lands, all materials were brought into requisition by the energetic American architect, aided by the ambitious rich man who had traveled in other lands. Perhaps the most extreme example of the incongruities of the house of the transition period may be found in "The Celebrity," where the new rich man gives this description of his favorite country seat.
"I had all these ideas I gathered knocking about the world, and I gave them to Willis of Philadelphia to put together for me. But he's honest enough not to claim the house. Take, for instance, that minaret business on the west. I picked that up from a mosque in Algiers. The oriel just this side is whole cloth from Haclclon Hall, and the gallaried porch next it from a Florentine villa. The conical capped tower I got from a French chateau, and some of the features on the south from a Buddhist temple in Japan. Only a little blending and grouping necessary, and Willis calls himself an architect, and wasn't equal to it. Now," he added, "get the effect. Did you ever see another house like it?"
Extreme as this description may seem, such monstrosities existed and similar examples are yet to be found. It would appear that the United States is still in the transitional period so far as its architecture is concerned though distinct types of American houses are being developed. It is also evident that while the house of the transitional period may be inconvenient it is certain to be incongruous because of its blending of elements which do not belong together.

What a House Should Be???

THE HOUSE THAT JILL BUILT AFTER JACK’S HAD PROVED A FAILURE 1882
By E.C.Gardner , revised 1895

"It appears, Jack, my dear, to be absolutely indispensable to our future happiness that the house shall front north, south, east and west."

"Let's build it on a pivot."

"We must not have large halls to keep warm in cold weather, and we must have large halls 'for style.' The stories must not be less than eleven nor more than nine feet high. It must be carpeted throughout and all the floors must be bare. It must be warmed by steam and hot water and furnaces and fireplaces and base-burners and coal grates."

"We shan't have to go away from home to get into purgatory, shall we?"

"Hush! The walls of the rooms must be calcimined, painted, frescoed and papered; they must be dyed in the mortar, finished with leather, with tiles, with tapestry and with solid wood panels. There must be blinds—outside blinds, awnings, inside shutters, rolling blinds, Venetian shades and no blinds at all. There must be wide, low-roofed piazzas all around the house, so that we can live out of doors in the summer, and on no account must the sun be excluded from the windows of the first story by piazza roofs. At least eight patent sanitary plumbing articles, and as many cooking ranges, are each the only one safe and fit to be used. The house must be high and low—"

"I'm Jack and you shall be game—"

"It must be of bricks, wood and stone, separately and in combination; it must be Queen Anne, Gothic, French, Japanesque and classic American, and it must be painted all the colors of an autumn landscape."

"Well, there's one comfort," said Jack; "you haven't paid for this advice, so you won't be obliged to take it in order to save it."

"I should think not, indeed, but that isn't the trouble. These letters are from my special friends, wise, practical people, who know everything about building and housekeeping, and they speak from solemn conviction based on personal experience."

"Moral: When the doctors differ, do as you please."

THE VICTORIAN BATHROOM

There were house plans in the 1850’s that showed bathrooms. There were plans in the 1890’s that showed none. Some of the earlier rooms labeled bathrooms had running water and tubs and perhaps even toilets, others were just rooms in which one could bathe if one placed a tin bathing tub within it.

By the turn of the 19th c at least 17 American cities had experimented with water supply systems. Philadelphia, the largest city in the US at the time, commissioned Benjamin Latrobe to build a steam powered waterworks. It opened in 1801, but it was plagued with problems and replaced by a new system in 1815. Boston embarked on a water supply system in 1846, and was soon supplying over 11,000 households with running water “for all domestic purposes, including private baths and water closets” according to an almanac of 1850. In 1860 Boston had 3,910 bathtubs and 9,864 water closets, for a population of 178,000. An interesting point is that even if your house was supplied by public water, it didn’t necessarily mean you had running water in the house. Some had hydrants in their yards and brought the water indoors by the bucketful.

In the 1850’s the water closet was expensive to install and imperfect in its workings, thus there weren’t very many in use. The bathroom of 1900, however would be pretty familiar to all of us.

In 1799 Elizabeth Drinker wrote in her journal that she had taken a shower bath, and that it was the first time she had been wet all over in 28 years. By 1836 it was advised that a young lady should wash herself completely with soap and water every 24 hours so as not to offend. Godey’s Lady’s Book , was advising readers in 1860 that bathing at night was ill advised, while bathing briefly in the morning once a week was fine. Before the 19th century, and even well into it, people washed themselves with water and a sponge when they felt they needed it. This final point was a matter of personal choice. Some felt they needed a washing every day, some once a week, or once a month or once every few years or so. At that, they didn’t use soap. Soap was for laundry. Soap for bathing wasn’t commonly used till the second half of the 19th c.

Before the use of bathrooms, bathing was often done in the kitchen, close to the hot water, and usually the warmest room in the house. Bathtubs often came under the heading of kitchen equipment.

The contraption on the wall by the door was for bathing. The sides slope down to the center basin to catch the water that was poured over the bather.

Another technological advancement that advanced the use of the bathtub, in addition to the increased amounts of public water systems was the attic cistern. It was filled by rainwater or by pumping water up from a well or spring. Gravity would then take over to provide running water to any room in the house.

Showers were generally used only by men. Elizabeth Drinker’s husband and sons had been using the shower for a year before she agreed to give it a try. Women were considered the weaker sex, delicate and fragile compared to men. The streams of water were widely felt to be harmful to women. Home décor authority Charles E. White wrote in 1914 that "……some constitutions cannot stand the rigors of shower bathing, a practice which should be resorted to only under the advice of a physician." Until well into the 1930’s few women showered, so there were few showers within the home. People bathed. Of course, there were households that didn’t mind paying extra to get a shower installed.

an example of one kind of Victorian shower, fill the can first.


the rest of the tiny bathroom
This is an example of a bathroom that was merely a cubby off the upstairs hall, in which a gentleman could have a very quick shower and a shave.

by the way, here's the commode in the same house

Following is a segment on the bath from the book Manners, Culture and Dress, published in 1890.

In most of our houses in the city there is a separate bath room with hot and cold water, but country houses are not always so arranged. A substitute for the bath-room is a large piece of oilcloth, which can be laid upon the floor of the ordinary dressing-room. Upon this may be placed the bath-tub or basin.
There are various kinds of baths, both hot and cold, the douche, the shower-bath, the hip-bath and the sponge-bath.
We do not bathe to make ourselves clean; but to keep clean, and for the sake of its health-giving and invigorating effects. Once a week a warm bath, at about 100°, may be used, with plenty of soap, in or der to thoroughly cleanse the pores of the skin.

A douche or hip-bath may be taken every morning, winter and summer, with the temperature of the water suited to the endurance of the individual. In summer a second or sponge-bath may be taken on retiring.
Only the most vigorous constitutions can endure the shower-bath, therefore it cannot be recommended for indiscriminate use.
After these baths a rough towel should be vigorously used, not only to help remove the impurities of the skin, but for the beneficial friction which will send a glow oyer the whole body. The hair glove or flesh-brush may be used to advantage in the bath before applying the towel.
Before stepping into the bath the head should be wet with cold water, and in the bath the pit of the stomach should first be sponged.
There is no danger to most people from taking a bath in a state of ordinary perspiration. But one should by all means avoid it if fatigued or overheated.

Next in importance to the water-bath is the air bath. Nothing is so conducive to health as an exposure of the body to air and sun. A French physician has recommended the sun-bath as a desirable hygienic practice. It is well, therefore, to remain without clothing for some little time after bathing, performing such duties of the toilet as can be done in that condition.

IN THE VICTORIAN DRAWING ROOM

If you’ve read the other articles, pertaining to color and design, that related what the critics felt was right or wrong, well, this is a slice of real life.

The drawing room, or as it was sometimes known in America, the reception hall, was the center of the house, it showed your status, your gentility, your good taste. It was not the living room of today, that role was filled more by the Victorian dining room. Decorating the drawing room was treading a fine line. You did not want to live ‘below your station”, that would be very bad, very damaging. On the other hand, you didn’t want to be seen as trying too hard, that could be worse. You wanted your room to be ‘handsomely furnished’, but not ‘showy’. Not living up to your income was bad, trying too hard was worse, and living above it was the greatest sin of all.
Charles Darwin’s granddaughter wrote about her aunt and uncle; “They were well off and lived in style and comfort; but it was neither for the style nor the comfort that Aunt Sara really cared. Her religion was Duty, and it was her duty to her position and her class to live like that. It was Right, for instance, for people of
her kind to keep a carriage and horses. This was not a manner of speaking: she truly felt it a Duty.” In Charles Dickens’s book OUR MUTUAL FRIEND, a character says….”we have come into a great fortune, and we must do what’s right by our fortune; we must act up to it“.
You were expected to spend a certain percentage of your yearly income on home furnishings, the more you made, the higher your percentage should be. Of course, it’s like buying a diamond engagement ring. They say you should spend X% of your income to buy your sweetie a ring. There are some who do and some who say “ are you crazy?”
Another interesting point was that a man was expected to provide his bride with a fully furnished house equal to her parent’s home. This is why so many men put off marriage, they just couldn’t afford it. A couple might court for years while the prospective groom kept trying to make more money.

In the beginning of the Victorian era the things they bought to fill their drawing rooms, or as they were more often known in America, the parlor, or best parlor, were ………sofas, ottomans, upright chairs and easy chairs, stools, ladies’ writing desks, console tables, work tables, sewing tables, occasional tables, and screens. And the must-have, the round drawing room table. Chairs were getting heavier and more comfortable, coil springs were appearing. Easy chairs were either standard or ladies’ chairs, which were smaller, had a more upright back, and had lower arms to accommodate full skirts. Also, the furniture they bought generally lasted the rest of their lives. Their children would remark how long lasting and ugly they were.

In the 1860’s and 70’s men began writing about home design. This was a signal that it had become a serious subject. There wasn’t good taste or bad taste, it was just right or wrong. A writer of the day said; “..let us not consider what is handsome or effective or taking to the eye, but what is suitable to the husband’s position.”
Charles Dickens’s granddaughter, Gwen Raverat wrote about her family; (which had a slightly different order of preference ) “ When they bought an armchair they thought first of whether it would be comfortable, and next of whether it would wear well; and then, a long way afterwards, of whether they themselves happened to
like the look of it.

Design experts began to condemn imitation finishes, such as a varnished paper that was meant to look like marble and was rather widely used. There were many articles written on the subject of “gross shams and vulgar imitations “, “shams of all kinds are to be objected to” ,”If you are content to teach a lie in your belongings,
you can hardly wonder at petty deceits being practiced in other ways.” But people seemed to be buying quite a few of these sham, veneered articles. You could get plaster stag heads, painted to look like the real thing, and put them up to give your room a baronial air.

In small English terrace houses the front door opened into a small hallway that led to two rooms that were often linked by a wide doorway so they could open into one another. The back room was generally a family used room, for dining or any other daily activities. The front room was the drawing room or parlor, which was kept only forthe best furnishings. In a larger town home, the drawing room would take an entire floor, usually the English first floor, or in American terms, the second floor. The ground floor, or American first floor would be for the dining and morning rooms. This was apparently done so that guests could proceed gracefully down the stairs, by rank, to dinner. The set up in an American city row house would be similar. By the way, the front door generally opened into a hallway or vestibule.
Vestibules were widely used in the Victorian era, on both sides of the ocean. They kept the cold air from rushing through the house every time one opened the door. In a middle class American row home, you might have a parlor or drawing room in the front, then a dining room with a back parlor, or family sitting room behind it.

The ideally decorated drawing room changed over time, but they were high ceilinged rooms and usually rather long, and always had the best household furnishings in them. At one point it was exceedingly stylish to use a lot of ‘drapery’ and bows. Some people carried this to excess.. An American visitor, looking for rooms in London was appalled by what she saw, “….the flower pots were draped, and the lamps;
there were draperies round the piano -legs, and round the clock; and where there were not draperies, there were bows…… the only thing that had not made an effort to clothe itself in the room was the poker, and by contrast it looked very nude.” H.G.Wells remembered the lower middle class sitting rooms of his childhood,” ….something was hung about or wrapped round or draped over everything. There was bright-patterned muslin round the gas-bracket……round the mirror over the mantel, stuff with ball-fringe along the mantel…..”. Mrs.Panton, an interior decoration pioneer, who wrote many books on the decoration and proper upkeep of the home, suggested that the piano (a Victorian drawing room necessity ) might be coveredwith serge, felt or damask “….edged with an appropriate fringe….which thus makes it an excellent shelf for odds and ends of china and bowls of flowers.” The music stool could be covered with fabric and sheet music stored in a cupboard with a cloth covering it with ornaments “scattered” on top. If one had a grand piano, “..a good arrangement in the bend” would be a big palm in a brass pot or stand or a table with plants and books and a couple of chairs placed in a “conversational manner” with another stool in front of them with yet another plant on top. “This gives a very finished look to the piano” .. A couple of years later she suggested that an upright piano be turned so it’s back faced the room, and it be covered with a curtain hanging from a rod across its back. A piece of Japanese embroidery
could be placed on top, some framed photos, a cup for flowers and a few ornaments..

No one wanted to be thought of as old fashioned. They seemed to be constantly wanting to redecorate because the furnishings of the past looked so ugly and dated. At the same time, no one wanted their stuff to look brand new, that would be so vulgar. What a dilemma. By the way, one of the biggest crazes to hit came in the 1890’s. It was the ‘cozy corner’. They’d set up a niche with small sofas, cushions ,
draperies, knick-knacks, stools…whatever would fit into the space. This was found on both sides of the Atlantic, and continued in the US in a slightly different look into the 20th century by adding many cushions and shawls and perhaps a hanging brass lamp and renamed a Turkish corner.

A Mrs. Haweis told of an unfortunate man who tried to join his partner in order to take her in to dinner. He crossed the room……”knocking over the chair next to him, and arriving at his destination with a fringed antimacassar neatly fastened to one of his coat buttons. He then backed into a small table, on which stood some books and photographs, and only saved this, to send another spinning; this time smashing the whole concern and depriving me of my pet flower-holders. …But the worse was yet to come; in one heroic effort to get away from the scene of the disaster he backed once more into a ‘whatnot’ full of china .” Her solution was not to get rid of her clutter, but to be sure that the tables and objects upon them were solidly
weighted and anchored from then on.


In some lower middle class their drawing room or parlor was used by the family only on Sundays. What they did there might differ widely family to family. There was a religious revival in the early 19th century both in Britain and the United States. Changes came about because of its influence. In England in the 1850’s the Lord’s Day Observance Society began to lobby for a total shutdown of all public civic life on Sundays. They did manage to get Sunday postal service stopped for a few months. What was successful was their mission to close “ national properties” on Sundays. Parks, museums and zoos were closed. Concerts were forbidden, bands were no longer allowed to play on Sunday.. Those who were well off could still find ways of entertaining themselves, but the working class, who had one day a week to enjoy themselves and the fresh air were forbidden to. In 1854 a booklet was published that illustrated the things that most people would consider acceptable, but that the
Sabbatarians wanted to prevent ; family walks in the park, excursions on the river, fish dinners in Greenwich. The author pointed out that the Sabbath society, by preventing music, dancing and fireworks and other entertainment ensured that the day would be devoted by many to ‘decorous hard drinking”.
In the 1890’s Gwen Raverat’s family could not play cards, sew or knit, not because her parents felt that it was wrong to do these things on Sunday, but that it set a bad example for the maids. On the other hand Sunday was approve for being “at home” to visitors, never mind that the servants had to come home after their half day off and clean up.

The gloomy Sunday was a reality, however, for many Victorian families, even those who were not particularly religious, just because it was at the time the “proper” thing to do. In one not especially religious family, for example, all entertainment after church was forbidden , and even reading could only be from appropriate religious material, or books that had stories to improve your moral fiber. There were even separate toys that were saved only for Sundays for the younger children. One of these commonly seen was a Noah’s ark with animal figures. One little boy was reproached by his slightly older brother for un-Sunday conduct. He made a stable with his animals instead of properly marching them up the ramp two by two into the ark in the acceptable manner.

As people became more prosperous, and manufacturing methods improved, toys became more common in middle class households. Weekday toys were so much more interesting than Sunday toys.. On Weekdays you could play with toy soldiers and little horses with removable harness and little carts with filled with tiny wooden planks. There were rocking horses and horses on wheels that you could gallop down the street. There were barrel organs that you put punched metal cards into that played music.. There were dollhouses and toy theaters, tea sets, dolls and dolls furniture, toy bricks, pull toys and reins. I even saw an ad for these reins. They were leather, one child would be the horse and the other the driver. A magic lantern was a magnificent Christmas gift the children of one family received, with over 100 slides from pictures of cathedrals to comic drawings.

Not only were children getting more toys, but the adults were gaining more possessions themselves. Their drawing rooms contained things like lamps, footstools, fire screens, candlesticks, clocks, mirrors, workboxes, sewing boxes, figurines of all description, paintings, etchings, drawings, photographs, drapery, china, ceramics, mineral displays, fossils, boxes, fans, feathers, wax fruit, plants, stuffed animals (The kind that go on the wall) , scrapbooks, books, albums, pressed flowers, magic lanterns, birdcages, fern cases, aquariums, trays, musical instruments, vases, cushions, stereopticons, ink wells, table covers, antimacassars, doilies and mats. Not to mention the things the lady of the house may have made herself, like the framed floral display made out of human hair. No wonder it took hours to clean a drawing room.



a hair wreath, the black hairs came from a horse's mane

Some interesting points to remember about some of the dangers of the Victorian era. Wallpaper…..many colors were produced with the use of poisonous dyes. Green papers were especially dangerous, as were lilac, pinks, some blues and ‘French gray’, they all contained arsenic. This was one reason why a “change of air” was so beneficial to invalids. They were slowly being poisoned at home, then taken to the seaside, where they would start to improve, but when returned to their poisonous environment, they would sicken again. Clothing also contained arsenic. In 1862 there was an article in The Times on how to detect arsenic on fabric by using a drop of ammonia, but the test never caught on. In the 1890’s women were still being warned about arsenic in their clothing.

To help keep dirt and airborne infection from entering the house in good weather through open windows doctors recommended that curtains be replaced with blinds, known in America as shades. Stained glass and leaded glass windows became popular because you could get rid of window coverings, yet have privacy. In spite of health concerns, many still preferred window coverings. One might have lace or muslin
curtains topped with heavier draperies and perhaps a swag, plus Venetian blinds or roller blinds or shades. The sun was usually kept out because the dyes used in that era were susceptible to fading.

Fireplaces and mantles were prime areas for decorating in the drawing room. They would put ornamental screens in front of them in summer, in winter too for that matter, if there was no fire in the grate. A common way of decorating the ‘hole’ was with paper curls. One woman described the long silver paper curls in their bedroom grate. There was even a lesson printed in a decorating book of how to cut up muslin into strips, with fringe, and spread it gracefully over the hearth. As for the mantle, the simplest decoration might be a mantle clock flanked by candlesticks with a few ornaments. Remember also that a large mirror was invariably placed over the mantle. A common way to make room for all the bric-a-brac was to enlarge the mantle
with a board, draped with fabric and then another structure of shelves, brackets, etc. would be built up on top.

Middle class and up women who had a staff of servants had a great deal of leisure time which they filled by doing all sorts of fancy “work”. They made more hand embroidered slippers, spectacle cases and watch cases , etc. than they knew what to do with. They decorated their homes with them, gave them as gifts, sold them at church bazaars…… There were instructions on how to make decorative guitars out of
cardboard and silk scraps, beaded pen wipers, that of course could never be used to wipe the nib of a pen because they were covered in beads. There were ornamental frames for matchboxes. An interesting point was that a great many of the things these women made were totally useless. A very commonly made gift throughout the era was a pincushion. Sometimes it would be downright huge and decorated with patterns and sentiments made out of hundreds of pins. Of course, you wouldn’t dare actually mar its loveliness by sticking a random pin in it.

A craze that swept 1850’s Britain, and probably the USA was Pteridomania, or fern collecting. Women would buy and collect all sorts of varieties of ferns. They would buy glass cases to grow them in, books to write lists in of what kind of ferns they had. They would make spatter pictures, a sort of reverse stenciling, or perhaps wreaths of pinecones, seeds or acorns. Below you can see illustrations of some Victorian ladies' handiwork.



a bouquet of spring flowers and grasses


a cone wreath


a spatterwork design to be used for cushions, screens, portfolios, etc.


a firescreen