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Whistle Stopper - The 1900 House: An Extraordinary Living Experiment
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List Price: $29.98
Our Price: $12.00
Your Save: $ 17.98 ( 60% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: PBS (Direct)
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 0794054829730
Format: NTSC
Label: PBS (Direct)
Manufacturer: PBS (Direct)
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: PBS (Direct)
Release Date: 2000-06-30
Studio: PBS (Direct)
Theatrical Release Date: 2000-06-12
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: I would have signed up in a heartbeat!
Comment: The biggest issue I had is the same that other reviews have stated. I think the Bowlers were the wrong choice for this project. As a reenactor, I enjoy using past techniques as learning tools on how things have changed in daily living. I heard from someone who had auditioned for Colonial House that the producers of the shows prefer people who would be "fish out of water" instead of people more inclined to adapt to the new environment. The belief is that it would make for interesting television with the learning curve involved. Of course, I still got tired of the whining from the oldest women here, if you didn't want to wear a corset then a viable option at the time was the new uncorseted new natural line but it didn't catch on. There are "working" corsets also without at much boning but with proper support and "modesty" as needed.
I would have loved to see Mrs. Bowler try to make her own soap as my Grannie used to do with a big iron pot out in the back yard. I would love the chance to try this for a few months, especially with the safeguards of local health care/fire department within reach. No television or computer but I could manage with a telephone (they were around).
Customer Rating:
Summary: The only reason why I didn't get up and turn the disk off was because I had spent good money on it.
Comment: I am not the kind of person to let a negative review really be a deciding factor when purchasing an item. I had read the reviews of this DVD set, and though "It can't be all THAT bad." So being full of optimism I went forth, and purchased! In hindsight, I should have listened to the reviews.
I have been collecting the entire "House" series, and must say that this is my least favorite OF THEM ALL. All the family did was complain the whole time. It was like spending 220 minutes listening to a child complain endlessly. The family CLEARLY didn't think their decision to go into the 1900 house through. It should be OBVIOUS to ANYONE that the work was going to be harder, corsets were going to be worn, sexism was going to be practiced, as would other customs of the time.
The reality of the concept was totally lost on this family. All they did was moan about how it wasn't the same as their normal lives. No kidding! That was kind of the whole point! To honestly LIVE as if you were in that time! It's what they signed up for...
The family's endless belly aching takes away from the hard work that had been put into the setting, so you no longer enjoy the visual aspect of it. You learn hardly anything about the period because the family themselves hardly take an honest interest in doing it properly. It's as if their goal was to go in there and test the bounds of how close they could get to cheating. I was so disappointed in their lack of willingness to stick to it when they were sneaking to buy shampoo.
I got SICK TO DEATH of listening to that blasted Mother rant and rave about everything. The food, the clothes, the work, and then the maid they got to do the work..NOTHING was good enough for her. She is too weak, & goes on a screaming rant only one week into the project. It's quite uncomfortable to watch.
The only reason why I didn't get up and turn the disk off was because I had spent good money on it, and I was determined to finish it. Unless your goal is like mine, to have the complete House Series, avoid the purchase of this particular DVD set. I suggest you spend a couple more bucks and get the Manor House DVD. It's much more entertaining. Not to mention a richer, more pleasant viewing/learning experience.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A truse story of Women's rights
Comment: This started to be a story about how a modern family would cope in the 1900 to show how much life has changed. It ended up being a real leasson on Women's Lib during that time.
In 1900 women were harshly restricted to the home not only cause of morality, but because there was so much work to do. Aplliances and new inventions like the washing mashine helped to liberate women all over the wold. They need to put THAT on a coin.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good, and aware of its flaws
Comment: The idea is to find a modern British family, restore a house to Victorian middle class condition, and make the family live there for 3 months. Will it be fun, like camping? Like being in a play? Or will it be a drag?
From the beginning, the producers make it clear that this is more of a thought experiment than research. It was impossible to find a really accurate, correctly working coal stove. They couldn't make everything in the house accurate to 1900, or modern health laws would have to be flouted. They coudln't take the younger kids out of school, and the husband had to continue his job.
So the only ones with a complete 1900's experience are the wife and the teenaged daughter. (Did anyone else notice that she was 16 and NOT in school? That, as I understand, is normal for Britain but weird for an American middle class family.) Wait a minute, the wife and daughter didn't have an authentic experience either, cuz in real life they would have had people next door to talk to, relatives to visit, etc. etc. The situation was set up perfectly for the two of them to go bananas over the course of 90 days.
I read with puzzlement the reviews that complained about their complaining. Well, of course the wife and oldest daughter complain! They are the only ones whose lives have changed completely, all day and night! The twins, in particular, had very little change. They had each other to talk to, never had to wear corsets, and got to go to school each day. They didn't have to give up socializing as the eldest daughter did and got to see outside friends every day when they changed into 1900's outfits. As to why they are complaining about corsets, haven't you ever had on an outfit that looked comfy but wasn't after 8 hours? What if you had to wear it for three months more after finding that out?
I very much enjoyed watching the degrees of struggle to 1900 s life. If you only have three outfits and wash them once a week, the romance is bound to fade fast. (Thank goodness no one in the house spilled anything or got the flu!)Chamber pots, chickens with black feathers so that they blend with the sooty air, lack of refrigeration and brushing your teeth with straight baking soda also don't fit the image of modern Victoriana.
This show cured my hang up with all things Victorian and more than that I cannot ask of any TV show.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The good old days ruined by modern thought and actions
Comment: The location was scouted. The stage was set. The players were interviewed and chosen. The show looked promising at first.
When will PBS ever learn? You can not place modern people who are brainwashed with modern principles and expect them to follow the rules without bickering, whining, complaining and crying.
The females are too bossy and pushy to be ladies of the house. The males are too wimpy and henpecked to be the masters of the house. PBS must interview these people better and ask them questions about the household structure and how they feel about it. That's the only way that they will ever find a suitable family for these shows.
All that the mom did was whine and complain. Nothing ever made her happy. First she complained that there was too much housework. So, she hired a maid. She did not supervise her maid very well. She said that she did not know how to reprimand her for being late on more than one occasion. Rather than doing the right thing and handling it properly and directly , she wrote her a letter firing her. Then she went back to complaining that she had too much housework to do and that she was bored with it.
The husband/dad did not even have enough guts to stand up to his wife and daughter and tell them that they could not perform that silly feminist song at the theater. Any real man would have stood up to them, so as to not ruin the reputation of the family. In those days theater people were considered lowest of the low. No self respecting man would put up with such nonsense from his wife and daughter.
What's the point of PBS going to all of the trouble and expense of doing a historical recreation if they do not even bother to enforce their own rules? It demeans the show and therefore the whole project, as well.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Viewers time-travel vicariously in this four-part "docu-soap" that transplants a modern family from 1999 to 1900. The series clearly evinces the radical changes in domestic life wrought by the scientific and technological innovations of the last 100 years. The Bowler family are taken back in time to the spring of 1900 in Greenwich, a suburb of London, England. For 3 months, they live as a family in 1900 would have lived.
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