The 1900 House



The 1900 House

Introduction

The 1900 House, a reality historical television program was shown on channel four in the year of 1999. It tells us about a modern family that made an effort living like the Victorians in the 90s, for a span of just three months in a modernized home. The program was widely shown in the United Kingdom and America. The series was based on a book. The book was titled as '1900 House'. It contained pages and extracts of the personal diaries of Paul Bowler and Joyce and their families. 1900 was a depressing era filled with strenous work offering little or new future. An average earner was stuck in the same job for his entire life. Rich were able to maintain their wealth largely because of the low taxes. Living conditions were not good. Historical shows like these do tend to create a setting showing the primitive times and the behavior of the people during those times; however the audience relates those timings to be projected as a fantasy version of the past, (Taddeo, 2000).

The idea was to hire a family which was modern in terms of the use of technology, and make them stay for three months in a house that had a setting of the old times; times during which there was no technology and things had to be done differently than they are done these days. Many families were interviewed for this very purpose, however of all, only the Bowlers were selected. Later they were asked individually how they felt about the entire idea and how the Victorian lifestyle did affected them. The central theme of the program itself was very interesting. It is very difficult for the people of the modern times to live as those who lived hundred years ago. ...