The Edwardian era in England (1901 - 1910) is rooted in the last decade of Queen Victoria’s reign and captures the development trends of the British Empire until the First World War or even a little later.
Behind the facade of Victorian time
A window into history will be opened by the book of E. Coughty, which describes in detail the threshold of the reign of Edward VII. The Edwardian era did not immediately part with the dark pages in the life of the British. The everyday life of the poor took place in slums and joyless work houses and was very different from the life of the middle and wealthy class. We go into the house in the East End and climb the fetid staircase with cranked railings and rotten steps. The door is not locked - there is nothing to steal. Winter, and the fireplace has not been kindled for several days. Mold grows on the walls.
In the corner sits a mother and cradles a child who is wrapped in a shawl. She turned to the incoming, and we see a bruise, the size of half the face. On the bed (they live in abundance) a man snores, covered with a torn blanket. He went to the workhouse yesterday, hoping to get at least a few shillings or rolls for sweeping the streets, but he was refused. With grief, he went to a tavern and drank the last money. Will the Edwardian era be able to quickly part with the slums that C. Dickens perfectly described with their filth, stink and poverty? Union Jack flutters merrily under the sun.
Slight winds of change
The Edwardian era is often viewed with nostalgia. It is called the Gilded Age. But this is for wealthy people. The rich were not ashamed to put their wealth on public display. It was a time of great inequality. Class conventions were sharply defined, and everyone knew their place.
Personality of Edward VII
For too long he was the prince of Wales and came to power at 59 years old. At 34, he visited the main colonies and European countries. He did a lot for diplomacy. The prince, and later the king, was fond of running, hunting and women. Among his passions was Alice Keppel. Her great-granddaughter is known to us. This is passion and the current wife of Prince Charles - Camille Parker Bowles. Edward lived his life easily. Free time allowed him to spend morning horseback riding, day visits, dancing and gambling - in the evenings. The Edwardian era suggested that the season begins after Easter and is pumped into races at Ascot. It was the time of the exhibition of brides and dresses of ladies and gentlemen of the highest class.
Edwardian era: fashion
The ladies continued to wear a corset for some time and visited the popular couturiers in Paris twice a year. Underwear was picked up, then morning clothes. Lunchtime clothes are a must in pastel colors. Five-hour tea required free, unrestricted clothing without a corset. In the evening, to leave the lady again put on a corset under an evening dress.
Only in 1910 a corset was removed and dresses in Empire style with a raised hem came into fashion. Shoes were laced with high heels - boots or half boots. It is impossible not to say about the huge hats that were held on the hair with pins and decorated with feathers of exotic birds. Mandatory addition were boas and capes. No one forgot about the umbrella, as well as magnificent jewelry, ribbons, lace and beads. The model of the Edwardian era is
Queen Alexander, who created a patriotic fashion for Redfern. However, she visited Paris.
Menu of the poor British
In the city they interrupted from potatoes for tea. There was not enough money for bread. Rickety children grew up with crooked bones. Peasants ate bread, potatoes, cheese, bacon, drank tea and beer. Instead of butter, margarine was used. In winter, everyone "tightened their belts." He only ate the breadwinner, while his wife and children drank tea with a thin slice of bread.
Nutritional supplements
In those “blessed” times, I had to look closely at all the products. Chalk, gypsum, aluminum alum could be found in flour, elderberry or ash leaves in tea, acorns, fodder beets in coffee, copper in brandy for color. Milk was diluted with water. If granulated sugar was too crispy on the teeth, then simple river sand was added to it. The Edwardian era demanded that the buyer stay alert.
Maid
In the city, the middle class usually kept a cook, nanny and maid, who worked for 18 hours. In the villages they were hired at fairs, and in the city through the stock exchange or acquaintances. Servants ate in the kitchen. In richer families, they got something from the table of the owners, but more often they never ate enough of it. Servants were required to take a bath once a week. In the mornings, they were required to wash themselves, wash their legs and armpits before starting to dress.
If it was discovered that the unmarried maid was pregnant, she was immediately thrown out into the street. After that, she had one way - to engage in prostitution. Since the time of King
Edward VII, it has become customary to give the servant a day off. They were never considered equal to the owners and in the church they occupied the last places, and the gentlemen sat in front.
Sexual relations
The king loved women, and the queen simply closed her eyes to it. In high society, adultery by both women and men was the norm.
Couples met in special houses. The doors of the rooms were marked with the names of "guests" so that men could easily find their lady. At 6 a.m. the bell rang so that the gentlemen would wake up and have time to get into their bedrooms before the maids came to light a fire in the fireplace.
Fight for women's rights
A woman in England had no rights. Her dowry belonged entirely to her husband. If he didn’t work, but she worked, then her husband took everything to the last penny, leaving her and the children hungry. During the divorce, all the money and children remained with her husband, and only if he allowed, she could occasionally visit them. As a result, women began to fight for their rights.
They put forward both economic and political demands. Women were imprisoned, they chained themselves to the railing, threw police eggs over them, and died under the hooves of horses. Only by 1918 did they achieve the desired suffrage.
There is not enough space to describe the upbringing of children in schools and homes, political life outside and inside the country. The Edwardian era was tough, the life of which we only partially described.