Victorian Era Booklet

Victorian Era.

Noelle Huang

Contents
INTRODUCTION:Queen Victoria

SOCIETY CONDITION
Social Behaviour Views on Different Classes and Races Gender Expectation Literature Reglious View Working Condition Crime Dress Decor LIFE Scientific Discovery Leisure Transportation Trends Architecture Unique custume TECHNOLOGY Health/Medcine Food Events

STYLE

Queen Victoria
The Victorian Era could be broken down into two phases: early era(1837~1860) and Mid-to-late era (1860~1901). In the early part of her reign, she was influenced by two men: her first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, and her husband, Prince Albert. Both of them had taught her how to be a good queen while only had a little power.
Since Prince Albert's death in 1861, she started to wear black during the rest of the reign.Victoria died

on 22 January 1901 after a reign which lasted almost 64 years, the longest in British history. She was buried beside Prince Albert, in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum, which she had built for their final resting place.

Dress/Costume
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From 1840s to 1850s, puffed sleeves always came with the women's dresses. At that time, the dresses were simple and classic,if you said so. Sometimes people would put some real flowers on the edges. Petticoats, as always, were being used widely, together with corsets and chemies. Later on , people began to use crinoline more and more often, instead of petticoats. For the day dresses, people usually used with a solid bodice while using low necklines in the evening dresses.

Dress
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1870s, Tea gowns, a type of informal dresses which were worn during the daytime started to gain the popularity. People wore it in entertaint activities held at home mostly. ● At the same time, the previous crinoline was eventually replaced with bustle. Which, was also used to hold the dresses and make them look bigger and puffier. By this time, there were neither crinolines nor bustles.

Decor
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Victorian decor was known as it's orderliness and ornamentation. It was a mix of historic style, mid-east and asian style. Private space and public space were all seperate. A parlor was the most important room of a house. In a way, it allowed the houseowners to show off the their wealth and their taste in fashion. The colours of the walls depended on the type of room; hallways were usually a somber grey so as not to compete with the rooms. Also, colours that were adjacent to each other on the colour wheel were usually painted next to each other as per the theory of harmony by analogy. Furthermore, colours that contrasted were also painted next to each other.

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Decor
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There was no such a specific style of victorian furnitures. Though the Gothic and Rococo were two of the most common styles being used.Other those,Elizabethan, Tudor, and Neoclassical were also widely being used in the Victorian era.

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Wallpaper in Victorian era was always made in floral patterns with the one/ or more than one primary colors(red, yellow, blue) as background color(s). William Morris was one of the most influential designers at that time. Lots of his works were inspired by Gothic and Medival style.

Leisure
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There lots of parks, museums, music halls, libraries were built and runned by the middle-class government during the era. Because of the popularity of all these places, the entrees were usually really cheap. Besides, a huge portion

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of people in the middle class were running businesses or organisational and all that sorts of skills. Eventually, this factor would have great effect on establishing clubs or other leisure places.

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Trends
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One of the major trends of the Victorian era was the Utilitarian movement, in which right and wrong are determined by what's best for the majority or makes the majority happier. However, Utilitarianism was very controversial and was opposed by figures such as Charles Dickens at the time.

Food
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If you were in the working class of the Victorian Times, you would only eat very little food since your wage couldn't afford you any better food as what people in upper class were eating. Averagely, you could get meat two or three times a week. Potatos and bread were used more than people in other classes. Fish and chips, and jellied eel were two of the most popular take away food during the Victorian that were also affordable for the working class people. People in the middle class woked at a better wage, therefore, they could afford slightly better food than the working class people. Onions, potatos, bread, cheese, apples, meats, were always on the menu. The upper class had way better food on their typical menu. Unlimited meat and cheese, desserts, fruits and etc. Bacon, eggs,toast and cheese were always on the menu of breakfast. Soup, cheese, hot and cold meats, dessert for lunch. Since there was too much food needed to be served for the dinner, victorians usually had their dinner at around 6 p.m. The dinner serving time was then delayed to 8~9 p.m., which, evetually, helped developed the habit of having afternoon tea as a small meal between lunch and dinner. Afternoon tea and dinner were more important in the upper class since it was one of good chance to show off. Silver dishes, jewelery, fancy clothing,

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Food
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Puddings and pies were very popular during this time. Plum pudding, mince pies, steak-and-kidney pies always showed up on the menu of the holiday celebrations. Lemonade, root beer, champange, were some of the popular drinks served at home.

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Social behavior
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Victorian was a civil and romantic age. The victorians cared about people's feeling at their presences. They were all trained to have some really good manners and good taste in order to show their personality. If you are going to a formal event, let's say a ball. The host should send their invitation at least seven to ten days before if they made any changes on the date or the location. On the way to the ball, people mostly went by carriage. The victorian ladies never needed to open the door themselves with the presence of a gentleman. Also, because of “lady first”, a gentleman shoule be willing to offer his hand to help a lady get on/ get off the vehicle. Which, in this case, a carriage. While crossing a street, as a lady, you should always raise your dress a little bit above your ankle. At the same time, hold the folds of your gown in right hand, draw to the right since using both of your hands might lift your gown too much and show too much of your ankles. At the ball, the first time you were introduced to a man, you should never offer your hand. Instead, saying “nice to be your acquaintance” might be a good chioce. Unmarried or unengaged couples should not be wandering off together, by the way.

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Social Behaviors
Catching a man and marry him, was commonly adviced within that age. Therefore, young girls were trained early in lift to prepare herself for a lifededicated to home and family if she's getting married, or a charity if she's not. ● Even said so, you should not be displaying your charms too much because meekness and modesity were always considered beautiful virtues.
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Views on different classes and races
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The Racism in Victorian era was so-called “scientific”. It was mostly based on Darwinian Evoluntionary Thoery. Including many scientists, lots of people thought that the white people were on the top of the human revolutionary ladder. The society could be split into 4 different classes: upper class, middle class, lower class and the class of paupers. Upper class was made up of the nobility or the peerage, who had titles such as dukedom. The middle class was made up of rich people who lacked nobility status. People in lower class were poor and due to lack of education, could not get well-paying jobs. Instead, they had to do repetitive, dirty, boring work. The paupers lived in extreme poverty because of old age, unemployement or illness. The philanthropists, a group of people who were intenting to reduce the rate of the paupers.

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Gender expectation
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In general, the male in victorian era were always considered physically and intellgectualy stronger than female. Even phycisians would think so. Therefore, male were always acting as the head of household and moral leader of his family while a wife was more expected to support, love her husband. Voctorian women were expected to put all their effort on the family. In a family, a wife's place was always secondary to her husband, but also important. Properly raising your kids was considered crucial by the society. They needed to take care of not only the husbands, but also the kids, technically, everything related to the household. Female were mostly only provided with education on history, general literature, geography because they were expected to be “refined”. While a few of them would get the chance to study science, art, engineering, and some other “male” subjects. They then became pioneers in gender equalization in the UK. Meanwhile, a husband's job is to provide for and protect the family, they were better educated and were expected to be more socially responsible. They got to vote, to speak, and to make important decisions. But on the otherside, they also considered themselves fallen, for all the mistakes they'd made and saw the female as angels whom they can be forgiven by.

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Literature
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Novel: idealism, honour the good and punish the bad. Children's literature: invented due to more and more young people were able to read. Professional children's book writers. Other than novels, they also had genres such as nonsense , poetry and fairy tales for children. Leiws Carroll, Poetry:a bridge between romantic(darker qualities and subjects)and modernist. More realistic, harsher, focus on serious topics(children labour, slavery, and other social injustices) Some other genre, nonsense, drama, fiction, adventure,

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Religious view
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Victorianism was the foundation of moral behavior; within it, people took the bible as literal truth and believed that, if religion was accpeted by all, the society would then have no crime or poverty left. Victorians were expected to go to church or some other forms of religious worship on Sundays. They built a lot of new churches and restored old churches. Charles Darwin's Evolotion of Species Theory was a bing bomb to the society. He pushed the evolution theory forward by pointing out that, natural selaction, was the way species evolute. Unlike what the Christian bibble says, God created the world.

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Working Condition
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Working class people were mostly doing the physical labor jobs. As we mentioned, child labor was popular in this class. This due to the poor education they got when they Women and children both needed to work in order to help the family. And it was really common for children to wokr for 10 hours or even up to 12 hours a day in the factories or mills,some of them even worked 16 hours a day, as the elders did. And they would be hit with straps by the overlookers if they slowered down their speed because of the tireness came after couple hours of working. They would also be punished if they talked to other children or came to work late. Also, the accident rate was really high, almost half of the employyes would have been injured in the factories. Middle class people would do slightly cleaner work and most of them were professional in some fields For example, engineers,doctors, merchants were some of the jobs for the middle class people. Only the husbands were needed to make money for the family. All the women in middle class needed to care about was just the family. Therefore, they got money and more time to spend at leisure. Upper class people didn't really have to work as much as those two lower classes people did. They were mostly from the church and of the nobility. Since they were born rich, most of their income came from inherited land and investments.

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Crime
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At the beginning of the era, London was not safe at all. Criminals practiced their skills in the leafy suburbs and on people by shooting or stabbing at them. The Criminal Records Office was not set up yet until 1869. Besides this, also together with the lack of the police forces, a lot of crimes were not unrecorded and left solved alone. So the early Victorian London might be more dangerous than we've already known. There were variety of crimes at that time as we have in 21st century. Children-stealings, cons and cheats, house-breakings, muggings and etc. Due to the better education, London got safer later on. The incidence of homicide was declining from the middle of the centry at an annual rate of 1.7:100,000 to 1:100,000. the mojarity of the individual homicides were committed within the family or amongst acquaintances. Jack the ripper, was the name given to one of the most notorious to serial killers at that time who was active in and around the Whitechapel district of London. Generally believed, there were at least 5 victims killed by Jack the Ripper from 31st August 1888 to 9th November, they were all prostitutes. Newspapers daily updated on the crime and resulted Jack the Ripper became more famous.

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Scientific Discovery
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Major developments that made travel, communications and trade easier. New Railways all across England allowed for cheap, fast travel. Cars were invented during Victorian times, but could only be afforded by the rich. Invetions: 1837 - Morse code & Telegraph (Samuel Morse) 1846 - Sewing machine (Elias Howe) 1850 - Oil refining first used 1858 - Sewage system (Joseph Bazalgette) 1859 - Gas engine (Etienne Lenoir) 1861 - Gatling gun (Richard J. Gatling) 1876 - Telephone (Alexander Graham Bell) 1877 - Phonograph & Microphone (Thomas Edison) 1879 - Incandescent lamp (Thomas Edison) 1896 - Wireless Telegraph (Marconi) Scientific discoveries: 1854 - Cholera spreads through water, not air; lead to improvement of sewage systems. (John Snow) 1862 - Pasteurization (Louis Pasteur) 1882 - Tuberculosis (Robert Koch) 1896 - Cause of malaria (Ronald Ross) 1896 - X-Ray; now used worldwide and is an important part of the medical field

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Transportation
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The railway system was a direct result of developments in steam, iron and coal. The first passenger railway station was opened in 1825, between Stockton and Darlington. Later on, by 1850, Britain was criss crosses by a railway network. Clipper was a very fast sailing ship in the 19th centry, mostly made by Britain and America. It has 3 or more masts and a square rig. And it was design for sailing in the bad sea. If the weather was good enough, it could approximately speed up to 400 miles a day, at most. But you had to re-fuel the ship with coal very often because of the fast speed. The journey from China, where the tea mostly came from, to London, would take about 90 days.

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Bicycle was widely being used even until today. It had been developed since the early 19th century. The modern safety bicycle was invented in 1885, though, before that, there were also different types of bicycle, such as tricycle, penny farthing and etc. The first car was invented during the victorian era. But back at that time, it was too expensive to own a car. Therefore, only rich people would be able to have a car. So it was not really that popular, comparing to bicycle.

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Architechture
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Most popular style: Greek Revival. Commonly used in public buildings because of its simpility and dignity. By 1850, it was no longer popular as in private buildings. Back then, the designs of a house were usually similar to each other, only the facades would be slightly different. But when frame construction came along, houses were built quickly and ornate details were added later. Many early homes had neither kitchens or bathrooms. The early Gothic houses were mostly built with stones. But only the rich could afford the “100%-made-with-stone” house since it was really expensive. Not because of the materials, but the pay of hiring a group of highly skilled stone carvers. Even though stone houses could stand for a really long time, it was later translated into wood-made since not so many people could really afford the cost of a house.

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Health and Medicine
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In the early 1800s, there was more luck and chance in medical than actual inroad treatments. A hospital,which was supposed to be “a place of healing”, was more like “a place for people who are about to die”. At that time, it was either a charity or ran by a local authority. Only the rich could pay a doctor to the house and for the poor, they could only to the charitable hospital. About a century later, the situation became a lot better, major inroads had been made in medical treatments. Some common diseases: Chicken pox (most common for children); Cholera, infectious, one of the most dreaded diseases. Lots of European immigrants got this after a long trip of sailing to Canada; Diphtheria, infectious, another childhood disease. The formation of a grey membrane in a child's throat and made him/her hard to breathe.

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Diseases in Victorian time were due to poor environmental condition, left over from older times. The situation was getting better as the time goes.

Events
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1750~1850 Industrial Revolution. 1832—Great Reform Act. 1834—Slavery banned in British colonies. 1844—Irish potato famine begins. 1847—Ten Hours Act restricts working hours of children in factories. 1850—First British Public Library Act, permitting the establishment of public libraries. 1853–56—Crimean War. 1858—Government of India transferred to the Crown. 1867—Second Reform Act, extending vote to tax-paying males of the urban working class. 1870—Education Act, compulsory primary education until the age of 11.1876—Victoria named Empress of India. 1884—Third Reform Act, extending voting rights to agricultural workers. 1901—Death of Queen Victoria at age 82 (January 22, 6:30 am).

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Great Reform Act
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The first Great Reform Act was in 1832, also known as Representation of the People Act 1832. The parliament passed a law changing the British electoral system. Before that, the electoral system was unfair, people didn't have equal representation. In 1831, the house of commons passed a reform bill, but was vetoed by the house of lords. Sir Charles Weatherall, the leader, who was opposed to the Reform Bill, came to open the Assize Court. Public buildings and houses were set on fire, there was more than £300,000 of damage and twelve people died. Of 102 people arrested and tried, 31 were sentenced to death. The second Reform Act was in 1876. Seats were redistributed to towns and cities that had grown substantially and some regions were given new MPs. More people were allowed to vote, including most working, householding men in urban areas. The third Reform Act was in 1884. by that time, it was expanded to the countryside. The entire male popular would get to vote as long as they paid for an annual rental of 10 pounds, or, property owned no less than 10 pounds. Even said so, all women and 40% of adult males were still without the vote at the time.

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Irish Potato Famine
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The potato famine started around 1844~1845 and lasted for 6 years, killed over one million Irish people and later also caused another million to flee the country. A large number of immagrants in Canada came because of this reason.