Regency Trivia – Things that Didn’t Exist During the Regency

Chocolate candies, as we know them, did not exist during the Regency.

The earliest known makers of eating chocolate were Debauve & Gallais.

Marie Antoinette complained to the Louis XVI former chemist that her medicines tasted to bad to take and asked if he could do something about it. The chemist, Sulpice Debauve, developed a way of combining cocoa, with cane sugar into round disks called Pistoles. By 1800 the first store was opened on the Rive Gauche in Paris. There was also a store in Strasbourg. Sadly it’s no longer there. However, Debauve’s invention never really crossed the English Channel. The chocolate Pistoles are still available in Debauve & Gallais stores in Paris.

It was not until 1847 that Joseph Fry was successful in making a chocolate paste that could be molded. He did this by adding cocoa butter back into the Dutch cocoa that was being used at the time. Even then, it was still several years before chocolate bars were commercially available.

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Regency Trivia – Things that didn’t exist during the Regency.

The next few posts will be on things that didn’t exist during the Regency and some things I forgot.

Doorknobs that turned did not exist during the Regency. It was not until June 8, 1878 that American Osbourn Dorsey filed the patent for a turning doorknob, called a Door-Holding Device. That did not mean there were no non-moving round door knobs, they as well as lever and oval shapes in all sorts of materials were very popular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some latches.

Before then locks and keys were used to secure a room. By the Regency, one could use a latch to keep a door closed. The only catch was that locks were expensive.

 

 

So, what did one use if one couldn’t afford a lock and key? A latch-string. That worked by making a small hole in the door, running a string, or leather piece through the whole to a wooden bar. When on pulled on the string, the door opened. At night, the string would be pulled inside.

Here is a video showing how one works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz7bbZfvS8M

As you might have guessed, I’m a little obsessed by details. When I lived in England we owned a house that had started bring built in the late 15th century. It even had carved wooden beam that we’d been told were original to the house. The previous owner decorated the poor house in the Victoria style, even going so far as to cut off the bullnose bottom step so that her carpet would fit. I took every room of the house back to it’s original period. That required a lot of research. Two books that were of enormous help were Period Details, and More Period Details by Judith Miller.

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Regency Trivia – House Parties

 

House parties were Polite Society’s entertaining themselves when not in Town for a Season. They were usually held in the summer and winter. They could be as short or long as the hostess wished. Although, a house party would probably not be shorter than a week or two if only because people had to travel, sometimes great distances, to get there.

Only the imagination limited what kind of house party it would be. There were hunting parties, parties where a mother or guardian would not wish a young lady to attend, house parties to which young ladies and eligible gentlemen were invited. There would almost always be an equal number of ladies and gentlemen. A single gentleman could only give a house party (or any entertainment) of gently bred mixed company (as opposed to a more ribald party of mixed company) if he had a hostess. The hostess could be his mother, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, grandmother, etc.

Arrangements would have to be made for the servants who accompanied the guests. They would vary in number but would most likely include, coachman, groom, outriders, valet and/or lady’s maid. Children in the schoolroom or nursery were not invited unless the lady hosting the party had children and wanted to make a point of getting them together. For example, a family gathering.

The hostess would arrange entertainment for her guests. Some of what could be offered depended on the season or what features the estate had to offer. Options included, rowing, fishing, shooting, archery, visits to historical sites, riding, visiting the nearest town or village, card and other games and a lot I’ve forgotten. For entertainments such as a ball or dances, the hostess would most likely invite any of the surrounding gentry or aristocrats.

House parties were known for people sneaking around during the night to someone else’s bedchamber. A mother of a young lady would have to be very vigilant.

 

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Regency Trivia – The Tutor

There were several options for the education of boys. Some attended public schools such as Eton, Harrow, or Rugby, some were sent to a small school for boys, some were educated by the local clergyman, and others (many of them heirs to a title, but not all by any means) were educated at home by a tutor. A tutor took over from a governess when a boy was about 8 years of age and would be responsible for the child’s education until the boy was deemed educated enough or through the preparation for university examination. It’s important to note that a university education was not considered as necessary to a male’s education as it is now.

Tutors were always male and university educated. Many of them had studied to be clergymen. They would be well versed in Greek, Latin, French, German, and possibly Italian, higher maths, history, politics, geography, literature, philosophy, and religion.

Tutors were generally well-paid and respected.

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Regency Trivia – Governesses

The major distinction between employees and those in service seems to confuse a great number of people. Employees varied by the household and its needs. Employees included governesses, tutors, secretaries, companions, and estate managers.

We’ll start with governesses.

By the end of the 18^th century, girls’ boarding schools were going out of fashion. Therefore, many girls of wealthy families were educated at home. Boys would be taught by a governess until they went to school. If a family did not have girls, it’s likely the local clergyman would teach the boys, or a tutor would be hired.

A governess was always a well educated lady. She was gently born. Her family either could not afford to support her, or she did not wish to be a burden to them. Many of them seem to have been daughters of clergymen. She was well educated and could teach reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, literature, watercolors, French, and maybe Italian, and music. She would also help teach comportment and needlework. She was also to be an example of good moral character. Unlike the Victorian era, Regency governesses were not morbidly religious.

Whether or not she had her meals with the family depended on her employers. She did not eat, socialize, or gossip with the servants. She used the front door. It was very important that she main her status as a lady.

I once read an employment contract for a governess. Unfortunately, I can’t find it now, but I remember that it required she be given a private parlor in addition to a bedchamber. It stated her holidays, time off, wages (obviously), and several other items. Because she was not a servant, she would have to be paid enough to save for her own pension.

For additional information, I recommend reading, A Governess in the Time of Jane Austen.

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Regency Trivia – Misconceptions

There are a lot of false notions about the Regency. Here are some of them.

The only female who might wear a silk chemise, petticoat or nightgown was in the demimonde, and she would expect to have it on for long. Fabric was very expensive. Almost everyone recycled fabric from older or outdated clothing. Chemises and petticoats were of muslin or cotton. The laundress was responsible for washing them and did it in very hot water with lye. Silk wouldn’t have lasted more than one or two washes.

For the same reason, sheets were not of silk. They were made of linen and could withstand the hot water and harsh soap.

As Lynne mentioned the other day, Regency stays had straps. Therefore, there were no strapless gowns.

Gentlemen did not ride around Town to their clubs, or on visits. First of all, it wasn’t the American west. There were no handy places to leave one’s horse. Secondly, one did not go visiting or two one’s club smelling of the stable. No matter how fastidious one was, riding a horse makes one smell of horse.

No matter if a lady learned to ride astride, she would not do so unless her life was in danger. Think for a moment about the narrow skirts popular during the Regency. Now, think about how much leg she’d be showing.

It was not easy to climb a tree, either up or down, in those selfsame gowns.

Regency ladies were kept busy. Almost all females took care of at least the household accounts. Many of them took care of estate accounts as well.

Ladies were well educated. Although, they didn’t normally learn Latin and Greek, in addition to arithmetic, reading, and writing, they did learn how to sketch and paint with water colors, play an instrument, sing, dance, sew, make conversation (a very important skill). Letter composing took up a good deal of time. We don’t really think of what it was like not to be able to pick up a phone, or email someone, but when you had friends and relatives with whom to keep in contact, you wrote letters. Most also learned French or Italian, or both. They’d also have to know who to manage their staff. As you know, even a town house could have a lot of servants. Some country houses had upwards of 300.

Calling someone of an inferior status by their first name was a sign of disrespect, or an indication that they did not yet merit the higher status. There are exceptions to every rule. Many footmen were called by their first name, young maids, and occasionally a lady’s maid who had been with the lady since a young age.

Ladies didn’t go around kissing gentlemen unless they planned to marry them. Gentlemen knew this.

Smoking cigars was not common, and it was not allowed in gentlemen’s clubs such as White’s until the 1880s. This makes a lot of sense as most of the wall coverings were silk, and it would have been impossible to get the smell out.

Next, employees (non-servants)

 

 

 

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Regency Trivia- Regency vs. Victorian

 

There is a tendency to confuse these two completely different eras. The Regency followed immediately on the heels of the Georgian period, and was just about as freewheeling. The Victorian was, on the outside, buttoned up and prudish. Sex was, for all intents and purposes, pushed underground.

So here are just some of the difference between the times.

The garment a woman wore over her shift, or chemise was usually called stays, during the Regency. Although the term corset did exist. Yet there was huge difference in how they were made and what their purpose was. During the Regency stays were meant to smooth the lines for the high-waisted gown. They were not tight as there was no reason to accentuate the waist. There were two kinds, short and long. Many young ladies would have worn sort stays. Even when waists dropped between 1830 and 1830, the stays were not tightened as they were later on. Victorian corsets were made to make the waist smaller. They also made it much harder to breathe and many doctors considered them a health hazard. A whole movement grew up in protest of tight corsets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The phrase, lay back and think of England, was Victorian. That’s because, after Freud came out with his theory that women didn’t need help having an orgasm, men no longer felt it necessary to make sure a woman enjoyed herself. During the Regency, it was a point of pride that a woman came. They also believed that a woman had to reach completion in order to conceive.

During the Regency, several well-known philosophers supported and encouraged women’s rights. Even though the laws didn’t change, women became, in many ways, more independent. Women as well as men took lovers. No one thought twice about a bluestocking setting up her own household after she had reached the proper age. Women of all sorts held salons where artists, writers, politicians, and other interesting people would gather. The Victorian era slammed the door shut on those blossoming rights and philosophies. It was not unusual for an unmarried woman (older spinsters and widows) to come under the boot of a man. It was also not uncommon for a woman to be placed in an institution for the mentally incompetent for disagreeing with a male member of her family too often or too strenuously.

During the Regency a widow was in mourning for a year for her husband. The first six months was full-mourning. She wore black. Close friends and family could, and, hopefully did, visit her. But she did not go to parties, dinners, etc. The second six months was half-mourning. She was allowed to wear gray and other subdued colors. But not lavender. As a color, it had not yet been invented. She could go out to subdued gatherings. Once her year of mourning was over, she was expected to rejoin Polite Society. Mourning for a child, or sibling was generally much shorter. I’ve heard times of six weeks for a baby, and up to three months for a grown sibling. Parents were generally about six months. During the Victorian era, morning for one’s husband was expanded to two years. One year of full-mourning, the next year of half-mourning. Other periods of mourning were also lengthened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chaperoning of young unmarried ladies was significantly different as well. During the Regency, once a lady was betrothed, she and her soon-to-be husband were allowed to be alone for significant periods of time, anywhere, including closed carriages. In fact, it was expected they would anticipate their vows. Therefore, engagements were usually short and gentlemen could not cry off without ruining a lady’s reputation. If he decided he did not want to marry her after all, he had to find some way to make her jilt him. During the Victorian period, ladies were chaperoned up to the wedding day. They did not spend time alone with their betrothed until they were man and wife.

Only footmen and the coachman wore a uniform during the Regency. The wearing of uniforms by female servants was Victorian.

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Regency Trivia!!

Today is for questions on servants. Please ask away.

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Regency Trivia – Coachmen

During the Regency, a coachman typically lost his last name. It was not at all unusual for a coachman to be called Firstname Coachman. The coachman’s job was to drive coaches (in contract to sporting carriages), such as the large traveling coach, a smaller town coach, a landau, or other coach. He also maintained all the carriages. He’d know what the tolls were from place to place so that he wouldn’t be cheated at a toll gate.

A coachman typically lived above the carriage house. That building could be either separate or attached to the stables.

Like footmen, a coachman would wear of uniform of sorts. However, their uniforms were not the flashy livery of a footman. It was more subdued and included a multi-caped greatcoat to protect him from the elements.

He sat on the box of the coach. If it was a long trip, he’d have an assistant with him and they’d take turns driving. He also had to know how to shoot, and would travel with a weapon of some sort near him.

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Regency Trivia – Grooms

Not all Regency households could afford to set up a stable (more about that in a future post). However, for anyone who could, they did. It was important for transportation, pleasure, and a symbol of wealth. We’ll discuss all the stuff that goes into setting up a stable at a later date.

The most important person in a stable was the head groom. He was responsible for making sure the stable ran properly. The head groom worked directly for the master of the house. Many stables had under grooms (apparently, just called grooms). They assisted the head groom. They exercised the horses that weren’t being ridden regularly, cleaned and repaired the tack, and cleaned the stables.

Grooms would also teach the young children of the house how to ride and accompany them on rides. It was not uncommon for a groom to remain with a lady or gentleman when they set up their own households. In Town it was essential that a groom accompany a lady when she was riding.

Grooms lived in rooms above the stables. From what I could discover, they did not eat with the indoor servants, but had meals delivered to them.

Next Coachmen

 

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