Innovation verses Tradition

Although we have much in common, one must admit that there is a different strain of culture that makes America and England unique countries.  The example for the day is the end of the Upstairs/Downstairs Era.  Technology advances such as vacuums (which became popular when they added a motor in the early 20th century; Hoover created his in 1908) began replacing maid’s jobs in America.  It became quite fashionable to have less staff and more house cleaning devices.  However, while the same technology was available in England, they preferred to keep the maid’s job.  It looked better for the family to maintain a large household staff rather than invest in new gadgets.  Innovation verses tradition; rather a theme of Downton Abbey.

London, Town, and Season

Read enough British Literature (of which crime I am absolutely, certifiably guilty) and one will come upon the rich and elite mentioning at tea or at dinner that they are going “to town”.  This isn’t popping from their lovely country estate to the local population; “town” referred to the one and only London, England.  Society gathered in town for the season (when Parliament was in session, but more specifically for late spring and summer): balls, derbies, concerts, art exhibits, dinners and overall enjoying life, and therefore, to keep up appearances, one had a house in town and one had a house in the country.  The country estate, unless it was from many, many generations before when the ancestors may not have had the common sense, was close enough to London so that no more than a day need be spent traveling between country and town lodgings.  While one saw acquaintances of the country in town, often people would rotate in two different circles- their town acquaintances and their country neighbors.  Country neighbors were good company for afternoon calls, but if one wished to raise one’s status, one would usually be seeing a different circle of acquaintances for the balls and evening dinners.

Of course, if you weren’t of the elite, you had a house in either the city or the country and rented rooms whenever you needed to travel.  This saved you all of the pesky details the upper, upper class had to see to, such as sending servants on ahead to open up the house.

BBC verses ITV

Maybe you notice names like ITV and BBC being splashed around as you read online about Downton Abbey.  Maybe you don't.  If that is the case, and you want to learn about the BBC (note: slur the three syllables together and let it drop in pitch in order to sound like a true Brit) please keep reading.  If you don't wish to know what these three-letter words are all about, don't continue. 

The BBC, or British Broadcasting Corporation, is a public service broadcast.  It includes many different television channels as well radio stations.  It is well known for the BBC News as well as its flagship television channel, BBC One.  The BBC is funded through a license fee; in England, in order to get the main public channels, such as the BBC, one pays a license fee.  As of 2010, it cost 49 pounds for black and white television and 145.5 pounds for color.  Without paying the fee, you simply don't get access.  You would miss out on classics such as Are You Being Served?, Doctor Who, Flight of the Conchords, The Office and Pride and Prejudice.  All of the licensing fees go to pay for the productions and therefore, rather like our PBS, they can cut out the advertisements and sponsors.  According to the television licensing website, it is common to buy a license for someone else as a present.  Think of how simple Christmas shopping could become.

ITV, or Independent Television, is funded via advertisements and sponsors, making it quite different from the BBC.  None the less, it was originally created to give competition for the BBC. It is a major Public service television network and is also referred to as Channel 3.  It has Britain's Got Talent, ITV News, Jeeves and Wooster, Mr. Bean and of course our beloved Downton Abbey. 

*On a side note, as thankful as I am that the BBC and ITV release such wonderful productions on television, there is a moment of sadness every time I try and watch an episode or a behind-the-scenes clip on their respective websites and I receive a notice that looks like this...

Some days, this within itself, makes me wish I had my very own TARDIS so that I could pop on over to the UK.  Of course, if I had my own TARDIS, I think the last thing that I would do is sit down and watch a bit of "telly" when I could be off having my own adventures.

Will Mrs. Patmore Find Love?

Lesley Nicol as Mrs. Patmore

Mrs. Patmore is just as plucky in real life as she is on screen; apparently, she has put in a word with Julian Fellowes that she would like to see Mrs. Patmore find love.  After all, so many have found love both upstairs and downstairs in the show, I suppose it could be her turn.  But what sort of person will they have to send in to get Mrs. Patmore's heart to skip a beat? This just means season three will have to come out soon.

To read the full article, please follow this link:
http://www.news1130.com/entertainment/article/332349--downton-romance-for-mrs-patmore-actress-hopes-it-s-in-cards-for-character

On a side note, I would love it, if, in a "it could only happen because it is a movie" sort of way, Mrs. Patmore and Emma Allen from White Christmas sat down one day for a cup of tea and some  busy body gossip.  Emma Allen says in the movie "it took 15,000 men to take my place."  Sound like anyone we know from Downton Abbey?

Alastair Bruce, Historical Advisor

While there were many particularly thrilling moments of the Christmas Episode of Downton Abbey, I was pleased as punch to see Alastair Bruce show up on camera.  Unless I am mistaken, he can be spotted enjoying lunch across the table from Penelope Wilton and Hugh Bonneville after the hunt.  Alastair Bruce is the historical advisor for Downton Abbey.

A historical advisor is a loose term for the person on set who makes sure all of the vast many details (and it is a vast many- looking out for conduct, clothing, props, titles, and speech to name a few) are all in proper order. If something is out of place, for example a loaf of bread is caught on camera while it is still in its plastic wrapping from the store or a character uses the word 'boyfriend' before it came into popular conversation (both are example of minor errors in past period drama films), then everyone swoops down on the mistake and criticizes it. The goal of a historical advisor is to make sure nothing is out of line take after take, one of the many jobs that go unnoticed by the audience if done perfectly because we are completely drawn into the era of the film.

Alastair Bruce discussing details with Michelle Dockery in between takes.

Alastair Bruce is a man who wears many hats, both literally and figuratively.  He is a professor as well as an English National Events Commentator, filling in the public about the details behind grand events such as the Royal Wedding and the funerals of the Queen Mother and Princess Di.  He has been a soldier, a lecturer and a published author.  The Queen has appointed Alastair as a herald (appointed to the Fitzalan Pursuivant of Arms Extraordinary).  I have also heard rumors that he designs coats of arms (yes, they still exist) and that he recently designed one for the Middletons.

In his spare time, he seems to have recently taken up the role of being a historical advisor.  He has over seen The King's Speech (technically his title for this movie was Military and Ceremonial Advisor) and another recent work of Julian Fellowes' The Young Victoria as well as every episode of Downton Abbey.

Predicting Season Three

Masterpiece Online released a short video on what Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Joanne Froggatt and Dan Stevens want to see in Season 3 of Downton Abbey.  Bonneville plainly talks about the enigma of the character's future, stating "that is the great thing about Julian's [Fellowes] scripts; each time you open them you have no idea what is going to be coming up next".  I am cheering for Joanne Froggatt's wish for some dancing, and possibly some new haircuts for the cast.

To watch the full interview, please select the link below. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/downtonabbey2_cast_twenties.html

The Bobby Pin

Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael with their hair in prep faze.

I would assume hair and make-up designers for any period dramas are extremely grateful for modern technology in creating old-fashioned looks.  I know my go-to products for theatrical hair is hair spray and tons of bobby pins.  Lots and lots of bobby pins.  We are talking the Witch Hazel effect from the old Looney Tunes cartoons- so many that one leaves a trail behind.  Any time I have had to tackle the Gibson Girl look or a Marcel wave and bun, I bring these two items along.

Bobby pins can also be referred to as hair grips or even possibly kirby grips.  They came of age in the 1920s and got their name from the hair style-the bob.  Suddenly, long locks weren't being held in place in a bun on the back of one's head which meant they were falling in front of one's eyes all the time.  Anyone who has tried to grow out pesky bangs understands this idea.  Bobby pins were much smaller and less noticeable than barettes and could easily be used in one's hair or tucked into one's stockings for future hair catastrophes.

If one wanted tight ringlet curls all over one's head, a simple way to get it is to create bobby pin curls, more commonly referred to as pin curls.  Take a small section of hair, wrap it around your finger completely from root to end (tip: place the finger one is wrapping the hair around directly under the root of the wrapping hair and wrap around the tip of the finger) and then place the curled hair next to your scalp.  Using two bobby pins per curl of hair, make an 'x' with the pins to hold it in place.  Continue these steps until your head is full of bobby pins and no stray hairs.  Sleep on it overnight and the next morning, take out the bobby pins, shake out one's hair, and tada!  Curls to make Lady Edith envious.

Mary Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston

Meet Mary Victoria Curzon, the American lady who rose in British social ranks.  She is the inspiration for the character of Cora in Downton Abbey.

Mary had a father who worked for Marshall Fields in Chicago and a mother who saw opportunity in her striking, six-foot tall daughter.  In 1894, she was introduced by way of the American Ambassador to British society, and was ignored until the Prince of Wales asked her to dance.  Suddenly everyone became interested in Mary, but she settled on George Curzon, a man without a penny but with a title.  She brought the money and he brought the title to the marriage, and together they moved to Bombay after accepting the position of Viceroy of India. She always insisted on looking the part, wearing extravagant dresses that to this day are commemorated in museums.

This is the very shortened story of a young lady from Chicago became one of the highest ranking Americans in British history to date.

Ours is Not to Reason Why...

"Ours is not to reason why" Carson cites in the final episode of Season Two of Downton Abbey.  The loyal butler is referencing Lord Alfred Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade".  Written in 1854, the poem describes the bravery of the Brigade during the Crimson War.  It is rumored that Tennyson wrote the entire poem in only a few minutes after reading an account of the battle.  Although poetry has been anything but a forte of mine, these lines resonate in my mind:

Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:

What a powerful statement of the understanding of rank and place in life.  The devotion these gentlemen showed is truly inspiring in an incomprehensible way.

Good, Old-Fashioned Dust Up

Matthew Crawley and Richard Carlisle slug it out while Lady Mary
grants them appropriate facial expressions.

Dust-up: British slang term for a scuffle or a fight. 

Nothing makes me smile more than two prim, proper British gentlemen trying to fight it out over a woman.  I can pass over the American, highly-choreographed Hollywood fights and the "people get hurt in accidents but we think it is funny" category on Youtube.  Just give me a fight where the actors admit they will never look bold and brave, where they are just willing to put a ridiculous dust-up on film.  Just as Hugh Grant and Colin Firth brought a smile to my face and a shudder to their stunt coordinator in the second Bridget Jones' Diary, so Matthew and Sir Richard's fight on the finale of season two made me smile.  And then Dame Maggie Smith came on the screen and I do believe I laughed out loud.

Sister Suffragettes

Thanks to Disney and their production of Mary Poppins, I believe many of us grew up knowing more about the Suffragette movement from Mrs. Banks than from our history teachers.  After all, "we're clearly soldiers in petticoats".  Well done Sister Suffragettes, from women living many years after we have been granted the vote. 

In America, 1848 was a big year for women's suffrage.  Women didn't get the vote that year, but they held a convention, the Seneca Falls Convention in New York.  There was a large push from the East Coast to help women in Utah gain equality under the opinion that once women were equal to men, they would then go on to abolish polygamy.  In the 1900s, the classic Women's Votes signs and picketing became employed.  Presidents ignored the women outside the White House for years until they happened to picket on a day that the Russian Diplomats arrived.  Women held up signs that read America is not a democracy and Kaiser Wilson (referring to the president of the time).  Many women that day ended up in jail.  Two years later, on June 4, 1919, the Senate passed a vote that would lead to the 19th Amendment.

In England, 1865 was the year a gentleman was elected to Parliament who was open about his beliefs in women's rights.  Many years were spent trying to lobby members of Parliament after that.  In 1907, about fifty years later, 3,000 women gathered in the streets of London to march from Hyde Park to Exeter Hall in support of women's rights.  Nothing changed though, so many turned to violence.  The House of Commons was stormed and several politicians houses were fire-bombed. In 1909, a lady with a title was thrown in jail for protesting, but when her identity was discovered, they released her immediately.  So she erased her past, came back to the protests as a working-class seamstress, and was once again imprisoned.  She was one of the many who endured much in prison, including being force-fed semolina.  The next few years were turbulent and fast going.  In 1918, the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, allowing women over 30 to vote.  The Eligibility of Women act was also passed that year, allowing women to be elected into Parliament.  In 1928, the voting age was lowered to 21, giving votes to all women the same as men.

Lady Edith still Unmarried

Lady Edith Crawley performed by Laura Carmichael

Dear Lady Edith, no modern audience has sympathy for her plight.  After all, the wedding of the year in 2011 was Catherine Middelton to Prince William, both around the age of 30, the average age for marrying in our modern times.  Your twenties are seen as time to establish a career, your thirties for establishing a family.  Not so for young ladies brought up during Victorian times.

The reality is, of the three Crawley sisters, only Sybil, trying to marry at age twenty-one, has the system down pat.  As an audience, we don't feel sorry or worried for Mary, the eldest.  It isn't will she eventually end up married, but rather will she marry the right one?  Julian Fellowes must be having fun keeping the audience waiting on that one.

But Edith, the only men in her life that she takes a shine to end up disappearing completely from her life before the end of the episode.  In modern times, that is heartbreaking for her, but we believe that a woman can fend for herself.  Even though women, such as the likes as the authoress Jane Austen, had been asserting themselves for some time as independent, the reality is that most women turned out to be Mary Bennets from Pride and Prejudice.

As a young lady of fortune, Edith would have been raised knowing that her sole purpose in life was to get married, raise a family, and keep an orderly house.  Think of it as knowing since age five you were told you were going to be a teacher, and there was no other option.  The reality is, both are very noble jobs.  However, imagine you, just like every little girl you grew up with playing house, reach your mid-twenties, and no beau come to call.  So everyone tells you to hold on a little longer, that something will turn up.  Soon you reach your thirties, and no one is going to tell you to take any offer that comes along, they simply have given up on you.  You haven't been able to make the one thing in your life your were raised to do happen.  This dream that you had and others had for you will never come true.  And while your siblings are off on their own adventures, setting up their own families and running their own homes like good little children, you are at home, the place you have always been, looking after the parents who you have now disappointed.  It isn't all a lark as Mary thinks it is by looking at her Aunt Rosamund.  It is living a life of disappointment every day for the rest of your life.  Any wonder Edith wants to learn how to drive away?

Downton Abbey at Play

created by Kyle Hilton

Paper dolls.  If you no longer love the sight of them, then I am sorry to inform you that you have grown up too quickly.  I suggest you sign up immediately for the next Neverland retreat.

Should you wish to have your very own Mary and Matthew Crawley, Lady Sybil, O'Brien and Thomas or the Dowager Countess (complete with different expressions) paper dolls to have to play with, follow the link below.  Kyle Hilton added his own flair, and if you are feeling daring, attach magnets to the back of your paper dolls and hang them up on the refrigerator so that you can change their outfits and expressions rather than fix dinner.  I may have to make room on my own refrigerator for them- my Wills & Kate paper dolls may have to take a small vacation.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/02/print-out-vultures-downton-abbey-paper-dolls.html

Julian Fellowes on Improv at the Abbey

Robin Williams, an American actor, is known for his improvisation skills.  He gracefully floats between one-liners, cultural references and impersonations so skillfully that the audience has no clue what has hit them.  It has come to the point where film makers don't bother handing him a script; in Disney's Aladdin, most of his lines were adlibbed.  In the 1978 film Mindy and Mork, they simply wrote in sections where his character could stray from the script and just start adlibbing in front of the camera.  What would Julian Fellowes, writer of Downton Abbey, have to say about all this?

"Any actor who makes up twenty percent or more not on the page, dies.  Let's get that absolutely clear."

-Julian Fellowes               

It appears that there is a difference of temperment between these two creative geniuses- I truly wish we could put them on the same set together and watch them battle it out vocally like true raconteurs.

If you've got 45 seconds of time not preoccupied- check out the full interview at Masterpiece Online.



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/downtonabbey2_fellowes_improv.html

Dowager Countess Quote

Dowager Countess Quote

Leaving Service

Gwen performed by Rose Leslie

Next time you are at a loss of what to talk about at tea time, perhaps bring up the Servant Problem.  After all, it was the most common topic of conversation among ladies between 1880-WWI.  No "how are the kids?" or "did you see this on Pinterest?".  Discuss the issue of your servants becoming educated and having ideas of their own.

With the copulsory education of Board Schools, the young of the era walked into work having a mind of their own.  Young women in particular, such as the likes of Gwen in Downton Abbey, began to dream of a life that still included many hours of work, but not for the lady of the house.  A servant shortage started because young ladies could now find employment in factories, in offices as secretaries using the newfangled typing machines, in hospitals, in the post and telegraph offices and in shops.  While the life of domestic service may have meant being in a higher social class, families, even those whose roots came from domestic service, were starting to let their daughters decide how they would support themselves.  Many young women chose a career outside of the house, seeing as they would have to keep a house of their own as soon as they married.

Gretna Green

Lady Sybil Crawley (performed by Jessica Brown Findlay)
and Tom Branson (performed by Alan Leech)
using logic on the family before eloping

"They've gone to Gretna Green..."


Those who have watched enough period drama, or if you've done the hard work and actually have researched Scotland, know that the words Gretna Green can cause gasps from audience members.  "Oh no, she didn't!  Not Gretna Green!" one thinks, or perhaps that is just me.  Gretna Green, none the less, has developed quite a reputation in the world of English elopements.  Think of it as the Vegas of the U.K., in a much classier sense of the whole idea.  What happens in Gretna Green, stays in Gretna Green.

Gretna Green is the "runaway hub" of Scotland.  It is right on the border of England and Scotland, the first town outside the jurisdiction of England.  1753's Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act started all of the scandal; if a couple couldn't wait until the age of 21 (legal age to marry without family consent) and they could not get the parents' permission, then one hoped on a carriage and ran away to Gretna Green.  For anyone who is thinking, "you couldn't wait until 21 to marry?", just remember Romeo and Juliet.  Both in their mid-teens and yet one of the greatest love stories in our culture to this day. 

Scotland didn't abide by England's rules and in fact, in Scotland way back when, as long as there were two witnesses, anyone could conduct a marriage.  Many of the blacksmiths moonlighted as marriage officials, getting the nickname of "anvil priests". 

In 1856, Scotland changed its laws and required all runaway couples to take up residence for three weeks (I suppose it helped bolster the economy).  Lydia, in Pride and Prejudice, is thought to have eloped with Wickham to Gretna Green, but she was living before this restriction was passed.  Lady Sybil Crawley, however, is subject to these laws.  This is why it is mentioned in season two of Downton Abbey that she will live with Branson's mother until they can have the wedding. 

Gretna Green today hosts approximately 5,000 weddings each year, only 1/6 of them being Scottish.  Apparently it is still in vogue to run away to Gretna Green.

Dowager Countess Quote



The Dowager Countess reminds us that we all have a duty to do.

Soundtrack of Life

This morning I woke up in one of those hazy states between awake and dreaming, and I heard that repeated note of the beginning of the theme (is it an E?  I don't have a piano nearby to test my theory).  If you ever watch the opening credits and don't skip it, you know the opening melody note that repeats a few times that I am talking about.  I couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from and thought I might be dreaming about Downton when reality hit- it was the sound of the garbage truck in my apartment's parking lot backing up.  Go figure, John Lunn wrote a song that encompasses both upstairs and downstairs at the same pitch as a garbage truck's reverse sound.  Rather splendid, isn't it, that the working class of America gets represented, without I'm sure, Mr. Lunn ever knowing.  Genius.

With the Chauffeur?

I looked it up.  As scandalous as the potential union of Lady Sybil with the chauffeur, Mr. Branson, would be, it was possible.  Once in a while, high-born ladies married their gentlemen servants, after all, one would know them better than an upper class man who one met at tea, was proposed to at dinner and married the next season.  However, it goes without saying that if one did marry down in rank, it provided great amounts of gossip.  If a lady married outside of her class, then she joined him, not the other way around.  Lady Henrietta Wentworth had plans to marry her footman, John William Sturgeon in 1764.  She planned to become simply Mrs. Sturgeon, give up her fancy clothes and move with him to Ireland to be with his family.  Sound familiar, non? 

The reality though was as Lady Mary expresses to Lady Sybil, "Oh darling, darling, don't be such a baby.  This isn't fairyland.  What did you think? You'd marry the chauffeur and we'd all come to tea?". Sybil would have to be prepared to give up everything: all money, family, status, everything she has and knows to marry a man.  Can you blame her for stalling in her decision?

Thanks to E. S. Turner for publishing What the Butler Saw: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of the Servant Problem by Penguin Books, 1962, and for helping me expand my knowledge of this area.

Dismissed without Reference

Amy Nuttall as Ethel, a maid with her precious baby

What to say about Ethel? Feisty and red-haired, as much as her ambitions caused her to stick out like a sore thumb amongst the other servants, one couldn't help but root for as she dreamed of a future.  And then she went and had a baby.  And in Victorian times, there went all of your dreams, hopes, respectability, and basically your life.

Handbooks used to be distributed to maids, warning them to be wary of masters and young masters, often forgetting to mention that a maid might catch a fellow servant's or handyman's eye.  If anything, "improper" shall we call it, occurred, the maid was immediately dismissed without reference.  This is a very nice way of saying fired without any chance of someone hiring you again. 

It wasn't all bad back then.  After all, if a maid remained virtuous and saved all of her earnings (seeing as that food and lodging were all ready provided for as well as the two spiffy uniforms- one for morning and a formal one for evening), she might marry a fellow servant who wants to retire by opening up a public house, or a shop in the case of Albert Nobbs, or a hotel in the case of Anna Smith and John Bates in Downton Abbey.  Then you could live happily, ever after.

Thanks to E. S. Turner for publishing What the Butler Saw: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of the Servant Problem by Penguin Books, 1962, for helping me expand my knowledge of this area.

Dowager Countess Quote

Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess.

Greek Myths

The family trees of the British aristocracy are almost as muddled and difficult to memorize as the ancient Greek lineages.  Therefore, it seems rather natural that the characters of Downton Abbey, who would have been educated in the classic stories of Greek heros, would reference these characters.  Here is the Sparknotes version of two such Greek characters chucked around at the dinner table.

Season One:

Mary: I've been studying the story of Andromeda; do you know it?

Matthew: Why?

Mary: Her father was King Cepheus, whose country was being ravaged by storms. And, in the end, he decided the only way to appease the gods was to sacrifice his eldest daughter to a hideous sea monster. So they chained her, naked, to a rock--

Dowager Countess: Really! Mary! We'll all need our smelling salts in a minute!

Matthew: But the sea monster didn't get her, did he?

Mary: No. Just when it seemed he was the only solution to her father's problems, she was rescued.

Matthew: By Perseus.

Mary: That's right. Perseus. Son of a god. Rather more fitting, wouldn't you say?

Matthew: That depends. I'd have to know more about the princess and the sea monster in question.

Perseus is the son of Danae and Zeus; having a god's DNA in one means that you are destined to a life of adventure and will rarely get to sit at home to watch your kids grow up, catch the Superbowl game, etc.  Perseus' life included being tossed into the ocean with his mum as a baby (his grandfather was a bit superstitious), visiting the Graeae (3 old women with one eye to share), and slaying Medusa (yes, the one with snakes for hair and a killer stare).  Makes me wonder what I've been doing with my life in comparison to Perseus' checklist.

Anyways, the story referenced in Downton Abbey is that of Perseus and Andromeda.  Andromeda had a boastful mother, never a good thing in ancient times.  She got Poseidon just a bit upset, resulting in Cepheus and Cassiopeia having to tie their daughter to a rock.  When one gets the Greek gods mad, someone has to die.  So Poseidon sent in a sea monster to do the evil deed.  Luckily, Perseus happened to be in town.  Now, whether he saved her with the help of winged shoes or by riding Pegasus is up for debate.  None the less, Andromeda was saved by Perseus, and they get married despite Andromeda being engaged to another man.  End of story.

Fun Fact of the Day: Clash of the Titans (2010), loosely based on the story of Perseus, has Elizabeth McGovern (Cora in Downton Abbey) in it as Marmara.  Watch for her closely cause once she is gone, she is gone.

Season Two:

Cora: Before you scold me, it's no good pretending Mary is not a good deal too attached to Matthew.

Lord Grantham: So you summon Lavinia?  To be sacrificed like some later-day Iphigenia, doomed to push his chair through all eternity?

Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in ancient Greece. Her name translates as "born to strength".  On his way to fight the Trojan War, Iphigenia's daddy got Artemis (a goddess) rather mad because he shot a deer in a sacred grove, and on top of all that, decided to boast how he was a better hunter than Artemis.  Once again, bad decision on the parent's part.  Agamemnon's ship gets stuck in the doldrums, and the only way to end it is for somebody to die (namely, his daughter).  So he writes home, telling his wife that he has found a husband for Iphigenia and to please send her ASAP.  Iphigenia shows up, and the earliest accounts say that was the last day she lived.  Later accounts try to make it happier, for instance she was replaced by a goat during the sacrifice or she gets to marry Achilles after she is dead.  Whether she died willingly or not is up for debate in more modern interpretations of the story.  None the less, she portrays the dutiful woman, rather like Lavinia.

Good Neighbors

Lord and Lady Carnarvon in their library

Fact for the day: Lord and Lady Carnarvon, the owners of Highclere Castle, are neighbors with Broadway and West End superstar Andrew Lloyd Webber.  In fact, before Downton Abbey showed up to film, Lord and Lady Carnarvon considered selling some of the estate's land to help pay the bills and Webber offered to take the whole place off their hands.  He thought it would be a lovely place to  hang his pre-Raphaelite art collection.  Needless to say, Lord and Lady Carnarvon were not amused.  Webber is part of the self-made rich, being able to afford his estate by writing musicals such as Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Love Never Dies, Jesus Christ Superstar, etc. Very different from his neighbors.  Anyways, the real question is whether Downton Abbey will become a musical.  "Don't Cry for me Downton Abbey"...  On second thought, I truly hope not.

An Abbey

Highclere Castle, alias: Downton Abbey

A person who is very close to me started watching Downton Abbey in the middle of season two.  One of the most pressing questions they had was, "Why is it called an abbey?  Why is it Downton Abbey or why did Jane Austen call the book/estate in the book Northanger Abbey?"

Good Question.

First off, the grand building used for the series is titled Highclere Castle, therefore the name of Abbey has nothing to do with the history of the real building.  And Julian Fellowes has yet to give us any vast history of the building itself in the series.  However, the most logical explanation is because frankly, at one time there was probably an abbey on the estate.  Many great estates are on previously ecclesiastical sites; land was often given to people who were faithful to the king, particularly in acts of war.  Needless to say, not many monks were getting estates as a gift for valor in battle.  Often these estates have a "monks' garden" to commemorate its past.

The Tuxedo

Hugh Bonneville as Lord Grantham in Season Two.

Be it a gentleman or a penguin, the tuxedo is the ultimate in dressing for an occasion in today's society.  Ironic then, that it was considered second to a tail coat when the fashion was introduced in Victorian times.  It wasn't until after WWI that it became a fashionable option to be spotted in, and did not become the go-to accessory for formal events as it is today until the 1940s.  Pre-WWII, the tuxedo was considered semi-formal, but apparently when all of the men came home from that war it became the formal wear it is today instead of standard evening wear.

Fascinating that Lord Grantham believes that he will only be able to wear his tuxedo around the house for family dinners (rather the equivalent of today's sweat pant fashion, non?).  I would say it was a smart investment.

Bowled Over

Lavinia Swire, played by Zoe Boyle

"When I was last here, I was so bowled over that I let you send me away" Lavinia Swire, Season two

Bowled over is a very informal way of saying, "I was shocked speechless by the huge misfortunes that just got chucked at me".  If you are planning on adding the term bowled over to your language repertoire, consider the classics: flabbergasted, stupified or gobsmacked (a relatively new term being recorded in print only 20-some odd years ago).

How to: Serve a Victorian Dinner

Carson and Mr. Lang making do serving dinner during war times

Serving a Victorian Dinner: Tips for a Success

*Note: these instructions are all based on what the footmen would be required to do in order to smoothly serve a dinner.  If others must step in to help them out, all chaos breaks loose...

A footman should, when serving a dinner:
-serve with the left hand, standing on the left side of the person they are serving.
-remove each guests' knife, fork, plate and spoon and replace it with clean dishes after each course (as soon as the guest is through with them so as to ensure they do not stare at a dirty plate when they find themselves lacking in conversation)
-never uncork wine or champagne bottles loudly.  The goal is not to start an ambitious display of sight and sound.  If the bottle is properly cooled prior to the dinner, it should be able to be removed in a soundless manner.  A napkin should be available on the footman's arm at all times in order to wipe the mouth of the bottle.
-any dishes placed on the table or on the buffet should be removed without spilling (goes without saying)
-never correct his master either in etiquette or conversation.  Despite the fact that the footman is present the entire meal, he should never "hear" the gossip at the table.
-after dinner, a footman will deliver a tea tray to the drawing room and help the hostess distribute the tea before he is done for the night.

Many thanks to Isabella Beeton for publishing all of her valuable knowledge in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management which is published by the Oxford University Press, 2000.

Chuck and Downton Abbey

John Casey gets talked into movie night in Chuck

I'll admit it, I am very behind on watching American tv shows.  I keep up through conversations with my room mates; I glean just enough to always be a part of the conversation and then go off to watch my own British television shows.

One of my room mates was getting caught up on the tv show Chuck the other day when she stumbled upon the scenes where John Casey gets talked into watching Downton Abbey as a movie night.  Best lines from this episode:

John Casey: Downton Abbey.  An Upstairs/Downstairs costume drama in early 1900s England.  Yeah, something tells me not going to be a lot of explosions in that one.
Alex (his daughter): Are you kidding?  What about the bombs they drop on Edwardian convention?

[later when watching the Downton Abbey]

John Casey: Oh no.
Alex: What?
John Casey: The house maid is laying out coffee spoons with the dinner service. Yeah, it's going to be hell to pay at Downton Abbey tonight.

Thanks to the writers of Chuck for taking a moment to pause from saving the world and reference Downton Abbey instead.  Oh goodness...

Why? What is a Weekend?

Dame Maggie Smith in Season One of Downton Abbey

I'll admit it, I couldn't keep a stiff upper lip when Dame Maggie Smith asked the question: What is a weekend?  Was it her superb acting, or just the absolutely ridiculous sense of the question from the modern viewer's standpoint?  After all, here in America, we can't wait for Friday, and the instant it turns to Monday, we start counting down the days till the weekend.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (which from here on out I shall refer to as the OED simply because it is quite overwhelming to read such an striking title repeatedly), the word weekend, which literally meant end of week, has been documented to be around since 1638.  However, OED documents that it got its start in print around the 1910s, the era of Downton Abbey and often referred to a holiday (American term: vacation) at the end of the work week.  The term did not make it into dictionaries until 1926 though it was being tossed about before that date.

In 1972, the OED states that apparently Monty Python turned the term into a euphemism. I won't tell you any more here. If you must know, go do some research.  With that knowledge in mind, I am sure the British couldn't keep a straight face when the Dowager Countess asked her simple question.

week-end, n.
Third edition, October 2011; online version December 2011. <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/226788>; accessed 05 February 2012. An entry for this word was first included in New English Dictionary, 1926.

Defining a Morning Call

Dame Maggie Smith looking perfectly splendid

Tip of the day: paying someone a MORNING CALLS does not refer to ringing their doorbell in the morning.  Morning calls were always done after lunch.  Why call it a morning call then rather than an afternoon call or an after-luncheon call?  I really haven't got a clue.

Morning calls were what the ladies of the house did after balls, after dining at a friend's house, or to call on new or old acquaintances.  One certainly never wore a formal outfit (one designed for dinner or a party which meant one that exposed any skin below the neck line or on the arms).  One never removed their hat (thus accommodating for a speedy exit) and one only visited for fifteen to twenty minutes to discuss everyone's health, the weather and the state of the roads.

Often, those who expected many visitors that day (say they had just recently thrown a lavish ball) had an "at home" day.  This may have been routine, depending on the community, when women knew which day of the week was an acquaintance's "at home" day and when the acquaintance would be out and about paying visits.  If I didn't have rehearsal tomorrow morning, I would consider an "at home" day myself.


Many thanks to Isabella Beeton for publishing all of her valuable knowledge in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management which is published by the Oxford University Press, 2000.

Theater Tips for Achieving the Pre-WWI Look

                After World War One, America was introduced to modern inventions such as radio transmission, traffic lights, lie detectors, band aids and hair dryers.  This meant that if you didn’t have enough time to blow dry your hair because you cut yourself shaving, you could blast the latest hit while speeding through a red light and discuss the consequences with the police force and their new technology (theoretically, though not recommended).  World War One didn’t just change technology, despite the fact that it is the area most text books focus on.  It was the doorway into the modern world, changing how society thought, acted, looked and dressed.  As a make-up designer and a costume quick change assistant, it was my duty in Ah, Wilderness! to transform the actors back into a time before war changed our society, even if I myself was standing backstage in jeans and a t-shirt.

                Watching the BBC and using Google Image Search can only get one so far in trying to attain the look of 1906 America (that is correct- I did turn to the British for ideas of how America looked back then).  Here are a few behind-the-scenes snapshots at trying to live, dress and look as they did back then.

Artist Charles Dana Gibson's parody of
his original Gibson Girl drawing.

The Gibson (not Mel or the Les Paul Custom): The Gibson Girl hairstyle was displayed by many of the female cast in the show.  What started out as a man’s satirical comic book drawing of the ideal Victorian woman was embraced and brought to life and is now as much connected with the time period as corsets and handkerchiefs.  In our dressing rooms downstairs, it required plenty of hairspray, teased hair and loads of bobby pins to pull off the look.  The goal was volume, particularly on the stage where everything is larger than life, which can make it tricky when getting the ladies into their costumes.

Beautiful Victorian Black Glass Buttons

Buttons: Buttons used to be not only necessary but also beautiful; jewelry with a purpose.  Before the wonderfully time-saving inventions of zippers and Velcro, they were in abundant use.  Think about how many buttons you have on you while you are reading this.  Double (or perhaps even triple) the number of buttons and the amount of fabric (in petticoats, waistcoats and jackets), and you can begin to understand why nobody saw anybody back in the 1900s until the afternoon.  It could take half the morning to get dressed.  Sadly, we didn’t have half a morning to get all of the actors costumed.  In fact, we had less than thirty seconds in the case of one costume change.  To tell you the secrets behind that modern costume change would most likely cause several ladies’ maids to turn in their graves.



An example of a gentleman's collar

Collar Pin (or Collar Clip) (or Collar Bar): Most collar pins are only expected to do the duty of holding the two ends of a gentleman’s dress shirt collar together.  Our collar pins worked double hard as they were expected to hold four pieces of cloth together; two pieces of the shirt collar and two pieces of the stiff white collar that has been added to add a classic touch of the time period to the costumes (which makes one sympathize with the actors whose necks don many layers of fabric under the hot stage lights each night).  We had many options for making a collar pin that was designed for the thickness of two pieces of fabric work for four pieces: safety pins, forcing the collar pin through three of the four button holes, teasing the button holes to allow it to go through all four layers, forgetting it and hoping a tie will hold it all in place or duct tape.  I shall leave it up to you to guess what methods we employed.

A Formal Invitation

Elizabeth McGovern tending to affairs in Season Two

          In modern society, throwing a party is relatively cost-efficient.  Sending invites over Facebook eliminates the need for postage or stationery, paper plates and plastic utensils are perfectly acceptable and much more affordable than fine china and the silver, and if one goes about the party potluck style, all one may have to finance for the party is the bathroom cleaner so the guests have a clean restroom to use (and to make your mother proud).
       
Now compare to the requirements in preparing a Victorian invitation to dinner...
-cards or invites were to be distributed a fortnight (vocab word of the day- 14 days/2 weeks) to a month in advance
-guests must be selected to have an equal balance of talkers to listeners
-arriving fashionably late for dinner is not acceptable and all plans must be made to ensure it does not happen

The invites were a perfected science.  Mrs. Beeton suggests the following format when inviting acquaintances over for dinner.

Mr and Mrs (fill in your name) present their compliments to Mr and Mrs (inset guest name here), and request the honour, [or if you really want to get fancy: hope to have the pleasure] of their company to dinner on Tuesday, the 14th of February next.


(insert address)
February 3rd, 2012 (this is the date you sent out the invites)
R. S. V. P.

Of course naturally one accepted unless there was a Romeo and Juliet family feud occurring whereupon one was expected to snub the host and decline the invitation.  Accepting didn't meaning clicking a button that said <GOING> on Facebook.  Should you ever receive a proper dinner invitation, I would suggest answering in the following manner:

Mr and Mrs (this is the guest's name) present their compliments to Mr and Mrs (insert hosts' name), and will do themselves the honor of accepting their kind invitation to dinner on Tuesday, the 14th of February next.


(insert address)
February 3rd, 2012

Naturally, should you ever find yourself in a situation where you may need this information, I hope you are well stocked on fine stationary, fountain pens and wax seals so that you may go for the full effect.


Many thanks to Isabella Beeton for publishing all of her valuable knowledge in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management which is published by the Oxford University Press, 2000.

Downton verses the Super Bowl

          Last year's Super Bowl was watched by an estimated 111 million people in America.  I will admit, I stuck around for the ads and watched through the half-time show.  This year, there is a choice to be made- watch the Super Bowl or watch Downton Abbey.  Episode five of season two will be aired on PBS' Masterpiece hour this week despite the draw that the sports channels will have.  And to be honest, with the plot lines of this season brewing like a tempest in a tea pot, I am hoping that Madonna will finish her half-time show before the show starts or I shall have to watch it on YouTube.  I highly doubt anyone will notice if one less person watches football on Sunday night.

Links to the episode previews on Masterpiece Online to aid you in your decision:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/downtonabbey2_ep5_scene.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/downtonabbey2_ep5_preview.html

Note: Do not let this decision lead to a rift in any of the relationships in your life.  There are plenty of televisions in America. Just find the ones that are nearby the tea and not the football goodies.

A Dinner at Downton

Dining before fast food was invented

          Isabella Beeton published an expansive book in 1861 and wrote: "Man, it has been said, is a dining animal.  Creatures of the inferior race eat and drink; man only dines" (page 363 of Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management).  A staple for many, many  years as the resource for the lady of the house in managing everything, nothing but Julia Child's cook book could replace Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management for more detailed and intimidating recipes and household tips.  None the less, browsing through it is rather like getting a behind-the-scenes personal tour of a Victorian home, and how could I possibly say no to that?
       As there appears to be ten people dining at Downton in the scene pictured, I have borrowed a December menu from Mrs. Beeton as an example of the reason why dining would take hours back then.

First Course

Mulligatawny Soup (a soup of chicken, curry, rice and apple)

Fried slices of Codfish

Soles a la Creme

Entrees

Croquettes of Fowl (which sounds like chicken playing croquet) 

Pork Cutlets and Tomata Sauce

Second Course

Roast Ribs of Beef

Boiled Turkey and Celery Sauce

Tongue, garnished (honestly, I am rather glad this dish has gone out of fashion)

Lark Pudding (note, yes this does refer to the song bird which 150 years ago was commonly available at the market.  Do not go to your local grocery store in search of it in modern times)

Vegetables

Third Course

Roast Hare

Grouse

Plum-pudding

Mince Pies

Charlotte a la Parisienne (sponge cake, almonds and lots of sugar)

Cheesecakes

Apple Tart

Nesselrode Pudding (a chestnut and maraschino dessert-very popular in Victorian times)

Desserts and Ices

Three thoughts on this menu

1) If I were Mrs Patmore, I would definitely insist on putting my feet up at the end of a meal.

2) How did ladies fit into their corsets at the end of the meal?

3) If I were the cook, I may be tempted to call for takeout.

For a behind-the-scenes look at dining at Downton, please read Mail Online's article.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2038720/Downton-Abbey-How-dine-style--salt.html

Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management is published by Oxford University Press, 2000.

Upstairs Downstairs: a Diamante Poem

The cast of Season Two

          Working with Diamante Poetry today, which is amazing since I agree with Jane Austen's sentiment on poetry that one poor sonnet will kill love stone dead.  Diamante poetry is a seven line poem on opposites and should, in theory, resemble a diamond visually.

Upstairs

Upper Class

Dictating, Gossiping, Perfecting

All Under One Roof

Scrubbing, Cooking, Cleaning,

Working Class

Downstairs

The Automobile

         Heaven forbid there be a traffic jam in Ripon of five cars.  Oh, for the good old days (that I never knew) when less than a dozen cars in a town was the topic of choice rather than the current gas prices.  Many connect the history of cars with Ford's assembly line which he put to work in the 1910s.  This idea came from an assembly line model attributed to starting in the Portsmouth Block Mills over 100 years earlier.  Although the first steam-powered automobile may be from the 1600s, invented by a Flemish Jesuit in China, Ford was the man who boosted the car industry into what we know today and he quickly established his techniques not only in America but in Europe as well, creating Ford France, Ford Britain, Ford Denmark and finally Ford Germany.

        The Model T Ford and Model T Ford truck have had a bit of a make-over to turn them into ambulances for season two.  The props department contacted the kind people at Triggol's Vintage Cars for the use of their vehicles.

A lovely picture from Mail Online of the modern day car sneaking onto the set.