Nanny West vs. Thomas

Anna, Lady Mary, Nanny West and the adorable Master George

 

Nanny West has been sacked within one episode, and I am certain most of us said good riddance to her as soon as we saw how she treated dear little Sybil.  However, this does not explain why she has gotten her feathers all ruffled over the way Thomas treats her- after all, Thomas treats everyone quite terribly who he doesn't take a shine to, and that is the better of the two options. 

"The real discomfort of a governess's position in a private family arises from the fact that it is undefined.  She is not a relation, not a guest, not a mistress, not a servant- but something made up of all.  No one knows exactly how to treat her."
                                                                                -Elizabeth Missing Sewell, Principles of Education

Does Nanny West have the right to boss Thomas around?  Possibly.  In a house this size, she would have soon had staff under her, a nursery maid or a nursery cook who would be preparing the dinners for the nursery so Mrs. Patmore could focus on the main dinners (children did not dine with their parents until they could deport themselves with grace and elegance and altogether be miniatures of their parents).  So if she had staff under her, she would be at the same level of say Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes or Mrs. Patmore.  Even without staff, she reported directly to the family, not to the head butler or housekeeper, ranking her higher up.  Bossing anyone isn't going to win friends, but she did have a right to send messages with Thomas so that she could be back with her little charges sooner.  However, she would have appeared so infrequently from the nursery until the children were older that one can hardly blame Thomas for taking offence at being given orders by a stranger.

Master and Miss

Master George, Miss Sybie and their parents, the ones that lived

 

Fun fact: Children of the aristocracy had their own titles.  Little boys were referred to as Master ______ and little girls referred to as Miss __________ by anyone who was socially lower than them- nannies, servants, neighbors, etc.  It was a sign of respect for the children who would one day take the place of their parents in the aristocratic realms.  Of course, when they have grown up, these titles were left behind as a sign of respect.  As noted in the BBC tv series Cranford by two ladies, "Master William Buxton!"- "Although I think we should not call him master now, he is so much broader than when we last saw him." Of course the two ladies are chattering about the fully grown Tom Hiddleston who has been quite grown up for a while now.



Day Off

Ed Speeleers & Cara Theobold as Jimmy & Ivy

 

Let's take a sad moment to face reality- very few young ladies now a days would be asked out on a date if they had to face the interrogation squad of Mrs. Patmore, Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson.  Just asking for permission from Mr. Carson would send most boys off the thought of ever asking a girl out.  Can you imagine if Mr. Carson had a daughter?  She would never be married.  No man would have the strength to ask for her hand in marriage.

 

So, whether Jimmy is just playing around with Ivy's emotions or not, it must be said he has gone through quite a lot to take her to the theater.  Why all the fuss?  Because a house such as Downton must be full functioning and running 24/7.  Servants lived there, they ate there, they were expected to be there.  There was no such thing as 9 to 5, 5 days a week back then.  One day off was allowed, and that did not mean the entire day.  Every other Sunday afternoon was often a stipulation of the job, and if you were lucky another member of staff had that every other Sunday off as well so you had some company.  Not always likely though.  Usually only one or two members of staff had off at the same time so that the others could cover the slack of missing workers. 

 

In the Downton staff, Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes would have first priority of time off due to their seniority, but it is doubtful they used much of their "vacation" time.  Of course Mrs. Patmore had off any time she wasn't cooking- it is why so many young girls took on the hardest role in the house of being a kitchen maid so one day they could live a good life as a cook. The Bates, now married, would probably get time off together.  This leaves the understaff with the scraps for time off, despite the young probably being the ones most in need of it.

 

Margaret Powell, in her book Below Stairs writes of the elaborate outings she had planned whilst working in London verses the reality as a kitchen maid:

 

"But I was always too darned tired.  I just wanted to go to the films where you could sit in darkness, where it didn't matter that you hadn't dressed up.  On my day off I used to go to the nearest cinema and get all my romance second-hand.  It took a lot less energy.  I often thought I wouldn't have had the strength if a marvelous lover had swum into my life.  I couldn't have done anything about it.  Once a fortnight I used to get a Sunday evening off with Gladys the under-housemaid, and we used to stroll around Hyde Park..."

 

The reality is, Ivy and Jimmy may fall asleep in the audience of the theater due to work exhaustion, but at least they tried.



Mourning Mary

 

The entire household in mourning colors.

 

 

When Queen Victoria's Albert died at an early age, she never got over the loss of her husband.  She was seen wearing black for the rest of her life, and paid such homage to his memory that she had her servants lay out his clothes every day for the rest of her life.  She was devoted to him to the end, and the Victorians embraced Victoria's choice of black for mourning as much as her choice of white for weddings.

 

Mourning was a full-scale event that consumed one's life.  Death was not uncommon.  After all, having watched Downton, the viewers have watched the end of the Victorian Era, when infant mortality rate was atrociously high, and have seen them come through a World War.  We have said goodbye to William, Sybil and Matthew.  We are just as aware of death as they seem to be.

 

Clothing wardrobes were either remade all in black, or dyed to be the suitable color (often being bleached later and then recolored).  Black silk crepe was an absolute necessity as long as one could afford it.  The staff could come out of mourning much faster, partially because they were expected to keep life moving as normal, and partially because no one wished to pay the extra expense of new clothes.  Little reminders, such as a black swatch of cloth around the arm, would not go amiss. 

 

It was of course on the widow that the most obligations of mourning resided.  In Victorian times, full black was expected to be worn for the first year, and then one may move to lighter colors such as mauves and grays during the second year.   A weeping veil was employed to discreetly hide the face of the widow.  This allowed the widow the time to grieve; it gave a cue to society that she was in a delicate state, and I am sure warned many a young suitor to stay away and not bother what could potentially be a wealthy young lady in her time of need.

 

Mary breaks all rules and regulations after six months by stepping out of black and into purple.  Of course, after the country had been through a Great War when no one may have escaped donning black, the rules of mourning loosened.  It was also helpful to audience members.  We can only sympathize with a lifeless Mary for so long before we want to give her a talking and a quick slap  to bring her into reality.

New Fangled Inventions

 

The brave Daisy testing her mettle with the electric mixer.

 

 

The electric mixer has hit Downton.  Whilst Ivy and Daisy seem to relish it (rather like the modern day equivalent of the latest cell-phone in the hands of children verses their parents- simply envision when you had to teach someone a generation older than you how to unlock the screen of an iPhone, let alone make a call), Mrs. Patmore is terrified of it.  And with good reason.  Not only can it turn your fingers into mush if you get them between the beaters when it is on (or so my mother always threatened when she let me whip up a cake mix as a little girl), but it was a sign that technology was being let into the manor houses.  More gadgets meant less servants were needed to be paid, and soon someone will have to leave if they are no longer necessary.  However, at the moment the electric mixer doesn't seem too terrible of a threat.

 

KitchenAid Model A, available in the 1930s.  As you may note, not in mint condition.

 

A Baltimore tinner by the name of Ralph Collier invented the first mixer, moving a whisk up in the world by giving it rotating parts in 1856.  The first one run by electricity was credited to Rufus Eastman in 1885.  By the 1910s, the first KitchenAids were being manufactured as well as the first electric standing mixers.  However, they remained out of the homes until the 1920s.

 



Casting on the Other Side of the Pond

A fun fact for those of you who haven't had a chance to get your hands on the book, Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey written by Emma Rowley.

"Unlike American series, which tend to lock in their cast for five or seven years, Downton works, as is the standard in the UK, on contracts that 'option' (lay claim to) an actor for up to three years."

This is the most rational explanation to the huge overturn; Dan Stevens, Jessica Brown Findlay, the upcoming leave of Siobhan Finneran all leaving in less than a season's length of time.  They are free to leave at this point having fulfilled their three-year contract.  Why, of course, one would want to opt of Downton is a completely different matter all together.

Rowley notes that Dame Maggie Smith has no 'option' with the show.  She may come and go when she pleases.  Of course, it is almost certain that the show goes when she goes, so we shall all have to keep our fingers crossed that she doesn't option out anytime soon.

Well It's About Time

Finally Season 4 is premiering tonight in America. 

Having spent the weekend curled up inside away from the -60 degree wind chill, I would highly recommend reading Margaret Powell's book Below Stairs.  If you are a fan of Mrs. Patmore or Daisy, this very truthful account of being a kitchen maid will grant you plenty of insight, and a new gratitude towards modern marvels such as electric kitchen beaters and dish washers (of course my dish washer hasn't worked in years, so I go Victorian and do them all by hand).

I would also highly recommend watching Downton Abbey tonight.  Perhaps urge would be a better term.