Victorian life was notoriously regimented, especially by today’s standards. A closer glance, however, reveals an attitude that celebrates hard work as the key to an honest living. Despite their apparent restrictions, it seems many Victorian values are just as relevant now as they were then.
Below are a few of the proverbial sayings that were popular during the period:
Waste not want not
Everything was used in the Victorian country house – vegetable peel could be added to stock, bones were boiled to make glue.
Cleanliness is next to godliness
Everything was kept scrupulously clean by an army of servants.
Many hands make light work
Running a country houses required a large workforce.
Necessity is the mother of invention
The Victorians were great inventors and keen to adopt new labour saving devices.
Eat your greens
The average Victorian ate more than ten portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Meat was considered a luxury by most, and processed food had yet to appear.
Hard work never did anyone any harm
Few Victorians were overweight as most were used to hard physical work. The average adult used around 4,000 calories a day simply doing chores, twice what we expend today.
A house divided against itself cannot stand
The Victorian country house was only able to function effectively if everyone worked together as a unit.
A place for everything and everything in its place
Specialisation of rooms and people allowed for maximum efficiency. The service wings of Victorian country houses often had elaborate service wings within which each room was allocated for a different purpose.
It’s the early bird that gets the worm
Due to the paucity and expense of artificial lighting Victorians tended to get up at sunrise and go to bed soon after sunset. Servants, in particular, needed to get up early to complete many of the household chores before the family awoke.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch
Servants at Audley End were well-fed but were expected to work hard for their meals.
In a time when conduct books were a popular mode of social instruction, perhaps the most famous of all books on household etiquette was produced. First published in 1861, 'Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management' is an instructional guide to all aspects of running a Victorian household, including the management of domestic servants, useful cooking recipes and advice on dealing with children.
Below are a few excerpts from this now-iconic text:
To Bottle Wine
Having thoroughly washed and dried the bottles, supposing they have been before used for the same kind of wine, provide corks, which will be improved by being slightly boiled, or at least steeped in hot water,—a wooden hammer or mallet, a bottling-boot, and a squeezer for the corks. Bore a hole in the lower part of the cask with a gimlet, receiving the liquid stream which follows in the bottle and filterer, which is placed in a tub or basin.
This operation is best performed by two persons, one to draw the wine, the other to cork the bottles. The drawer is to see that the bottles are up to the mark, but not too full, the bottle being placed in a clean tub to prevent waste. The corking-boot is buckled by a strap to the knee, the bottle placed in it, and the cork, after being squeezed in the press, driven in by a flat wooden mallet.
Hairdressing
Hairdressing is the most important part of the lady’s-maid’s office. If ringlets are worn, remove the curl-papers, and, after thoroughly brushing the back hair both above and below, dress it according to the prevailing fashion. If bandeaux are worn, the hair is thoroughly brushed and frizzed outside and inside, folding the hair back round the head, brushing it perfectly smooth, giving it a glossy appearance by the use of pomades, or oil, applied by the palm of the hand, smoothing it down with a small brush dipped in bandoline.
Double bandeaux are formed by bringing most of the hair forward, and rolling it over frizettes made of hair the same colour as that of the wearer: it is finished behind by plaiting the hair, and arranging it in such a manner as to look well with the head-dress.
Flowers
A bouquet of freshly-cut flowers may be preserved alive for a long time by placing them in a glass or vase with fresh water, in which a little charcoal has been steeped, or a small piece of camphor dissolved. The vase should be set upon a plate or dish, and covered with a bell-glass, around the edges of which, when it comes in contact with the plate, a little water should be poured to exclude the air.
Fire-lighting
Fire-lighting, however simple, is an operation requiring some skill; a fire is readily made by laying a few cinders at the bottom in open order; over this a few pieces of paper, and over that again eight or ten pieces of dry wood; over the wood, a course of moderate-sized pieces of coal, taking care to leave hollow spaces between for air at the centre; and taking care to lay the whole well back in the grate, so that the smoke may go up the chimney, and not into the room. This done, fire the paper with a match from below, and, if properly laid, it will soon burn up; the stream of flame from the wood and paper soon communicating to the coals and cinders, provided there is plenty of air at the centre.
Source: 'Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management' (1861)
