The Edwardian era is the time of social and technological change

The Edwardian era in England (1901 - 1910) is rooted in the last decade of the reign of Queen Victoria and captures the development trends of the British Empire until the First World War or even a little later.

Behind the facade of Victorian time

A window into the history will be opened to us by the book of E. Kouti, which describes in detail the threshold of the reign of Edward VII. The Edwardian era did not immediately part with the dark pages in the life of the English. Everyday life of the poor people passed in the slums and bleak workplaces and differed sharply from the life of the middle and wealthy class. We go into the house in the East End and rise up the stinking staircase with the shattered railing and rotten steps. The door is not locked - there's nothing to steal. Winter, and the fireplace has not been lit for several days. Mold grows on the walls. In the corner, the mother sits and rocks the child, who is wrapped in a shawl. She turned to the incoming, and we see a bruise the size of half the face. A man with a tattered blanket snores on the bed (they live in abundance). Yesterday he went to the workhouse, hoping to get a few shillings or rolls for sweeping the streets, but he was refused. With grief, he went to the tavern and drank the last money. The Edwardian era will be able to quickly part with the slums, which Charles Dickens beautifully described with their filth, stench and poverty? "Union Jack" fluttering happily under the sun.

Minor winds of change

The Edwardian era is often seen with nostalgia. It is called the "Gilded Age". But this is for wealthy people. The rich were not ashamed to put their wealth on public display. It was a time of great inequality. The conditionalities of classes were sharply defined, and everyone knew his place.

Personality of Edward VII

He had been a prince of Wales for too long and came to power at the age of 59. At 34, he visited the main colonies and European countries. He did much for diplomacy. Prince, and later the king was fond of running, hunting and women. Among his passions was Alice Keppel. Her great-granddaughter is known to us. This is the passion and the present wife of Prince Charles - Camilla Parker Bowles. Edward lived his life easily. Free time allowed him to conduct morning walks on horses, day visits, dances and gambling - in the evenings. The Edwardian era assumed that the season begins after Easter and is pumped in by jumps in Ascot. It was the time of the exhibition of brides and ladies and gentlemen of the highest class.

Edwardian era: fashion

The lady continued to wear corset for a while and twice a year visited popular couturiers in Paris. The underwear was selected, then the morning clothes. Day clothes for lunch - always in pastel colors. Five o'clock tea demanded a free, not constraining movement of clothes without a corset. In the evening, for the departure to the light, the ladies again wore a corset under the evening dress. Only in 1910 the corset was removed and fashion dresses in Empire style with raised hem. The shoes were on a lace with a high heel - boots or half-boots. It is impossible not to say about the huge hats that were held on the hair with pins and decorated with feathers of exotic birds. Required addition were boas and capes. Nobody forgot about the umbrella, as well as about the magnificent jewelry, ribbons, laces and beads. The model of the Edwardian era is the Queen of Alexander, who created a patriotic fashion for Redfern. However, she also visited Paris.

The menu of beggar English

In the city, they broke into potatoes for tea. There was not enough money for bread. Rickety children grew up with crooked bones. Peasants ate bread, potatoes, cheese, bacon, drank tea and beer. Margarine was used instead of butter. In winter, everyone "tightened their belts." He ate only the breadwinner in the house, and his wife and children drank tea with a thin slice of bread.

Nutritional supplements

In those "blessed" times we had to look at all the products. In flour could be chalk, gypsum, aluminum alum, in tea - leaves of elder or ash, in coffee - acorns, fodder beet, in brandy for color - copper. Milk was diluted with water. If the sugar is too crunchy on the teeth, then simple river sand was added to it. The Edwardian era demanded that the buyer stay alert.

Servant

In the city, the middle class usually kept a cook, a nanny and a maid who worked for 18 hours. In the villages they were hired at fairs, and in the city - through a stock exchange or acquaintances. Servants ate in the kitchen. In families richer they got something from the owners table, but more often they never ate enough. Servants were required to take a bath once a week. In the mornings they were required to wash, wash their feet and armpits before they began to dress.

If it was discovered that an unmarried maid was pregnant, she was immediately thrown out into the street. After that, she had one way - to engage in prostitution. Since the time of King Edward VII, it has become customary to give a servant a day off. They were never considered equal to the masters, and they occupied the last places in the church, and the gentlemen sat in front.

Sexual relations

The king loved women, and the queen simply closed her eyes. In the highest society of adultery, both women and men were the norm. The couple met in special houses. On the doors of the rooms, the names of "guests" were put, so that men could easily find their lady. At 6 in the morning the bell rang for the gentlemen to wake up and have time to get into their bedrooms before the maids come to kindle the fire in the fireplace.

The struggle for women's rights

The woman in England did not have any rights. Her dowry belonged entirely to her husband. If he did not work, and she worked, then the husband took all the pennies to the end, leaving her and the children hungry. During the divorce, all the money and children remained with the husband, and only if he allowed, she could occasionally visit them. As a result, women began to fight for their rights. They put forward both economic and political demands. Women were imprisoned, they chained themselves to the perilla, threw eggs of policemen, died under the hooves of horses. Only by 1918 they achieved the desired electoral rights.

There is not enough space to describe the upbringing of children in schools and homes, political life outside and inside the country. Tough was the Edwardian era, the life of which we only partially described.