My house, the cheapest house in Akron when we were looking, was built in 1913. At that time the road I live on was a very upscale area. Despite the fact that the previous owners were idiots, some of the original stuff survives. We have capped off gas nozzles in three of the bedrooms upstairs. The chimney and the old coal room remain from the original coal furnace, though the coal door was replaced before we arrived. And when we scraped off the 2 layers of the wallpaper that alternated with 2 layers of paint we found remnants of the original stenciling on the vestibule walls. Sadly, there were no pocket doors. The 1900 House appeared when we had been living in our time machine for about a year and were still enchanted with the whole idea (and before the neighbor’s grandson started squatting at her house waiting for her to die and getting a viscous dog while he was at it.) I hung on every (ok, all 4) episodes.

Many years later, after seeing a number of other “House” documentaries and living for a year in Korea (which could be a “House” documentary all it’s own. It might be if I get off my duff next year.) I borrowed the documentary from the library and watched it again. Between the age of my house and the year in Korea, I ended up appreciating this a lot more. This is one of the best of these documentaries. A lot of care and time went into figuring out how to do this most accurately without killing the family in the process or leaving lasting scars.

Episode 1
First, the producers have to find the house and fill it. While they’re doing that they have to find a family who can handle the pressure of living without “Mod Cons” like reliable hot water, while being filmed. Over 400 families volunteered to “go back in time” and those had to be winnowed down to 1, the Bowlers. The documentary showed some of the audition tapes including one that I found hysterical. It was the example of a family that wouldn’t make it. In that tape, one of the girls was saying she’d love to do it as long as she could have her curling iron and blow dryer and make up. Gee, think she knows what she wanted to get into? Also shown are all the renovations done to the house. The house that had been purchased was carefully chosen to be the right age and in the right neighborhood. It had been split into 2 apartments in the 60’s, so all that had to be ripped out. There were also some architectural problems. One problem involves the chimney leaking into the apartment next door. It really was fascinating to see all the changes in the house. And I enjoyed watching the poor woman who had to find all the stuff for the house because, until you think about all the stuff you have in your house (and I mean, every single thing) you don’t know who much you need in a regular basis.

Episode 2
The Bowlers move in. The family, parents Joyce and Paul and their children Kathryn, Hilary, Ruth and Joe, are very genial and fun people, but they immediately have trouble. On day 3, Joyce broke down in tears because they couldn’t get hot water, Joe wouldn’t eat because the food was all over or under cooked and she’d just had it. Plus it was her birthday and I imagine that the pressure of the cameras didn’t help. Once she calms down, she goes out for a walk and while she’s gone attempting to get period and season accurate vegetables, the rest of the family swings into action putting together a chicken coop for Joyce’s birthday surprise, chickens. It makes up for the meltdown in the morning. There’s also a round of laundry for which the girls have to take the day off school and, on day 10, they bring in someone to look at the water boiler because no one has had a bath in 10 days. Oh, and Paul goes for a shaving lesson because he’s been ripping his face off daily. Joyce is quite jealous. She tells the diary camera that it doesn’t matter what year it is, the man always get the better deal, and then, showing her humor, she adds “but I get the freer drawers.” Joyce and Paul do spend a lot of time fighting.

Episode 3
Joyce is pretty fed up and I can see why. The kids go to school and wear modern clothes. Paul goes the work, staying in his 1900 costume, but dealing with the modern world. Joyce stays in the house all day feeling trapped. After 2 weeks of awful hair washing solutions, Joyce and the girls break down and buy shampoo (Wash’n’Go brand.) Joyce also decides to hire a maid of all work to help her with housekeeping. This will give her more free time. Elizabeth, the maid, is a great addition because she’s really gung-ho about the project and does a lot of research. However, she does experience some heavy handed bossing from Paul that he doesn’t even realize he’s doing. Joyce experiences some breathing trouble thanks to the corset. The doctor’s visit was enlightening.

Episode 4
Kathryn and Elizabeth are both getting frustrated by now. Kathryn, a teen, is feeling really stifled by being home every night with her family. She tries piano lessons, but that doesn’t go anywhere. Elizabeth, the maid, is frustrated by being the grunt worker. (This actually started in the previous episode.) She really throws herself into things, researching and reading up on women’s history, but it’s still a bit of a grind. Joyce is also having trouble with Elizabeth’s frustration because she’s never had a maid before. This was something that happened then as now. Worse for her, the free time has given her time to research the suffragette movement which only makes her more guilty about employing a maid. The family goes for an evening at the music hall which they would have done and then Joyce and Kathryn do a performance, which they wouldn’t have. The younger girls are busy putting together a magazine and go on a research field trip with Joyce. Joyce also has to go to the dentist to have a filling replaced. And then it’s time to go home.

This documentary was really well put together. A lot of forethought and planning went into this. They chose a family that was very intelligent and really good observers. The girls were quite aware of what was going on. Joyce was even more insightful, giving a lot of first hand info that you just wouldn’t get without walking the walk. The narrator supplied the historical information. This was all well fitted in with what was happening in the show. It doesn’t feel like stories were artificially created either, which has been a problem in other “House” documentaries.

There were a couple of problems, one they couldn’t control and some they could have fixed. They could not control the Industrial Age pollution. As difficult as it was to keep that house clean in modern times, it would have been 100 times more difficult with the factories billowing black soot all over the city. I did find it odd that they didn’t mention this.

The many problems the family had with everyday issues like cooking, shaving and stoking the oven could have been solved with a little more training. According to the film (and what happens in the house bears this out) the family got 1 day training. 1 Day! That’s really not fair. It takes a bit longer than that to learn to tell the temperature of an oven by feel. And in 1900 people would have spent their lives training for this. I think a week of training would have been a little lean, but it would have given the Bowlers a much better chance of adjusting. In 1 day all they really had time to do was become intimidated.

Overall, I felt this was an excellent documentary with minor problems. The family was engaging and insightful. The directing and editing didn’t seem intrusive or heavy handed. I really got a good idea of what life must have been like at the turn of the century at a down and dirty level. And at 220 minutes it’s about the perfect length, though I would have enjoyed some deleted scenes included as bonus features.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups