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Living In The Past

(91 Posts)
Blossoming Tue 22-Dec-20 13:30:30

If you could choose to live in any period in history what would it be? It could be exciting to be a pioneer in the Wild West, or perhaps you’d like to stroll around in a gorgeous Regency frock.

I think I’d like to be an Edwardian, so many great discoveries and scientific advances.

Charleygirl5 Tue 22-Dec-20 13:35:25

Sorry Blossoming but I will stay where I am- I like my mod cons- hot running water, showers, clean clothes daily and a working washing machine. What would it have been like then, no deodorants and everybody smelling?

Georgesgran Tue 22-Dec-20 13:49:10

I think life would be fine in the Edwardian/Victorian eras if one was wealthy - otherwise we’d be up chimneys, down pits or in factories, working all hours for a pittance.

I too will stick to mod cons, but wouldn’t mind knocking 15 years off my age!!

BlueSky Tue 22-Dec-20 13:51:56

Yes the Victorian era if you were wealthy!

cavewoman Tue 22-Dec-20 13:54:16

I would have to say Stone Age grin -and hope to hang out with Fred Flintstone and co.

Smileless2012 Tue 22-Dec-20 13:57:11

During the reign of Henry V111 as a wealthy courtier of course.

Shinamae Tue 22-Dec-20 13:58:56

I too will stay where I am thank you, even with all that’s going on I still feel blessed to have been born in this generation...

Spangler Tue 22-Dec-20 14:06:00

Living in the Past? I do every day. But like Charleygirl5, I like today's modcons too. All our wardrobe of clothes were in fashion during the late 30's into the 40's. I drive a 1937 car, we have a Bakerlite phone and so much more.

We cherry pick that which we prefer, but getting some of the fashions from that era does get expensive. For example, you see the shoes in the black & white photo, just try to see if you can buy them anywhere.

DanniRae Tue 22-Dec-20 14:07:08

I would love to have lived in Jane Austin's world. Rich, of course! Beautiful dresses, exotic hair styles and a day filled with a little light reading or needlework, maybe followed with a stroll around the garden. Dead heading a few roses if I was feeling energetic. Meals cooked for me and a little bell to ring if I fancied a cup of tea and, maybe, a delicate, crustless cucumber sandwich.
A handsome beau to take me out for a little walk - I'd be beautiful, of course.
Oh, Yes that's the life I wish I had had smile

petra Tue 22-Dec-20 14:22:11

I've never been one to look back. Always forward is the way I think. If anywhere I would love to be transported forward.
My thinking has nothing to do with what's going on in the world today. This is a mere blip in the big scheme of things.

Callistemon Tue 22-Dec-20 14:27:28

Me too, petra

But as long as I could come back after a peek if I didn't like it and as long as I didn't have to wear a whalebone corset

GillT57 Tue 22-Dec-20 14:35:24

I do like Edwardian clothes, but despite the luxury of having a maid to sort out my clothes, and a cook and housekeeper to see to all the boring cooking and shopping and such, I don't think I fancy living in an unheated house and being a dependent female. The thought of using a china pot and then having a maid take it away in the morning is enough to make me constipated! I always thought my grandmother looked glamorous in the very few photos of her in the 1920s but I do know the reality for her was very different with very little money and no opportunity to do anything other than accept her lot.

Callistemon Tue 22-Dec-20 14:36:28

Everything that you own, even inherited from your father, would belong to your husband!

No thanks

GillT57 Tue 22-Dec-20 14:38:56

Exactly callistemon, and many women were stuck in dreadful, possibly violent marriages as they did not wish to be separated from their children. High price to pay for a few nice frocks!

Callistemon Tue 22-Dec-20 14:43:54

I don't much like frocks anyway!

Thank goodness for our (relative) freedom and today's medicines.

Blossoming Tue 22-Dec-20 14:48:51

OK, you can stop the pile on. I’ve got the message.

Callistemon Tue 22-Dec-20 15:30:41

hmm

Jens Wed 23-Dec-20 09:45:01

I’m Staying exactly 8n my time, I’ve seen technology advances, mindblow8ng 9nes, oh how I wished for a typewriter with a screen, eh voila we’ve got c9mputers! It’s been an exciting 76 years, I’m eager to see, I hope, another 20 yrs. seen some awful disasters. Awful wars, mans unend8ng cruelty to man. They’ve taken away the deterrent of death and adm8nister a slap on the wrist. That’s wrong, just s9 wrong, a fine balance has not yet been achieved.
The haves have more, the have nots have multiplied, nothing in the middle. Not a recipe for success. What a world.

Lovelifelynn Wed 23-Dec-20 09:52:51

I wouldn't want to live in the past, just be a fly on wall.

readalot Wed 23-Dec-20 09:57:19

I would have liked to live in the Wild West but I would miss all the mod cons too much. So I'll just carry on reading about it and pretending I'm there.

travelsafar Wed 23-Dec-20 09:58:56

If i could live in the past it would def be the 50's when i was a child at home with mum and dad and siblings. Not a care in the world as that was mum and dad's job. We were not wealthy by any means, dad was a farm hand so very low wages but mum, oh mum she could make everything alright, we never went hungry or with out necessary clothes. We didn't have holidays or day trips but we had an abundance of love and care. Brings tears to my eyes to think i never realised how lucky we all were at the time.

JdotJ Wed 23-Dec-20 10:03:19

Oh to have a time machine and be able to pop back and forth to different periods in time.

Kamiso Wed 23-Dec-20 10:03:50

I would like to be a fly on the wall and travel through time like a low budget Dr Who. I could stop awhile if anything caught my interest then move on swiftly if I sensed danger from jealous courtiers or nasty diseases.

The “courtiers” shows that I intend to aim high!

arosebyanyothername Wed 23-Dec-20 10:04:27

I was talking to my cousin about this a while ago. She wanted to live in a Jane Austin type era after watching Pride and Prejudice.
My reply was that she'd be lucky to be the governess and I'd probably the cook!
Half day off once a moth if we were lucky and no fancy dresses grin

Davida1968 Wed 23-Dec-20 10:04:31

I'll stay here and now, thanks! (Just think about dentistry & contraception...)
If I could be filthy rich, have perfect health and teeth, not get pregnant often, and not die in childbirth, then perhaps the Regency era would be fun....