19th Century Customs & Traditions

Lissy Perera Natalie Prat Katherine Balloveras Cynthia Leon Matthew Vargas Bryan Cereijo

What we will be covering:

19th Century Customs and Traditions:
General Information Customs and Norms of Women of the Time The Clothing of the Time Religion Health Education Crime and Punishment Cuisine Celebrations

General Information
What exactly is the 19th century?
The term 19th century does not refer to the 1900s. The 19th century begins Jan. 1st, 1801 and ends Dec. 31st, 1899. This era is also commonly referred to as the Victorian Era.
Named after Queen Victoria.

Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility was written by Jane Austen in 1795 and later published in 1811. The romantic fiction takes place in the beginning of the century, providing insight for the readers as to what life was like in the early 1800s.

Customs and Norms for Women of the Time

"Man for the field, woman for the hearth, man for the sword and for the needle she; man with the head and woman with the heart, man to command and woman to obey; all else confusion. - Alfred Tennyson Were to be married by twenty-one. Expected to have children immediately. Men could force their spouse into sex and ultimately having kids. A wife was supposed to elevate her husband's morality by being his spiritual advisor. A wife had to show evidence of other marital failings besides adultery to get a divorce like cruelty, incest, rape or desertion. Those that did not marry were regarded as social failures and treated with pity and contempt.

Images of the Time Period

Customs and Norms for Women of the Time

(Cont.)
Women of the upper and middle classes were especially preoccupied with the variety and complexity of dress, which showed their status and position The removal of one or two ribs to keep your waistline small enough for your husband to fit his hands around you was done.

For both married and single women, charity and reform work was popular.
Beating one's wife or wives was acceptable and legal throughout recorded history until the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Europe and America. All in all, women had no right during this time period. For more than half of the era, they could do nothing about it. It is not until later in the century, that the ideas listed above started to become challenged.

The Clothing of the Time

The clothing of the 19th century consisted primarily with the use of corsets, bonnets, top hats, bustles, petticoats, and full skirts. The male fashion leaned toward the pairing of a white waistcoat and black tail-coat with full length trousers.

Meanwhile for women fashion was making a statement.

As the 19th century progressed women's dresses gradually revealed the actual form of the body.

The trends indicate the presence of corsets throughout the course of the entire century, however the skirts ranged from slim to hooped to tighter as the years passed.

Religion
Englands main religion was based on Anglicanism, which in reality is the Church of England.
It stands for both reformed and catholic traditions.

Health
Due to the poor environment, the early 19th century was full of diseases: Chicken Pox Cholera Drinking water from contaminated sources Diphtheria Childhood disease, growth of membrane inside the throat. Poliomyelitis
Childhood disease, attacking both the brain and spinal cord leading the person paralyzed.

Consumption (tuberculosis) Bacteria found in milk

Education
England was poor with schools, but the few schools that they had were strictly run by churches. School was mandatory after the Fosters Act of 1870, which were state funded board schools. Kids were to attend from the ages of 5 to 10 with the exception of illnesses and work. Later on the age was raised to 13, but kids still had the option of leaving at the usual age of 10. Employment in the 19th century was primarily for those in the middle class or for the poor.

Crime and Punishment

Housebreakings, thefts, assaults, and robberies along with frequent violence.
Most crimes were punished with death by execution. Between 1800 and 1900, 3524 people were hung in England in which 1353 were for murder. Others would be sent to Dundee jail, transported to Australia, or sent to correctional institutions.

Cuisine
The English would combine a different variety of spices.
The middle class ate well, with breakfast, lunch and a big dinner. For the rich, the meals were a way of showing their wealth thus in all their meals there was abundance of food. Meats were considered the higher class food. Drinks like tea, hot chocolate, coffee, and ginger beer were also very popular.

Celebrations
The way we celebrate Christmas in todays world is largely influenced by the 19th century Victorian Age. In 1848, after the queens marriage to a German-born prince, an illustration of the royal family having a dinner by a heavily decorated Christmas tree started circulating in a publication. The ideas of Christmas cards, candy selling (the special wrappers), and gift giving (previously on New Years) all grew and expanded during this time.