The 1900 House: An Extraordinary Living Experiment

The 1900 House: An Extraordinary Living Experiment

The 1900 House:  An Extraordinary Living Experiment
List Price: $29.98
Our Price: $26.99
You Save: $2.99 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $5.39 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases


(Click here)
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada

VHS Tape Cover Information

Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: NTSC
Release Date: 2000-06-30
Audience Rating: Unrated
Publisher: PBS (Direct)
Studio: PBS (Direct)

VHS Movie Reviews of The 1900 House: An Extraordinary Living Experiment

Movie Review: I would have signed up in a heartbeat!
Summary: 4 Stars

The biggest issue I had is the same that other reviews have stated. I think the Bowlers were the wrong choice for this project. As a reenactor, I enjoy using past techniques as learning tools on how things have changed in daily living. I heard from someone who had auditioned for Colonial House that the producers of the shows prefer people who would be "fish out of water" instead of people more inclined to adapt to the new environment. The belief is that it would make for interesting television with the learning curve involved. Of course, I still got tired of the whining from the oldest women here, if you didn't want to wear a corset then a viable option at the time was the new uncorseted new natural line but it didn't catch on. There are "working" corsets also without at much boning but with proper support and "modesty" as needed.
I would have loved to see Mrs. Bowler try to make her own soap as my Grannie used to do with a big iron pot out in the back yard. I would love the chance to try this for a few months, especially with the safeguards of local health care/fire department within reach. No television or computer but I could manage with a telephone (they were around).

Summary of The 1900 House: An Extraordinary Living Experiment

Viewers time-travel vicariously in this four-part "docu-soap" that transplants a modern family from 1999 to 1900. The series clearly evinces the radical changes in domestic life wrought by the scientific and technological innovations of the last 100 years. The Bowler family are taken back in time to the spring of 1900 in Greenwich, a suburb of London, England. For 3 months, they live as a family in 1900 would have lived.
Who hasn't longed for the simplicity of times past, when life was less convoluted, without the complications of cell phones, e-mail, and chauffeuring kids to soccer games? Well, one episode into PBS's reality series The 1900 House will have you rethinking your romanticization of days gone by.

Take one modern 1999 family, insert them into a Victorian London house redesigned to exact 1900 standards, focus a camera on them for three months, and you have The 1900 House. The Bowler family is a typical family of six (actually, seven--the oldest daughter remained in 1999 to take care of the house): 9-year-old Joe is a computer games addict, teenage Kathryn is a club hopper, and preteen twins Hilary and Ruth are still young enough to be the most mature people in the family. Add mother Joyce, a school inspector on hiatus, and father Paul, a Royal Marine who takes his head-of-the-household role a bit too seriously, and you have an immensely likable family living under incredibly strained circumstances.

The first of four episodes focuses on the rebuilding of the house: the removal of the indoor plumbing and electricity, the installation of the coal-burning stove, the planting of the Victorian-era garden, and such. The subsequent three episodes follow the refreshingly fascinating daily life of the Bowler family as they navigate cooking, cleaning, entertaining themselves, and even personal hygiene (Paul learns to cope with a straight-edged razor, and Joyce and Kathryn get a lesson on womanly issues of 1900). Tight editing condenses the three months into four hours, keeping the series fast paced and humorous. Whether you're a reality-TV junkie or have an honest interest in a documentary on Victorian life, The 1900 House will certainly delight. --Jenny Brown

Documentary VHS Video

VHS Video Movies
Movies most talked about in Great Period Movies! ~ Period Reality TV Edition
Texas Ranch House ImageTexas Ranch House
Release date: 2006-06-13; DVD
Best price: $32.33
Price in other shops: $49.98
Warrior Challenge (4pc) ImageWarrior Challenge (4pc)
Pbs (Direct); Release date: 2003-09-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $149.95
Warrior Challenge: Vikings ImageWarrior Challenge: Vikings
Pbs (Direct); Release date: 2003-09-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $68.95
Warrior Challenge: Gladiators ImageWarrior Challenge: Gladiators
Pbs (Direct); Release date: 2003-09-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $15.95
Price in other shops: $24.98
Warrior Challenge: Knights ImageWarrior Challenge: Knights
Pbs (Direct); Release date: 2003-09-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $23.70
Price in other shops: $24.98
Warrior Challenge: Romans ImageWarrior Challenge: Romans
Pbs (Direct); Release date: 2003-09-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $28.95
Regency House Party: Companion to the PBS Series (TV Tie in) ImageRegency House Party: Companion to the PBS Series (TV Tie in)
by Lucy Jago
Little, Brown Book Group; Published: 2004-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.82
Price in other shops: $35.00
Regency House Party ImageRegency House Party
Release date: 2004-11-23; DVD
Best price: $32.59
Price in other shops: $49.98
1940'S House Image1940'S House
by Juliet Gardiner
Channel 4 Book; Published: 2000-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $44.96
1940s House Image1940s House
Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $15.99
Price in other shops: $29.99
Similar VHS Movies
Regency House Party: Companion to the PBS Series (TV Tie in) ImageRegency House Party: Companion to the PBS Series (TV Tie in)
by Lucy Jago
Little, Brown Book Group; Published: 2004-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.83
Price in other shops: $35.00
Masterpiece Theatre: Northanger Abbey ImageMasterpiece Theatre: Northanger Abbey
WGBH BOSTON VIDEO; Release date: 2008-01-22; DVD
Best price: $13.62
Price in other shops: $24.95
Holocaust ImageHolocaust
PARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-05-27; DVD
Best price: $19.23
Price in other shops: $39.99
Cranford ImageCranford
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-05-20; DVD
Best price: $24.50
Price in other shops: $34.98
The Farmer's Wife ImageThe Farmer's Wife
Release date: 2006-01-17; DVD
Best price: $23.40
Price in other shops: $34.98
Texas Ranch House ImageTexas Ranch House
Release date: 2006-06-13; DVD
Best price: $32.49
Price in other shops: $49.98
Regency House Party ImageRegency House Party
Release date: 2004-11-23; DVD
Best price: $32.59
Price in other shops: $49.98
Colonial House ImageColonial House
Release date: 2004-06-29; DVD
Best price: $44.99
Price in other shops: $49.98
Manor House ImageManor House
Release date: 2003-05-27; DVD
Best price: $29.99
Price in other shops: $49.98
1940s House Image1940s House
Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $16.49
Price in other shops: $29.99
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners