Comparing 2018 and 1918...Are we happier?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JamalChristophr
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The Edwardian S leaned forward - not the Victorian hourglass.

Edwardian woman were pushed up and flat, with boning that caused them to tilt forward slightly. It’s why they never sat back in a chair - they couldn’t, because they leaned forward at about a five degree angle.

They were touted as “health corsets” (not hardly LOL) because they had figured out that squeezing your innards together didn’t quite make sense.

The next time you watch Titanic, or Downton Abbey between the Titanic and the start of WWI, look at how the women walk. They lean forward, just a bit.

Also - if you remember the scene where Rose’s mother is tightening her corset in the bedroom - look how long it was. It came down over her hips and was super high.
 
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Wow, you know your stuff. Hmmm…that sounds just a tad uncomfortable…do you think it would be a problem if todays young woman goes back to 1918 with her black stretchpants etc?
 
I’m familiar. I was joking about the natural shape a bit. I believe the bustle was also in use for the early part.

Really, what’s interesting to me is what the working class women wore. All that boning was for rich ladies who could afford to have servants to do all the work. There’s probably a reason the bra was coming in at this time.
 
Not just women. There’s a joking story I heard about a man transported back in time, who faced outrage because he was wandering around in his smallclothes. He had been wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
 
Pretty much.

By 1918, hemlines were coming up above the ankles to the tops of the shoes, skirts were straighter (less Gibson girl, but not the hobble skirt of the elite a few years before), and blouses were less puffy. And nautical/military stuff was all the rage thanks to the war.

Yep - the first bra patent was in 1914 in the US. And I’m sure with good reason!
 
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So, I guess you ladies could educate me on … the Roaring 20s then. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
 
Hey my grandma was a flapper!

I wish I knew where her picture was. LOL. She won a beauty contest with the Philly Inquirer (whatever it was called back then) where she made a dress out of the newspapers!
 
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😮 😮 😮 hmmmmm… well, how creative. 🙂

I guess rain would pose a problem.
 
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She was literally built for that era. Stick straight boy figure.

Iiiiii…did not inherit that. 😆😆😆
 
I’ve heard the war effort was part of it. Corset materials were being rationed. A patriotic woman wore a bra for her factory job rather than expensive metal and lots of fabric.
 
That wouldn’t surprise me. I was thinking it had a lot to do with the changing role of women.

Plus what were you going to do in a hobble skirt all laced up (which was still the style, even for working class women, though of course not to the same extent) if you had to go to work or take over the house while Hubby was at the front? 😑:open_mouth:We were late to the war but we still sent many.

And then there was the flu epidemic.
 
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Well, this pretty much proves it. Both of you lades are going back 100 years, like it or not. Hold your breath…1. 2. 3…
 
Jamal, my feathered friend, did you have any clue to the can of worms you’d opened? 🤣🤣
 
Oh, I’m gald you two have found a topic you’re enjoying. Two serious history geeks I can see! I find it interesting to listen to. You ladies can turn off the light…
 
This is the first place I’ve met someone who knows this stuff or is even interested in it. I"m sorry we railroaded you!
 
Not at all, I like creating an active thread. I think it’s interesting, but I’m not a voluminous reader. This kind of history is much better than learning about balances of power, politics mumbo jumbo, and who what when war stuff.

I’ll be back…
 
LOL. I know what you mean. This is more real. Real people. Our grandmas.
 
JamalChristophr said:
Do you think it is possible to say that we are actually better off in 2018 compared to 1918?
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Considering that we’re not having a world war, that people aren’t massively dying of tuberculosis all over the place, and that we have indoor plumbing and more ways to transport or get food, among other things, yeah I’d say we’re better off.

If we were so much better off spiritually 100 years ago, Our Lady of Fatima wouldn’t have been showing up telling some kids how angry God was with the world.

There is some bizarre tendency for people to think that living a simpler life in simpler times somehow resulted in holier souls. In reality, people did all the same rot back then that they do now. Human nature never changes. And if we actually had to live back then, things would not look as rosy as they do in hindsight.
 
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