Episode 10A: Season 1 Wrap-Up
Shownotes Season One Wrap-Up
When we started this project we decided that a season would consist of ten full- length episodes, posted approximately two weeks apart, with an option of unlimited mini episodes to allow for spontaneity. We also decided that we would end the season with a series near and dear to our hearts. We thought this would give us some structure, and a goal, as well as the freedom to deviate if we wanted to chat a little bit about someone- or something- related to the subject of the full episode.
We had a plan. And, for the most part, we stuck to it. Marie Antoinette, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Cinderella Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, Lizzie Borden, Helen Keller, The Mrs. Astor, Gilded Age Heiresses and Jennie Jerome Churchill. We supplemented those episodes with mini-conversations: Abigail Adams and Feminism, Books in the Little House Series, Little Red Riding Hood, Anne Sullivan Macy, The Age of Innocence movie, and Gilded Age Servants.
And we have big plans for next season as well. Oh yes, we do! But we will be taking a short break from posting full length episodes so we can get ready for that season. And have some summer fun with our families that does not include midnight editing and writing sessions, child care juggling to ensure quiet while recording, and rushing to bring back long overdue library books.
But, just as we had a plan for Season One, we have a plan for this hiatus and you will barely know we are gone. We will be putting out some postcard type entries when we stumble across (on purpose) things we know you might like. And we will be monitoring both our website, facebook page, google+ and twitter (although, we admit, we are not the best tweeters out there. We’ll own that and work on it).
This episode is a question and answer grab bag. We posted a call for questions which we answer in this episode, as well as some odds and ends we thought would be fun. We tell you a bit about National Novel Writing Month, about how we met, how we worked, and some other questions that listeners asked us. First off here is the link to NaNoWriMo- http://www.nanowrimo.org/. (Which has nothing to do with history except our own.)
Here is our solemn vow ( in print!): When we hit 1000 likes on facebook we will have a Tudors series.
Listen to the podcast for more info…but we know how much you like your visuals. And we get asked this question A LOT:
What do you look like?
Can’t we show you where we record instead, it’s so much more interesting…
This is where we sit when we talk. It might explain a lot.
Ok…we snapped some pics and this is our favorite image of us. Totally shows you who we are and what we look like:
Beckett wore cute shoes that day, Susan went for comfort. Actually, Beckett always wears cute shoes and Susan always goes for comfort. And we have the same size feet. True.
Oh! You want to know what our FACES look like! Got it…
Susan- action shot.
Yeah, we could do this all day.
Thank you for your encouragement,and emails and notes to us! Thank you for telling us who you would like to hear us discuss, and thank you for telling us where you listen to us. Thank you for clicking our stylish DONATE button, and for writing such wonderful reviews for us on iTunes. Thank you for listening! We are having a wonderful time and are very excited to come back to you very soon with Season Two!
Peace!
Beckett and Susan
I should have used my "fairy pixie" shot. Maybe next season... Beckett
You could have just googled to see this. Susan
Episode 10: Jennie Jerome Churchill
We wrap up our Gilded Age series with a lively discussion about one of the first wave of Gilded Age Heiresses- an American born woman who gave birth to a son who would eventually be known as one of the greatest Britons in history.
Jennie Jerome Churchill.
Yes, we talked about her already. But we only gave a thin sketch of her life as a Dollar Princess- we never got to the really juicy parts! We promised you an episode on Jennie Jerome Churchill, and by golly, we are History Chicks of our word!
Jeannette Jerome was born in 1854 into a family with a father who was very good at making money, and also good at losing it…and making it again. Jennie and her three sisters were raised in a fairly wealthy home in Brooklyn, spent summers in Newport, and- when Mama had had enough of watching her husband dally around- lived in Paris.
While there, Empress Eugenie took a shine to the Jerome girls and Parisian life suited them all just fine until war broke out and Clara hustled those girls out of Paris to England. The beautiful Jerome girls quickly assimilated into English society, and when Jennie befriended Edward, the Prince of Wales- life really started to get interesting!
In 1873, a 19 year-old Jennie Jerome had a three-day romance that ended with a proposal from Lord Randolph-Spencer Churchill, the second son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. She officially became Lady Churchill.
We discussed the hoops the couple had to jump through before marriage when we talked Gilded Age Heiresses and the birth of her first son, Winston but there was a second son born to Jennie and enveloped in scandal as a great deal of this woman’s life is–the family was even exiled to *sarcastic gasp* Ireland!
When Randolph passed away at age 45 (syphilis…of course it was syphilis) Jennie took up a couple projects, really modern things like starting a magazine and flipping houses—but her biggest success came when she finally turned her attention to her son Winston and his political career and, we all know how that worked out for Winston. (And if you don’t…google…come on, you need to know this one.)
Jennie isn’t one to be alone, there were two more marriages (the last one to a man 23 years younger than she…go, Jennie!) At the age of 67, in a very dramatic way, she falls down a set of stairs and amputation is required, gangrene develops and she passed away.
Time Travel With The History Chicks
You can start in Brooklyn and try and figure out which home Jennie was really born! There seems to be some speculation about this. Even her birth held some drama! Start your search with this blog: http://brooklynbeforenow.blogspot.com/2009/01/beloved-winston-and-his-brooklyn.html
Or think globally! Let’s go to Blenheim! http://www.blenheimpalace.com/
Another blog that you should really bookmark, is Scandalous Woman…but use think link: http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/2007/11/american-jennie-portrait-of-jennie.html (the obvious dotcom is not a site you want in your history)
Like your history visual? You can get the DVD set of the 1974 PBS miniseries starring Lee Remick.
Ok, you like books. We know that…
Anne Sebba has two books on Jennie! TWO…depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on! You KNOW there is some more dirt to dig up!
You can read the Lady’s own words in The Reminiscences of Lady Randolph Churchill.
Enjoy your travels as you learn more about the very American woman who had a huge impact on British history!
As always, music for our podcast comes courtesy of Music Alley. Visit them at music.mevio.com.
Episode 9A: Gilded Age Servants
Six housemaids were seen as quite enough, thank you very much…(This is the same palace that employed one man to wash all of these windows – and it took him a full year!)
Lady Troubridge’s “The Book of Etiquette” (1926) sets forth the ideal attitude for the upper classes in dealing with their servants, as follows: (Let’s hope the theory was also put into practice!)
‘It would appear that there are people who feel that those who labour in the capacity of servants are inferior, but in most cases it is those who place servants on a lower plane who are themselves inferior. We owe to those who take part in the work…more than the wages we pay them: we owe them gratitude, courtesy and kindness. They, equally, should treat their employers with courtesy and kindness, and they should regard it as beneath their self-respect to ask wages for work which they are not fitted to perform. A reliable servant holds a place of importance in the home, and it should be recognised in the social world as a place worthy of courtesy and respect.’
-I discussed briefly the most common indoor servants of the time:
Menservants: Butler, Valet, Chef, Footman, Hallboy
Womenservants: Housekeeper, Lady’s Maid, Cook, then maids, maids, maids of every description….
Does the little one look any older than ten?
*****Recommended Media *****
UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS:
I recommended (and how could I not?!) the classic “Upstairs, Downstairs.”
Servant life as soap opera.
For an Up/Down fan page including photos, links, and news, please visit: http://www.updown.org.uk/
MANOR HOUSE:
And a true obsession of mine, the wonderful, amazing “Manor House” series, in which modern people were cast as Edwardian servants and aristocracy:
Looks like any classic servant portrait of the day. Note the upper servants are definitely given pride of place in the lineup.
The show’s website is a must – so many things to see, including the daily schedules for each “servant” or “family member.” – and their rules of conduct.
My favorite feature is “You in 1905.”
http://www.pbs.org/manorhouse/
GOSFORD PARK
I mentioned the Robert Altman film “Gosford Park”, which (as it’s set in 1932) is well out of our period, but has great insight into the world of the country house servant. In particular, I love all of the “offices” in the basement, all the languor of the upstairs people while all chaos breaks downstairs.
Notice the lady’s maid and driver standing in the rain? They were not allowed to get into the car until the Countess did.
The IMDB page for the movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280707/
HARBOR HILL:
This house was demolished in 1947. Heartbreaking!
Here is the link to a wonderful article from Harper’s Bazaar in 1904, decribing (and showing!) the atypically luxurious accommodations for servants in that house.
http://bit.ly/Harborhillservants
As always, music for our podcast comes courtesy of Music Alley. Visit them at music.mevio.com.