The Party's Over...

The trunks are packed and being loaded onto the post chaises, the vails* have been paid to the household staff, and the house party is at an end. We’re delighted that you joined us in celebrating our birthday at Nineteenteen, and hope that you enjoyed yourself too. As I said before, you are the reason we blog here—though we love to share what we’ve learned and entertain a little along the way, it wouldn’t be much use (or fun) if we didn’t have readers to share with…so once again, an enormous Thank You!

But wait! Before you drive off…the randomly-drawn winning commenter from yesterday is Beebs! Beebs, please contact Regina at reginascott@owt.com to arrange to receive your prize.

In the comments from yesterday, Lo mentioned wanting to hear more about other YA historical fiction set in the 19th century…well, it just so happens that we’d already scheduled just such a thing for next week! We hope you’ll join us in greeting New York Times best-selling romance author (and all-round lovely person) Mary Jo Putney, whose second YA historical fantasy, Dark Passage, was released just this week. It’s the second in her series (the first, Dark Mirror, came out earlier this year) featuring magic, time travel, history and (of course) romance. So please stop by on Tuesday, when Nineteenteen will be interviewing Mary Jo's Lady Cynthia Stanton (if Lady Cynthia will let us!)

And thank you all again, dear readers.


*It was the custom at house parties of the 18th and earlier 19th centuries for guests at country houses to tip, or give vails, at the end of their stays to the household’s servants. Unfortunately, having to tip everyone from the butler to the footmen and maids could get sufficiently expensive that people with more friends than money often refused invitations to house parties, because they couldn’t afford the vails!

Shall We Dance?

What a delightful group you’ve been at our birthday house party! Good conversation, excellent suggestions, charming comments. The gentlemen have told me they are completely entranced. So, this sounds like a great time for a ball to me! Before we get started, let me also mention that the lovely El has won Lit Wit: 100 Trivia Cards to Boost Your Book Smarts by Richard Lederer. Please contact Marissa via her website and let her know where she should send it. And anyone who comments today will be entered to win a miniature reproduction of the 1817 Glengarry bonnet (by Pipkin and Bonnet) along with hat box and stand.

Now, our ball! Of course, one cannot spontaneously host a ball. We actually sent invitations to all our genteel neighbors in the area weeks ago, letting them know you’d be here with us and encouraging them to join us this evening. We hired musicians to play and brought in additional staff from the village to help with the cooking and cleaning and see to the needs of our guests. As I write, a footman is lowering the chandeliers in the ballroom to put in fresh candles, and our houskeeper is inspecting the dance floor to make sure it’s gleaming in expectation.


The gentlemen have already retired to their rooms to change into their evening clothes and freshen up. Perhaps you’d like to glance over the positions of dance so you’re ready for your partner.


And I can’t wait to see what you brought to wear to the ball! I’ve had a lovely gown made up in red, a bit daring, I know, but the off-white of so many of the gowns just doesn’t do my complexion any favors.


Ah, do you hear the musicians tuning up? Already the air is scented with perfume. Marissa and I welcome you to the ballroom and suggest a partner. We’re pairing up (I will of course partner Leopold on this first dance, but I’m sure he’d be happy to offer you his hand later). Goodness, but the set is crowded! Everyone looks so lovely! I can see you smiling from here. And away we go!


Do tell me your favorite dance so I can be sure to have the musicians play it. And please catch me between sets to suggest other ways we can make Nineteenteen the best it can be.

The Party Continues...

Well, I’m delighted to see we have more commenters…but ladies—please! We must behave with decorum, or the dreaded chaperone might raise her ever-vigilant head!


However, between languishing looks and meaning-laden glances with those delightful gentlemen Regina has introduced into our bluestockingly midst, please continue to comment! We want to be able to bring you posts on topics of interest to you—otherwise, there isn’t much point, is there? So please…what would you like to see discussed on Nineteenteen in the coming year? Let us know…and commenters on today’s post will have a chance to win Lit Wit: 100 Trivia Cards to Boost Your Book Smarts by Richard Lederer.

And in the meanwhile, I’m sure our chaperone will smile upon this: our randomly-drawn winner commenter of yesterday is Clarissa! Clarissa, please email Regina at reginascott@owt.com to claim your prize: a pre-release copy of Regina’s November book, An Honorable Gentleman. Very cool to get a sneak peek!!

And now, I’ve a fancy to take a turn in the garden and admire the flowers. Anyone care to join me? English gardens are renowned the world over. The damp, generally mild climate makes it a haven for temperate plants, shrubs, and trees…and the second half of the 18th and all of the 19th centuries are surely the heyday of gardening on a grand scale at country houses, where a new philosophy of viewing the land around a house as almost another set of rooms was adopted.


Topiary! What's an English garden without it?

And a maze...the perfect place to evade chaperones when out strolling with a handsome young man!

Don't forget to let us know what you think!

More Visitors!

So glad so many of you could make it to our house party! We had a hundred visitors to the blog yesterday, so I know there are more of you lurking out there. I’m certainly glad we have a lot of bedrooms in this pile!

It appears the library is the most popular among our guests, and why not! We share the love of reading, after all. Rachel even suggested we bring back the Young Bluestocking’s Book Club--excellent thought! And speaking of books, we're delighted to hand out our first prize to QNPoohBear: Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating. QNPoohBear, please contact Marissa via her website and let her know where you’d like it sent.

I do believe we should learn a lesson from QNPoohBear. Please comment. We’d love to hear how you like the house party, what you’d like to do, and how we could make Nineteen Teen even better in the coming year. If you have a suggestion for a book we could read for the Book Club, please toss that in as well. There will be more prizes Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so come back often and invite your friends along!

In the meantime, I felt it my duty as one of your hostesses to entice you out of the library. We have a number of other guests who are eager to make your acquaintance. I found this charming fellow looking positively lonely in the withdrawing room.


And this gentleman is hoping to find a lady interested in going for a ride in his phaeton. Do take a tiger along, though, to protect your reputation. I fear the gentleman is rather daring.


And this gentleman is keen to study the native flora and fauna in our park. I’m sure he’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter as you stroll through the countryside.



So, are you willing to give up the library?

Amended September 15 by Regina
My dears, during the night my dear friend Leopold arrived to join our house party. I'm taking him to the conservatory to introduce him to El to liven up her dreary day. Join us if you'd like!

Happy Birthday to Us, or A Country House (Birthday) Party

Welcome to Nineteenteen’s fourth birthday party! Can you believe we’ve been at this for four years?

In order to celebrate and kick off our fifth year of blogging in style, we thought we’d throw a party…a virtual country house party, to be exact…and yes, you’re invited!

So what happens at a virtual country house party? Well, what would you like to do if you were really at one? Would you be playing the pianoforte in the music room and flirting with a handsome fellow guest? Strolling through the gardens and enjoying the fine September weather? Exploring the library to find forgotten treasures?

One thing we do hope you’ll do is chat with us. It’s our custom on our birthday to solicit input and ideas for future topics you’d like to learn about (or re-visit), so please, tell us what you think or what you like to read here. All commenters, whether offering input or telling us what you’re planning on doing at the party, will be entered in a drawing for a daily prize…so comment early and often!

And so…

First of all, welcome to our house! Isn’t it the perfect setting for a house party? Lawns for endless games of croquet followed by sumptuous teas, and lots of windows for curling up in with a good book if the weather should prove inclement.So your post-chaise has drawn up to the entrance, where Regina and I await you in the front hall. It’s a little dark and medieval so we won’t linger…Would you care to see your room? We’ll take you right up so that you can freshen up before tea, and then your maid can unpack your things. Will this room do? Or would you prefer something a little lighter and airier?Here’s the dining room. The dressing bell rings a half hour before dinner, so you have time to change into evening clothes:And here we are at last, in the drawing room for tea:We hope you’ll enjoy your stay…and now, let the party begin! What are you going to do first?

(And don’t forget to leave us your input on how we can continue to make Nineteenteen fresh and fun in the next year!)

It Takes an Army to Manage a House Party

I seem to be bumping into servants a lot lately, at least in my entertainment choices. I finally had a chance to see a bit of Downton Abbey, which a number of friends had raved about (do not get me started on why we don’t have BBC America in my neck of the woods!). This series follows the lives of the servants assigned to a great house in the early part of the twentieth century. I also just finished reading Deeanne Gist’s Maid to Match, which stars a young lady hoping to be lady’s maid to one of the Vanderbilts in the late nineteenth century. One thing that really struck me from both of these well-researched stories is that I frequently underestimate how many servants were required for a house of any size. So, of course I went looking for more information. One estimate is that a wealthy family needed at least four servants per person. In other words, it took an army!

What would that look like if Marissa and I were living in a London townhouse together? (Never mind that we have families—we’ll pretend they are busy elsewhere for a week.) Going by the estimate above, two lovely ladies would need at least eight servants:

1. I’d need a lady’s maid to help dress and undress, but I’d be willing to share her with Marissa. :-)


2. We’d need a groom to tend our horses and escort us while riding. I’m tempted to include a coachman, but I don’t wish the neighbors to think us too high in the instep and I must admit to a fondness for handling the reins myself when we’re tooling about Hyde Park. Plus we can hire a carriage and driver when we need to go out to balls and such.


3. We have a townhouse, so no need for a groundskeeper, but we better have a man-of-all-work to keep up the back garden and maintain the house.


4. We’ll need a cook, of course,


5. And probably a scullery maid to help her.


6. We should probably have a footman to fetch and carry and look suitably impressive when we go out shopping,


7. And a maid to help clean up behind us.


8. Then of course we’d need a butler or housekeeper to keep things running smoothly.

I’m a bit amazed how easy it was to hit eight. And truthfully, one housemaid probably isn’t enough when you consider the dusting and cleaning that all had to be done by hand in homes where coal or wood was burned. And I haven’t added a laundress to clean our clothes or a personal secretary to help us with our writing (though in some cases the latter was considered an employee instead of a servant). And just think what would need to be added if we had a house in the country: definitely a coachman and gardeners, more grooms, more footmen, more maids (upstairs maids, downstairs maids, scullery maids), and a land steward, at a minimum!

And, my dears, Marissa and I will have need of all those servants, because next week, we’re hosting a house party, right here, to celebrate our blog birthday! So have your maids pack your things, hire a post-chaise if needed, and come join us. Your invitation is below. We hope to see you next Tuesday for a week of fun!

Country Life, Part 2

Back at the end of August, I discussed the importance of a house and land in the country for the wealthy classes of England…and the fact that if you had land, then you had money and power. Before the 19th century, you may have owned thousands of acres of land…but visited them rarely, if at all. London was truly the seat of power, because that’s was where the king was…and the king was the source of royal patents, monopolies, and all the little jobs and perquisites that the rich and powerful wanted in order to become even more rich and powerful.

But that began to change in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Thanks to the influence of writers and philosophers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others, the idea of Nature with a capital ‘N’ along with the Romantic movement meant that the country began to exert a new allure on the upper classes. Along with this came the not-very-romantic realization that paying attention to their country estates and land could yield a vastly increased income. Technological improvements in transportation made getting to the country easier…all of which combined in a perfect storm that meant the golden age of the country house

So for a good part of the year, when Parliament wasn’t in session, Papa might be in the country breeding better beef cattle or discussing field rotation or enclosure with his farm bailiff or steward. What might his daughters do in the meanwhile?

1. Be outside! Riding and walking were always popular, to enjoy the benefits of fresh air and exercise. If science was an interest, then botanizing or bird-watching might be on the menu. Country scenery offered plenty of inspiration to the young lady equipped with sketchbook and pencil. And if sports were it, there was fox-hunting (in season) or quieter activities like lawn tennis, croquet, or boating on a handy river or pond.

2. Go visiting. If one was of a charitable bent, those walks and rides might be to visit the poorer families that lived nearby, in order to keep an eye on their needs and wants (and perhaps offer words of guidance that might—or might not—be gratefully received.) The more conscientious landowning families could be extraordinarily charitable to their poorer tenants and employees. If one was sociable, a visit to the nearby gentry might be on the list—the local vicar and his family, perhaps, or friends at other “big houses” nearby.


3. Indoor activities. When the climate or inclination did not call for being outside, there was plenty indoors to occupy her, just as there was in London: reading, needlework, writing letters, and tagging along after Mama to learn how to run their own country house some day.

4. Party! The 19th century was also the heyday of the country house party. The opening of rail travel in the later 1830s allowed much more movement just for the fun of it…but it was still enough of an event to mean that longer visits of a week or more remained the norm, especially in the autumn.

Want to know more? I recommend Mrs. Hurst Dancing & Other Scenes From Regency Life 1812-1823 (watercolors by Diana Sperling, text by Gordon Mingay), featuring the charming watercolor drawings of gentry life in the Essex countryside, and the compulsively readable non-fiction books Ladies of the Manor by Pamela Horn and The English Country House Party by Phyllida Barstow.

Visit to the Country, Anyone?

School’s gearing up to start here, but many places are enjoying a last few days of summer before returning to the hallowed hallways of learning. For the aristocratic young lady in nineteenth century England, August heralded the start of the country house visit. The following post ran in August 2008, but I’ve found a few new pictures of country houses I’d like to visit. See what you think!

August in London was hot, sticky, and stinky, with the Thames wafting up all kinds of odors in the summer heat. With Parliament generally out of session, everyone who was anyone found an excuse to leave town for cooler climates, often in the north of England. August 1 was also the start of grouse season, so if your dear Papa was fond of shooting the little birds, you probably headed to Scotland, where the best hunting was to be found.

If you didn’t have a lavish country seat where you could retire, you angled for an invitation to someone else’s country estate. This was a chance to lengthen the Season, to be with a select group of friends in a different setting. You might visit a distant relative or the family of a dear friend. If one particular gentleman had shown his interest, he might invite you and your family to the ancestral pile to meet his extended family and have a little more time to get to know each other. Such invitations came with the expectation that the young man was going to offer marriage, and soon!

Country house sounds small and quaint, doesn’t it? Don’t be deceived. The term “country house” was used to distinguish the place from the house you used when you were in London, your “townhouse.” Here’s a few I'd love to visit:


Stansted Park, Sussex


The Duchess of Bedford's hunting lodge, Devon


Burton Constable Hall, York


Kelmarsh Hall, North Hampton

You can imagine the upkeep on some of these babies? But even if you were the guest, going to house parties in the country cost a pretty penny. First, you had to have sufficient outfits for breakfast with the family, tea in the afternoon, formal dinners at night, balls in the local assembly rooms, riding, walking to visit friends or nearby architectural wonders, boating in the nearby river or lake, lawn bowling, and many other interesting activities. Then, you were expected to provide vails (tips) to the servants who supported you while you were visiting—the groom who held your horse, the maid who cleaned your room, the cook who made your favorite raspberry scone, the porter who handled your baggage on your way to the estate, and so on. Some people even opted to stay in the stench of London rather than incur the costs of tipping every servant from here to there!

So, how are you ending your summer? Country house visit? Or, like me, more likely camping trip?

Nineteenth Century House Party

School’s started here, but many places are enjoying a last few days of summer before returning to the hallowed hallways of learning. For the aristocratic young lady in nineteenth century England, August heralded the start of the country house visit.

August in London was hot, sticky, and stinky, with the Thames wafting up all kinds of odors in the summer heat. With Parliament generally out of session, everyone who was anyone found an excuse to leave town for cooler climates, often in the north of England. August 1 was also the start of grouse season, so if your dear Papa was fond of shooting the little birds, you probably headed to Scotland, where the best hunting was to be found.

If you didn’t have a lavish country seat where you could retire, you angled for an invitation to someone else’s country estate. This was a chance to lengthen the Season, to be with a select group of friends in a different setting. You might visit a distant relative or the family of a dear friend. If one particular gentleman had shown his interest, he might invite you and your family to the ancestral pile to meet his extended family and have a little more time to get to know each other. Such invitations came with the expectation that the young man was going to offer marriage, and soon!

But even if you were the guest, going to house parties cost a pretty penny. First, you had to have sufficient outfits for breakfast with the family, tea in the afternoon, formal dinners at night, balls in the local assembly rooms, riding, walking to visit friends or nearby architectural wonders, boating in the nearby river or lake, lawn bowling, and many other interesting activities. Then, you were expected to provide vails (tips) to the servants who supported you while you were visiting—the groom who held your horse, the maid who cleaned your room, the cook who made your favorite raspberry scone, the porter who handled your baggage on your way to the estate, and so on. Some people even opted to stay in the stench of London rather than incur the costs of tipping every servant from here to there!

I haven’t been on a country house visit, but I did run away this week to celebrate my wedding anniversary. My husband and I spent the night at the historic Columbia Gorge Hotel, which still looks much like it did when it was built in the 1920s. Famous early film stars Rudolph Valentino and Clara Bow stayed here, among other luminaries. So it’s off by about a 100 years and on the wrong continent. It was still very romantic.

How are you ending your summer?