Downton Abbey Comes to Life

I was into High Teas long before The Downton Craze.  When I watch that show, I reminisce of when I invited the women in my Bible Study to tea several years ago.  It tickled my funny bone the way the ladies hunted excitedly in thrift shops for their Victorian clothing.  Some, being expert seamstresses, designed their own outfits.  I don’t know how I did it, but I talked my husband into being my butler and my daughter, my maid.  And the food, oh my, we ate tea sandwiches filled with cream cheese and cucumbers and scones with clotted cream and preserves and lots of cookies and petite cakes.  We drank our tea in pretty china cups with lumps of sugar. 

I had fun with the ladies!  I did my research and presented facts about what the women were like in the Victorian Era.  Here’s a taste of that history:

There was a strong belief in Victorian times that women could be a great influence for good on society by influencing husbands and children at home.

Victorian women of the upper classes were viewed as being fragile and delicate. They found this useful.  This is what Agatha Christie wrote in her autobiography:  "You've got to hand it to Victorian women; they got their men folk where they wanted them. They established their frailty, delicacy, sensibility - their constant need of being looked after. Did they lead miserable, servile lives, downtrodden and oppressed? Such is not my recollection of them. All my grandmother’s friends seem in retrospect singularly resilient and almost invariably successful in getting their own way. They were tough, self-willed, and remarkably well-read and well-informed."

Some Victorian women were very active in social reform - Florence Nightingale being the most famous example.

I added some humor to the facts:

SERVANT: "Ma'am, your husband has eloped with the cook!"
WIFE: "Good! Now I can have the maid to myself, once in a while." 

Why is a dog like a tree? Because they both lose their bark once they're dead. 

"See here, wait, I've found a button in my salad." "That's all right, sir it’s part of the dressing." 

I scanned a few photos from my album.  I hope you like them!

Here I am in the kitchen.  You have to check up on the kitchen help, you know.  Lady Cora does too!

Nancy had the best sense of humor of the bunch.  She dressed like Annie Oakley!  By the way, she can shoot that gun well.

Lastly, all of us together!

This post links to Tell Me A Story.