Page 12 - Copshaholm Curriculum Book_2015

The Victorian Home 3

The Victorians covered their wall with paintings, prints and family portraits. On the
mantle of the fireplace you might have seen wax flowers under glass domes.

The Library

The most serious room in a Victorian house was the library or study. It was here that
the business of running the household was conducted. A large desk situated in the
room would hold books and ledgers for maintaining household records and accounts.
Here the lady of the house would conduct her correspondence and enter additions to
her diary, which was probably kept in one of the smaller drawers in the desk.

An elaborate bookcase would hold leather-bound editions of reference books,
dictionaries and classics of literature. One of the tables in the library may have held the
family Bible in which it was the custom to enter family history on blank pages and
flyleafs.

A fireplace would burn wood, but coal was added later. The coal would be kept in a
fanciful scuttle to the left of the fireplace. The comfortable armchairs were used for cozy
reading in the afternoons and evenings.

The chandelier was lit by gas, whereas lamps on the table and on the fireplace
mantle were lit by kerosene. Gas was piped into homes for lighting, but it was
commonly used in combination with kerosene lamps and candles. The crystal pendants
on kerosene lamps were functional as well as ornamental since they help to intensify
and reflect light.

The Dining Room

The most outstanding feature of a Victorian dining room was the sideboard.
Although elaborately carved and heavily ornamented, the sideboard served a practical
purpose. The family silverware and table linens were stored in its drawers. The
“Sunday best” china and crystal glasses were put on display on its shelves. Even the
mirrors on the sideboard served the useful purpose of reflecting light from the
candelabra.

During a large meal like Sunday dinner, the silver serving platters were arranged on
the sideboard to keep the table uncluttered.

The window hangings in Victorian homes were often very complex arrangements of
two and three layers of cloth. The under curtain of lightweight fabric like organdy allows
light into the house. The outer-curtains, of very heavy and dense velvet, were drawn
shut at night to afford privacy and to help eliminate cold drafts. These drapes were so
heavy that it often took two men to hang them up again after spring housecleaning.

The Kitchen

By the latter part of the Victorian era, the majority of kitchens had hot and cold
running water and sinks. Iceboxes were just that-wooden cabinets with a shelf for
blocks of ice to keep food cold.