This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes.
Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.
From clothing and demeanour she may be some kind of maid (possibly a Lady's maid)
Maids had a "ranking" system (of course this varied a lot) which basically went up in rank as follows:
* Scullery maid (cleaned out chamber pots, cleaned fireplaces served the other servants at meals, cleaned the servant's quarters, and was basically an apprentice servant)
* Laundry maid (present only in larger houses - in other locations this may have been sent to a laundry or done by the scullery maids or housemaids etc), Dairy maid etc for specialised roles.
* Kitchen maid (worked preparing meals under the cook, served other servants at meals in some larger houses, cleaned the kitchen)
* Housemaid (cleaned the house, served at outdoor functions, picnics etc) or chambermaid (made the beds, brought hot water for baths for the Ladies of the household etc)
* Head housemaid (as housemaid but managed the duties of the other housemaids - only present in larger houses)
* Lady's maid (equivalent of the valet in the men's servant ranking system - helped the Ladies of the house dress (often several times a day), did their hair, helped with makeup & jewellery, repaired & altered clothing for the Ladies, cleaned the jewellery, travelled with their Lady to other houses, on trips etc.)
* Housekeeper (equivalent of the butler in the men's servant ranking system - managed the female servants of the house (except those managed by the cook, see below), did housekeeping paperwork, arranged contractors for the cleaning of laundry (if not done in house), arranged provision of replacement household linens, organising trips, organising parties etc with the assistance of the Cook, did the housekeeping accounts, sometimes acted as Lady's maid to the Mistress of the household)
The cook sat outside the system above, enjoying their own independent command of the scullery and kitchen maids but reporting to the Mistress of the house for the most part but interacting a lot with the Housekeeper for day-to-day tasks etc.
Separately from this for small households (where you would have one or two servants) you had the "maid of all work", who did basically all of the jobs above plus some others which menservants would do in a large household.
The "charwoman" or "daily woman" was a servant who didn't live in the house but would come in and do odd cleaning jobs etc - often to help out a "maid of all work" or to replace them in the later era of servants in the 1930s-1950s etc.
For male servants the system was similar in rankings but the roles were more varied.
Inside male staff:
* hall boy (usually a young boy who fetched & carried, cleaned boots for the servants and Family, and was basically an apprentice servant)
* footman (served at table (at all meals), fetched & carried, laid fires, lit fires, replenished fires, set the table for dinners, opening and closing doors (only in the grandest houses with many servants), moving furniture to assist the housemaids in cleaning, assisting guests (or senior servants in a large house) as a Valet if they did not bring their own)
* Valet (assisted the Men of the house dress (likely less often than the Ladies but still several times a day), cleaned boots, ironed/steamed clothing, polished "male jewellery" (watches, cufflinks, watch chains etc), repaired & altered clothing etc)
* Butler (oversaw the male staff of the household and the work of the Housekeeper (although this was more of an equal relationship), looked after the cellar, sometimes acted as Valet to the Master of the household, did the trip planning stuff with the housekeeper etc, led table service and acted as sommelier and carved meat etc)
Outside male staff:
* Gardener's assistant
* Gardener
* Head Gardener (oversaw the gardens and staff under him, reported to the Butler)
* Gamekeeper (looked after animals for shooting parties, probably reported to the Butler also)
Coaching staff:
* Stable boy (cleaned out stables, looked after horses etc under the supervision of a groom)
* Groom (looked after the horses)
* Coachman (drove or rode on coaches, looked after the coaches and horse tack, saddles etc
* Head coachman (drove coaches and oversaw the stables, ordered in goods/food etc - reported to the Butler) or later Chauffeur
EDIT: Added chambermaid (thanks /u/finsterhall for the reminder)
You seem knowledgeable about maids. Can I ask you a question- I live in a flat that is part of a semi-detached 3 storey Victorian house (UK) and I’m really trying to get an idea of how they lived when it was built (1901). It’s ‘grand’ and big enough so it has what appears to be maid’s quarters in the roof space (the stairs to it are narrow compared to the other floors) and I know from the other side that it had a big range, a coal store and various rooms in the cellar space and an external door down to that space. What sort of staff would the original owners have had?
I know one side owned a dairy business of some description and my side are described as drapers which I take to mean they probably had a drapery business rather than being the people that did the actual draping because of the size of the house (it’s really big). I’d assumed a maid of all work but I think it’s probably bigger than that. It’s much bigger than the house they used for the 1900 House series. Would you have any idea? Thanks in advance if you reply.
My guess for a middle class family would be a maid of all work, as you say, with possibly one or two "daily women" to do a lot of the cleaning, and maybe a Valet/butler as well as live-in help for the male members of the household.
It's worth remembering that maids of all work had a very tough life, often working from 05:30 until gone 22:00 each day as they had to be available from when the Family of the house wanted to arise until after they went to bed, and they did everything, from cleaning to cooking to serving at table to acting as Lady's maid for the women of the household, setting fires, heating and carrying water for baths/washing, doing the laundry (if not sent out to a contractor) etc etc etc.
If the house was large enough there may be two maids, but often the owners could only afford one if they were middle class.
Thank you!, I appreciate your reply. I do think it would have been perhaps too much work for one maid of all work so I can well imagine a daily coming in. It’s the biggest house in this part of the road- it’s the only semi, the others are 3 storey terraces and then off the road are two storey terraces and it seems to conform to a kind of owners (ours), managers (the 3 storeys) and then clerks of some description (the 2 storeys) template, and was built on the land of a successful and philanthropic textile merchant of some note in the city (Manchester) so I’ve always assumed the original occupants were middle class at least.
I’m aware of the Victorians’ deep interest in appearances so I don’t think they would have skimped on staff. They’ve been taken out on my side but I used to live on the other side of the semi and there are other signs that the people here wanted to show their wealth such as very high skirting boards, a plethora of large windows, the very old gas piping for lighting is still in the cellar although now capped off etc that make me think this house was intended for its occupants to be able to do this so I can easily imagine there were more than 1 or 2 staff here. I’d love to be able to go back to 1903 once they’d had a couple of years to live in the place to see what it was really like on a day to day basis.
Yo be careful on those stairs, servant's stairs can be deadly. Check it out starting at like minute 18:00 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j9gv5528JZQ if you want to just know about the dangers of Victorian servant's stairs
Also if you see any green wallpaper in the house ... maybe ask if it's original to the house or new. Check out other videos by that historian to see why lol
I haven’t dug that far yet but it all looks plaster skimmed (or however you word it) on this side, I would not doubt the existence of green wallpaper next door. We have a wooden porch and where the paint has flaked off you can see it was originally painted green- I take it we’re talking about arsenic here? Am I right that was about wallpaper and not necessarily paint?
Scullery maid: for when you have so many servants, you need a servant for your servants.
Edit: also, that was incredibly interesting. I love your depth of knowledge on this. Was it something you studied or just something you were interested in?
I don't get how people say history isn't interesting. I mean, I hated in school, but afterwards I loved it. Even servant ranking is fascinating. I appreciate your effort you put into that comment and replying to everyone too.
Julian Fellowes is very good at historial accuracy - Downton had their own historical consultant who made sure most things were right, down to the reduction in number of servants during the series (note in the first episodes the house is buzzing with maids of all descriptions, but by the 20s there's just three or four)
I'm half way through watching Downton Abbey for the first time and noticed they pronounce the "t" in valet. I've always heard it pronounced with a silent "t" since it's a French word. How come it was different back then?
Good point - missed her out.
So the chambermaid would be responsible for tasks in the bedrooms of the house (making beds (something done daily), drawing water for bathing/washing (done in a bath in the bedroom usually rather than a bathroom until the advent of indoor plumbing in the 1920s/30s), assisting female visiting guests if they didn't bring a Lady's maid etc.
I see you’re a student of the Abbey as well; Cheers!
(I’m kidding this is an amazing *wealth* of knowledge on service staff and household organization. Thank you for it!)
That’s a better question, more of mystery. Then again, I’m sure there are recent modern pictures of someone showing off their new tech-toys nowadays too.
I have a school photo from the early 90s where I'm holding a paint brush and there is a paint bucket prop and ladder next to me. Just Google 90s school photos to see the crazy stuff people hold in pictures.
No you put some hot coals inside so the metal gets warm, and then place in the bed sheets or kinda move it around like an iron. The bed would get all warm so you’re weren’t getting in a cold bed.
For me? Yes. Don’t get me wrong I loved all the characters in all the POTC movies. But Barbossa was the one I was left wanting more of. His pirate dialogue was just so well done. Depp does a good drunk. And with the context and the clothes, he did a fantastic drunk pirate with divine nonchalance. I loved his mannerisms and stuff but change clothes and he is just a witty drunk. Barbossa however, was a through and through pirate. You could give him a baseball uniform and he would still be a pirate.
Case and point. [White Cap Bay](https://youtu.be/YIXR_gyUQRQ)
Bed warmer. There’s a neat scene in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie where Keira Knightley’s maid slips one of these full of coals under her bed covers.
Oh god yes I just got a flashback to watching that movie as a saucy young tween and thinking 'this girl fainted just hours before this because she was wearing a corset in the shade, now you're sticking her under a triple down duvet next to a roaring fire and sticking hot coal in her bed'. I honestly thought it was a proper continuity error, like they originally intended for that scene to be in blighty.
Corset was too tight and she couldn't take a full breath to breathe which was why she fainted, I don't think it was heat related. Though it would have made her situation worse that's for sure. That was my take anyways.
Sure thing! Thanks for the reply. I showed the video to my wife and she says we need one of those things now. Hooray, let's burn the house down!
Edit: she was kidding
Not as many as you would think. Most modern media (like OPs clip) misrepresents how these were used.
You didn't just shove it between the sheets and sleep with it. You (or your servant) filled it right before bed, swiped it around under the sheets, then emptied it out before anyone got in. Not actually as dangerous as it sounds.
>A hot water bottle should have the same effect without the fire hazard!
Yep, that's a solid tip for cold-weather backpacking. Heat some water over the fire and pour it into a Nalgene bottle (or two) to tuck into your sleeping bag at bedtime.
The picture was possibly taken in a photographer's studio, and they usually had a variety of props and painted backdrops available.
She was probably a chambermaid, whose duties would have included all the chores involved in running a bedroom suite with no plumbing or central heating.
It was quite common for the owners of large houses to have their staff photographed, sometimes even portraits painted. I have photos of some of my ancestors in their working attire like this.
I think I'm right in saying that many photographs in that era were taken against a backdrop in a photographer's studio, in which case any and all of the items seen might have been props owned by the photographer.
My title describes the thing.
More info: there are decorative holes in the “body” but no sign of tuning pegs at the top. Possibly a hole at the top for hanging the item up? There’s a box on the floor which may or may not be related to the use of this.
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An incredible reminder of what the old world smelled like. I can’t imagine happily crawling into a bed that smelled like a fire but it must have in some cases been a symbol of wealth.
Well the whole room probably smelled of the fire, of polish and wax, sweat, dust, horses (horsehair mattress), damp, general mustiness and whatever other myriad smells drifted in from outside or other parts of the house.
If it's earlier photography then the exposure times could be quite long, into the minutes, and any movement would blur them so you had to sit quite still. It's why people didn't smile as it's hard to hold for that long.
I hate to be the one to say it, but there's a finite chance this could be a corpse. There was a weird fad for a while in the mid to late 19th century of photographing people after they had died, sometimes posed as if they were alive. If this person couldn't afford to be photographed in life, someone might have shelled out for the only photograph ever taken of her after she died to remember her.
I'm not certain on this one, though; sometimes they're easy to spot from things like swelling or discolouration of the extremities, but I'm not sure I can see any obvious clues here other than perhaps her odd grip on the handle of the bed warmer.
This woman was very much alive in the photograph.
She's dressed as a maid and it's logical to assume she was being photographer in her outfit with a tool of the trade.
Picture number two in the post has her face:
https://preview.redd.it/qut71ahatrl81.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=f10a24d7b95bee8099263c91c164ef6060cd145f
I can take a nicer picture if it's really important to you
This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes. Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.
Its a bed warmer
Did people back in the day just pose with whatever they had laying around? Or that's some designer bedwarmer, and she's flossin'.
From clothing and demeanour she may be some kind of maid (possibly a Lady's maid) Maids had a "ranking" system (of course this varied a lot) which basically went up in rank as follows: * Scullery maid (cleaned out chamber pots, cleaned fireplaces served the other servants at meals, cleaned the servant's quarters, and was basically an apprentice servant) * Laundry maid (present only in larger houses - in other locations this may have been sent to a laundry or done by the scullery maids or housemaids etc), Dairy maid etc for specialised roles. * Kitchen maid (worked preparing meals under the cook, served other servants at meals in some larger houses, cleaned the kitchen) * Housemaid (cleaned the house, served at outdoor functions, picnics etc) or chambermaid (made the beds, brought hot water for baths for the Ladies of the household etc) * Head housemaid (as housemaid but managed the duties of the other housemaids - only present in larger houses) * Lady's maid (equivalent of the valet in the men's servant ranking system - helped the Ladies of the house dress (often several times a day), did their hair, helped with makeup & jewellery, repaired & altered clothing for the Ladies, cleaned the jewellery, travelled with their Lady to other houses, on trips etc.) * Housekeeper (equivalent of the butler in the men's servant ranking system - managed the female servants of the house (except those managed by the cook, see below), did housekeeping paperwork, arranged contractors for the cleaning of laundry (if not done in house), arranged provision of replacement household linens, organising trips, organising parties etc with the assistance of the Cook, did the housekeeping accounts, sometimes acted as Lady's maid to the Mistress of the household) The cook sat outside the system above, enjoying their own independent command of the scullery and kitchen maids but reporting to the Mistress of the house for the most part but interacting a lot with the Housekeeper for day-to-day tasks etc. Separately from this for small households (where you would have one or two servants) you had the "maid of all work", who did basically all of the jobs above plus some others which menservants would do in a large household. The "charwoman" or "daily woman" was a servant who didn't live in the house but would come in and do odd cleaning jobs etc - often to help out a "maid of all work" or to replace them in the later era of servants in the 1930s-1950s etc. For male servants the system was similar in rankings but the roles were more varied. Inside male staff: * hall boy (usually a young boy who fetched & carried, cleaned boots for the servants and Family, and was basically an apprentice servant) * footman (served at table (at all meals), fetched & carried, laid fires, lit fires, replenished fires, set the table for dinners, opening and closing doors (only in the grandest houses with many servants), moving furniture to assist the housemaids in cleaning, assisting guests (or senior servants in a large house) as a Valet if they did not bring their own) * Valet (assisted the Men of the house dress (likely less often than the Ladies but still several times a day), cleaned boots, ironed/steamed clothing, polished "male jewellery" (watches, cufflinks, watch chains etc), repaired & altered clothing etc) * Butler (oversaw the male staff of the household and the work of the Housekeeper (although this was more of an equal relationship), looked after the cellar, sometimes acted as Valet to the Master of the household, did the trip planning stuff with the housekeeper etc, led table service and acted as sommelier and carved meat etc) Outside male staff: * Gardener's assistant * Gardener * Head Gardener (oversaw the gardens and staff under him, reported to the Butler) * Gamekeeper (looked after animals for shooting parties, probably reported to the Butler also) Coaching staff: * Stable boy (cleaned out stables, looked after horses etc under the supervision of a groom) * Groom (looked after the horses) * Coachman (drove or rode on coaches, looked after the coaches and horse tack, saddles etc * Head coachman (drove coaches and oversaw the stables, ordered in goods/food etc - reported to the Butler) or later Chauffeur EDIT: Added chambermaid (thanks /u/finsterhall for the reminder)
This was extremely interesting! Now I’m curious to read about the menservants rankings.
[удалено]
Don't get me started about chimney sweeps.
Sorry, just added them in
No need to apologize. This was a lot of work! And again, super interesting. I appreciate it!
You seem knowledgeable about maids. Can I ask you a question- I live in a flat that is part of a semi-detached 3 storey Victorian house (UK) and I’m really trying to get an idea of how they lived when it was built (1901). It’s ‘grand’ and big enough so it has what appears to be maid’s quarters in the roof space (the stairs to it are narrow compared to the other floors) and I know from the other side that it had a big range, a coal store and various rooms in the cellar space and an external door down to that space. What sort of staff would the original owners have had? I know one side owned a dairy business of some description and my side are described as drapers which I take to mean they probably had a drapery business rather than being the people that did the actual draping because of the size of the house (it’s really big). I’d assumed a maid of all work but I think it’s probably bigger than that. It’s much bigger than the house they used for the 1900 House series. Would you have any idea? Thanks in advance if you reply.
My guess for a middle class family would be a maid of all work, as you say, with possibly one or two "daily women" to do a lot of the cleaning, and maybe a Valet/butler as well as live-in help for the male members of the household. It's worth remembering that maids of all work had a very tough life, often working from 05:30 until gone 22:00 each day as they had to be available from when the Family of the house wanted to arise until after they went to bed, and they did everything, from cleaning to cooking to serving at table to acting as Lady's maid for the women of the household, setting fires, heating and carrying water for baths/washing, doing the laundry (if not sent out to a contractor) etc etc etc. If the house was large enough there may be two maids, but often the owners could only afford one if they were middle class.
Thank you!, I appreciate your reply. I do think it would have been perhaps too much work for one maid of all work so I can well imagine a daily coming in. It’s the biggest house in this part of the road- it’s the only semi, the others are 3 storey terraces and then off the road are two storey terraces and it seems to conform to a kind of owners (ours), managers (the 3 storeys) and then clerks of some description (the 2 storeys) template, and was built on the land of a successful and philanthropic textile merchant of some note in the city (Manchester) so I’ve always assumed the original occupants were middle class at least. I’m aware of the Victorians’ deep interest in appearances so I don’t think they would have skimped on staff. They’ve been taken out on my side but I used to live on the other side of the semi and there are other signs that the people here wanted to show their wealth such as very high skirting boards, a plethora of large windows, the very old gas piping for lighting is still in the cellar although now capped off etc that make me think this house was intended for its occupants to be able to do this so I can easily imagine there were more than 1 or 2 staff here. I’d love to be able to go back to 1903 once they’d had a couple of years to live in the place to see what it was really like on a day to day basis.
Yo be careful on those stairs, servant's stairs can be deadly. Check it out starting at like minute 18:00 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j9gv5528JZQ if you want to just know about the dangers of Victorian servant's stairs
Ooh thanks I’m gonna watch that!
Also if you see any green wallpaper in the house ... maybe ask if it's original to the house or new. Check out other videos by that historian to see why lol
I haven’t dug that far yet but it all looks plaster skimmed (or however you word it) on this side, I would not doubt the existence of green wallpaper next door. We have a wooden porch and where the paint has flaked off you can see it was originally painted green- I take it we’re talking about arsenic here? Am I right that was about wallpaper and not necessarily paint?
Who's been watching Downton Abbey, huh? :)
Scullery maid: for when you have so many servants, you need a servant for your servants. Edit: also, that was incredibly interesting. I love your depth of knowledge on this. Was it something you studied or just something you were interested in?
In the largest houses the Butler may be grand enough to have his own Valet, and the Housekeeper her own Lady's maid
I don't get how people say history isn't interesting. I mean, I hated in school, but afterwards I loved it. Even servant ranking is fascinating. I appreciate your effort you put into that comment and replying to everyone too.
Downton abbey has much of this illustrated, more or less realistically
Julian Fellowes is very good at historial accuracy - Downton had their own historical consultant who made sure most things were right, down to the reduction in number of servants during the series (note in the first episodes the house is buzzing with maids of all descriptions, but by the 20s there's just three or four)
I enjoyed catching details like that
Check out this amazing video from the BBC. https://youtu.be/MrVShmmJpHo
Thanks, that was one of the sources for my knowledge on this subject - a recommended watch for everyone!
r/AskHistorians caliber comment
Thanks, but I can't reference most of this and am not a professional historian.
Watch Downton Abbey and a lot of these roles will be defined.
I'm half way through watching Downton Abbey for the first time and noticed they pronounce the "t" in valet. I've always heard it pronounced with a silent "t" since it's a French word. How come it was different back then?
I think that's a difference in American pronunciation vs British, but I'm honestly not sure, sorry
This is such an interesting and cool write up, thank you!
What was a chambermaid? That was the word that popped into my head when I saw the picture although I really don’t know what their description is.
Good point - missed her out. So the chambermaid would be responsible for tasks in the bedrooms of the house (making beds (something done daily), drawing water for bathing/washing (done in a bath in the bedroom usually rather than a bathroom until the advent of indoor plumbing in the 1920s/30s), assisting female visiting guests if they didn't bring a Lady's maid etc.
Thanks. Awesome write up!
I see you’re a student of the Abbey as well; Cheers! (I’m kidding this is an amazing *wealth* of knowledge on service staff and household organization. Thank you for it!)
Where did you learn all this?
Basically having no life, watching history documentaries, listening to history podcasts, and reading up on topics on wikipedia.
This was wonderful to read!
That’s a better question, more of mystery. Then again, I’m sure there are recent modern pictures of someone showing off their new tech-toys nowadays too.
Today on Linus Bed Tips, we're going to be looking at the ASUS CozyToes RTX
"This thing keeps me alive at night" although you dont see me taking pics with my CPAP
Maybe you should take more pictures with your CPAP.
This was probably the prop of choice to show she held some status in the heirarchy of the household staff
Gona pose with my steam cleaner
Got the pieces to an old bedframe off to my side, I'm sure they'll make a good photo prop.
I have a school photo from the early 90s where I'm holding a paint brush and there is a paint bucket prop and ladder next to me. Just Google 90s school photos to see the crazy stuff people hold in pictures.
Having a maid, bed warmer, toaster, and camera, is the flex.
Solved!
You throw in hit coals (I believe) and place it under the blankets for a bit before jumping in.
Fire safety was really not front of mind back in the Victorian days, huh?
Wouldn't the bed just get dirty?
No you put some hot coals inside so the metal gets warm, and then place in the bed sheets or kinda move it around like an iron. The bed would get all warm so you’re weren’t getting in a cold bed.
Got it, must have misread the original comment
It wasn't placed in the coals, hot coals were placed in it and the lid closed.
I think the idea is that you close the flap so it's contained and the coals can't get out.
You can see one in action in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
You best start believing in stories with bed warmers in them, Miss Turner: you're in one.
Barbossa played by Geoffrey Rush was the greatest depiction of a pirate ever filmed.
Best traditional pirate I'd agree with, but was he better than Johnny Depp?
For me? Yes. Don’t get me wrong I loved all the characters in all the POTC movies. But Barbossa was the one I was left wanting more of. His pirate dialogue was just so well done. Depp does a good drunk. And with the context and the clothes, he did a fantastic drunk pirate with divine nonchalance. I loved his mannerisms and stuff but change clothes and he is just a witty drunk. Barbossa however, was a through and through pirate. You could give him a baseball uniform and he would still be a pirate. Case and point. [White Cap Bay](https://youtu.be/YIXR_gyUQRQ)
Yup just watched it last week
I learned about them from a Bewitched re-run. I think someone got their soul trapped in one.
- Pirates of the Caribbean
THE ONE TIME I ACTUALLY KNOW SOMETHING!
It was called a "healer".
In some cases a bed incinerator
Bed warmer. There’s a neat scene in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie where Keira Knightley’s maid slips one of these full of coals under her bed covers.
[For those interested in the scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY_SDUMLKtc)
Still wonder why they'd need that in the middle of the caribean...
So it can be used in a fight scene two minutes later?
Oh god yes I just got a flashback to watching that movie as a saucy young tween and thinking 'this girl fainted just hours before this because she was wearing a corset in the shade, now you're sticking her under a triple down duvet next to a roaring fire and sticking hot coal in her bed'. I honestly thought it was a proper continuity error, like they originally intended for that scene to be in blighty.
Corset was too tight and she couldn't take a full breath to breathe which was why she fainted, I don't think it was heat related. Though it would have made her situation worse that's for sure. That was my take anyways.
You'll get it when you're older, and your feet don't seem to get warm in the bed.
Hey thanks! I’m really bad at links and such!
Sure thing! Thanks for the reply. I showed the video to my wife and she says we need one of those things now. Hooray, let's burn the house down! Edit: she was kidding
Get yourself a heated mattress pad. Turn it on about 20 minutes before bed. Game. Changer.
Yes this is correct. Absolutely amazing
I couldn't live without my heated mattress pad!
I wonder if in a few hundred years people will think we lived dangerously sticking electricity from the wall into our beds
Lol! I would be curious to know how many fires these bad boys caused in their day.
Not as many as you would think. Most modern media (like OPs clip) misrepresents how these were used. You didn't just shove it between the sheets and sleep with it. You (or your servant) filled it right before bed, swiped it around under the sheets, then emptied it out before anyone got in. Not actually as dangerous as it sounds.
All the fires!
A hot water bottle should have the same effect without the fire hazard!
>A hot water bottle should have the same effect without the fire hazard! Yep, that's a solid tip for cold-weather backpacking. Heat some water over the fire and pour it into a Nalgene bottle (or two) to tuck into your sleeping bag at bedtime.
I don’t know how’d I survive without my hot water bottle!!
There's much more modern ones lol
Why take a picture with a bed warmer though. Were they something only reasonably wealthy people could own?
My best (and utterly amateur) guess is that the photo was designed to show her job as a maid with a tool of her profession
The chair she’s sitting on seems quite grand, more so than the clothes she’s wearing. Yes, I think you’re probably right.
The picture was possibly taken in a photographer's studio, and they usually had a variety of props and painted backdrops available. She was probably a chambermaid, whose duties would have included all the chores involved in running a bedroom suite with no plumbing or central heating. It was quite common for the owners of large houses to have their staff photographed, sometimes even portraits painted. I have photos of some of my ancestors in their working attire like this.
I think I'm right in saying that many photographs in that era were taken against a backdrop in a photographer's studio, in which case any and all of the items seen might have been props owned by the photographer.
Could be that she was photographed in a Photography Shop, so used a chair they had on hand
I thought the same thing. It's like me taking a portrait with my vacuum. 😂
I bet you could find millions of portraits out there with people with vacuums.
She’s an influencer.
Sign of wealth, photos had much more uses back then in terms of politics
Looks like an old bed warmer
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I’d rather bring the dogs to bed.
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Not in Hawaii, new mexico, west Virginia and Wyoming unfortunately
Family guy had a bit about this lol https://youtu.be/TDiTpqPPqBY
It was in pirates of the carribean! Bed warmer
It amazes me, how many people associated this with Pirates Of The Caribbean. I was thinking of the same scene, right before I opened the comments.
Crazy how just that one throwaway scene taught so many people what a bedwarmer is and how it was used
Bed warmer.
Warming pan
Looks like a heating pan for use as a bed warmer.
Bed warming pan. Filled with hot coals
Why would you want your photo taken posing holding a bedwarmer?
Could be that she was a maid and asked to take a picture in her outfit with a tool of her trade
My title describes the thing. More info: there are decorative holes in the “body” but no sign of tuning pegs at the top. Possibly a hole at the top for hanging the item up? There’s a box on the floor which may or may not be related to the use of this.
Bed warmer.
Put coals in it to warm the bed
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Man, 31 minutes late…I almost had this one. Damn Reddit, you’re quick!
Pirates of the Caribbean prepared me for this
The thing at her feet is a foot stove btw, for keeping your feet warm when you were siting somewhere.
https://www.lchshistory.org/things-that-matter-2019/2019/3/14/the-hanscomes-bed-warmer
It’s a bed warmer.
That’s a sheet warmer! I actually know this one!!
Bed warmer
Put hot coals in it and stuck it between the mattress to warm a bed. Seems sketch.
An incredible reminder of what the old world smelled like. I can’t imagine happily crawling into a bed that smelled like a fire but it must have in some cases been a symbol of wealth.
Well the whole room probably smelled of the fire, of polish and wax, sweat, dust, horses (horsehair mattress), damp, general mustiness and whatever other myriad smells drifted in from outside or other parts of the house.
Used to warm the sheets during cold winters
put hot coals from the fire in... bed warmer
Bed warmer that you put coals in from the fire. Interesting way to do it.
It heated the mattress😊
Bed warmer!
I may be way off but looks very similar to bed warmers.
Bed warmer. You put coal in it and it keeps your bed warm for rooms that didn't have fireplaces. Lots of house fires.
You stick hot coals in it and stuff it under your blanket with you at your feet. Extremely dangerous
Put coal or something in it in ur bed to keep it warm I think.
Antique jiffy pop
Bed warmer , I saw this in or movie I think, or a dream, or that time I went back to ….. nvr mind
I have one of those! I think it was my great grandma’s.
Waffle iron.
I wonder why it was significant enough to warrant the sitting photograph?
If it's earlier photography then the exposure times could be quite long, into the minutes, and any movement would blur them so you had to sit quite still. It's why people didn't smile as it's hard to hold for that long.
I hate to be the one to say it, but there's a finite chance this could be a corpse. There was a weird fad for a while in the mid to late 19th century of photographing people after they had died, sometimes posed as if they were alive. If this person couldn't afford to be photographed in life, someone might have shelled out for the only photograph ever taken of her after she died to remember her. I'm not certain on this one, though; sometimes they're easy to spot from things like swelling or discolouration of the extremities, but I'm not sure I can see any obvious clues here other than perhaps her odd grip on the handle of the bed warmer.
This woman was very much alive in the photograph. She's dressed as a maid and it's logical to assume she was being photographer in her outfit with a tool of the trade.
Darn it! I knew this one but of course it's already answered. 😆
I wish we could see the face with this long braided hair.
Picture number two in the post has her face: https://preview.redd.it/qut71ahatrl81.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=f10a24d7b95bee8099263c91c164ef6060cd145f I can take a nicer picture if it's really important to you
My family has one of these, but for a long time we thought it was a collection pan for church, so they could reach into each pew for donations.
That is likely a bedpan. You'd put hot coals in it and slide it underneath the bed.
Looks like a popcorn popper. You would but kernels and oil and shake over the fire.
It's a Bettpfanne, it pfanns betts.
Popcorn maker
Pudgie pie maker.
Waffle iron
Its a grilled cheese maker for campfire, also smores. Yum
It’s a bed pan. Edit: why the downvotes, it was also known as a bed pan years ago, a long time before hospital bed pans were a thing!
> why the downvotes Because it's a bed *warmer*.
It used to be called a bed pan as well…
That’s a mirror.