Gentle readers,
I am in the throes of moving – packing, mover transportation, closings, mortgage payments and the like – all within the next 3 weeks. And so I am unable to complete the themes I’ve researched. Still, I’d like to offer a post during this wintery time of year, which, in my area, has been changing from cold to warm-ish in unpredictable ways and confusing the wildlife.
This week the weather has been cold, and I thought of early posts on this blog that featured Regency winters and ways to keep warm. Many new readers might not have read these articles before. Enjoy!
…what did our Regency ancestors do when there was a heavy snowfall? They did not, like many of us today, rush out to shovel it from the walkways and roadways in their vicinity. Many of them simply ignored it, stayed in their homes and waited for it to melt. Particularly in rural areas, people had already laid in most of the supplies they would need for the winter. – Snow in the Regency, Regency Redingote, Kathryn Kane, 25th November, 2011 (Blog was – sadly – retired.)
While rural communities in Great Britain waited for the snow to recede, many took the opportunity to amuse themselves on icy ponds, as in this image from Wikipedia.
Julius Caesar Ibbetson: Winter Amusement: A View in Hyde Park from the Moated House, 1787, Wikimedia Commons
As the men played outdoors during these cold dark months, I imagine the women sitting by a cozy fireside preparing vegetables for thick stews and soups, sewing and knitting for the poor baskets, mending shirts and clothing for the family, and enjoying local gossip.
Please click on these four posts to address those winter moments in times past. You will find methods still used today when storms and events cut off our electrical grids.
- Snow Sports and Transportation in the Regency Era https://janeaustensworld.com/2010/12/27/snow-sports-and-transportation-in-the-regency-era/
- Keeping Warm in the Regency Era: Part One https://janeaustensworld.com/2009/01/21/keeping-warm-in-the-regency-era-part-one/
- Ways to Keep Warm in the Regency Era: Part Two https://janeaustensworld.com/2009/02/03/ways-to-keep-warm-n-the-regency-era-part-2/
- 1814 Frost Fair https://janeaustensworld.com/2007/12/03/1814-frost-fair/
Jane Austen's World 
Thank you for this post. It is icy here in south Arkansas today and very damp and cold. I am staying put, as I have prepared for such times. I am in my sewing room mending aprons and other such stitching. A pot of stew sounds comforting and some homemade bread to go along.
Safe travels with all the moving you have going on at present.
In Joy
With the economic problems of the moment, we’ve been doing what we did in the winter of discontent, and what doubtless many people did in the regency; concentrated on heating one room, with our closed stove bringing up the heat happily to the upper 60s F, candles on the mantleshelf [not, fortunately needed this time round] and plain sewing to hand which can be done largely by feel. Again, not necessary, but there is a reason men used to wear nightshirts. I made some flannel nightshirts for the hubby, and he’s sworn off PJs with their gap at the midriff. He was muttering about hibernating.
Oh, and for the hands? an old pair of socks with the toes cut off and a thumb hole at the heel [if not worn through there anyway] make lovely mittens to keep the hands a few degrees warmer without trammelling typing or sewing as knit ‘fingerless’ gloves tend to do.
Best wishes for your move.
Thanks for the article.
denise
good luck with your move and thank you for the article on the weather of long ago. It is hot and cold here, and at times it snows but not much at all; winter seems to be playing around…a teasing of a sort most definitely. Take care.
I have always loved the name of the artist, Julius Caear Ibbotson! You can see some of his work at various galleries in the UK.
Oh, Vic – such a lousy time of year to move! Good luck and stay warm! You have my sympathy as it’s been really cold and unpleasant here in Eastern Washington, as well. Thanks for the post in the midst of your “chaos”!
Thanks for this post Vic. It’s very timely in letting us know they coped with the winter, just as we are coping. I always really like to know that! Best of luck with your move. I hope it all goes smoothly!