A Gentleman's Early 19th Century Morning Routine

The date is December 14th, 1820. Col. Benjamin Stephenson has afternoon meetings that he needs to attend. Firstly, however, he would like to enjoy a pleasant breakfast with his family.
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Thank you everyone for your kindness & patience.

[@EarlyAmerican]

For those wondering why he did not have a valet or a butler: This is an upper middle class family that lived on 170 acres in the Illinois territory. There are actually excellent records of all of the servants that worked at the house throughout the 19th century. There was never a butler or a valet. This is not that grand of a home to be able to afford such a luxury. The lady that you see opening up his bed in the beginning is actually a friend of the family whom was taken in once her own family could no longer care for her. She lived with them for several years and most definitely helped around the house as a maid to afford her keep. Thankfully we have records of her presence in the home and can recreate this for you today. Thank you for watching ^_^

[@yashshah3484]

Is this exclusively for KZbin or this was telecasted somewhere else before? And from where do you find facts about this family? Or are those fictional?

[@EarlyAmerican]

@@yashshah3484 This is exclusively for KZbin. This is taken at the 1820 Benjamin Stephenson House, where this family originally lived. The house is now operated as a house museum in Edwardsville, Illinois. There are thankfully excellent records about the family and servants that lived there over the 19th century from various sources including letters, newspaper clippings about the family, records of servants that were kept at the house, government records and more. These records have been collected and preserved by those in our area who care after the town's history including the historical society of Edwardsville. Thank you for watching!

[@natashaa43]

No manservant! Shocking, no English gentleman could do without one!

[@dianaadhikari45]

Poor relative maid. George Washington's ancestors were relegated to this before sailing to America.

[@ianwatt9904]

Exactly what I was wondering. Poor chap. And only bread and jam for breakfast.

[@coashddjj2]

What I love about these videos is that, after you start watching enough of them, the characters seem real, as if you're familiar with them today. I also love the music you're using in them. It's just divine to listen to beautiful music, and it's so suitable to your videos, a perfect choice.

[@BLOOMFIELDFARMVA]

This is such a wonderful channel!! We are restoring... not renovating... a 1775 house. And this is a delightful window into what was. The interior is so similar to our house. It feels like all of this could have taken place here at Bloomfield. Thank you for making these videos.

[@bethsmall8652]

I wish I lived back then. So simple...so true...so what it should be in this 2021.

[@theanxiouscatechist2504]

The clothes really suit him. He must have been even more handsome when he was young. He's good looking grandpa.

[@ailsadixon408]

Like an older Liam Neeson I think?

[@williamh123456789]

Someone is in love

[@sozbdulrhmanli3300]

🤣@@williamh123456789

[@barchinbarchin9903]

he is not so old

[@zainabhaseeb7667]

Why dont she sit with you all

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

You act so natural I almost believe I'm watching someone from 1820 LOL you're good actors

[@divyakushwaha9160]

He must be so handsome in his youth. The prince charming types 😍

[@mastersadvocate]

I think the clothes make that man look very dashing! I wish men cared about how they looked, today. I don't like T-shirts and ratty jeans on men! People seem to have no pride in how they look, these days. I love these historical videos about how people dressed in the 19th century! More please! ~Janet in Canada

[@billywalker9223]

My mother used to call me "Dapper Dan" because I dressed up after work.

[@roisinnigcrainn7722]

I completely agree! Bring back gentlemen in waistcoats and ladies in dresses!!

[@sarafetty1300]

Amen to that. Everyone looks like trailer trash now.

[@animaljustice7774]

True

[@danziger9996]

@@sarafetty1300 🤣🤣🤣

[@mansishukla6740]

This channel is underrated

[@indisadventure2307]

Agreed!💯

[@ウズボー百田]

I really think so, too.*\(^o^)/*

[@dianec690]

I’m so glad I found this channel. I absolutely LOVE it.

[@pasqualinafariello]

OMG I liked it so much 😍He remembers me Mr.Bennet of Pride and prejudice

[@freelancelady]

I subscribed to your channel. I think these type of videos are a history gift to all of us...200 years ago my life would have been very different...

[@derricklangford4725]

170 acres, Wow that's a lot of land. Love your channel, from Chicago, IL

[@CrustyUgg]

He is looking dapper! The corduroy breeches and floral vest 👍🏻

[@nelliesfarm8473]

This is so cool, seeing people have manners again in an age of seeing people wear their pajamas and slippers to Walmart

[@meeoo7856]

You saying that is a bad thing

[@costurando_historia]

I am so happy I found your channel! I know you from the regency costuming facebook group! I am in love with all of your videos

[@EarlyAmerican]

Oh my gosh thank you so much!!!

[@c.w.1827]

🙂👍👍👍👍👌😉 Toll das so etwas mal gezeigt wird. DANKE !!! Bitte mehr davon... 👍😉🙂

[@idontwantachannel7542]

I am envious of the Willow Ware breakfast set O.O

[@EarlyAmerican]

I have a weakness for dinnerware too

[@EB1878]

Me too, especially antique dinnerware.

[@MrTopcat3333]

When I was a little girl, a family friend gave me a miniature set for "tea parties."

[@QueenBee-gx4rp]

@@MrTopcat3333 I have a child’s Blue Willow tea set also! It’s led to my love of blue and white China!

[@amysbees6686]

The flow blue pieces are lovely. Are these from the original family?

[@annalisette5897]

I usually despise closed captions but it works so well with the delightful music! I really enjoy these videos!

[@CaptinHoot51]

Deaf people do exist.

[@cecemaynard9254]

A VERY HANDSOME GENTLEMAN : GR8 CLOTHES !!!! WELL DONE COLONEL🍀

[@lancelessard2491]

Candles were not typically used during the daytime as they were an added expense and the daylight would more than suffice.

[@janedoe805]

I have no idea why KZbin recommend your Channel... However, I’m so delighted they did! What a pleasant surprise, I immediately subscribed and hit the notification bell! I’m looking forward to watching more of your videos... Just to see if was the missus’ sister at the door. 😂🤣😂

[@ZombieLogic101]

....that was oddly relaxing to watch! Lovely look into the past!

[@TMNTLeague]

You all did this so well! It was like taking a peek back in time… I really felt like I was spying on you guys lol❤️

[@Michaelneiss]

I love the fact, that he is aided by his wife instead of a man servant. I suppose back then, this would have been the ultimate proof of a loving and caring relationship.

[@Speculum81]

I wonder who brings the wife a coffee while she is awakening.

[@gozzilla78]

Truth is probably much plainer than that: they couldn’t afford one (see pinned comment)

[@plazmica0323]

Hows that different when modern day maid brings coffee or tidies bed

[@blessedamerican3541]

@@Speculum81 My first husband brought me coffee in bed every morning.

[@casiekreiner3040]

Love the dishes im a stickler for vintage and this is beautiful vintage dishes in my opinion had beauty than now days. And I love the way there clothing and beauty was back then they dressed so nicely had style and class and took care of them selves

[@StacyL.]

His morning routine is equivalent to mine, except I have a phone to read the news and I don't have a relative/maid 😆

[@cynthiarothrock4255]

The maid is called electronic.. Razor , coffepot, stove, laundromat. All electronic , the maid exchange .

[@rebeccaback3287]

Verry good presentation! Interesting to learn about the gentleman routine back in. The 1820s. I like that old straigh razor my second great grandfather had one of those.It was given to my dad.my great grandfather was horned in 1869.David Back from Menifee county Kentucky .

[@manofernando9918]

I'm quite addicted to Little House on the Prairie series and would love to know all the food Laura Ingles described in the books. Her mother seems to be a good cook. Do you think you can do a series of those recipes ? Appreciated if you can. Best wishes from Sri Lanka.

[@spooniesarah]

You might find the Townsends channel interesting. He doesn't go into Laura Ingalls/little house on the prairie specifically, but some of the content will overlap

[@thetillerwiller4696]

There’s a cookbook based off of all the food mentioned in the little house books. You can read it for free on open library. It’s called the little house cookbook. It’s based off of historical ways of preparing and has background information on cooking from that time. Really interesting, recommend you read it.

[@rhosllwyd2863]

Excellent!

[@tinahachey454]

I love watch things like this it's part of history my favorite subject thank you for sharing ❤️😄

[@farmerland3412]

Beautiful. Well done.

[@oneliwanix]

Love these videos Can you'll do a 19th century kids night time routine :)

[@EarlyAmerican]

I love the idea! We will definitely try to do that someday. Thank you so much for watching.

[@oneliwanix]

@@EarlyAmerican :) love your videos

[@drokea1969]

Well done!

[@bandanasharma3048]

Really appreciate this channel.thanx. 🌺

[@flatterdd]

Thank you ^^ I just love your videos!

[@CobinRain]

Really enjoyed this! And I loved trying to identify the everyday crockery...not porcelain of course but something fine and Wedgwoody? others have commented below....."Willow Pattern" ?? Flow Blue? We use Willow pattern everyday in our house in Hampshire.....on the south coast of England.....but NOT antique (it is still made in the Staffordshire Potteries)

[@zoiachurilov8808]

Perfectly done, thank you!

[@margui6224]

Thank you so much.

[@greentorm5467]

Now, listen here...there's enough titillation on youtube without watching this man put on stockings real slow😆

[@indoorsyren3955]

The breakfast looks lovely!

[@jalyassin]

I love the elaborate outfits! Quick question: when did ironing become a thing? Thank you for these informative videos 👍🏼

[@bluesSGL]

Irons have been around for centuries.

[@Thesungod95]

Lovely channel, lovely peoples.

[@Wacholderwald]

I love your channel! And I love that you play Mozart to begin this video!

[@DerekKarnes]

Super interesting, thank you! I wish my chamber pot was that nice

[@EarlyAmerican]

your chamber pot is probably connected to plumbing

[@thecalicoheart7946]

@@EarlyAmerican 🤣🤣🤣

[@RG2k07]

I imagine sometimes what someone from this time period would think seeing America in the 21st century. Electricity, running water, the automobile, the internet. Being able to wake up and shower and have coffee made with the press of a button. Having a cool house in the summer and a warm house in the winter. Everyone staring into glass screens walking around like zombies.

[@Val-de-Mar]

Вообще не понимаю, как я попал на ваш канал... Но полковник великолепен. Лицо только на монету. It's amazing!

[@derill.s.4321]

The music of this video: Serenade No. 9 in D Major, K. 320, "Posthorn" - III. Concertante (Andante grazioso), written by W. A. Mozart in Salzburg, in 1779.

[@carolinagoldbug983]

I was the cutpurse waiting in the alley with my gang for the unsuspecting colonel.....😁

[@billp4380]

Very enjoyable , Thank You!

[@lisad1532]

Dashing

[@shumailasyed]

Awesome

[@simonefabiane9562]

Was that the standard breakfast of the day. Seems rather austere, especially for the upper middle class. Cake, jam, butter and coffee/tea seems spartan by modern standards. Maybe lunch was lavish. I noticed the French eat a similar breakfast today. Please do a video of dining etiquettes of the day.

[@EarlyAmerican]

Cakes and pastries were the preferred breakfast foods of the time. It is, however, completely up to the individual then as it it is now. Breakfasts were normally quite hearty before this period and usually included meat but by this time pastries and cakes were more standard. That being said an individual may have still preferred chops of meat for breakfast as everyone didn't eat exactly the same thing. This particular household goes for the fashionable breakfast of the time which consists of cakes, hot chocolate, jam and tea. I would love to cover that topic as there seem to be a lot of misconceptions especially in regards to how the plates would have been laid out on the table. Thank you for watching.

[@carolinagoldbug983]

@@EarlyAmerican Farmers ate differently, I'm sure. But yeah.....I think you're spot-on with what a well-to-do 'urban' family would have been enjoying in the morning. Not eggs, ham or bacon, and cornbread.....lol.

[@thecalicoheart7946]

@@EarlyAmerican I always knew that cake for breakfast was a good idea!! 😃😆

[@alexsessa7437]

This is immensely interesting! Still, I can’t shake the feeling: I would not have wanted to live during a time before antibiotics.

[@user-tn3xf9hx2o]

I’m speechless

[@Ky6Stringer]

A couple of questions: Was that tea or coffee? And when is bathing done - morning or night? And is it a full bath or a sponge-off?

[@christinecameron1612]

Thank you, this was great!

[@SunSheepOfLight]

Good old days.

[@JAMESFERNANDEZ]

This is so well done!! Just one thing, please upload at 1080hd! :)

[@jflan92]

I wonder if newspapers were ironed before taking it along with a cup of coffee for the master of the house in the 1820s.

[@ARCHID_COC]

Very interesting recreation - thank you +++

[@Orleans11]

I found my new favorite channel :)

[@rochwene]

i love this!

[@naomi8097]

These are great videos. Do you have one about the makers and what inspired you? You should do a Q & A

[@barchinbarchin9903]

замечательное видео! бравооо

[@jimf1964]

What an amazing effort to have so much accuracy. All the clothes, furniture etc…. But I’m one of this compulsive people that can’t help but spot odd mistakes that are just so simple to avoid. The gentleman clearly has no clue how to shave with a straight razor, I use one, so I know, and suspenders weren’t clip on, but buttons. I’d like to know if they were elastic or not though.

[@BrandonDrabekND]

I love the elastic braces 😂

[@ninaelsbethgustavsen2131]

Well, as this is supposedly 1820, I doubt those braces/suspenders were invented yet... Even Victorian men wore button on braces. Hand embroidered ones in silk. Could someone please clarify this ??

[@popeye2sea]

Elastic braces with metal clips did not exist in that period

[@artstocker60]

Most enjoyable video. Question: the music, Mozart or late Haydn?

[@SmidBeach]

Ah, yes, that's the life -- a jaunty nightcap, coffee and newspaper in bed, and a woman to fluff up your shirt for you. I don't envy the chamber pot, but I do envy that fully-covered canopy bed! Thanks for another great video!

[@moseptyagami606]

“And a woman to fluff up your shirt for you” what?

[@JB-vd8bi]

@@moseptyagami606 his wife is preening him. Fluffing the cravat and lace making sure the man's shirt is just so.

[@moseptyagami606]

@@JB-vd8bi no, I know what it means, but he said a good life is a woman fluffing up his shirt lol... I think he can do it on his own. But, interesting! I thought that was a maid 😅

[@Blublod]

Great content! New subscriber. Keep them coming.

[@heikeahlbory1738]

He is wearing the night shirt all day long ?? And for how many days?

[@baylorsailor]

I love watching these things but history reenactments always cut out the use of the "bathroom" first thing. I know I have to go the second I wake up. I would like to see one video one day that includes briefly the use of a chamber pot or at least mentions it. Or did the ladies and gentlemen make sure they went before it was time to be awoken by their servants?

[@Thesungod95]

It feels like classical silent movie.

[@ashdev99]

From long shots the man reminded me of KIRK DOUGLAS

[@kostas6621]

I love it!

[@foreignparticle1320]

Imagine how much earlier the Industrial Revolution would have hit if they didn't take so long putting on their clothes every morning..

[@GrafMKristo]

For a second I thought Steven Fry will show these.

[@BusinessAnalyzer]

The Gentleman's elbow was on the dining table. Is he not well? Feeling a bit off?

[@irenesuit6090]

Gentlemen used to have breakfast in the dining room with the rest of unmarried women of the household. Got shave and dress by their valets in their dressing rooms. The elbow on the table is an absolute no-no

[@kennixox262]

I don 't know about anyone else viewing; but a cup of tea and the paper is not the first thing that I would need just after wakening up. Not sure if I could even focus my eyes on the newspaper. Now, could the chamber pot already have been utilized before the opening scene?

[@nelliesfarm8473]

Sure wish someone would bring me the morning paper and hot coffee to my bed !

[@davestelling]

Same, here!

[@michaelsukut5506]

I wouldn’t mind having one of those beds with the curtains today

[@hoochpooch6614]

interesting...it's a wonder we survived this long...

[@netizen_masadepan9588]

Elegant

[@viks5758]

Is that a chamber pot next to his bed ? If so do they cover it after use ?

[@ayushvasurudragour427]

continue watching the rest of it in an incognito window

[@Vizzini_]

That breakfast seemed to improve his mood

[@anuradhaperera3802]

I love to watch early days Teledramas....

[@meanderingwaveschris6305]

165k views for one ..4 minute video…keep them coming👍🏻🌟

[@williamboulet1029]

He should have many more blankets on his bed, unless it's summer. But if it's summer, why the nightcap and the closed canopy bed? The drapes were used to keep the draughts out and the heat in as there was no central heating. And where's the wife? I suppose she could have crawled out of bed on top of him and closed the curtains again, but that would seem unlikely. And at his age, I'm surprised he can read that newspaper without glasses, He also seems to be be wearing his nightshirt during the day. Was that common?

[@gilbertoantoniomartins1323]

02:00 ..for a very little short of while,I thought the meeting would take place in Munich..at Oktober Fest...

[@chelongogan3904]

Don't let those long sleeves touch a candle flame and start a fire. !!!!!

[@Eques2749]

Oh I don't know fellas don't judge me but I really need this routine.

[@robertryan1881]

The fine gentleman must of a deemed honorable and fine soldier doing Mr. Madison's war.

[@andrew2371]

Probably should change the title to "A *Rich* Gentleman's Morning Routine"

[@EarlyAmerican]

it's funny that you say that because yesterday I got a message from another viewer saying that he shouldn't dare call himself a gentleman because he can't afford to have a butler!

[@theanxiouscatechist2504]

Some of this things were pretty standard at the time, not all are that unaffordable.

[@lisad1532]

Exactly 😂😂😃 the rift between rich and poor was wide ,.....very little to almost non existent middle class

[@bluegrassadventure]

I would be sure to do my morning toilet before dressing.

[@genrihk164]

that shaving with straight razor was a deep fake

[@SweetpeaandLilly]

At least we have pain medicine.

[@nickcolbert1981]

That bread looks good. Off to Walmart for a blueberry bread

[@dagadds3737]

And madame is not dressed for the breakfast ?

[@giraffesinc.2193]

The Colonel is a very handsome man!