A Look Back in Time: Victorian Motherhood

Mother's Day is just around the corner, which inspired me to do some digging into what Victorian motherhood was like.

Social Responsibility

Beginning in the early 19th century, motherhood was idealized in American and British cultures. No longer just a reproductive function, it had been elevated to a level infused with symbolic meaning. At the same time on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, motherhood was becoming a social responsibility. Women were being charged with the responsibility of bringing up responsible, educated citizens. In America, this philosophy was later dubbed republican motherhood. And in order to do this, mothers had to be taught the best way to do so. Motherhood was no longer something natural and innate; it was something to be learned. Instructional publications were widely circulated throughout the 19th century which reinforced domestic femininity and a woman's focus on her husband and children and would recommend advice on raising children, proper nursery conditions, and good foods for infants and children.

The Ideal

A Victorian-era woman was expected to marry, a wife was expected to become a mother, and a mother was expected to be constantly present for her children. Marriage marked entry into maturity, but motherhood meant she passed into the world of female fulfillment. An affirmation of her identity, domesticity and motherhood were considered all the spiritual and emotional fulfillment that a Victorian-era woman needed. Even single women without children were encouraged to find work that would fulfill this need by becoming a governess or nursery maid. The same woman for whom the era was named after, Queen Victoria, became a symbol of femininity focused on motherhood, family, and domestic virtue with her brood of nine children.

The Reality

The real experience of motherhood in the Victorian era differed greatly depending on one thing: the mother's class status. Middle-class mothers spent more time with their children, breast-fed their babies more often, and played with and educated their children more than the previous generations of mothers. In industrial cities, high mortality rates were blamed solely on the working women who were not there for their children (even though factors like poor sanitation, overcrowding, and disease were truly the cause). Working mothers were often labelled irresponsible and neglectful even while they struggled with the challenge of balancing the need to work with the demands of home life.

This idealized notion of motherhood waned in the 20th century as Freudianism gained influence. Americans began to see the close-knit bonds of mother and child (particularly sons) as unmanly and what was called "uplifting encouragement" was retermed nagging. And by the 1940s, the idealization of mother was under attack by educators and psychiatrists who believed women should stop seeing themselves as guardians of familial morality, an abrupt about-face from the previous century.

Six Ways to Add Vintage Touches to Your Wedding

Vintage weddings are something we are very familiar with at the Hotel Boulderado. Our hotel opened in 1909 and we have worked very hard over the years to preserve the period nature of the building, including the function spaces where wedding receptions take place. If you are planning a vintage or retro themed wedding, here are six ways to add vintage touches.

Invitations 

Get the theme going as early as your save the date cards and/or invitations. The biggest thing to remember when you add a theme a wedding (or any event) is to keep it consistent. When you say "vintage," do you mean '50s rockabilly? Victorian opulence or steampunk? '60s era glamor, a la Mad Men? Keeping your theme clear, consistent, and omnipresent will help you make decisions along the way. To illustrate, here are three unique invitations that tie back to different "vintage" eras.

Transportation

When you are deciding on vendors, ask if they can add anything to your theme. For example, does your transportation company offer any fun, vintage alternatives? If you are getting married in the Boulder/Denver area, we recommend Boulder Denver Limousines, who can provide a Rolls Royce dating back to 1939 on your special day. Another fun retro transportation option is a VW bus, especially if it can be decked out in "Just Married" writing and tin cans.

Dress You Up in My Love

Outfits are one of the most visible ways to bring retro into a wedding. It could be just the bride and groom, or the whole wedding party. For lots of extra fun, you could even request your guests get in on the vintage vibe with their attire.

Hair, Makeup, and More

Another very visible way to add vintage flair to your wedding is through the bride's hair, makeup, and accessories.Again, keep consistent with your chosen vintage era. Cat-eye eyeliner and lush red lipstick would be fabulous for a '50s era bride. Cameo jewelry would be a great touch for a Downton Abbey-inspired wedding.

Wedding (Cup)Cakes, Brownie Pops, and Candy, Oh My!

Every wedding cake is as unique as the couple who chooses it. And some couples are so unique they don't even choose a cake. Here's four examples of how you can bring a vintage flair to your wedding cake -- even if the "cake" is really cupcakes, brownie pops, or a candy station.

Table Settings 

 If everyone is sitting down to dinner at your vintage-inspired wedding reception, try bringing your era straight to the table. This can be accomplished with your floral centerpieces, accents, and even the flatware and silverware your guests will be eating off of.

A Look Back in Time: The Victorians and Their Sports

The world has been consumed with the Olympics for the past week, especially because the London games marks what is being called the most social Olympics ever. Here at the Hotel Boulderado, which is more than 4,600 miles from London, we are also gearing up for the USA ProCycling Challenge later this month that will literally race by us on Spruce Street. All these sporting events made me think about the Victorians, and what sports they enjoyed. Several Olympic events can trace their popularity back to the Victorian era, including tennis, cycling, and football (that's soccer to us in the U.S.).

Lawn tennis became a popular past time for middle-class women in the Victorian era, who enjoyed the simple act of paddling the ball back and forth across a lawn. The game became far more competitive when men got caught up in the new craze and started keeping score. It wasn't long before summer resorts began offering the activity and magazines were spotted detailing the proper clothes to wear while playing.

Football had been around for centuries by the time the Victorians started playing, but they made it a point to establish official rules of play. The first Football Association Cup was played in 1871 and inspired many to start their own local football clubs. Initially, football was meant to keep people healthy and encourage a sense of fair play, but this latter goal apparently wasn't being observed enough as free kicks and penalty kicks had to be introduced in 1877 and 1891, respectively, to discourage foul play.

Cycling is something very near and dear to the hearts of many in Boulder, but few of them realize that they have the Victorians to thank for inventing the bicycle in the 1880's. None of them probably think about the bicycle's initial reception into society, which ranged from ministers decrying it as a "diabolical device of the demon of darkness . . . imbued with a wild and Satanic nature" to being lauded as the cure-all for humanity's ills. The first bicycles featured the big wheel in front with the tiny one in back, as seen in this photo.

This model became difficult for women to ride on because of their long skirts. After trying tricycles for women and shorter riding skirts (which were deemed too threatening to ladies' morals and reputation), the current incarnation of the bicycle with two same-sized wheels were introduced.

The reason so many sports took off during the Victorian era was because of the sudden creation of the middle class. Their new wealth and leisure time meant people could have a sporting hobby, something that up until then had been solely the joy of the super wealthy. While watching the rest of the Olympic games this summer, think about how different they would be without the sports made popular by the Victorians.

A Look Back in Time: Victoria, Victorians, and Weddings

We have been so busy with all the Boulderado weddings this season that we have been neglecting our poor blog! To make up for it, I wanted to share a bit about how the Victorians have influenced our modern-day weddings. They are more closely connected than you might think. The Victorians completely reinvented weddings in their time, as they did most customs, and many of today's traditions stem from that most Victorian of all the Victorians, Queen Victoria.

When Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840, she single-handedly created the "white wedding": white flowers, white icing on the cake (dubbed "royal" icing because of the expense), and even the iconic white wedding dress can all be traced back to Her Royal Majesty's wedding. The white dress marked a dramatic departure in wedding fashion; up until then, a woman would be married in the nicest dress she owned, while a white dress was a symbol of wealth, extravagance, and status. But Queen Victoria wasn't all pomp and circumstance, as she had her wedding gown re-styled for later use. (Apparently the custom of only wearing the wedding dress once didn't appear until the mid-twentieth century.)

 Queen Victoria in Her Wedding Dress

Queen Victoria was not the only trend-setting Victorian. When her daughter (also named Victoria) walked down the aisle with the Prince of Prussia, she added choral music to her procession. (Up until then, it was tradition to just have music during the wedding reception, not the ceremony itself.) More familiar modern traditions like diamond rings and honeymooning also got their start in the Victorian era, as African diamond mines were discovered in the 1870s and travel became more affordable to the middle class.

If you happen to be a guest at a Boulderado wedding this summer, remember to raise your glass in toast to the Victorians!