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« on: June 20, 2004, 04:49:40 PM »
Getting back to the original theme of this posting, here’s a description you may find interesting & that sheds light on what it must have been like to be a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. It is taken from “For My Grandchildren – Reminiscences of Her Royal Highness Princess Alice Countess of Athlone”. (Prince Leopold’s daughter, who was also Empress Alexandra’s first cousin):
“Each lady had a lady’s maid and every gentleman had a valet. There were many servants and one of the duties of the housemaids was to preheat the beds with warming pans. These contraptions, made of polished copper and looking like a frying pan with a cover on it and a very long handle, were filled with red-hot coals and swished about between the sheets by a housemaid just before the hour at which the family retired…sometimes maids, too lazy to prepare the warming pan, heated the beds with their own bodies, getting out just before the occupants arrived upstairs….In the mornings one was awakened by servants bearing highly polished copper cans full of hot water. A “hip bath” shaped like a high-backed chair without legs, was placed in the middle of the room and filled with hot water, the windows were closed and the fire relit. Who shall say that electric blankets and central heating are more luxurious than such amenities? …As the cropping and bobbing of hair was not generally practised, the brushing of long tresses and the use of the curling tongs could be quite a business for oneself or one’s maid. On the other hand, we were spared the modern practice of paying frequent visits to professional hairdressers. Artificial curls were sometimes added to the natural coiffure. Facial make-ups were taboo, though on special occasions a little rice powder on the nose or a touch of geranium petal on the cheeks might be allowed. The painting of finger and or toe-nails was never practised, though we had to keep our nails highly polished. The painted lips and nails and rouged cheeks of today were confined to courtesans and the stage. Long hair was often plaited and wound around the head; buns were common.
Skirts and petticoats were voluminous and even day-skirts trailed along the ground. These and the crinolines and corsets made the assistance of a maid, even for young girls, essential. Mariners who were accustomed to bending or reefing sail in a square-rigged ship during a strong gale would have made convenient husbands… The liberty & independence of the modern young woman contrasts sharply with the discipline imposed upon the girls with whom I grew up. We were never allowed to go anywhere without a lady-in-waiting or chaperon. I was severely reprimanded when I was caught driving in a carriage through the streets of Potsdam with a cousin, but unaccompanied by my lady-in-waiting. Yet, because of these restrictions our amusements were all the more exciting. As we were very dependent on one another for our mutual entertainment, I think we attached more importance to our friendships and were more considerate of others than present –day-families…Notwithstanding our trailing skirts, our side-saddle riding habits, our absurd bathing costumes and our chaperons we enjoyed games and our lives were not devoid of romance. We had our own decorous methods of conducting a flirtation or attracting masculine attention. More eloquent messages can be conveyed by downcast eyes, embarrassed blushes, a graceful curtsey, a slim waistline, a turn of soft shoulders or the discreet glimpse of a beautiful bosom than by extravagant make-up, bold-glances or the unabashed display of nylon knees. Thora recalled how on one occasion, just before they went in to dinner, Grandmamma (Queen Victoria), having concluded that her granddaughter’s dress was too low, pointed with her fan and said, “A little rose in front, dear child, because of the footmen.”
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) Now, I would like to know what N&A thought about Rachmanninov or Mossoursky, especially the former, as he was an up-and-commer just before the revolution & his music - particularly his concertos 1- 4 evoke all the turmoil & heartbreak of the time. 