Victorian Childhood A powerpoint presentation designed to be used after a Victorian Childhood session St Albans Museums Service

Laundry Maid A Washing Dolly A dolly tub was filled with water, grated soap and the clothes that were to be washed. The dolly was placed in the dolly tub and was gyrated around to wash the clothes.

Laundry Maid A Flat Iron It was heated on a range. To check if the iron was hot enough you would spit on it to see if it sizzled. They were used in pairs so that as one was being used the other was warming up. They were made out of iron.

Laundry Maid A Posser. This was used for washing and rinsing. As it was plunged into a dolly tub full of washing you would not get splashed with water as the posser had holes in the bottom.

Kitchen Maid A Mincer This was screwed to a table. Meat has placed in the top and as the handle was turned it was minced.

Kitchen Maid A Jelly Mould The metal ones were used for sweet dishes and the enamel ones for meat/savoury dishes. If you were sick, jelly recipes were believed to be good for you

Kitchen Maid A Rice Maker The Victorians making rice in a rice maker is the equivalent of boil in the bag rice today. India was part of the British Empire and was a source of cheap rice. Some adventurous people in Britain were eating curry with rice. Others used their rice maker to make sweet milky rice pudding. It is an example of how inventive the Victorians were.

Kitchen Maid A Tinder Box and a Strike a Light One job a kitchen maid would have done was to light the fire in the kitchen range. The tinder box was filled with e.g. dry moss and a flint was struck against the strike a light to create a spark – this would fall on to the moss. The maid would blow the flame. The loose fitting lid was used to extinguish the flame.

Kitchen Maid A Hot Water Bottle This was probably filled with hot water by the kitchen maid. This was then taken upstairs by a housemaid and placed at the end of a bed to warm it up. The Prime Minister, Gladstone, used to fill his hot water bottle with tea so that if he wanted a drink in the middle of the night he could have one with out having to wake his servants.

Schoolchild A Back Straightener This particular sort was not used for deportment but was used as a punishment. Children would have to stand holding this behind their shoulders.

Schoolchild A Slate Children first learnt to write on a slate with a lead pencil.

Schoolchild A Pen Once children had learnt to write with a slate and lead pencil they could move on to writing with a pen and ink.

Schoolchild An Ink Pot There would have been an ink monitor in a Victorian class who would have gone around and used an ink pot to fill up the inkwells in each desk.

Schoolchild A Mortar Board These were worn by Victorian teachers

Schoolchild An Abacus Used to help children add/subtract.

Straw Plaiter Straw Splitter Many women and children from poor families plaited straw at every possible moment as working class men, often did not earn enough to support their family. The straw splitter was used to divide the straw into several smaller strips. The split straw was then plaited into various patterns to make a wide ribbon. They plaited the straw into lengths that were 20 yards/18 metres long. The women sold the plait to buyers for the hat industry at the weekly St Albans plait market. Some women sold the plait to agents who came to their homes

Straw Plaiter A Straw Hat Both men and women wore these. Men’s Boaters were a speciality of the St Albans hat factories.

Farm Worker A Bird Scarer Children as young as 7 would watch out for birds in farmers fields from early morning until the evening. They would scare them by either using a bird scarer or they would hit a bucket with a stick. Many had to do this task 7 days a week as the birds did not take a day off on a Sunday.

Farm Worker Stones Stones were picked before land was ploughed as they dulled the cutting edge of a plough. They were placed in a bucket at the side of the road and were used for road repairs.

Climbing Boy Chimney Brush Climbing boys, as young as 5, had to climb up chimneys to scrape the soot off the walls. Some chimneys were as narrow as 23cm square. Boys were sometimes too tired or frightened to work. Their masters would then force them to work by e.g. sticking pins in their feet or by lighting a fire underneath them to force them to keep climbing or they might beat them. They suffered many cuts and grazes.

Lace Maker A Bobbin This was used to make lace. A thread was tied to the end that does not have any beads. A Lace maker would have used several of these bobbins at once. They helped to keep the threads separate.

Rich Victorian Girl A Replica Sampler Rich girls would have embroidered as a pastime.