Live 1880, the best time in American history. (farmers, house, water)

[Happy in Wyoming]

There was no income tax; there were no gun laws. The frontier was disappearing, but it was still there. If a man had nothing but a horse, saddle, and gun he could build an empire. Government in this country was small; the only blemish albeit a terrible one was the Northern invasion and conquest of the CSA. There was no welfare, mandatory schooling, or laws against child labor; families decided these things. But there were colleges and universities. People loved learning and knowledge. Except for the most depraved, feminine virtue was praised. A man who outraged a woman more often than not paid a terrible price.

The Industrial Revolution was in full flower. People with an idea and a tongue silver enough to raise capital could realize the fruits of their genius. The British government picked an American firm, Pratt and Whitney to retool Woolrich Arsenal. American farmers had the steel plow and the reaper. Steam tractors were on the horizon. Steam railroads crossed the continent carrying passengers and freight; refrigerator cars carrying ice in the heat and charcoal stoves in the cold brought California oranges to New York bankers and fresh oysters from New York harbor to Colorado miners.

Prospects for the future had never been brighter; people knew that they were living in a very special time.

We can't yet bring back the customs and mores of those days of splendor for society as a whole, but we can do so to some extent in our private lives. We can if we wish build our private worlds which can offer the most independence possible in today's America.

We can begin by adopting as much of that earlier technology as possible. For now, we'll need to deal with rules and regulations we despise, but we can put them in the backs of our minds and live as best we can like our forefathers. I'm using a water windmill to pump my water into a cistern. I'm now planning to build another cistern up the hill so that I can have good water pressure without an electric pump to bring water from the cistern into the house. Later projects will include a wood or coal-fired boiler for hot water. I do know how to use a wood cook stove. I've had mine for almost fifty years; my mother on a Thanksgiving visit roasted a turkey and prepared the rest of the meal. She'd learned how to use a cook stove as a girl and really had fun doing it.

I just did something else, more psychological perhaps, but I believe very worthwhile. I moved my computers, fax, credit card terminal, and all but three electric lamps into one room. The three I left out date from 1940 or earlier. I do need phone out in the rest of the house so I don't miss business calls, but even in two days I find I'm using the computer only as an adjunct to my library. My lighting is now courtesy of the Aladdin Kerosene Lamp Co. I realize, however, that I need some smaller lamps as well. I believe Dietz lanterns may do the trick.

I've always worn a mechanical watch, but a modern one. However, for the last few days I've been carrying a pocket watch in a hunter case dating from about 1920.. I do need a repeater (a watch that gives the time with chimes as well as a dial) so that I can get the time in the dark. Radium dials are rather modern.

I found a photograph of President Cleveland and plan to place it in my office (not the computer room).

Now I'll mention the practical: I'll be able to go not just off grid but to a technology from a time when there was no grid. As I become physically less dependent on the modern world I'll become less socially dependent. When I finish typing this post I'll turn off the computer and leave the modern technology room. I'll be back, but in the meantime it will be 1880. If I look out a window I won't see a horseless carriage.

I'm not planning to give up modern medecine, arms, or anything else that can preserve life, e.g., modern fire extinguishers. But the fire and CO alarms will be in very inconspicuous places.

The survivalist wishes to be as free as possible. Self-sufficiency, largely incompatible with the modern age, is one of the best sources of freedom. There were fifty million people in this country in 1880. Let's hope that events will restore that number today. We'll live far better lives.

[arctichomesteader]

Aladdin lamps are nice, but they're early 20th century in origin. The incandescent mantle was just being developed for gas lighting in the 1880's and weren't common until the 1890's. Kerosene lamps using them came a bit later. In the 1880's it would of been ordinary flat wick lamps, a few central draft (non-mantle using) lamps were being made. The kerosene student lamps too of course, which were loosely based on the earlier Argand lamps. Historical lighting can set me off writing a long post sometimes I'm afraid...

Interesting post though. I was just reading this today after someone emailed the link to me: Camping may help reset your internal clock - CBS News

Basically, living with electric lighting and gadgets messes up our bodies in some ways. I've read research in the past that linked light pollution to increased cancer risk.

[NorthStarDelight]

You really should write a historical novel based in this era that you love so much. Seeing how that you're seeking to relive the 1880's, I think you'd be a great candidate to pen a historical novel based on your experiences as well as your fantasies as to what life was really like in that time.

Just a suggestion anyways.

[MTSilvertip]

Good Post HIW.

I can see the advantages of having one foot in the past, and one in the present, even if the one in the present is just over the line

I too have a lot of old equipment, and do things in a very old fashioned way. I love going to my cabin and using kerosene lamps for light, cooking and heating on wood. The only running water there is when you run to the crick with a bucket, and I will probably develop the spring at the head and run a line down as my mother is getting a little older and the bucket isn't as good for her any more.

She is also demanding some ameneties I don't see a lot of call for, but she is a lady so I guess I will have to put a door on the outhouse

Living up there is a real good way to decompress and enjoy the little things like matches instead of using a flint and steel to start the fire.

[Happy in Wyoming]

I'm aware that I've mentioned things that would be anachronisms for the year 1880. Grover Cleveland's presidency is another example. I believe, however, that "1880" is a catchier description than "late nineteenth century", the title I used to post this identical verbiage on my blog (what a hateful word). As far as technology alone is concerned, I'd be happy to accept a later date, but faced with the chronology of the times, antitrust laws, Federal Reserve banks and graduated income tax I decided to draw the line at the end of 1899. The outbreak of hostilities in Europe signaled the end of La Belle Époque

Running water and sewers date back at least three thousand years. The Romans had circulating hot water in their famous baths although they did not have boilers because welding was unknown. Bathrooms recognizable as such date to the period before 1860.

Many people spend countless hours and immense amounts of money creating their perfect worlds in miniature. Miniature rooms and miniature military figures crafted in exquisite detail are only two examples of this world. Both scale model and toy trains let the imagination rum wild. Some miniature steam locomotives weigh many tons and have brought prices of a million dollars or more. People have created life-sized chunks of the perfect world. Food historian Ivan Day has a functioning medieval hearth in his home

I have no interest in a life of privation, just a life in the fashion of a better time. Walt Disney was able to build his own narrow-gauge railroad which he owned personally even though it was in his corporate amusement park. Some of the most popular museum exhibits are walk-in displays of homes, farms, and businesses. Colonial Williamsburg and Saugus Ironworks National Historic Site are two enveloping examples. The country abounds in tourist railroads, many or most of which use steam power. San Franciscans cling to their cable cars. Old time is more often than not equated with a better time.

Modern decayed culture and modern technology are inexorably intertwined. My goal is to allow myself to live a pleasant and productive life eschewing as much of present day culture and technology as is practical. I've always done this to a great extent so I'm expecting a good measure of success.

[MTSilvertip]

I hear you, use what is practical while living in the style that makes you happy.

I can swing an ax or run a slave whip, but a chainsaw is much more efficent. I have teams of horses and oxen, and wagons, but for long trips a pickup is much handier.

Not to say that for special projects I won't grab one of the shaping axes or draw knives I make to form a beam or fit a mortise and tennon joint on a building. I like things done in ways that will last, if I have the time to devote to them, and if they are something made for me or my family that I really want to be a quality piece.

I still use coal and wood to fire my forge, even though propane is quicker and easier to control, I like the smell of the smoke and cinders, the feel of the heat from the steel I am working. It is a lot easier to go buy a snap blade knife from the store, but I like the feel and durability of the knives I forge myself.

In Wyoming and Montana it is a lot easier to connect to an earlier time, one of the best things about living out here.
Easier to forget about the troubles of the country and be happy when you are far from the blaring media too.

[2e1m5a]

I really enjoyed your post HIW! I would love be able to live off the grid too someday, but it is fun hearing stories and getting ideas in the meantime!

[rohirette]

I can't go back to before the introduction of sulfa drugs, safe childbirth and anesthesia. I'm a woman of childbearing age, and maternal mortality was still high then. Of course, so was infant mortality... measles, cholera, diptheria took a lot of babies and toddlers.

I'd happily spend 12+ hours a day working with my hands, putting up food, living in a Biblical marriage to a hardworking, Godfearing, liberty loving man... but I just can't face death each time I get pregnant.

[texdav]

I'd say medically many would want to go back prior to WWII. many lived in pain then at the least.Good health which often means care is worth a lot over fictional looking at past times of only what appeals to a person and ignoring the rest. When I was a kid and saw those wooden teeth of Washington's it just made me think of now uncomfortable life was for him in eating as example.sawa documentary where they showed st why many driank heavily and eve used strong narcotics in earlier times; it was life and the pains in many cases.

[Happy in Wyoming]

Originally Posted by rohirette

I can't go back to before the introduction of sulfa drugs, safe childbirth and anesthesia. I'm a woman of childbearing age, and maternal mortality was still high then. Of course, so was infant mortality... measles, cholera, diptheria took a lot of babies and toddlers.

I'd happily spend 12+ hours a day working with my hands, putting up food, living in a Biblical marriage to a hardworking, Godfearing, liberty loving man... but I just can't face death each time I get pregnant.

Originally Posted by texdav

I'd say medically many would want to go back prior to WWII. many lived in pain then at the least.Good health which often means care is worth a lot over fictional looking at past times of only what appeals to a person and ignoring the rest. When I was a kid and saw those wooden teeth of Washington's it just made me think of now uncomfortable life was for him in eating as example.sawa documentary where they showed st why many driank heavily and eve used strong narcotics in earlier times; it was life and the pains in many cases.

I made it very clear in my first post that I did not wish to give up modern medecine. I've had two complete hip replacements. If I hadn't been able to have those I'd be crippled and in constant pain. From a societal standpoint I long for the values, mores, and customs of the nineteenth century. I'm repelled by what I see today. Therefore, I have always tried to separate myself from modern American society. Being independent technologically in every way that I can accomplishes a great deal in implementing that.

But there is another reason to be independent of the various grids. Suppose there were an EMP event; suppose that suitcase nukes began to explode in population centers; suppose some event or events triggered massive and savage rioting across the country as it did in New Orleans. Medical services would be in short supply or even nonexistent for a time, perhaps permanently. You'd either tolerate it and make do or you'd die. But regardless of my ailments, I'll be far safer in the country. It's not just medical concerns; it's safety and welfare in general. Looting and rioting can't be as much of a concern here as in the cities; we just don't have the population density. People here can deal with any problems of the underclass quickly and effectively.

It's just as easy to make money here. The notion of not being able to earn a living outside of an urban center is nonsense. I'm not just speaking of blue collar jobs. Intelligent people are on top regardless of location.

It's handy to be able to perform a variety of physical tasks, however. We may not always be able to find workers or may simply need to explain how to do something. Besides, there can be a certain satisfaction in showing a laborer a better way to splice fence wire that he never knew about though he's been putting up fences for twenty years.

I occasionally enjoy reading about the antics of city people with their television sets, nightclubs, and values given them by entertainers; I feel like an anthropologist.

Originally Posted by Happy in Wyoming

I'm not planning to give up modern medicine, arms, or anything else that can preserve life, e.g., modern fire extinguishers. But the fire and CO alarms will be in very inconspicuous places.