Domestic Harmony

Today's touring gave us a glimpse into what domestic life would have been like in Glasgow in the late 19th and early 20th century.  We started with a visit to the People's Palace and Winter Gardens located in Glasgow Green.

http://www.clydewaterfrontheritage.com/peoplespalaceandwintergardens.aspx
The museum didn't open until 11am so we strolled around the glass house and planned to return later in the afternoon.

From there we walked to St Andrew's Square to continue with Day 2 of our Hop On/Hop Off ticket.

Whilst waiting for the bus to arrive, I was leaning against a building, out of the sun, stretching with my arms up.  A lady turned the corner and upon seeing me jokingly asked if I was being held up.  This started us chatting and in the course of a few minutes we found out about her holiday plans for the weekend, where she worked (in the building I was leaning against), that her daughter was off on a school trip and the weather we are experiencing is definitely not typical.  We have found the people of Glasgow to be very friendly.  Yesterday we were looking at a map and a gal stopped to ask if we needed help finding anything.  I hope that we show visitors to Victoria the same courtesy.

Next stop on the tour was Tenement House Museum.
http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Tenement-House/What-to-see/
The word ‘tenement’ comes from the Latin word tenementum, meaning a plot of land. Tenements provided affordable urban housing in Glasgow at a time of huge industrial expansion. The word doesn’t hold the same negative slum connotations here as it does in New York or London.

This flat belonged to Miss Agnes Toward and her mother Mrs Agnes Toward. Miss Toward worked as a stenographer at a shipping company until she retired in her 70's.  Her mother was a seamstress, working out of her home. 

By the standards of the day, they would be considered upper middle class.  They had an indoor toilet and laundry facilities located in a shed at the back of the tenement.  Other families less fortunate would have had to take their laundry to the public wash house.

We covered a lot of miles today, including "the Style Mile", Buchanan Street.

From there, we continued back to where we started this morning, the People's Palace to view another exhibit on the social history of Glasgow. 

It was only fitting that we spent the day viewing scenes from the domestic not the cultural side of Glasgow.  Today is our 33rd wedding anniversary.  For most of those 33 years I have prided myself on being a domestic engineer, housewife.  I am grateful for all of the modern conveniences and luxuries that I have had in the later half of the 20th century compared to what the woman of the house would have had to endure during first half of the century.  Who knows what new wonders will be in the 21st?
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