Sleeping Rough in Victorian England (Penny ‘Sit-Ups’, Two-Penny ‘Hangovers’, Four Penny ‘Coffins’)
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- čas přidán 15. 05. 2021
- Horrifying to us today, but Penny ‘Sit-Ups’ and Twopenny ‘Hangovers’ did exist in Victorian England, and offered a solution ‘of sorts’ to the spiralling problem of homelessness, destitution and slums in the metropolis. Poverty in Victorian Britain was rife everywhere, not just on the streets of 19th Century London and if you’ve watched my video about the ‘Crawlers’ - who really led the most pitiful existence - you will be well aware of just how bad life could be for those who fell through the cracks of society and onto the streets. If you were a Victorian and found yourself living a ‘street life’ - grafting for daily bread and board or begging for money - then you could (if you still had some coins left after eating) avoid the rain, bitter cold or dangers of the night by paying to stay in a shelter of three varieties - a penny ‘sit-up’, a two-penny ‘hangover’ or a four penny ‘coffin’. Find out just how bad a night was in one of these shelters from witness accounts of people who actually stayed a night.
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Enjoy the Victorians? Watch more videos:
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Victorian Street Doctors: • Victorian Street Docto...
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Victorian Omnibus Drivers: • Victorian Omnibus Driv...
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Down-and-Out in Victorian London (Darkest 19th Century England): • Down-and-Out in Victor...
Eating out in Victorian London (Fast Food for the Poor in the 19th Century): • Eating Out in Victoria...
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Credits: CC BY - People queuing at S. Marylebone workhouse circa 1900 by Wellcome Collection, Policeman, approaches a ragged woman and her baby in a London park. Coloured etching by M. Morgan, 1867 by Wellcome Collection; CC BY-SA - Mendiant en prière. Dessin 28,8xX30 by Paul Blanc
#VictorianLondon #VictorianDocumentary #VictorianLondonDocumentary #VictorianEraDocumentary #LondonSlums #VictorianLife #VictorianSlums #Victorian #19thCentury #VictorianEra #PennySitUp
✅ Please support the channel by sharing this video on social media 📲 It really helps the channel grow so we can bring you more content to watch 📺 Thank you 👍
Excellent presentation; I passed your info on just now to some of my friends, so hopefully you'll get even more new subscribers. Keep up the good work mate.
Thank you! More to come.
I enjoyed your channel. I just found it with this video. You have an incredible voice and you are an evocative reader. Thank you. Subscribed.
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Can you please link the author of the Shepard's street shelter story?
It really paints a stark picture and your voice is absolutely perfect for it.
New sub here excited to see more...
Was feeling a bit sorry for myself just now. Thanks for the perspective. I'll enjoy my warm, clean, cozy bed tonight. 🥰
Cozy bed..... I prefer the ground myself. Only cuz it feels good on my back. But yeah homeless now seem 2have lived better than even middle class back then.
Its admirable that your takeaway for this video is gratitude. I also watch documentaries about people that went/go through hardship & it instantly snaps me out of any self pity. There's always someone who was/is worse off than we are & it's nice to know there are people like you that realize that.
Seriously, prison is better then that!
Don't cut yourself short. Your feelings are VALID.
@@spunkysparks1779 If this person learned not to pity themselves let them learn, don't rescue
Penny sit-ups and two-penny hangovers are like a sleeping in a hospital waiting room.
Or an airport...
Hospital waiting rooms are at least heated.
Chairs are more comfortable in the hospital.
I hope there is heat and no bugs in these waiting rooms.
In my area at least, a good number of hospitals won’t bother you if you fall over asleep (as long as there is room to do it). It seems to me more like the waiting area of a jail, after the intake process, but before either released or being housed in a cell. They really do not let you lay down in any way (unless you get put in a holding cell).
There’s a romantic feeling with the Victorian era, even with the drawings of the times. It’s when you see a true photograph do you realize how far reality was from what we project. This is a fantastic channel.
I’m glad you find the channel of interest. Thank you!
The cleansing and reinvention of history. Once you're aware it's real you look critically at everything anyone told you about any point in history.
the OG filters maybe?
The Victorian era was very romantic… in its fiction, lol. Maybe it was a psychological outlet for them, escapism!
It was for the lower classes probably the worst time to live since the black death. But it led to drastic changes in the quality of living for the poverty-stricken.
My Mum used to say she could "sleep on a clothes line" meaning when she was really tired, she could fall asleep on even the hardest of beds. I only found out where the saying came from when I went on a "Ripper Tour" in London. To think that people actually had to pay to sleep slumped over a rope in a freezing cold courtyard is totally humbling.
I just don't understand why a better platform for people to rest on wasn't constructed? I mean, a rope? Really?
@@mrsmith7581 $$$. Rope is cheap
They didn’t have to pay, note. They could have just slept in the open or not slept at all.
@@mrsmith7581 Money is why, they wanted to squeeze out as much as possible for as little as possible.
My house had toxic drywall. For 15 months, my house has been a construction site. For 6 months, my adult sons and I have lived in a 10x 10ft room. It’s been hard, but we are getting through it.
Is this what they call the good old days?
No it’s what Boris Johnson wants for Britain
@Drukstylz Because he and his public school cronies hold you in contempt and derision.
Well yes,if you were the Third Earl of Wherever.
This is why I always laugh at dumb old boomers who wonder what the world is coming to.
No well prior to that. Good old days were 1890-1929.
My Grandfather was an Orphan street Child in London who faked his age to join the Army to escape the streets. He never really knew how old he was but he made a career in the Army.
Yeah, I was homeless for about 3 years. Thankfully I had my car and was able to stay at clean shelters with facilities and meals. I spent the final year of my predicament in my car but thankfully could afford a membership at Planet Fitness where I could shower. I took my SS at 62 and retired to Mexico where I can afford a small comfortable apartment near the beach in a quiet little beach town and live like a human being again. It was an unpleasant experience, but nothing like what is described here thank God. I was very fortunate by comparison. ✌
Mexico sounds great ✌️
Can I ask at what age you were homeless and how you ended up so?
@@cyrusmakowski1644lots of folks have trouble getting work even in their 60s, and if you don't have retirement you'll be penniless and without help until Social Security kicks in.
Ah, so you decided to go contribute to a third world drug den while leeching off the taxpayers of America. Cool.
I slept in a roach motel with my baby for 1 year and 1 year before he was born so 2 years. It was infested and cold with a air conditioner that never turned off and no heat but this Victorian stuff sounds like pure h*ll and makes being homeless today look like luxury. And that says alot since being homeless is horrible experience. To imagine people could be this evil. I've been treated bad while homeless but not forced to stay up.
My father often told me, "I do not want to hear ANYTHING about the good old days"........
That man was so riveting that I didn’t even realize I was staring at one still image the whole time.
Glad it was a good listen for you. Thank you!
@@FactFeast it was a great listen
The one image was suitably haunting. The eyes especially
The twopenny hangover was briefly featured in the movie “From Hell” with Johnny Depp. The prostitutes and poor sleeping against that rope until morning when the custodian pulled the rope out and they all fell forward, waking only as they fell. The movie was a pretty accurate setting for Jack The Ripper, and they used actual locations where the murders were done
The movie was based on the graphic novel From Hell by Alan Moore, and frankly the movie was not very good, Depp's character was never a psychic for example. I'd highly recommend reading it. Mr. Moore also includes notes on his research about how Victorians felt about the destitute, especially the sex workers- claiming they were sex crazed and WANTED to be doing what they were doing, to make themselves feel better about leaving these women to fend for themselves.
I love that film
One of my favorite. Be sure to keep my eye out for it next viewing.
I'll have to watch it ty
Listen to Francis; read the book, forget the movie.
This went on until the 1940’s. Read ‘Down and out in Paris and London’. And autobiographical account of the life of a poor person in the 1930’s in Europe by George Orwell. Fantastic book
New York City was just as bad as London during the same time periods.
@@bruanlokisson8615not as cramped up at all, at all , paris and british city were worse by a lot of metrics, richer, but also worse
Great author too, many of his books are great a brilliant man with a true view of reality
it's like in Victorian England it was all the rage to come up with new horrifying, painful ways to live unnaturally. Everything they ate, where they work, how they dress, etc was all designed to be as miserable as possible. It almost seems like fiction. I cant imagine this in real life, even as horrible and disgusting our society is now.
Its just what unregulated industrial capitalism looks like
That scathing review on society from the account of the penny sit up had me stop everything else and still for a while. It was, and still is, sobering and thought provoking. Thank you for not trying to hide the 'unpleassant' side of things--ignorance is not bliss.
It really is an ‘eye-opener’ to the plight of the Victorian poor. Thank you for watching.
@Simon Simon 🙄👎👎👎 Oh, so it seems that to you, compassion is a bad thing? Jeez grow a heart!
Wow 🤩 nice comments, you comment so good where are you from?
@@christinebuckingham8369 It seems to me that you've completely misunderstood Simon's comment and then attacked him for precisely what he did not say.
@@christinebuckingham8369 No, that's not what Simon said at all. I love people like you, so obsessed with whats in your heart that you don't have anything at all in your brain.
Here I am, watching this from my warm, safe and comfy bed. Full stomach and cuddling my little dog. God bless those who came before us and loved through hell! I'm so humbled and grateful
I feel like “falling through the cracks” isn’t even appropriate for poverty. Falling through the cracks should describe the probability of being rich, while living on the cold hard concrete is where most fall.
It’s hearing stuff like this that makes me feel so grateful I have a full belly, a beautiful home and a soft, cozy bed while my ancestors who actually lived in Dalston in the East End had to live like this. I love your narration, you sound a lot like the author of Redwall, Brian Jacques
Thank you! Really glad you liked watching.
Redwall!
I remember that. Thanks for bringing me a smile 😊
Makes me much less inclined to bemoan my lot. No matter how hard and bad we think it is for us, someone is having it far, far worse. Hunger, cold, ill-health and fear don't make for a restful night. How fortunate I am.
I second your comment 100%
Very cool comment. I applaud your sense of gratitude.
@damian matthewson you’re right. Saying that some have it worse than you is like spitting in your face when things aren’t going to go for you. That’s what some people said to the people talked about in this video. Vile.
It doesn't make your lot any easier, knowing some have it worse. Doesn't put a feather in your cap and a bounce in your step
@@raynarks The point is to recognize and focus on what you do have, instead of focusing on what you don't have. This doesn't mean we too are not suffering, just reminds us we've still got something.
Anybody who doesn't believe this should read PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS by Jack London...a true account of the homeless in Victorian England....
Cool. I’ll peep that
White fang was so real.
I'm going to read that.
Just started it, thanks
@insanity wolf ragged trouser philanthropist is a brilliant book. There is much that is imperfect about social and council housing, but compared to the alternative of mass homelessness it is an improvement of night and day
Whenever people daydream about living in victorian england, i wish their understood they were more likely to end up here rather than being presented as a debutante in a fancy ballgown. How many destitute families starved for every noble family?
I wonder if one was most likely to be either a coal miner or a relation to a coal miner than anything else.
This was London, the countryside is much better
Life was ugly even for the rich. People don't appreciate how good we have it now.
@King Edward ah yeah just enjoy your job 16hrs a day in the mine and keep it up, you too are simply a temporarily embarrassed millionaire 🙄
Downton Abbey it ain't.
When I was waiting for a bed at the homeless shelter I had the privilege of staying in the lobby. We were not allowed to lie down because of the fire code. Sleeping at a table face down on your book bag… definitely better than outside.
Hugs
This is just so sad. How they kept putting one foot in front of the other each day I don’t know.
A heartfelt post. I am so glad you found your way in the end. X
There are plenty of homeless today. People shun them. What a lovely society. Filth.
@@raynarks I don't see that where I live. I see lots of services for homeless.
the biological drive to survive
The only other alternative is death.
Your voice is that of a master story teller - it helps to convey the true horrors of what these people had to endure. Love your channel thank you .
Looking at the picture, as a former homeless man, I can point out the ones who died first. The ones without headwear. A cap could buy you a night in a bed. A hat could buy you 2 days in a bed plus 1 meal. Former sailors were the lucky ones, since most invested in ear rings. That gave you a week of lodgings plus a meal every day.
Facinating and i would never have thought of that. People who know what is waiting for them at home from previous experience and possibly buying jewelry as insurance?
What?! This is fascinating.
Mmmm I never thought about that.. very good eye and cunning observation .
I've recently become homeless and living/sleeping rough, and have discovered other people like me are some of the most generous people I've ever come across.
My condolences my friend, I sincerely hope it gets better for you. There are people in your life that still care.
Get a job asap.
@@tradingwizard562 Many employers require one to have an address, a phone number or email, and their own transportation.
I hope things change for you and you find somewhere to live and work. Live in hotel work can help solve some issues temporarily.
@@tradingwizard562 How do you know he doesn't have one? Plenty of homeless people have jobs and still can't afford rent. But yeah, much easier to toss out thought terminating cliches.
It’s a miracle anyone survived the Victorian Era.
Ironically, it was the pinnacle of the British Empire.
It's a miracle the homeless in the USA are surviving now
@@karlabritfeld7104 I mean, how much has changed really?
@@lucianene7741 British Empire reached territorial maximum in 1920, so a bit before that.
@@harkonen1000000territorial maximum does not always mean the height of a civilization. It can continue to push its physical boundaries long passed when it's started its decline, and they often expand even faster if they are able to do avoid such decline. Though 1920s was probably a much better time (IN GENERAL) to live in England than in much of the 1800s. Though of course for all the lows in the 1800s, there were equally, or even greater heights reached. Civilization is complex and nuanced, my man.
Subscribed for teaching me why we use the term "hangover"/"hungover" to describe feeling rotten after a night of heavy drinking.
Fascinating content, captivatingly read, thanks!
Welcome. Great to know the content was so engaging for you. Thank you!
What was the reason we use those terms?
This has nothing to do with the origin of the term 'hangover' referring to the effects of being drunk. 'Hangover' was a term used to describe lasting effects of something that had passed. Eventually this was applied to the feeling you get after a night of heavy drinking.
The images with kids are very heart wrenching to look at. I'm from a place where it's always warm, never got too freezing cold. I can only imagine what they were going through. Must be a horrible, horrible life to experience.
Here in Michigan it gets deathly cold and from the look of the open barns they slept in wherever they were probably felt like a big fridge. You would be lucky to find someone to lean against i would imagine.
The worst part, I was homeless for quite some time. I hate to say it has not changed so much since then.
The lack of homeless shelter leaves so many people struggling to survive, in Columbus Ohio during the winter often the most they could offer men was a chair. If it was 33°f
You could be set back out into the cold. That includes the women. And many of the discription of these men still exists , and there are bed bugs , and I woke up in a shelter in winter to find another homeless women had stolen my shoes, I did get them back. Food, cooked pepperoni and all the stale pasties .it was a living night mare.
I was listening to a BBC radio comedy from the 50's. Tony Hancock was talking about being homeless + spending a night sleeping whilst hanging over a rope. I didn't understand. Now I do. Thx for the education. Brilliant information. Hi from Oz. 👇💜🙃
I’m glad it was interesting for you. Thank you!
It's exqctly what i thought of too!!! That episode "Back from holiday" in which Sid James rented Tony's flat while he was away.
City landlords: "Ah, yes, I should write this down."
Indeed, even now there are people alive who would wish on others such a state of poverty.
Parasites every last one of em
landlords first against the wall
Wow! !Grimly fascinating stuff...and the narrator is amazing! Glad CZcams recommended this channel... I'm hooked
I also I love this stuff ever see " the history guy"
If you go come back and say you liked it 🙂
The coffin sleep makes me think of a Japanese capsule hotels with fewer amenities.
The capsules do have decent beds, tv, access to a nice community shower and are more a I missed the train home or I'm too drunk to go home than a homeless option. They too have become as of late a tourist novelty than common usage for salaryman.
there's businesses that sell coffins that 1 you can sleep in like a bed.....so then your bed becomes your final resting place HA!
and 2 you can have a coffin configured to be an entertainment center or a coffee table etc it's actually kinda cool to invest in the end and have something in life that you can use practically, t's morbid for some but for others it's practical
and $40 per night it is
Penny sit-up is the Croatian night train station waiting room during winter.. The horror. The stench . The cold.
Why Croatian? (bcs i think its the case in many countries)
At least you get to wait for salvation which is the train
The penny sit up homeless get to wait to go back to the miserable weather of England
I was in Croatia and was waiting for a train in osijek... i thought i would get attacked by someone, really grimy and scary, feels like old london, better to just get a hotel and sleep and then go to the train
@@TheWickedVipersGamingChannel g0ddamn
@@TheWickedVipersGamingChannel god damn serously giving me goosebumps
How was having to pay for a seat considered charity?
The ones against it wouldn't even consider offering that.
Even charity was not free.
That is what they called it
We call it subsidized now
You have to pay rent, correct? Why shouldn't they?
Two reasons: first charity must be sustainable, and scalable. Second, people behave better when they pay for something than when they get it free. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to put in hours actually helping a charity instead of posting memes. You may still disagree.
My God you can hear the anger, incredulity, rage in the Reverand's voice/words when he's describing the Sit-Ups. Amazing narration to convey it but heartbreaking at the same time.
Yes! Particularly for the time period when many in more comfortable lives thought these people deserved this or were only worthy of contempt .. to hear his emotions flare like this gives me hope not all of that time period were so cruel
Its like the situps were made intentionally cruel
I am a Latina and do not know much about the Victorian era but love hearing these stories and the narrator is great too. Life is cruel but people back in the days had it so much worst. Very sad!
im a latina xddddddd
U a baddy?
@@monodimensionalbeing7996So real 💯
Why does being a latina matter? its called world history... im white and i know the history of latin america. Modern day favelas are the clean air version of victorian era
Oh, now I can imagine what klaus schwab means "you will own nothing and be happy". Can't wait.
you forgot the "or else" at the end of that
I will not live in the pod
I will not eat the bugs
I will not drink the soy
Sleeping rough was how the Ripper victims were killed--they were not prostitutes. They were unimaginably impoverished and had crushing family situations.
Several of the women could read. At least 1 had a husband who owed her money after he took up with the woman next door.
That's rite the rich create the conditions for terrible crimes, specially against more vulnerable women, and most of the time it's the rich that are perpetrators.
@@automaticninjaassaultcat3703 Only one ripper victim was killed in her lodging room, the others were killed on the streets.
Even today, many murder & assault victims come from the homeless. Some prefer the streets as its safer than the shelters...
Poverty and crushing family situations is how you make prostitutes
Imagine trying to sleep in an unventilated space right next to someone who might be louse ridden, incontinent, drunk and possibly suffering from an infectious disease like cholera which wiped out 000s in Victorian England. I wonder if the word " hangover" meaning the morning after a binge session originates from this period?
My bf bought some food for a homeless man outside a gas station today and I was proud of him. If you see someone worse off than you and you’re in a position to help, please do. You’d want someone to help you.
Absolutely and God will bless u!!
A beautiful thought ❤
Too little too late. You can't feed them all. There are millions
Better yet, give them a restaurant gift card or bags of essentials, incl food & clothes. Unfortunately, too many will use money gifts to buy drugs or booze. Most homeless advocates will even tell you this.
As my mum use to say, there for the grace of God go I 😢
I don't know how I got here, but it's rather marvellous.
Yeah! Sleeping rough is the *best!*
@@warpartyattheoutpost4987 ha ha
I'm homeless, luckily I got a van to live in. We've made so much progress. It's not like we could easily just build people homes to end homelessness.
In Canada in the town of Medicine Hat they did eradicate homelessness bye adding up how many vacant homes in apartments they had and settling people within them who had been homeless and then once they had a security of a kind then they started addressing the other difficulties they had. I believe this was in 2018. People are beginning to look at a similar solution in different parts of the United States and I have heard in other countries as well. I have been homeless myself I'm grateful now to have a very old but still serviceable RV that is parked in a man's yard and I pay him space rent I'm very grateful for this. I believe that you will win through and that you will get a home again.
@Oliver Pong You did everything right, went o college, served your country, you should not have to live like that. You definitely deserve all the breaks you have gotten
The problem is, the people who are homeless due to misfortune tend to not remain homeless for long.
The people who are homeless due to poor life choices tend to never make the changes to remedy the situation, making any attempts to help them wastes of time.
@@biggumstevens1784 That's not true, it's hard to get a job without recent references, a fixed address and ability to wash up right before the interview. Losing housing makes it significantly harder to bounce back and this who are homeless have very little to work with.
Obviously, people do make it, but you're overstating the ease with which it can be done and glossing over the fact that it's not adorable for peple to be homeless in a country with so much money.
@@biggumstevens1784 the thing is, poor life choices can’t be taken on when you’re living without stability.
As a home carer I've slept sat up in chairs and sofa. I could only sleep if my head was supported somehow. When you're exhausted you can sleep anywhere and in any position but only if your head doesn't fall.
When my son was born, we were in the hospital for just over a week and I learned to sleep sitting with my head straight, although I swear I still have a bit of that crook in my neck. Now, I'm sure I could sleep standing up if I were determined enough.
The "coffin " reminds me of California now with its $1200/month for a cot.
4 pence for a night in one of those, 30 nights a month, it comes out to 1.20. Not 1200, one whole bill and 20 cents extra. Honestly doesn't sound bad thinking about it like that
California has turned into a mess where you can only get by if you're a multi millionaire.
@@lithuaniaball Do you know what inflation is?
@@SuperFranzs right my penny better be worth a billion times more than some muddy Victorian English citizens penny.
@@lithuaniaball inflation.
Thank you for this and all the insightful content. Keep it coming.
We should never forget the suffering of the souls who lived though this horror.
May they RIP
Knowing viewers find interest in the videos makes it worthwhile for me. Thank you!
The same problems exist today. The horrors still exist today. Except here in riverside county calif, there is one agency that offers showers. I don't remember if they have one or three. Either way, nobody wakes up one day and decides to live the wretched homeless life .
Many people still are in war torn or poverty striken places.
My mother told me that my granddad used to operate “twopenny drops’ which were lengths of rope that people used to hang over to try and sleep, rather than sleep on the filth on the floor, and risk being bitten by vermin.
In the morning they would cut the rope to wake you up, hence the name the “twopenny drop’ 😥
Wow 🤩 nice comments, you comment so good where are you from?
This makes me think of the homeless man I saw this morning standing in the middle of lanes on Interstate 95 in New York before crossing Harlem River. Nothing has changed. We just have new justifications for issues.
That's true, we look at all the aid and charities around and say "we're helping!" just like all the people who didn't see it for themselves thought of their shelters then and said "We're helping!".
The “good” old days; people have no idea what the “real” past was like, and oh, the smells.
To the narrator. Your voice is perfect for creepypasta. Had me hanging onto every word.
Great to know the narration worked for you. Thank you!
My great grandparents lived in the east end on Duke St. According to Booth's map the poorest of the poor. They had 6 children of which two died. They travelled to Canada in 1886 where the youngest was born. He was my grandfather. How did they manage to get to Canada? I'll never know. Everyone who might know has passed away.
Immigration agencies would recruit people at low costs, to be paid when they arrived in the colony and started working their land. Then, the migrant would sell anything they had and go into the ship with nothing but the body's clothing. It was very bad, but could be done. Uncertainty in America was better than certain misery in Europe...
That's how my German ancestors arrived in Brazil.
There is a German saying here about the immigration:
"For the elderly, death. For the adult, danger. For the children, bread"
Employers in Canada and the US facing labor shortages would often pay for a tickets to travel to the job the cost of which would be deducted from the workers pay checks until it was paid back. Some employers would loan tickets for family members in this way too but most would have to save pay to send for their family members.
I believe just like today in europe , an agency would arrange for a job for you when u got to the new world, so you would pay for your ticket up front and be in slavery debt for years after. I vaguely also recall something to do with land being given out to people in the new world but again you would be in debt for it and have to work it off 🙂 life was tougher in those days and its hard for us modern westerners to fully comprehend the context of victoriana age etc before the welfare state . No doubt your Canadian descendants were a Hardy bunch 💪🙂
@@riograndedosulball248 Sure your German ancestors weren’t escaping Prosecution? And I know Argentina was the hotspot but still....
Bonded labour. Bonded labour was often worse than slavery. The labourer had to repay his debt/bond so might go to to bed hungry. The slave, if he was to be productive was always fed. Some slaves were as expensive as race horses, if he was a good breeding specimen. We can already see that life was cheap, and people were a commodity and a resource. If you couldn't provide labour you were obsolete.
It's maddening to me that today, the only thing that changed is the terminology used relating to homelessness. Same veiled do gooders, , profiting off misery. Same greed running the world, same society ills keeping the cracks open with no way out for most out there. Thanks for the informative history.
Maybe it's not great now, but it's Far better than what's in this video. They were charged money for it too. Shelters are free, provide food and social services, heat, a bed or cot, a bathroom and shower which is far better than back in those days!
@@christinebuckingham8369 trust me ppl are still profiting from the miserable and homeless... there's very large incentives to continue the cycle of homelessness
@@samanthaivyleigh What are YOU doing?
"Thanks for the informative history?"!! Nothing you wrote came out of that video. No one said anything about greed running the world or that greed had anything to do with the poor of Victorian England. No thinking, no analysis, just thoughtless emotional reactivity: Welcome to the feminist communion, you're doing such great work. I see the great job you've done in L.A., the tent cities go for miles. God, how lucky they must be to have UCLA, the original feminist cesspool.
@@christinebuckingham8369 actually many shelters do charge.
Four penny coffin nowadays is called "a pod" and pushed as a stylish urban choice.
The narration is unbelievably good. I love the emphasis of words and tone of voice. Really made me vividly imagine the horror of living in poverty in them days. I will be so much more thankful for everything I have now 😃👍
I consider it a healthy reminder of how much there is to be grateful for and how privileged so many of us are. Seeing others have it worse, humbles and grounds me, it makes me generous and kinder. And that is an encouraging thought! Makes me want to do better in this world (:
If you volunteer in a simple way like passing out food you'll find the real fruit of that feeling. Trust me I did it and it's really great.
I watched a history program once that stated we say sleep right when beds had to be tightened with string to keep the mattress taut. If we didn't sleep tight,the bed would sag.
Wow 🤩 nice comments, you comment so good where are you from?
This is true
That's why the saying is "sleep tight"
It doesn't mean that, it means 'safe and well'. It would've been "sleep fast" (securely not quickly), but that doesn't rhyme with "night".
The good old days sound really dangerous and cruel. These days here in London we do a similar deal with the homeless. At Christmas, the homeless are given shelter from the cold. A bed, food, and clothing are all provided free. Then, once Christmas is over they are set right back on the streets for another year of dire misery. Cruel doesn't begin to describe it.
The one thing that use to terrorize me as a nipper in the early 50s was my old Granny she use to say if you don't behave and do has your told she would send us to the work house bloody frightened the crap out of us .😵
Sweet comment. I can imagine your granny saying it 🥰🌹
What do you mean by work house?
@@shanesteinhauser9680 The Victorian Workhouse was an institution that was intended to provide work and shelter for poverty stricken people who had no means to support themselves. With the advent of the Poor Law system, Victorian workhouses, designed to deal with the issue of pauperism, in fact became prison systems detaining the most vulnerable in society. Featured in the book and movie “Oliver Twist”.
@@astralclub5964 Is Oliver Twist an M Night Shyamalan movie?
@@astralclub5964 Many expectant mothers landed up in the workhouse,
only the rich , church and the royals enjoyed the wealth of the empire
Where was the good Lord?
@@weemac4645 humans create the misery in this world. God gave us a free will, he doesn’t intervene in all circumstances
@@BlueCollar850 IT doesn't exist in any form whatsoever, all Gods are manmade.
Bang on and they still do
@Tim J you'd probably be a bit irritated if God intervened every time you wanted to do something bad, wouldn't you? We have free will to choose good or evil, if God stops every attempt at evil we don't have free will to choose it.
Those shelters sound a lot like the homeless shelters around where I live. The nearest shelter to me says you have to be there before sunset or you're not getting in (doesn't matter if you have a job or not that keeps you out past sunset). You get a cot. That's it. A cot in a room full of other cots. If lucky, someone has donated some food and you get some food from the shelter. Otherwise, just a cot. You do get a shower, a forced communal shower. Show before you lay on your cot or you get kicked out. Lights out is 9pm, no exceptions. Time to wake up is 5am, no exceptions. You better be out the door before 7am and you can't come back until around sunset.
Believe it or not, there is an even worse place locally. They call themselves a "rescue mission". IF you get "accepted in", you have to stay on the premises for two straight weeks. No visitors, no leaving the premises, got a job? Too bad. After this two weeks, you can leave the premises but you must be back before 6pm, no exceptions. Stay out too late? Guess what, you don't get in and the next day you have to come get your stuff and leave.
So what sort of activities can you do during those two weeks (and for however long you stay)? Cleaning, prayer, bible reading, work (for them). That's it. No music, no books (except the bible), no nothing for entertainment. Just the bible. You are expected to spend a minimum of four hours a day reading the bible, and they quiz you on it. You are also forced to "attend church" three times a week for two hours each time.
Yeah, people put up with it because there are not much other options available except the woods. How do I know all of this? I've been there. I know what it's like.
Something that always pissed me off about religion, in general, is most say that charity is encouraged and is expected. However, all religious organizations around here that "offer charity" require you to accept some religious teaching or lecture or something similar. The local food banks? You are forced to sit through an hour of religious lecture before you can have food. The food was donated to them by regular people. I have nothing against religion, but, when someone is in need of help, if you are able to help them, do so and don't force them to endure your attempts at brainwashing them. Just help them and let them be. If they are interested in your religion, they will ask you.
Having strings attached to charity isn’t charity at all now is it. Sounds like a cult but all religions are to a degree. I grew up in a religious community with a social structure based on how much you and your family contributed. As soon as I was old enough to drive and decide for myself I never went back. Once you know how the sausage is made you won’t have any.
Probably better to sleep in the woods.
It's better to sleep in the woods and preserve your dignity. All religions are cults....
yeah bro if you are hungry enough you are gonna listen to religious stuff all day long, know what i mean?
All those rules are in place for a reason. The majority of the homeless are absolutely despicable, taking street drugs regularly, stealing and fighting with others even on the metro, and quite frankly out of their minds.
Just stumbled across an article on a website called Historyextra about how Victorian life wasn't so bad and how the poor were actually 'happy' - ie because children actually only had to work 10 hours a day after reforms so could bring home money to their family etc. Sounds like the person who wrote it is living in fairy-land if you ask me. Poverty in Victorian times was horrific.
"People back then had such a simple life, without all the stress."
Are you nuts? Homelessness in any era is extremely stressful!!!
"back then is not Victorian era London"
even a farmer in the high middle ages lived better
Lol no iPhones just people living in the moment.
@@pinkdiamond1847 😂
@@proudcynophile1901 I do believe they were quoting people who go around saying that
Like trying to sleep on a washing line with a ragged blanket. Count your blessings people : )
Amazon managers: write that down, write that down!
lol
You're reading/narration is so enthusiastic lol. I'm resting up with my eyes closed and i just hear "His trousers stink...STINK!" definitely woke me up 😄
These videos make you thankful we live in the age we do. It's hard to imagine the misery and hardship of being poor back then, before the days of Social Security. Winter especially must have been particularly brutal, especially if you couldn't even afford to eat, let alone afford to get a shelter of some description for the night. Although the Penny sit-up sounds a bit harsh, expecting people to sit there all night without sleeping, not to mention the stench that must have emimnated from all those unwashed bodies and clothing. I'll never complain about being broke again!
We have millions living on the streets in the usa
@@karlabritfeld7104and in the UK,we're rapidly returning to the Victorian Era,the welfare state barely exists,along with the NHS.
There is no magic keeping this from happening again, and shocking numbers of powerful people who openly seem to cheer for it.
@@helenbenjafield7351No, we're really not.
Thanks CZcams algorithm for suggesting this video! What’s a wonderfully, mellifluous voice you have! Oh how I enjoyed my time here. Thanks for sharing. ❤️I’m off to see what else you have to offer
Thank you! More coming soon.
Funny this video came up for me. I'm sitting here stressing because my ac went out and I might have to endure a slightly warm night. I feel much better now after learning about penny sit ups.
Seeing as how the price of everything in life is going up quickly, the middle ages will soon come back around as people find themselves not being able to afford an apartment to live in, let alone a nice house in the suburbs.
Hence the expression “I could sleep on a cloths line” people from overseas do not realise how grim life was in Britain in the 18th and19th centuries and are under the impression that we were awash with wealth from the colonies , please look up how hard life was here and then tell me where it went to because the stories that he is telling is true and a lot were far grimmer than this
The colonies actually costed us more money than we got back. The only country in the empire that wasn't loss making was India.
We have the means to solve humanities worst problems easily now-yet we won’t because ...greed.
The means were present in Victorian times; humans are not the most helpful creatures.
Yeah greed thats it deep thinker here
Give up your house and all your earnings to the poor or shut up.
@@edwardwright2989 Well, that helps a handful of people and puts one on the street with no further resources. Not sure how that is a solution. One can't pour from an empty cup. Why would you offer a message of hatred to someone bemoaning the inhumanity of us to one another? Just more of the same, you are...
@@fayekephart848 it is greed. The richest 500 people in USA could solve homelessness not only in USA, but probably 3 other counties and they would still be rich.
I haven’t slept in a proper bed for a few years now and my back is knackered, spent a few stints on the streets and it’s horrible, hope it never happens again...!!
Amazing choice of music and incredible delivery - I can't believe this is given out to experience freely! Thank you.
Thank you so much for your kind words! It means a lot.
Amazing people. Trudged on through the misery and suffering to create a better life for those that came after them. May their souls rest in peace
Not exactly, they worked themselves ti death for the upper class and were subjugated to the worst that "civilised" society had to offer them. This wasn't a noble act or grand standing, this was survival while unfortunately being born unto a class system that kept them at the lowest rungs of society
They should have stopped having kids, that would have been the best solution!
Well said! Amen
RIP victoriana paupers.
How they kept going is amazing. Thank you for bringing this news.
they were exploited get over your drama
I can not even have enough respect for our forebears surviving.
Sleeping "on the rope" was still going on in the 1950s in the town where I live. With privatisation of all the public utilities, with no government control, and prices edging allegedly on to corruption.
The introduction of food banks is now an other result of the stupid politicians in the UK. Food bank, what a scandal. Are the very rich aristocrats aiming to return this country to those Victorian conditions, which after all, their types created then?
Rees Mogg said,publicly,that he wants that.Those politicians used to try to hide the fact that they didn't care,now they openly say it,&still,no one challenges them.
Your narration of the vicar's account was vivid and horrifying. Good job ol pal
Great to know the narration set the right scene for this account. Thank you!
Sounds just like your average airport departure lounge.
one time our flight from BWI Spirit airlines flight to key west florida got delayed, and napping on the benches is a PAIN unless ingenious enough to bring your own portable neck pillow/use your rolled up jacket/small bag as head rest. boy a nightmare
I can't understand how the English people put up with the royal family, even more so during Victorian times. The homeless then should have stormed Windsor Castle overthrown the monarchy like the French did.
But yet today we tolerate multi billionaires while most people struggle to pay rent.
The monarchy didnt have control of the lives of its subjects even back then, the english had the same parliment and lawmaking then that they have today.
The British people also never rebelled against calvinism which later became capitalism. They think it is god's will that some have to endure poverty and social unequality. The British are perfectly fine to accept both within their society. Something the French always rebelled against. Makes you wonder!
The strong survive the weak die
The French was an absolute monarchy, the British has a government with the Queen as a figurehead only.
Another outstanding video! They are always very informative and completely captivating. I truly enjoyed this video. As always, I can’t wait for the next one!
Thank you! It makes the research worthwhile. More coming next week.
DLR incident firsttimeontvanhalen
I am so thankful I live in modern times. I live in Norway and need help from the government to live. Not a life in luxury, but I get a roof over my head and food on the table. Being disabled in any way back in the Victorian days or the Middle ages seem very rough. I'd probably be sleeping on one of these shelters lol. The whole point of a welfare state is that people who can't work aren't a burden on their family, but the main society instead. As it should be.
I am Norwegian and all my government is doing is screwing me over. I pay 51% tax on my company and make very little money overall. I spent two years with less than 200NOK per week. NAV didn't even acknowledge my existence, and the tax authority decided to give me more fees than I could afford to pay for three years. HOW DID YOU GET YOUR WELFARE.
Do you know ashen Jjorgenssenn???
@@colonthreeyou can discern between greedy politicians and disabled poor people though right? Don't fall off a ladder and end up at the mercy of someone who feels like you.
@@colonthree
Very few small business owners make a lot of money. Many earn less than they could if they simply worked for an average wage.
Watching this makes it easier to understand what is happening in today's England UK 🇬🇧.
Love this. Sleeping tight refers to well its basically a box spring as we would think about it. It had ropes that were criss crossed and tightened at bed time. You would place your mattress on this.
Yes. To be the most comfortable, the ropes must be kept tight. So Sleep Tight.
Very interesting
with some exceptions it does not sound that much differint from today. even today many of our services to help give aid to the homless are woefully inadaquate . homeless shelters, job finding agencys ect are understaffed r not funded well enoff, or what good they can do is lessened by petty burocracy. were i live u have to be homless for 18 months before you can even apply for any assistance and that could take years to get you help. it really is shamefull in our modern society that homelessness is still the big problem it is.
18 months? I think "they" are counting on the poor person being dead by that time.
You are a flat out liar. Either you didn't listen to the video or you are intentionally deceitful if you claim today's bums have a fraction of the suffering of Victorian England. The poor in America suffer from obesity. This is a wealthy nation where in one hour of bumming money you can have enough to buy a sleeping bag at Walmart.
@@w.harrison7277 the suffering is the same in percentages. And there’s certainly this level of human suffering in the homeless now. People die in the cold every year. And people are obese because the only affordable food is full of sugar.
@@w.harrison7277 Having been on the streets and panhandled, I barely made enough some days to afford the cheapest item from Jack in the Box to eat if I wanted a hot meal. You have no idea what you're talking about.
@@jendubay3782 Yup, if you're on the streets any food you get is likely cold or junk food, there's no storage for fresh healthy things. Death by a thousand cuts, but many would like to ignore most of them and claim it's not as bad as it is.
I think ita extremely difficult for us today to truly fathom what these people went through. Unimaginable levels of discomfort and depression to say the least.
When did society deem sleeping in the streets illegal? I've always wondered because sleeping on the stone in an ally is absolutely better than sitting on a bench for 8 hours.
I think homeless sleeping on the streets/stone/concrete is worse.
It's not better than being inside: dry, warmer, more sanitary, less vermin, safe. The cold of stone/concrete gets into your bones and makes it difficult to move the next day
@@-xirx-I’d say both sitting on a bench and sleeping in the streets are equally bad, but my opinion is very subjective. The two times I recall sitting on a bench and sleeping in the streets were both just before tumors and abscesses burst. And they were actually the good news since them bursts sent me into a coma(meaning reduction in pain), and when I woke up, it was in some distant ICU...😮😮
You only say that because you haven't seen hundreds of homeless people sleeping by your house.
It wasn't until the 1800's that Britain reinvented the underground sewer. Still, horses are different to cars as their emissions are both solid and liquid (and smell) the street was far from clean
Jack London's "People of the Abyss" is an exceptional account of these times. His true account as an American in the East End of London disguised as a homeless person is truly amazing.
He frequents them at the same time as a few miles away they were preparing for the coronation of Edward V11
Victorian values
We actually read that in HS English, so the same thing jumped to my mind!
Thanks for this- I’ll read it.
Just bought it for my Kindle. Read “The Jungle” in high school and it was, well, awful, but interesting.
At that point it became Edwardian values
This channel deserves 500,000 subscriptions.
Thank you for your kind words. More to come!
absolutely obsessed with your channel!!! ive been looking for a good channel like this for so long. steady, straightforward stories witu no music or dramatic sounds!! THANK YOU
Welcome to the channel! I hope you enjoy listening to the stories. Lots more to come too.
"Are there no prisons ,are there no workhouses"
A Christmas Carol.
By Charles Dickins.
The two nights I slept on a hard surface in jail was ridiculously long.
Must be where the statement "the great unwashed " came from.
Time has not changed much. We still have homeless, hopeless everywhere around the world.
If I were a monarch, I would be ashamed to know my people were living in such conditions. We mustn't forget the suffering our ancestors endured.
God Save The King
I will remember this before I start to complain about my life. Those poor souls.
They should have asked for Gods help.
@@weemac4645if god cared,then the problem wouldn't exist,&many of these terrible institutions were run by the church.
Sad beyond belief.
I know. I could wash away all their filth w/buckets of my tears 😪. 2bad I don't have a time machine.
Poverty like this is actually still on for so many and nothing has changed globally to prevent mankind from it. The channel gives a strong insight into our world as it was those days in a ( former ) european country like Great Britain or even America. And Its hard to see those SuperBillionaires today sitting on tons of money when in other countries people facing this cruel situation of poverty which hasnt changed through history for them at all. The CZcams ads even provide this false impression of a "good life". There is a lot to see here which is very real today.
I've just realised that 'Tuppance' is 'Two-Pence' 🤦♀️
Wait till you hear about Thrupence
POP QUIZ: How much is tuppence ha'penny?
:)
@@sixstringedthing two pence and half a penny?
There, there.
Excellent commentary; it seems that things have not changed in our times, we now have the night shelters, which individuals have to be in at a certain time in the evening and out in the morning, thanks again Facts Feast for another piece of narrative history.
Thank you! More coming soon.
Except these were paying customers, somebody is profiting off of this.
At least they get mats to sleep on. It's not much better, but it's not the floor, and the place is heated.
Even today, privileged people don’t want shelters in their neighbourhood. Shelters are also dangerous and clients often get abused and robbed. They may be free now but our attitude to homelessness and poverty is no better.
@@wcg66 You think shelters are free now?
There was a Hostel in Lye UK until 2015 which still had the nickname ‘The Spike’ in ref to the fact it had initially offered a peg which u hooked ur coat onto to sleep standing up
That's how my Grandfather slept in his childhood house because there were 11 other children in the single room house.
Hahaha
I cannot ignore the fact there's people making good money out of human misery, just imagine one penny per person every day in exchange of pretty much nothing?