Cities were dirty, noisy, and overcrowded. London had about 600,000 people around 1700 and almost a million residents in 1800. The rich, only a tiny minority of the population, lived luxuriously in lavish, elegant mansions and country houses, which they furnished with comfortable, upholstered furniture.

Poor Victorians had a rough and hard life, often ending up in the workhouse or early death….Many children died of disease.

• usually well fed, clean and well clothed.
• didn’t need to work.
• lived in big houses with servants.
• went on holidays.
• children had expensive toys.
• children went to school.

Poor people could work in mines, in mills and factories, or in workhouses. Whole families would sometimes have to work so they’d all have enough money to buy food. Children in poor families would have jobs that were best done by people who weren’t very tall.

Incomes. A Matchwoman in the East End of London, in the 1880’s would, as we have seen, be likely to have earned from 6-12 shillings a week. Even were one of these women fortunate enough to be employed throughout the year, her annual income, at best, would be around £30.

Victorian Era Beverages-Wines,Gin and Sherry Port, Madeira, and sherry were heavy, “fortified” wines, that is to say, bolstered with brandy (or some other heavy liquor).

The British taste for champagne moved decisively to drier wines. The Victorians believed that to like – even to tolerate very dry champagne – demanded that the drinker start young and drink often.

10 Victorian Desserts To Try Today

• Kisses. Young Housekeepers Friend, 1864.
• Small Tea Cake. Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1863.
• Christmas Cake. Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1862 (Note: Sometimes recipes were written as verses.)
• Almond Pudding. Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1863.
• Little Quinomie Cakes.
• Cider Cake.
• Snowdon Pudding.
• Fruit Cake.

Popular Foods: These were: Beef, mutton, pork, bacon, cheese, eggs, bread, potatoes, rice, oatmeal, milk, vegetables in season, flour, sugar, treacle, jam and tea. These foods would form a stable of most diets and would be a basis for most meals.

So far, the Victorian diet has been made up of fish, fruit and vegetables. However, only those who lived in poverty didn’t eat meat. Meat was considered as an integral part of a good diet. Chicken, the most popular meat eaten nowadays, was a rarity.

The Sandwiches A staple part of any picnic in Victorian times was – and still is – the sandwich. Far from dainty triangular affairs, sandwiches were intended to satisfy even the hungriest of children.

Breakfast – Corn bread, cold bread, stew, boiled eggs. Dinner – Soup, cold joint, calves’ head, vegetables. Dessert – Puddings, &c.

A soaker was the Victorian forerunner to plastic pants. Over these basic layers, he would wear a shirt that tied at the neck in front, a petticoat and a long white dress. Both boys and girls wore long dresses. The richer you were, the longer the skirt!

A typical diet consisted of white bread, potatoes supplemented by vegetables, fruit and animal-derived foods – which is described “in many ways as similar to a Mediterranean-style diet”. Though in poorer areas it was mostly bread and potatoes with little meat or dairy.

The staple food for the common poor lunch is white bread and high tea. High tea was more common because there were more lower class than upper class.

In the evening they would have maybe had some bread and some vegetables. For dinner wealthy people would have chicken, duck, soup, squirrel, bread, and sometimes, plum pudding. They would have drank water, beer, tea, and possibly wine. Some middle class families had decent food to eat.