A few weeks ago I watched a show that was done up in Canada, as in a Canadian show. This means there is no real drama and groups aren't set to wage holy jihad against one another to win.
Rather, the name of the show was "[STRIKE]Prairie[/STRIKE] Pioneer Quest (mea culpa)." It took two (2) volunteer couples who love history and challenged them to live as pioneer settlers up in Manitoba Canada in the 1880's. They were given all the necessary supplies and $500 in 1880's buying power currency to buy period piece things.
The producers were very cool about it. There were no hidden cameras and they weren't isolated. They used modern equipment as needed but in the period style. For example, they were each given a cast iron wood burning stove. The 1880's design was not safe and burned people to death, so they were given a modern stove with all the safety catches but still in the period design.
I watched this on Amazon Prime. There was only one (1) season shot, but it was very interesting. The couples came at it from two (2) very different mindsets.
What caught all of them off guard was the massive amount of work that was required to survive, even given all of the tools they needed. They were given two (2) healthy draft horses, a pregnant sow, a dairy cow, and some chickens.
They became somewhat communist right away, at least as far as work went. The older couple would get up and do early morning chores, while the younger couple would sleep in a bit but do evening chores. Nobody could keep up with doing all of it.
There were several topics I thought were very interesting. The younger wife really wanted to contribute and do her share and somewhat revolted against doing "women's work." However, she had to admit that while she tried really hard to help her husband plow with the old period plow she just didn't have the upper body strength. She was in good shape. So she had to resign herself to doing other chores. Later on though she did help carry felled trees that weighed several hundred pounds out of the woods, so she certainly worked!
It was also a big slap in the face that they had NO free time. At the end of the day they were ready to die and go to bed. They were exhausted. So anyone planning on doing a lot with less amenities is just kidding themselves about having the luxury of free time.
If you get the chance to watch an episode or two let me know what you think. I enjoyed it.
Regards,
Doug
PS - The big thing I did not like was the producers didn't try to get them some sort of "pass" for hunting out of season. Back then if you were hungry, you hunted,. There weren't no dang "season."
Rather, the name of the show was "[STRIKE]Prairie[/STRIKE] Pioneer Quest (mea culpa)." It took two (2) volunteer couples who love history and challenged them to live as pioneer settlers up in Manitoba Canada in the 1880's. They were given all the necessary supplies and $500 in 1880's buying power currency to buy period piece things.
The producers were very cool about it. There were no hidden cameras and they weren't isolated. They used modern equipment as needed but in the period style. For example, they were each given a cast iron wood burning stove. The 1880's design was not safe and burned people to death, so they were given a modern stove with all the safety catches but still in the period design.
I watched this on Amazon Prime. There was only one (1) season shot, but it was very interesting. The couples came at it from two (2) very different mindsets.
What caught all of them off guard was the massive amount of work that was required to survive, even given all of the tools they needed. They were given two (2) healthy draft horses, a pregnant sow, a dairy cow, and some chickens.
They became somewhat communist right away, at least as far as work went. The older couple would get up and do early morning chores, while the younger couple would sleep in a bit but do evening chores. Nobody could keep up with doing all of it.
There were several topics I thought were very interesting. The younger wife really wanted to contribute and do her share and somewhat revolted against doing "women's work." However, she had to admit that while she tried really hard to help her husband plow with the old period plow she just didn't have the upper body strength. She was in good shape. So she had to resign herself to doing other chores. Later on though she did help carry felled trees that weighed several hundred pounds out of the woods, so she certainly worked!
It was also a big slap in the face that they had NO free time. At the end of the day they were ready to die and go to bed. They were exhausted. So anyone planning on doing a lot with less amenities is just kidding themselves about having the luxury of free time.
If you get the chance to watch an episode or two let me know what you think. I enjoyed it.
Regards,
Doug
PS - The big thing I did not like was the producers didn't try to get them some sort of "pass" for hunting out of season. Back then if you were hungry, you hunted,. There weren't no dang "season."
