Couple Resorted to 19th Century Lifestyle
For the last five years, a couple based in Seattle, who married in 2002 have dressed, traveled, cooked, eaten, and entertained themselves as if they lived in the 19th century. Sarah and Gabriel Chrisman, live practically in the 19th century as they do not use any modern technology in their home or anywhere else. They only depend on technologies of the 19th century and they claimed they are happy that way.
Sarah and Gabriel Chrisman do not use cell phones, internet, modern transport or wear sneakers. They also do not use cars or any such thing belonging to the modern world. They also extend their taste for 19th century lifestyle by buying an1888-built house amongst other things. If their intention is to stand out, then they have succeeded, as they have attracted attentions from all across the county and the country. Sarah wears a corset all day and every day, while Gabriel, a library and information science academic, wears authentic gold-rimmed 19th century glasses.
Sarah and Gabriel Chrisman, live practically in the 19th century as they do not use any modern technology of any form. They claimed they want to create their own world and be in touch with the long gone past when the world was more beautiful than it is now. They claimed the old time way of life and fashion items are much more of better quality than what obtains in today's world.
Their home had been built since 1888 and this old but modest looking home is equipped with oil-powered lamps, and doesn't have an electric fridge or oven. They have basically put themselves in the long gone past, but they insisted they found joy living that way. Clothes are washed in a bucket of room-temperature water and not with washing machine as it is done in the modern world.
Food is cooked using 19th century fireplaces and there is nothing like air-conditioning system whatsoever in their home. The interior of the home is designed with furniture items extracted from those long gone days too. For entertainment, Sarah reads 1890s editions of Cosmopolitan, or the couple go for a cycle ride on their pennyfarthings. They both see the pursuit as academic research, far more intense than any sociological study they have encountered on the subject but it is also a lifestyle.
Speaking to newsmen, Sarah reveals some of the more aggressive reactions leveled at them: 'We live in a world that can be terribly hostile to difference of any sort. Societies are rife with bullies who attack nonconformists of any stripe. We have been called "freaks," "bizarre," and an endless slew of far worse insults.
'We've received hate mail telling us to get out of town and repeating the word "kill". Every time I leave home I have to constantly be on guard against people who try to paw at and grope me.
'Dealing with all these things and not being ground down by them, not letting other people's hostile ignorance rob us of the joy we find in this life, that is the hard part. By comparison, wearing a Victorian corset is the easiest thing in the world.'