A Missouri couple reveal what it was REALLY like to live in the 19th century by recreating life in the 19th century for a video series in which they wear period clothing and cook centuries-old recipes on a stove
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A Missouri couple reenact what life was like in 19th-century America while wearing period clothing and preparing centuries-old recipes on the hearth of a brick fireplace.
Justine Dorn, 28, and Ron Rayfield, 33, have 200,000 subscribers to their educational YouTube channel, Early American.
In their video series, they show how people cooked, dressed and lived in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In her first video from October 2020, Dorn demonstrated how to make funeral cookies at the Benjamin Stephenson House, a Federal-style house built in 1820 in Edwardsville, Illinois. She wore a blue and white striped dress and period apron while she baked the cookies on the historic home’s fireplace, just as a Midwestern woman would have done in the 19th century.
“Funeral cookies, also known as burial biscuits, were given out to friends and family of the dead at funeral services,” she explained in the caption.
Justine followed the directions from The New Whole Art of Confectionary by WS Staveley and included a link to the full recipe on her blog, Early American Cooking.
In another video from February of that year, Justine made a “worker class supper” common in 1820 America: Indian flour pudding (an early version of cornbread) with sausage sides, red cabbage, and fried potatoes.
Justine explained in the caption that the meal consists of “sparing but hearty food to get you through labor through the worst of Missouri winters.”
Indian flour pudding (an early version of cornbread) was served with sausage sides, red cabbage, and fried potatoes.
The couple have also made everything from centuries-old recipes, from homemade coffee to giant gingerbread cookies.
Justine used 19th-century molds to make the large gingerbread cookies around the holidays.
Justine also tried an alcoholic dessert recipe that involved pouring a pint of wine over barley and sweetening it with sugar, redcurrants and cinnamon.
She then donned stockings tied with a blue ribbon, explaining in the caption that they were “more fashionable in white or pink” at the time. The YouTuber explained that stays resembling a corset were common at the time and “worked as a bra.” She noted that “even working women” wore them.
After lacing up her corsets, she tied a simple petticoat around her waist to push up the back of her dress. While bags were still worn at the time, she said they were “no longer necessary” because reticules — small women’s handbags — were becoming more popular.
Finally, Justine put on her dress and shoes, which were a pair of simple black Mary Jane flats. She pointed out that shoes by this time were “almost always flat” and “big buckles were no longer fashionable.”
In another video, she applied makeup to show what a typical 19th-century beauty routine looked like. “Healthy skin took precedence over makeup during this time,” she explained in the captions. “The natural look that followed hundreds of years with cake powder, black spots and red cheeks was now in fashion.” Justine first prepped her skin with rose-scented cold cream and then applied a touch of liquid blush to her cheeks and lips, to color them.
Justine revealed in February that they bought a 200-year-old bed with a straw mattress to add to their collection of historical objects. Sharing pictures of herself stretched out on the bed, she wrote, “We spent the day putting up our new antique rope bed [ha ha “new antique”] and stuff our new mattress with straw.’ “Okay, I have to say I’m REALLY surprised at how comfortable this mattress is,” she added. “It’s firm and not too lumpy. The straw also gave the room a nice smell, if that’s your thing.”
Fans have been curious if Justine and Ron live full-time like it’s 1820, but they’re dressed in period clothing and appear to live in a modern home when not filming.