I've been reading some Holmes pastiches recently and they've triggered a slight need to rant on the subject of historical accuracy. In no particular order...
1. Revolvers.
Do not (with very rare exceptions) have safety catches; none such issued by the British Army (or approved for use). Therefore Watson will not 'click off the safety catch of his service revolver'.
And no silencers. Firstly, except for rare exceptions, it's not possible and secondly Maxim's silencer was developed in 1902.
2. Money.
There was no such thing as a 'Pound note' in the 1890s; they were reintroduced during WW1. The last prior issue was in the 1820s and they were actively removed from circulation.
Also the term 'Treasury note' is wrong; they were issued by the Bank of England (except in Scotland and Ireland of course) until WW1.
The 'guinea' wasn't a circulation coin (since the Great Recoining of 1816) and existed as a sum only. Holmes therefore will not be paying a cabbie with them.
The only remotely common banknote was the £5 (the 'White Fiver') which most people in Victorian Britain had never seen. There were also notes denominated in 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 200, 300, 500 and 1,000 pounds. Plus the really big notes for up to a million.
Three quarters of the UK populace hadn't handled a gold Sovereign.
The average working wage was ~£1pw (about 15s per week for, say, a farm labourer with bed and board provided); £2 for a skilled worker (e.g. a watchmaker); £3 for a skilled craftsman or senior clerk.
A Civil Servant or Army Officer would earn £250-400pa.
Oh, and there was no tuppence coin. Surprisingly given the plethora of denominations, but hey...
The last minting of then was in 1797 and they were unpopular (probably because they weighted two ounces). There were some Victorian 'half Groat' coins produced but they were Maundy money, in silver, and tiny..
3. Light and Fire.
Portable electric lights did exist (using the Ruhmkorff system) but were extremely rare until the dry cell battery and incandescent bulb.
One doesn't carry a lit 'bullseye' lamp in one's pocket unless one's pocket was lined with asbestos. They get rather hot...
Matches as we know them ('strike to light' wooden sticks) date from about 1826 before that 'match' continued to mean nitrated fuse cord and 'matches' referred usually to sulphured tinder sticks. OK that's one for the Regency period really but it's still annoying how many authors make that mistake.
Cigarette lighters didn't not exist in the 1890s; ferrocerium was only discovered in 1903 and reliable liquid fuel lighters were available from about 1910. And, yes, I'm aware of Döbereiner's system (one of my chemistry lectures carried a modern replica) but they were rare novelties and highly dangerous. Sensible people didn't carry explosive hydrogen generators filled with concentrated acid in their pockets, even if they'd fit.
4. Watches.
Yes wristwatches did exist (~1886); they were damned uncommon and any man wearing one would be looked on with suspicion ("sooner wear a skirt as wear a wristwatch").
Even in 1916 they were considered somewhat effeminate.
5. Letters.
Men wrote in black, or blue-black ink. A man using other colours would be deemed arty, an invert or foreign. All highly suspicious.
6. Purchase of Commissions.
Was abolished in 1871. It never applied to the Royal Navy, Engineers or Artillery who generally needed actual skills.
7. Weapons in general.
Blunt: it's a cosh, life-preserver or truncheon; not a sap or blackjack.
Stick: every properly dressed man carried one, and probably had several. There was significant interest, and training, in use of the stick for self-defense. And it's 'stick' not 'cane'.
Firearms: were not commonly carried by most people but were pretty much unrestricted (the Pistols Act of 1903 was the start and even that didn't allow a constable to actually arrest someone for carrying a pistol unless there was evidence of a lack of license).
Discharging one is a public place was a 'nuisance' and a constable could confiscate it.
Airguns: not uncommon at all; airguns integrated into walking sticks were in almost all gunsmith's catalogues.
8. Forms of Address
It's not 'His Majesty Prince Edward'. FFS even Wiki can tell you this...
9. Cabs:
A 'Hansom' has two wheels, one horse, a rear driver (looking over the passenger compartment) and holds two in moderate discomfort.
A 'Growler' is a four-wheeler drawn by two horses with an enclosed passenger compartment.
To obtain the attention of a passing driver one:
a. shouted cab, generally while holding up one's stick
b. blew a whistle (the 'cab whistle'); one blast for a four-wheeler, two for a Hansom. (Three for a motor-cab when they appeared).
c. waves one's illuminated 'cab stick'.
10. Special Branch.
Had damn-all interest in Russian revolutionaries in the 1900s (until Sidney Street) they were more interested in possible Irish (and not Fenian please) dynamiters and, of course, hatpin armed Suffragists.
They didn't even have any officer fluent in Russian...
12. Army (and Police) ranks.
Please consult a guide; it's embarrassing when your refer to a sergeant in a Household Cavalry regiment. I doubt even a medical officer like Watson would make that mistake.
Also check the correct usage of 'brigadier', 'brigadier general' and 'chief constable'. The latte especially in London.
13. International Politics
Please study this before putting words in the moths of politicians (or a certain Prince); it changed quite a bit in the period 1890-1910. I suggest starting with Splendid Isolation, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Entente Cordiale, the Angle-Russian Entente and more.
This also applies to India.
14. Gold
Gold was fixed in value, one pound Sterling corresponded to ~7.3 grammes of gold; the value of the sovereign was based on this (well 113 grains) in law.
Therefore two million pounds of gold will weigh almost 15 tonnes (plus packaging) even in bar form...
15. Gas.
Household gas ('town gas') was produced from coal, a mix of methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and more. And the trick of using a platinum wire to light the gas was well known; in fact such devices were commercially sold.
16. Freud.
WAS AUSTRIAN! Not German.
I may add more. Anyone else annoyed by historical inaccuracies?
1. Revolvers.
Do not (with very rare exceptions) have safety catches; none such issued by the British Army (or approved for use). Therefore Watson will not 'click off the safety catch of his service revolver'.
And no silencers. Firstly, except for rare exceptions, it's not possible and secondly Maxim's silencer was developed in 1902.
2. Money.
- THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS A POUND NOTE IN THE 1890s!!!
There was no such thing as a 'Pound note' in the 1890s; they were reintroduced during WW1. The last prior issue was in the 1820s and they were actively removed from circulation.
Also the term 'Treasury note' is wrong; they were issued by the Bank of England (except in Scotland and Ireland of course) until WW1.
The 'guinea' wasn't a circulation coin (since the Great Recoining of 1816) and existed as a sum only. Holmes therefore will not be paying a cabbie with them.
The only remotely common banknote was the £5 (the 'White Fiver') which most people in Victorian Britain had never seen. There were also notes denominated in 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 200, 300, 500 and 1,000 pounds. Plus the really big notes for up to a million.
Three quarters of the UK populace hadn't handled a gold Sovereign.
The average working wage was ~£1pw (about 15s per week for, say, a farm labourer with bed and board provided); £2 for a skilled worker (e.g. a watchmaker); £3 for a skilled craftsman or senior clerk.
A Civil Servant or Army Officer would earn £250-400pa.
- To convert to 2014 values multiply by 100-200 for an approximate equivalence.
Oh, and there was no tuppence coin. Surprisingly given the plethora of denominations, but hey...
The last minting of then was in 1797 and they were unpopular (probably because they weighted two ounces). There were some Victorian 'half Groat' coins produced but they were Maundy money, in silver, and tiny..
3. Light and Fire.
Portable electric lights did exist (using the Ruhmkorff system) but were extremely rare until the dry cell battery and incandescent bulb.
One doesn't carry a lit 'bullseye' lamp in one's pocket unless one's pocket was lined with asbestos. They get rather hot...
Matches as we know them ('strike to light' wooden sticks) date from about 1826 before that 'match' continued to mean nitrated fuse cord and 'matches' referred usually to sulphured tinder sticks. OK that's one for the Regency period really but it's still annoying how many authors make that mistake.
Cigarette lighters didn't not exist in the 1890s; ferrocerium was only discovered in 1903 and reliable liquid fuel lighters were available from about 1910. And, yes, I'm aware of Döbereiner's system (one of my chemistry lectures carried a modern replica) but they were rare novelties and highly dangerous. Sensible people didn't carry explosive hydrogen generators filled with concentrated acid in their pockets, even if they'd fit.
4. Watches.
Yes wristwatches did exist (~1886); they were damned uncommon and any man wearing one would be looked on with suspicion ("sooner wear a skirt as wear a wristwatch").
Even in 1916 they were considered somewhat effeminate.
5. Letters.
Men wrote in black, or blue-black ink. A man using other colours would be deemed arty, an invert or foreign. All highly suspicious.
6. Purchase of Commissions.
Was abolished in 1871. It never applied to the Royal Navy, Engineers or Artillery who generally needed actual skills.
7. Weapons in general.
Blunt: it's a cosh, life-preserver or truncheon; not a sap or blackjack.
Stick: every properly dressed man carried one, and probably had several. There was significant interest, and training, in use of the stick for self-defense. And it's 'stick' not 'cane'.
Firearms: were not commonly carried by most people but were pretty much unrestricted (the Pistols Act of 1903 was the start and even that didn't allow a constable to actually arrest someone for carrying a pistol unless there was evidence of a lack of license).
Discharging one is a public place was a 'nuisance' and a constable could confiscate it.
Airguns: not uncommon at all; airguns integrated into walking sticks were in almost all gunsmith's catalogues.
8. Forms of Address
It's not 'His Majesty Prince Edward'. FFS even Wiki can tell you this...
9. Cabs:
A 'Hansom' has two wheels, one horse, a rear driver (looking over the passenger compartment) and holds two in moderate discomfort.
A 'Growler' is a four-wheeler drawn by two horses with an enclosed passenger compartment.
To obtain the attention of a passing driver one:
a. shouted cab, generally while holding up one's stick
b. blew a whistle (the 'cab whistle'); one blast for a four-wheeler, two for a Hansom. (Three for a motor-cab when they appeared).
c. waves one's illuminated 'cab stick'.
- It would be moderately unusual for a cab to metamorphose from one type to another during the journey. Proof-reading is your friend.
10. Special Branch.
Had damn-all interest in Russian revolutionaries in the 1900s (until Sidney Street) they were more interested in possible Irish (and not Fenian please) dynamiters and, of course, hatpin armed Suffragists.
They didn't even have any officer fluent in Russian...
12. Army (and Police) ranks.
Please consult a guide; it's embarrassing when your refer to a sergeant in a Household Cavalry regiment. I doubt even a medical officer like Watson would make that mistake.
Also check the correct usage of 'brigadier', 'brigadier general' and 'chief constable'. The latte especially in London.
13. International Politics
Please study this before putting words in the moths of politicians (or a certain Prince); it changed quite a bit in the period 1890-1910. I suggest starting with Splendid Isolation, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Entente Cordiale, the Angle-Russian Entente and more.
This also applies to India.
14. Gold
Gold was fixed in value, one pound Sterling corresponded to ~7.3 grammes of gold; the value of the sovereign was based on this (well 113 grains) in law.
Therefore two million pounds of gold will weigh almost 15 tonnes (plus packaging) even in bar form...
15. Gas.
Household gas ('town gas') was produced from coal, a mix of methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and more. And the trick of using a platinum wire to light the gas was well known; in fact such devices were commercially sold.
16. Freud.
WAS AUSTRIAN! Not German.
I may add more. Anyone else annoyed by historical inaccuracies?
via JREF Forum http://ift.tt/1iQmMBw
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