The Chronicles of Downton Abbey: A New Era (4 page)

Violet
It’s our job to create
employment. An aristocrat with no
servants is as much use to the county as a
glass hammer.

Robert conducts his life at a different pace to those around him, and he is unlikely to speed up in the fast-paced modern world. ‘He can afford to have a slower pulse than anyone else,’ says Bonneville. ‘If you live in a world where the main concern is what you are going to wear for dinner – and you know you will be wearing white tie – you are able to take things more slowly. From the acting point of view, that is one of the key things to hold onto.’ The world as Robert knew it in his formative years may be beginning to crumble around him, but he recognises he must try to keep up with the times if he is to live a fulfilling life and support his dependants. With Cora by his side, he has every chance of doing so.

Shooting parties were one of the fixtures – and one of
the highlights – of the aristocratic year. They provided a
different, less formal atmosphere; what Julian Fellowes
characterises as a distinctly British ‘elite informality’.
As one butler recalled, ‘You always had lunch outside …
It was a little more relaxed; you didn’t have to be so
polite … the family seemed more relaxed too. It was
a different sort of set-up. I enjoyed it.’

Lady Grantham’s Cartier diamond necklace is the badge of her class.
The great Parisian jewellers, established in 1847, had long owned shops
in New York and London; Edward VII had famously declared Cartier
to be ‘the Jeweller of Kings and the King of Jewellers’. Jewels were
an important part of any aristocratic lady’s inheritance. At Society
weddings the principal presents (which were listed in the newspapers)
were the jewels given to the bride, by her parents, her parents-in
-law and other distinguished friends. Worn at formal occasions, they
proclaimed the couple’s wealth and status.

Above: ‘The Electric Hotpoint Toaster – what a boon it is!’ as the instruction manual
declared. In the new world of electric gadgetry the toaster was a relatively late arrival. For
its success it required a wire element that would heat quickly to very high temperatures
without either catching fire or becoming brittle with repeated use. This was only achieved
in 1905 with the development of an alloy of nickel and chromium (at first called ‘nichrome’
and, subsequently, ‘chromel’). The first electric toasters followed soon after. General
Electric led the way with their Hotpoint brand. The bread was toasted on one side at a
time and had to be flipped either manually or automatically. The first pop-up toaster was
patented in 1919, but didn’t become commercially available until 1926.

Right: Entertaining was an important element in the life of any great house, and
preparations would be undertaken jointly by the butler and the housekeeper.
Guests would be assigned their bedrooms by the housekeeper, after discussion
with the lady of the house. Guests and their servants would all need to be
accommodated; but any visitors staying without staff would be ‘looked after’
by their host’s footmen and housemaids. Valets were allocated by Carson from
his male staff, while Mrs Hughes would assign lady’s maids from her female staff.

Carson
What in God’s name is it

Mrs Hughes
An electric toaster.
I’ve given it to myself as a treat.
If it’s any good, I’m going to suggest
we get one for the upstairs breakfasts.

T
he delivery of a toaster to Downton Abbey heralds the arrival of post-war technology and the beginning of changes below stairs, and unsurprisingly Carson is reluctant to receive it. A man with a strong faith in tradition, he cannot see the good that can come of anything new. Mrs Hughes, however, being the rather more pragmatic one of the pair, fully embraces innovation if it means she can do her job more efficiently.

The butler is very clear about his role in life: it is to keep the house running along the same lines that it always has. ‘Carson comes from a family of soldiers and servants,’ says Julian Fellowes. ‘His grandfather was a head groom and so he’s middle-middle class – they certainly weren’t scrabbling in the gutter for food.’ Carson is a firm believer in monarchy, the aristocracy and social order – everyone has a place, as he sees it, and he is keen that they keep to it.

As we discovered in Series 1, Carson left behind an embarrassing past as half of the music hall act ‘Cheerful Charlies’ to enter service. Jim Carter, who plays Carson, explains the effect this dramatic career change has had on the character: ‘People who escape from one thing into something else can be the most zealous disciples. Carson is like that. He has buried his past life and loves Downton – a world where there is a place for everything and everything is in its place.’

With the war over and victory secured, Carson hopes that things might return to how they were – in this he, Lord Grantham and the Dowager Countess are united. (Carson’s clothes do not even change one jot during the entire three series – ‘unchanged and unchanging, just as he would like it’, says the costume designer, Caroline McCall.) But he is beginning to realise that he may be disappointed. Quite apart from the fact that the house is understaffed, meaning that no event can be carried out in the style to which he is accustomed (he minds this particularly for Lady Mary and Matthew Crawley’s wedding), the war has changed things in another, more fundamental way. Those who fought in the trenches have returned with a new attitude to life. Matthew’s pronouncements that he wants to ‘live in a simpler way’ do not bode well for the likes of Carson and his approach to doing things.