Why Was Baking The Most Deadly Job In The Victorian Era? | Victorian Bakers

Why Was Baking The Most Deadly Job In The Victorian Era? | Victorian Bakers | Absolute History

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2 yıl önce

Four 21st-century bakers bake their way through the era that gave us modern baking as we know it - the reign of Queen Victoria. Experts Alex Langlands and Annie Gray join them to tell the incredible story of our daily bread.
The bakers have left the rural bake house and the golden age of baking behind, this time it's the 1870s and they're moving into an urban bakery in the midst of the Industrial Revolution.
Their new bakery is totally authentic and it boasts two coal-fired ovens. At this time it is coal that fuels Britain's epic industrial expansion and bread that feeds its ever-expanding urban workforce. A growing middle class start demanding 'fancy breads' for breakfast and so the bakers must now bake through the night.
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Absolute History 7 aylar önce

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Gallowglass 7 aylar önce

If only they understood the ease and simplicity of no-knead bread (:

wolfrainexxx 7 aylar önce

Disgusting additives are still added to food today; greed... greed never changes.

Gerald Stahlman 7 aylar önce

KrazyKaiser 4 aylar önce

I love how this is simultaneously a food history documentary and a labor history documentary. We need more cross disciplinary documentaries like these. It really helps people understand how intertwined history is.

Sahdora 3 aylar önce

Hear,hear.

GarlicButter 2 aylar önce

It's also medical history.

뉴욕아줌마 NY ajumma 2 aylar önce

Right. And I think understanding how everything is interconnected also makes you pay deeper attention to all that’s happening TODAY. I’m with you, love documentaries like this

Wendy Laigne-Stuart 7 aylar önce

My Great grandfather died of what was called 'flour on the lung'. He had brought his extended family to Australia, and to get away from baking in London. Sadly he only lived for four years, and died in 1934. So, not just a problem of the Victorian period. He was from three generations of bakers. My son knew nothing of this, and he is, you guessed it, a baker!

M G 7 aylar önce

If he was from a family of bakers, he probably started working in the kitchen when he was pretty young, so he probably was baking bread in the Victorian era (pre 1901).

Scot Hammond 6 aylar önce

I worked in an industrial bakery for a few years. A friend if mine had pneumonia all the time and the doctors said it was from flour dust

Pale 6 aylar önce

Woah baking must really be in your bloodline

Ruby Benge 6 aylar önce

I had a job conducting research in a medical school. At that time state institutions were not subject to federal OSHA regulations. I found that one of the electron microscopes we were using was leaking 100 times the allowable limit of x-rays. I was only subject to that for about a year and a half. But a woman who worked on that microscope 10 hours a week for 15 years develop breast cancer in both breasts. She had a different type of cancer in each breast. Her doctors kept asking if she’d had radiation exposure. She said no because she didn’t know the microscope was leaking. Then I came along and found the leak. And her fatal breast cancer was explained, but unfortunately she died. Please don’t listen to somebody that says Small businesses will be hurt by safer environment or regulations. No one should make money by causing harm to another.

richiethev 6 aylar önce

@Scot Hammond as someone who had pneumonia once upon a time let me say what my doctor told me is that this unfortunately creates scarring a permanent scar that never goes away. This also unfortunately makes your easily sustainable to getting sick easily and causing a life time issue with breathing. Like myself I love baking and cooking but sadly I have to use a mask these days because when I don’t I end up inhaling the fumes or the stuff from baking that leads me to wheezing heavily and breathing hard. May your great grandfather Rest In Peace🤗

Punpun 5 aylar önce

man it feels like literaly every job in the victorian era was dangerous.

Sic Semper Tyrannis *Honk* 5 aylar önce

During the industrial revolution, white hot bolts were sledge hammered and riveted to hold steel plates together. While making ships, children had to crawl around in the hull holding metal to rivet the bolts from inside. Sometimes they missed, sometimes they broke, sometimes they got sealed inside the ship. Coal miners, asbestos removal, soldiers, tree trimmers... Most jobs MEN do are dangerous, even today. So much for privilege eh?

I'm an alligator 4 aylar önce

Bruh just living in general was dangerous in the Victorian era

Aydee Derix 4 aylar önce

@Sic Semper Tyrannis *Honk* Mhn it's almost as if men put themself in those positions and dont even give women the chance

Byron Arachnicus 5 aylar önce

Imagine living in a time where the average adult worked 18+ hours and think to yourself on the way home, "I can't wait to get home and eat some coal infused bread!"

Deanna Marie 3 aylar önce

And that's if one didn't die, or get robbed on the way back home

Amelia Lee 3 aylar önce

They generally didn't eat the bottom of the bread, most families who could would throw it out, but yeah coal infused bread is not good for you. Makes you grateful for supermarkets.

Karpet 3 gün önce

@Amelia Lee I know right, it's crazy how far we advanced in just a few hundred years. Nowadays you just gotta go for a nice stroll down the street to a supermarket which gives you easy access to a plethora of safe and delicious food and ingredients to make whatever you want.

Vendetta 2 gün önce

Don't forgot the chalk and sweat.

difquin 23 gün önce

It's such a joy to witness the elation on their faces, as they finally get to abandon the toxic ingredients in favor of actual proper flour, butter, sugar and yeast. The pride and passion for their craft is downright touching.

folgore1 7 aylar önce

20+ years ago, I was a history grad student and took a number of "social history" courses. These courses would cover topics like this but reading about 19th century Victorian bakers doesn't hit home as powerfully as watching history visually demonstrated as in this vid. Seeing the bakers in this video sweat and suffer while working under 19th century conditions creates much more empathy than just reading words in a book ever could.

Hans of Axalia Yıl önce

“Doesn’t that cause brain damage?” “Not immediately” Victorian England in a nutshell

samantha perrin Yıl önce

I just heard that line. Had to pause to go back to work and saw your comment...

Wishfullilith Yıl önce

Doesn’t that slowly cripple people More than likely America since forever

Chi¢o Yıl önce

35:04

Donna Lemmo Yıl önce

@Wishfullilith , ,,,

Pat Monte 7 aylar önce

I actually started to tear up by 26:00 because you'll see how they're so miserable. It hits different when Duncan/John (the dude who has a great great Aunt who established their now-5th generation bakery) looks so crushed at the thought of how his ancestors have to do this thankless task and even cut corners in a brutal era.

IMDhep Channel 2 aylar önce

Oh my God, me too. You can suddenly feel the restoration of dignity later when they use wheat flour,

Pat Monte 2 aylar önce

@IMDhep Channel finally! Someone who could relate to me!

Mudhooks 7 aylar önce

When you consider that at the time that bread was being adulterated, milk in cities was also being adulterated. Cows in the city dairies were fed the mash from beer-making, often almost exclusively, and milk was both watered down (often with not the cleanest water) but had plaster mixed in to whiten it and make it look less watered-down.

Joan Samuels 6 aylar önce

"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair.

TheArnaa 7 aylar önce

Two of my great-uncles were bakers in Victorian times. I thought they’d made a step up to an easier life than being agricultural labourers like the rest of family, so this video was a real eye opener. One died at 54 and the other at 53, so they made it about ten years longer than the average. 😳

Allan Fulton 7 aylar önce

I'm a retired baker who worked at a small bakery for years and we worked all night. We made roughly 2500 loaves and 1500 dozen buns and 1000 dozen specialty buns. We also made 500 dozen cookies it wasn't too bad but when we only had a 2 man crew instead of a 3 man we worked 12 hours instead of 8

rhousto1 6 aylar önce

My father and grandfather were bakers. My grandfather was from Scotland and moved to the states in the 1920's. My dad worked in his bakery in the 30's and early 40's before he became a baker during the war. My dad developed a reaction to all the flour and was forced to leave baking in his mid-fifties. It was a tough way to make a living with terrible hours...never heard him complain. I admire what they both did. Not for me.

Marky Mark Yıl önce

Always remember that every workplace safety regulation is there for a reason and was almost always written in blood.

TimesThree 7 aylar önce

Just remember that a lot of those regulations have nothing to do with safety. But was lobbied by very large companies to keep out smaller competition.

Lauren Walker 7 aylar önce

@TimesThree capitalism: profits over people .

TimesThree 7 aylar önce

@Lauren Walker you do realize that because of capitalism our poor is richer than most of the world. I think the words yer looking for is crony capitalism.

TimesThree 7 aylar önce

@Lauren Walker I'm all for capitalism not crony capitalism.

Lauren Walker 7 aylar önce

@TimesThree nope, capitalism. I mean unfettered late-stage capitalism, which is where we are.

Adam Radford Aylar önce

The relief on his face when he realized that his family would have been baking during the later portion, without the aduluterants, you could feel his pride returning.

Stacy Owl Aylar önce

This series is amazing... the perfect mix between a history documentary and a reality show of people experiencing their own profession in a different way. I also really appreciate the passion they have for their profession

Ken Glynn 7 aylar önce

As a baker straight out of school, i did 18hour shifts especially around easter. But nothing like that. You heard stories from the old hands about the mixing troughs of yesteryear. But the mind boggles seeing that. I had great uncle's who would have been baking circa 1900 so they would have missed the early part but they came from a line of family bakers, who would have been involved in some of that stuff. It's crazy to think that we used to moan about machinery taking away jobs, wishing for the good old days before supermarkets. Not sure the good old days were that good. And we have a social safety net and none of them did. Very humbling, very informative. What a great docudrama.

Ash Rowan 7 aylar önce

People really do forget how physical a job baking can be. I used to knead my bread dough by hand when I made some, but after being diagnosed with a chronic pain condition it just became impossible, the process of making a small batch of dough that made two loaves of bread would leave me bed bound for days on end recovering. So we got a good strong stand mixer with a dough hook and it is world's and away easier the only thing I have to do now is scrape the bowl to make sure everything gets incorporated properly and shape my loaves

N Egan 3 aylar önce

I'm glad your chronic condition isn't stopping you from making bread. Seeing the passion the bakers in the documentary and comments have for their bread is a pleasant surprise to me.

Karen Hunter 2 aylar önce

I loved how excited they were at the end to work with ingredients they were more used to. This was a fantastic show. I love history and the Victorian era.

the1stpersonever 2 yıl önce

I was very happy for the bakers when they got better ingredients and were geeking out over their love of bread. You can obviously tell just how much they love their craft.

FrostWolfPack Yıl önce

CaraCara Well pastries are her speciality as the others are more on the normal loafing business.

EGull 7 aylar önce

I kept waiting for them to point out that the *reason* sugar was so cheap was not because of positive reasons, and then it never happened...

Deef Van Der Meulen 7 aylar önce

@EGull because that is not the aim of this documentary

Fable 7 aylar önce

The factory owner standing up for people's health warms my heart.

holyshiterX3 8 aylar önce

This is so insightful,educational while entertaining. I binged watch the entire 53 min and I almost felt I went through the sweatful drudgery with those diligent modern bakers. Finally at the end they made edible, delicious buns and breads thanks to the fruition of 1880s industrialisation! What a worthy documentary as well as its admirable cast

Karen McCarrell 7 aylar önce

I've never seen anyone call watching 'an episode' as binge watching. I think that's called 'typical'. Binge watching is when you watch an entire series or season.

Deanna Marie 3 aylar önce

@Karen McCarrell you aren't wrong certaintly, though what the op meant is some of us can't sit through an entire episode of anything, save for something genuinely intriguing

Marie A. 7 aylar önce

My grandpa got Baker's lung and nobody expected him to live long but he is now older than 80 and still going strong. Thankful for modern medicine and bakers

Stingray Riganetti 7 aylar önce

I was the head baker 4 5 years at five star established restaurant in Pasadena California... people have no idea what it takes to produce had made bread and the variety of types of bread...I actually appreciate all bread makers.From the past , present and future..Thank you for this episode quite interesting and close to my heart..

Karl with a K 6 aylar önce

Regardless. Bread is not food, it is something you give poor people till they earn enough to buy actual food....

Karl with a K 6 aylar önce

@BrainFuck10 What do you mean?

Sara Grant 4 aylar önce

It’s amazing that people managed to survive that era and leave anyone left to go into the modern era.

Julia JS 2 yıl önce

When you've never eaten unadultered bread, smelly or chalky bread is just normal. Several generations grew up getting not enough nutrition and possibly more severe health issues without ever knowing what was going on. That is scary, even today.

Vincent Perratore 2 yıl önce

Too right!

1320crusier Yıl önce

Corn syrup is todays version

Enrico Pucci Yıl önce

IM SO HAPPY NOT BEING BORN BACK THEN.

Vagabond Wastrel Yıl önce

@1320crusier Sadly I am more worried about all of the shit veggie oils.

Tên với chả tuổi Yıl önce

@Vagabond Wastrel I mean, palm oil isn't nearly as bad as chalk, its diabetes properties don't hit you within a month, you can avoid most of them by avoiding fried food too, bread on the other hand is staple food

Lou Lou's Treasure Trove 7 aylar önce

I love watching this, it shows us just what our ancestors had to suffer through just to make it from day to day. Thanks for a humbling video, it is awesome to witness.

Brandon L 7 aylar önce

I heard being a chimney sweep was a lot worse! They used to get kids to do that work that was slave labor and force them to clean out chimneys by crawling up through them. Lots of children died from them getting stuck and or dying from soot/smoke inhalation due to their bosses setting a fire underneath them for motivation. Not to mention the health problems they had.

ObscureMix 2 aylar önce

I would love to give it a go. Makes you really appreciate the sheer amount of effort needed for this job in an era without the tools that we are so accustomed to. My outmost respect to all bakers out there.

Lisa Hinton 3 aylar önce

I watched this from the comfort of my bed with savings in the bank and a job to go to that, done correctly, doesn't endanger my health. I felt a bit weepy at times, the hard lives these people endured day after day, only to pass before their time. Thanks for this eye-opening revelation into those that came before us.

Vanity Marks 2 yıl önce

I love how the bakers are so protective of their craft, and that they find it heartbreaking that people did this shows their real empathy.

Ja C Yıl önce

If you've ever started your own yeast culture and baked from start to finish, you sort of get invested in the whole process since baking is pretty technical and you realize real quick you can lose a lot of time, effort, and ingredients, if you screw up in any part of the process before you put that thing in the oven, you'll get some sub-par end product or something you didn't really want. So you're going to put a lot of dedication to getting it right, you grow to appreciate what goes into baking. Of course anyone can just make simple bannock, but to get a lovely loaf with good crumb AND consistently pump that out in many loafs over and over again? That takes a lot of effort.

Sentient AI Yıl önce

Yeah to pop all those adulterants in there is heartbreaking to those who make their best product for friends and family. The amount of labor and little pay would have you looking for a new job or turning to crime.

Saint Steven Yıl önce

They are true crafts people. There is a dedication among people who feed other people to give them their very best and using shitty ingredients would crush many of them.

Sady Yıl önce

Seriously people now a days literally get injured in the kitchen when baking from muscle strains to poor posture and arthritis, etc. and that’s with all the modern machines and technology, imagine how labour intensive it was back then!

Micheal Persicko Yıl önce

To think people complain about the shit in our modern food; all our modern food additives and preservatives(E numbers for across the pond folks) are child's play compared to the shit used back then.

Thor Beerson 7 aylar önce

A lovely documentary, I've worked as a baker in a small local bakery for a bit, it is still surprisingly physically demanding job even with some modern machinery, so I have special appreciation for this seeing how hard the job must've been in the past

LNMagic Yıl önce

This is the video that got me completely hooked on Absolute History. I'm now rewatching it as part of the Victorian-era playlist. Edwardian Farm is also excellent. Although I am currently a free-rider, I do intend to contribute to this when I can. I love learning about the minutia of life in previous eras!

That Girl 7 aylar önce

I have a newfound respect for bakers from this era. The next time I eat any baked goods, I will no doubt think of how hard it once was to make what it is that I'm eating.

Sonia Triana 7 aylar önce

Outstanding video!! I can’t imagine what these Bakers went through, bc they’re coming from such modern times, efficiencies, quality of goods, mandatory work, health & safety guidelines, to the EXACT OPPOSITE!! Especially working more than 18+ hrs/day of hard, stifling, back breaking work!! How sad that they died by age 40! They literally worked themselves to death! Anyone who has any ancestors who were Bakers has to be in complete awe of what they lived through!!

Pat Monte 7 aylar önce

I actually started to tear up by 26:00 because you'll see how they're so miserable. It hits different when Duncan (the dude who has a great great Aunt who established their now-5th generation bakery) looks so crushed at the thought of how his ancestors have to do this thankless task and even cut corners in a brutal era.

Z Truth 7 aylar önce

I have some professional baking experience that I greatly appreciate. These people were wonderful to watch. Thank you to everyone involved in this.

Cassandra Chan 2 yıl önce

I’m still amazed how well documented Britain’s history is

Four Day Homestead Yıl önce

@Monique M here in the US, instead of teaching history, many citizens want to destroy it.

curse10 Yıl önce

most of the history in my country, colonizers know more that it's people.

Auoric Yıl önce

To be fair, they were colonisers and have never been colonised meaning, no reigning foreign government that has the urge to destroy the indigenous culture and history

Minty A Yıl önce

Cara you're comparing apples to oranges when they have a longer history than we do - of course there's less to document about the USA with its age only being 243. And furthermore, a true scholar of history would see just how All countries gloss over their darker days to glorify only the beautiful history. A major example being Japan and Korea and how the former refuses to acknowledge the damages they inflicted over the past century alone, and my girlfriend who lived in Russia informing how their curricula now rewrites historical scenarios rather than just omitting the gritty parts. It's egregious to assume that its only America that suffers from divisive interest in the true history of both their own culture and the world.

Amy Rivers Yıl önce

@Monique M I know exactly what you are saying. Compared to Britain, Australia and New Zealand (I'm your kiwi cousin) are a lot younger so I think Britain is similar as our early relatives.

jhizzleism 5 aylar önce

My inlaws owned their own bakery but both began as a baker and cake decorator for safeway. In later years he developed emphysema and lung issues and couldn't breathe from flour dust so they retired.

Angela_ SoManyThings 7 aylar önce

Watching this, feeling relieved when they finally are able to use good ingredients but still putting in the labor, makes me so appreciative of our modern advantages built upon years of historical struggles... As I make sandwiches for my family!!

Dud3 7 aylar önce

This was a pleasure to watch, I can't believe I just spent 50 minutes looking at people making bread and didn't get bored once

The Lone Traveller 6 aylar önce

I worked in a small bakery for about a year, which had some more modern equipment, though most was still done by hand. The first month was like hell. Every part of my body hurt and I was so tired because I wasn't used to working at night, which meant that I usually slept less than four hours a day, only to go and work nine hours. Don't get me wrong, working conditions and stuff has got a lot better since the Victorian Era but it's still a tough job, which isn't payed well. And I have huge respect for everyone deciding to pursue this job nonetheless.

Pandorash8 2 yıl önce

The really sad fact about this is not that people endured these horrible conditions, but because it was still a better life than many had at the time. Just look up Victorian Crawlers to see how low it really got. Watching documentaries like these gives me thanks for all I have today.

Emiel Yıl önce

That was a depressing read.

Beatles0223 Yıl önce

@Emiel Those times were depressing.

TheBvandersnatch Yıl önce

@Jess H lmao no they don't

Hugh Realman Yıl önce

@Jess H right and I'm sure you "meet" lots of them while you walk past them disgusted.

Roz W. Brazel Yıl önce

@Hugh Realman I have the image of a person stalking homeless people as they beg on the street, then picking through their pockets to count the change. Is that what they’re saying they do, if they say a thing like that with such confidence?

Laura Walker Aylar önce

Absolutely fascinating! I love to watch to this kind of history and any thing with Alex in it is going to be interesting 😊

BlackSeranna 7 aylar önce

24:31 The sheer look of indignation/frustration as he proclaims, "Welcome to the future." This is also how I feel about the food they sell in supermarkets now - a lot of additives that ruin the taste. I worked in a grain mill for around two years. While I was more of an office person, the office was connected to the mill side, where men mixed ground up corn into feed, then added other ingredients that were in the form of minerals and vitamins. In short, we made cattle and hog feed. While I worked there, I had asthma-like symptoms and used an inhaler. Another man I worked with had COPD. There were times when some of the workers walked in the door, white as a sheet from all the dust coming off of the grain. When I took that job, I had no idea it could be dangerous, but after I left the place, my symptoms cleared up. Haven't used an inhaler since.

Giraffes Inc. 7 aylar önce

I LOVE this series and have rewatched it several times. This time, thanks to the wonderful Salvation Army for providing ambience!

Matthew Watson 7 aylar önce

Every time I learn more about Victorian English cities it sounds like one of the most horrible, inhumane societies I could imagine. How anybody survived boggles the mind

dexta32084 7 aylar önce

One of the most legendary (and perhaps infamous cases) in American constitutional law from the turn of the 20th Century, Lochner v. New York, was based on a state law that instituted maximum daily work hours for bakers. The law was purported to protect the health of bakers that worked by hand, but there was also speculation that the law was an anti-competitive measure against German bakers that largely baked by hand versus established American bakers that used machinery.

Kev P Yıl önce

I've been a baker for almost 20 years now. I've made bread and croissant dough in 200-250 lb batches before, but of course with huge mixers. I remember wondering (and dreading) what I'd have to do if the power went out or the mixer broke down. I pretty much promised myself that if it came down to my boss telling me to mix it by hand, I'd quit on the spot. Glad I never had to do that after seeing this lol

jo Yıl önce

Lol- my boss had flood lights installed for when the power in our bakery goes out ! 😭 we have huge antique gas ovens with stones so we just keep right on baking 😭😭 we luv capitalism

Wingy 7 aylar önce

@jo The glory of capitalism is that if someone is working their staff to death or in dreadful conditions, eventually no one will want to work there and the problem self-corrects. Either they do better or go out of business. In the end it's completely voluntary.

Captain Shenanigans 7 aylar önce

@Wingy There's the invisible hand at work. One problem, if labour is unskilled enough and work is in high enough demand, you can get away with those conditions. Who cares if everyone working there quits at once, theres a group of employment ravenous soon-to-be bakers waiting at the door

NOT Sunshine Country Chickens 7 aylar önce

@Captain Shenanigans I never had guaranteed automation at any job Ive ever had, if the power goes out you do it manually, thats common sense not a reason to destroy a company wtf is wrong with people so lazy and quick to turn on anyone providing a job!

Joe Hayworth 7 aylar önce

Has no bakery owner ever heard of a backup generator? This is 2022 FFS!

KimmsKreations 7 aylar önce

As they cook my whole life 46 years professionally I dare to say how many of us actually worked this hard in some of the businesses we started in I have full respect for these people replaying this task it's very heartfelt and very eye-opening some people have no idea what a real cook goes through this is my favorite video I've ever seen kudos to you people that did this

The Godzilla Studios 2 aylar önce

Absolute respect to our bakers and farmers, civilisation, no matter how advanced it is, can not live without these crucial part of society.

Jess Treloar 7 aylar önce

My Grandfather was a finish carpenter starting in the 1930's, every time I pick up a battery powered hand tool I think how much more WORK he did to accomplish the same thing. And I was able to get it done in about half the time.

Brother Panda 4 aylar önce

There's just something fascinating about seeing the bakers in a slight black-and-white coloring due to the ash and soot from their baking that makes this production that much better.

Stewart W. 7 aylar önce

I worked in my Dad's bakery in the early 1960s, out of school. He had a very successful business with several outlets and a supermarket in the north-east of England. The bakery work though was still gruelling even with good machinery. On a weekend, shifts were from 3 am Friday to 2 pm Saturday and one had to work fast to produce the volumes of product to cater for weekend trade! I did not last too long at this job though!

Papi K Yıl önce

There should be a holiday dedicated to bakers. Food is sacred and anyone willing to break their back so you can start your day just right deserves the highest respect

Pierced Siren Yıl önce

I really appreciate bakers and farmers in the cheese industry for fueling my diet.

Dominique B. Yıl önce

There is one, May 16th, in honor of St. Honoré, patron saint of bakers - and inspiration for the delicious eponymous cake.

Anna Verano Yıl önce

I think everyone working a job is important we don't appreciate just how important every job , the working class makes the world go around and without us society would fall apart .. Respect to the working classes always .. we all play important roles in society..

A Bailey 7 aylar önce

@Anna Verano The US and Canada have labor/labour day

Marcella 7 aylar önce

@A Bailey Labor day sucks because the people doing most of the grueling labor (food service, gas stations, grocery stores) don't even close on labor day so the middle class can still have modern conveniences on their day off.

Rainbow Flower 7 aylar önce

I'd have never thought that being a baker came with so many work hazards! Thank you for sharing this informative video.

ABCRASHtheFOX 4 aylar önce

Simply well done in keeping this documentary interesting, and inspiring.

TotalRookie_LV 2 aylar önce

I find the baker lady absolutely beautiful, like straight from a painting of the era. Well... all of those guys would fit in that setting, and it was really heart-breaking to see them experienced the hardship, but at least it was just a recreation, not their regular daily life of suffering in that Victorian misery.

Heru- deshet 7 aylar önce

Much respect to all bakers past and present. Next time I have any specialty bread I will say a prayer for those past bakers.

Darren Smith 7 aylar önce

I have ALWAYS been a fan of the Victorian era. Also, I do like that they preserved the history and dedication of those that lived in those times.

HeyNonyNonymous Yıl önce

I've been working at a bakery for a little more than two months. We have all the standart equipment of a modern, middle sized bakery: two 40kg electric dough mixers, two smaller 5-15 lt mixers for more liquid, cake-like batter mixers, a machine that devides dough and rolls it into buns, it can proccess up to 6kg of dough at a time, a molder for long buns. My first three weeks were hell. Absolutelly hell. My feet hurt, my back was screaming, my hands were sore and inflamed. It ended in tears, with me crying to my boss telling her that I just can't, I'm in so much pain. She sent me home to rest for a longer weekend. I am way better now, got into shape. I litterally lost 8kg on this job. I AM RIPPED. The best workout of my life. And I've been working in physical jobs since I was 12. The working conditions in this bakery scares me.

Patrick3183 Yıl önce

What’s it like being a weak girl

Little flower'🌸 Yıl önce

can relate, men still get disappointed when I say I don't bake bread but pastries. I'm literally so fragile 😔. but I do help sometimes if they need some help on busy days

Noor Clean Yıl önce

I believe you, a lot of carrying heavy equipment and pastry trays … constant hand workout from kneading and shit… standing for 8+ hours daily..

Lola S. Yıl önce

@Patrick3183 calm down babe, we all know you're weaker 🤣🤣

DefNotAnny 6 aylar önce

I just love these documentaries, thank you so much absolute history, these documentaries are priceless. I am so glad they exist.

mary m 7 aylar önce

A friend of mine here in the USA has severe COPD from working in the bakery of a well known commercial cookie factory. She worked there in the 70s 80s 90s and was never given a mask to wear and never warned of the consequences of breathing in flour dust. This manufacturer should be held accountable but she is so sick, she is too tired to fight a corporation. Bakers beware, wear a respirator

stephanie parker 5 aylar önce

Insane.. my heart hurts knowing what workers back then went through.. in the bakeries and other trades. 💔

fm00078 6 aylar önce

A newfound respect to early bakers in this era. Reading & talking about it in school is NO WHERE NEAR the understanding this video gives. thank you, thank you . . . THANK YOU.

Charles Bennett 5 aylar önce

I was born in Bradford UK in 64. Obviously I don’t remember my first few homes their, but at the age 3 I lived in one of the back to back houses , a one up, one down house. Mum, dad, and seven kids. Toilets outside, shared tin bath.. lol. The joys of an Irish immigrant child.. lol. And before us polish, after us Pakistani.

Yasmin Rose Yıl önce

I've worked in a bakery and I can tell you, the passion and pride that goes into the product is real! I was relieved for the bakers when they finally got their hands on normal flour again!

Paige Rasmussen 7 aylar önce

I shed a tear watching the dude coming to terms with the choices his ancestors likely made.

Renaye Brown 3 aylar önce

Me too! I was so happy for them…and suddenly inordinantly proud of American wheat and it’s naturally high gluten content!

observer42 7 aylar önce

My father was a baker apprenticed to his German baker uncle. Wow that family could BAKE! He died of lung cancer but his doctor said it was from using chemicals to strip furniture for refinishing, in enclosed spaces.

GoTerry 6 aylar önce

Absolutely eye opening reality shows us how much worse life could be and was and yet how wonderfully good we have it now… I needed that reminder

Angry Bert 7 aylar önce

"What a difference a dough makes" ... I laughed so hard. I might have woken up the entire house. Thanks guys!

Brilliant Design! 7 aylar önce

50:24 THE best part of the show! I really have to hand it to this troop for their efforts and impressions of the historical experience and how it affected them. Brilliant.

Slippin Yıl önce

My great grandmother told me that some bakers in the capital where she was born, could keep your christmas roast or similar you got from the butcher hot when the ovens where cooling down(her family was busy and couldn't afford to be home and make it themselves, so they bought it almost completly done). It was cheap and the bakers earned a little extra on the side.

Kes FitzGerald 7 aylar önce

Yes, this was common particularly as people back then (as in some places now) didn't always have an oven. I have to say the best roast I have ever had was out of an old brick bakers oven.

John Thomas 7 aylar önce

In South Philly a few bakeries charge a small fee to cook your Thanksgivings or Christmas Turkey.

Kes FitzGerald 7 aylar önce

@John Thomas I am not from the States and have little knowledge of the demographics of Philadelphia. Is South Philly a working class area?

pete smitt 7 aylar önce

@Kes FitzGerald yes it is; diverse immigrant population, with historically large Italian and Irish population.

Kes FitzGerald 7 aylar önce

@pete smitt thank you 😊

Johnathan W 5th&Main 7 aylar önce

The picture at the end just brought this entire thing together...I LOVED this series... amazing too see how our ancestors lived! Bravo!

jay23cr 5 aylar önce

I just love the victorian era clothing/costumes. Where can one buy such realistic clothing from the era?

suburbanbanshee 7 aylar önce

Re: alum, they are not telling you that it was an ingredient in baking powder, instead of cream of tartar which was more expensive. They were using it to get more of a rise, not just for bulk and whitened appearance. People eat soda bread even today, and they even eat cream of tartar.

Taiweannoona 3 aylar önce

Loved this! The horror and beauty of it all ending with that photograph. What an experience.

Luca Yıl önce

The other day I was baking some cupcakes to bring to a casual party with some friends. However, by the time I got to the frosting, I remembered I didn't have my electric mixer with me (I lent it to my mom, and I hadn't gotten it back yet). I didn't have time to go get it, so I whipped the frosting by hand. Took me around half an hour of nonstop whipping. After I finished, and my arm was half dead, I realized why bakers in old movies are always buff, thick, and absolute units.

Runed0S 7 aylar önce

What ingredients did you use? It should only take about 10 minutes for a rich thick creme...

The plural is actually "asparageese". 4 aylar önce

@Runed0S They weren't making thick creme like you'd glop onto scones or something, that's not even a common thing in many places (most of the USA doesn't use it). They were describing making frosting (doesn't say what kind, could have been a whipped cream frosting but might have been cream cheese or buttercream etc), which is a whole other story, you have to whip it so much that it's almost like making meringue.

Lunar Equine 3 aylar önce

@The plural is actually "asparageese".I’m a commercial baker and I can confirm that buttercream when done correctly does have a very light, fluffy, meringue like appearance, and it would be a nightmare to have to aerate and whip it by hand

ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN 6 aylar önce

People in the past really had it rough. Almost brought a tear to my eyes

Joe Average 5 aylar önce

One line of of my ancestors owned a substantial flour mill in Silesia from about the mid-1800s and made a tidy fortune off it. Milling was big business, probably in no small part because of all the stuff you were allowed to add to the flour.

//babyblue// 5 aylar önce

I've never really liked bread, but this documentary has made me appreciate it a lot more for it's very existence. Bakers are amazing and i hope one can maybe provide me a bun or loaf that will change my opinion on them.

Sigma 5 aylar önce

The difference between a freshly baked, homemade bread and a store-bought bread is like night and day. All store-bought breads have legal additives to "improve" them in some way or another. homemade is made with usually just 5-6 ingredients, not to mention it's fresh. It's soooo good.... I like round loaves because they have a nice, thick, kinda chewy crust.

c c 7 aylar önce

What a well made and presented documentary from everyone involved. It was a fascinating insight into a previous life. Well done

Roger Brichacek 7 aylar önce

I thought this was going to be stupid but my thought now is how hard labor and stressful times were especially when the corruption of the ingredients was so horrible. Seems now everything is going through corruption periods where quality is thrown out the window. Glad to see that things finally turned around and quality survived. This was actually a eye opener and was very much thought provoking. These Bakers have had a real life changing experience. Great show!

B Rainy 7 aylar önce

yeah this whole series was fascinating

Ian Anderson 7 aylar önce

This is a fantastic documentary! It’s a different format than usual and it’s wonderful.

Amo Fae 2 yıl önce

I've never been more grateful for my kitchenaid mixer than now.

itzdylanyo Yıl önce

I'm too broke to buy a kitchenaid so all my bread is by hand 😂 but even then, working out of a trough just sounds horrid

jeremy scungio Yıl önce

I've never been more grateful to have been born in 2001 and not 1856

James Garrard Yıl önce

Kitchenaids are amazing! They even sell giant ones with guards for kitchens!

totoroben Yıl önce

A 30 liter commercial stand mixer sells for about $5000 and would do all of that trough work easily.

Ja C Yıl önce

@totoroben not exactly catered towards the average consumer.

DELEO 5 aylar önce

So heartwarming when he said when he goes back to his bakery he’ll hug a few of his appliances 😆

MichaelTichael 6 aylar önce

This was an excellent show. I've never been more enthralled by an episode on TRshow. Thank you for such an inspiring story. You have a new subscriber!

Atto boi 7 aylar önce

this was surprisingly incredibly fascinating, found myself at the end before i could have realized it, wonderful content

scarletonyx1 7 aylar önce

I love this 😀 I like that we are getting to see a small glimpse of what it was like through a baker's eyes

Arthur Pendragon 2 aylar önce

My late Grandfather died in 2021. He was not only a heavy smoker during his early twenties but was also working as a baker his whole life. He died after a very long, gruesome battle of COPD. That wasn't a peaceful death, he was drowning. One of the most horrible ways to go. It still breaks me thinking back to his last moments. 😫

Glynis Lailann 2 yıl önce

As an avid baker (was making hotcross buns whilst watching this) I found this episode exceptionally awe inspiring. I now have a new respect for bakers of old & 'our daily bread'.

synne Yıl önce

hot cross buns!!! yes!!!!

Michi .Fleischmann 11 aylar önce

in the region of Austria where I come from the technique of kneading the dough by foot was even so common that baker's wifes where called "Toageitreterin" (Dough kicker). it was not meant in a lovingly way. And if I remember right it was the job of the female employee and the apprentices. And therefor the floor of a small room was cleaned properly to do this in the needed amount

nordicpink 7 aylar önce

This was interesting and amazing. Bakers have clearly always had it hard and they still are at the bottom of the rung when it comes to pay in the food industry and that’s sad because they work their butts off. I sent my son to school for this because he dreamt of doing it as a child and when he got in the industry, with all that expensive education, the pay was laughable. Imagine the pay of the uneducated employees, which drives down what the educated can demand.

Brandan Berg 3 gün önce

Man it's gonna be wild when in 100 years my grandkids think the environment I worked in was horrible. Meanwhile I'm like "this is the best job I've ever had."

Sean Brown 7 aylar önce

Well done! A fascinating documentary about English bakeries and the hardships of the bakers.

Bente Gerritsen 7 aylar önce

it's truelly shocking what conditions people lived in during the victorian era. A lot of people think its all pretty and fun because of how movies and tv shows portray the era but in reality a lot of people lived in slum like conditions where your whole enviroment was slowly killing you

R Hansen Yıl önce

I never thought I would watch an hour on bread. It was fascinating, and I got completely sucked in.

Mr.Mischief Iknowyourpassword Yıl önce

Yeah, I thought the same when I looked at the length. Yeah I have 52 minutes for bread.

GinsuSher Yıl önce

On the same boat. But watched all of it and want more.

Big bird Yıl önce

@GinsuSher same

Ellyn Yıl önce

Have you seen the BBC's various Farm series yet? Alex Langlands did several of them, and they're equally as engaging and interesting. There was a medieval castle series, a Tudor Monastery Farm series, a Stuart era farm called Tales from the Green Valley, they also did Edwardian, Victorian, and WW2 farms.

Dirty Rotten Hikers 7 aylar önce

Agreed, i was so engrossed That it wasn't until the end when the baker was stacking the rectangular loaves on the table that i remembered that i had also worked in a bakery at a Jewel/Osco for 6 months stacking loaves on trays then loading them into freezers. Cold, lonely, fast paced whip at your back work. Guess it was a repressed memory.

SarahAmira Yıl önce

As someone who has tried to whisk a meringue by hand before, and someone who rather enjoys eating traditional hardtack for some godforsaken reason, my familiarity with both wrist pain and hardtack-esque dough makes work like this makes me want to shout "what hell hath God wrought?!" Upon the heavens.

*queenizzydeigh* 7 aylar önce

I watch this as I bake and thank God that I was born in this time period. Oh the things we take for granted!

Eric Mathis 4 aylar önce

I feel like I have to keep in mind that these revolutions were decades apart. Gives me so much more respect for Victorian bakers when modern bakers were so much happier only a day apart.

Apple Gal 7 aylar önce

Newfoundlander here. I find it so interesting how I grew up making meals with bread and butter and cheese or molasses, along with a cup of tea with can milk and sugar. I grew up on homemade loaves and make my own now. It's gotta be white bread too. It takes about 6 hours from start to finish to make bread. You can really see my ancestors poor diet in classic Newfoundland meals like salt bread and hard tack, or salt meat boiled with vegetables, and fried up leftovers. Meat and potatoes and whatever could grow in a garden.

Kelly Peeples 7 aylar önce

I love this whole team. Really enjoyed the lack of interpersonal drama you see in the High Street series (not that I don't enjoy that, but it's nice to have a change).