I thought It Was Only Those Old-Timey People Who Couldn’t Build

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

Ever notice how ‘vikings’ and the like, who had learnt how to survive for generation after generation in the cold of their homelands and who had built amazing boats that, well, didn’t sink, never seemed to develop the carpentry skills to construct a door that wouldn’t let the wind blow right on through?

Well, today I was watching a movie set in these here times, some adventure in a cabin in the cold frozen woods kind of thing, and I noticed, well, just like them there Vikings, and Saxons in Last Kingdom and wot not, we still can’t seem to build a door that will keep the frozen winds out. But it sure did look (like someone’s idea of) rustic…

Pax/
Dean

 

[drf64]

Hi.

Ever notice how ‘vikings’ and the like, who had learnt how to survive for generation after generation in the cold of their homelands and who had built amazing boats that, well, didn’t sink, never seemed to develop the carpentry skills to construct a door that wouldn’t let the wind blow right on through?

Well, today I was watching a movie set in these here times, some adventure in a cabin in the cold frozen woods kind of thing, and I noticed, well, just like them there Vikings, and Saxons in Last Kingdom and wot not, we still can’t seem to build a door that will keep the frozen winds out. But it sure did look (like someone’s idea of) rustic…

Pax/
Dean

If our ancestors had their druthers, they would have traded rustic for warm

 

[wulfenganck]

Huh, I have yet to watch a movie that depicts living in the middle ages in a historically accurate manner - and that doesn't mean abominations like "Braveheart", it's true even for educational "documentaries" who still fall for clichés about the "muddyvel times".
Having seen quite a lot of original paintings, sculptures, carpentry-work, handwoven fabrics, embroidery, arms and armour and various metal household items from the late 13th up to the 15th century, I know that those craftmen (and craftswoman) were highly skilled experts. In fact, I doubt any craftsmen could produce embroidery of the same quality than the late middle ages and there are just a few craftsmen who are able to produce arms and armour in a quality range that would have met standard 15th-century-guilt-regulations.

 

[unixfish]

That is true of almost any door on a Hollywood production.

A (small) pet peeve of mine is when someone comes in the front door, and the close it, you can still see light under the door; even in pieces that are depicted in places that have winter. How many people have doors with a visible gap underneath? The snow would come right into the house.

Or, the scene shows someone sliding an envelope under an entry door. Just no.

 

[unixfish]

...or someone looking into a bedroom through the gap under the door. I don't know about you, but our bedroom door gaps are not large enough to see in.

 

[Peegoo]

Well, it wasn't until 1893 that Leroy P. Weatherstrip invented a draft-proof door.





Heels on shoes: a sure bet the 'technical advisor' on the film really didn't know about life in them there olden days.

 

[getbent]

Huh, I have yet to watch a movie that depicts living in the middle ages in a historically accurate manner - and that doesn't mean abominations like "Braveheart", it's true even for educational "documentaries" who still fall for clichés about the "muddyvel times".
Having seen quite a lot of original paintings, sculptures, carpentry-work, handwoven fabrics, embroidery, arms and armour and various metal household items from the late 13th up to the 15th century, I know that those craftmen (and craftswoman) were highly skilled experts. In fact, I doubt any craftsmen could produce embroidery of the same quality than the late middle ages and there are just a few craftsmen who are able to produce arms and armour in a quality range that would have met standard 15th-century-guilt-regulations.

this easily wins the 'back in the good old days when things were right' award of the day. Some of the codgers here need to take note of this and reset the wayback machine, not to the 40's or 50's but the Thirteens!

 

[Ironwolf]

One of the original structures built on my family's ranch still exists and is in use as a bunk house. It was built in the early 1850s from lumber that was hand milled from logs brought down out of the mountains above the valley and cut along the Payette river. The quality of all the wood work is fantastic and, while it lacks the insulation of a modern structure, it rivals any recently built tract home for being weather tight.

 

[tanplastic]

Well, it wasn't until 1893 that Leroy P. Weatherstrip invented a draft-proof door.

Weatherstrip gets a lot of the credit, but don't dismiss Antonio Siliconi's contribution to airtight villas.

 

[getbent]

Well, it wasn't until 1893 that Leroy P. Weatherstrip invented a draft-proof door.





Heels on shoes: a sure bet the 'technical advisor' on the film really didn't know about life in them there olden days.

Important to recall that the P in weatherstrip was for Pergo, which his mother's father had invented some 60 years prior.

 

[gkterry]

Hey, as a card carrying member of the codger clan, we would be happy to set the clock back any amount to be younger again.

 

[Killing Floor]

Olde timey people were dumb.
Vikings used translucent rocks to navigate. If they were so smart they would just speak the address into their phone.
B’beep “Newfoundland”. “Newfoundland might be closed when you arrive”. “I’ve found a route that avoids icebergs”.

 

[TokyoPortrait]

…If they were so smart they would just speak the address into their phone...

Hiya.

That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to have a wee rant on Google Maps.

Pax/
Dean

 

[Peegoo]

Hiya.

That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to have a wee rant on Google Maps.

You mean how that voice sounds less Autotuned than most pop music these days?

 

[jrblue]

I'm guessing that TV/movie renditions of northern and Viking residences don't want to waste time showing whatever bother was involved with entering/exiting in winter. I'm sure they didn't just let the wind blow through; no one would. Very few wooden structures from those times exist, for obvious reasons (wood doesn't last; fire; more fire) so it's all guesswork. What I want to know is how all Viking women managed to come up with eyeliner, makeup, and lipstick. I'm amazed that no one has taken the cheap shot by saying that "in later years, their descendents would be hired by Henry J to do builds and QC for Gibson."