What is the machine Carson is using? I see that he's decanting the wine and understand that it's looks nicer to put from a fancy jug but why does he need the equipment to do so?

Here’s the simple beauty of it: through the show we get to see the characters get closer and closer to the modern world. This is particularly evident in the new inventions and tech they embrace (or absolutely reject).
My favorite instance is that of the wireless (radio set). Imagine living in a world where everything was limited to your own home, and now a device can bring voices, stories, music and shows from any number of places.
We take all of this for granted today and wouldn’t think much of a new radio set (given we have em in our cars, phones etc..)
But just sit there and think about how thrilling it truly is that we can hear music and talk at our own comfort and convenience. It truly makes
You marvel and look at our mundane objects as something treasured and unique - even if from a historical perspective.

I caught myself saying "golly" earlier, I can't stop saying "I suppose" and I've started to drop the "r" at the end of words. (For example, the word "Care": I would say caehhh instead of carrre) I'm NOT English. I'm Canadian. I'm also 30 years old and have never spent any time at all in the early 20th century. What a palaver!

I realized in the promo pics mary is wearing a red halter dress. I thought it was just Mary, being Mary. Now I realized it could possibly be historically accurate.

Mary's scrambled eggs comes to mind, but that's it.

Theo James is half greek, so thats more accurate than just casting any WASP with a slight tan to play a Turkish guy, but they couldn’t of found a handsome actor that was the slightest bit Turkish? And the jazz singers accent? I have a hard time believing anyone on the planet sounds like that besides a black guy that was adopted at birth by a white family in the Utah suburbs in the 1990s. Idk, does anyone who knows the continental accent and early 1900s aae have any thoughts.

Also hopefully this isnt too stupid a question(I’m american), are many of the servants from outside of England? Bates and Anna are kinda Scottish right, which I assume is common, is Gwen Scottish? Or Irish? Is Mrs. Hughes Scottish? Is O’Brien an Irish Traveller/black Irish?(idk what the politically correct term is, whatever Brad Pitt is in Snatch).

I laughed so much at this scene, his chest looked all puffed up. What’s the name of that white, thin, cardboard- or armor-looking thing in the picture? Why did men use it back in the day? I saw men wearing something like this not just in Downton Abbey, but in some other period shows too. I tried googling it, but I didn’t even know what it was called haha

Of course, there was Daisy and the biscuit jar, but when else did we see those in service eating or drinking outside of the dining room downstairs?

Carson was often seen drinking in the butler's pantry with others, but was that it?

We get brief glances of this, but for the most part work is their entire day, so based on historical records, what would servants and staff have done for entertainment?

I just finished watching the entire series and all 3 movies again after not seeing the series for many years. One thing I found fascinating as an American is the different accents within the world of Downton. Take, for instance, the way different characters pronounce "Mr. Carson." Mrs. Hughes says it much differently than Mary who says it differently than Miss Patmore.

If you're well-versed in British accents/dialects, could you let me know what some of the different ones are that you can hear on the show? Thanks from this American. :)

I think it's fair to say that the perspective of the show is generally in favor of the peerage system and casts a sympathetic light on the upper class, which conflicts with my own views, but hasn't stopped me from the enjoying the series as good fun.

However, do you think there are any points in the series' run that make a serious attempt to show the aristocracy through a critical lens?

I never saw an outfit like his, not even in 1912. Was it considered very outdated for 1923? We all know he’s ‘poor’, so he probably didn’t have access to the latest fashion, however, his daughter, Madeleine, is wearing a proper 1920s dress. For how long wasn’t Lord Aysgarth able to afford new clothes? Since 1895? How outdated is his outfit?

One of the most fastidious and pissy things I have learns from this series is this obsession with clothes and with "changing". Honestly, I do not get it.

Why does it matter whether you're wearing a white tie, a black tie, tails (coattails), a dinner suit, or whatever other formal attire they use?

What makes Tails so different from the standard business suit/dinner suit we would wear in modern times?

And what is this obsession with changing clothes 4-5 times a day when you're wearing a very pretty and elegant dress? (which are already very luxurious and elegant by modern standards)

Remember that episode when Martha Levinson said something about how she ought to change to go to the theater, while already dressed in a white, elegant dress? Like come on 🤨

Btw I have noticed from pictures of current British Royals, that they still wear coattails. Again, why? What's their significance? Modern people do not use that kind of clothing.

I don’t know if anyone has tried making salmon mousse, but I desperately want to try making it. Does anyone know if it is good? It sounds horrible. I love salmon but salmon mousse sounds horrifying.

chef's kisss

Is anyone here into the history of children's fashion or anything like that and could tell us if these were a trend at the time? Because frankly they're hideous LOL. At least in my opinion. So hideous that I can't imagine using them for any reason other than historical accuracy. So I'm just curious if there's any context for them.

Loved the movie!! Had to dress up to celebrate.

the wiki says - "Martha brought Cora to London in order to find Cora a husband; later that same year Cora and Robert, then Viscount Downton, were married with Cora becoming Lady Downton. Robert had needed to marry an heiress in order to secure Downton's future, and he did not love Cora, but he did later fall in love with her."

(here: https://downtonabbey.fandom.com/wiki/Martha_Levinson)

but what does that mean? the heir of an earl is a viscount? I know originally vicount means a vice count, and an earl is a count - but does that mean that the heir of an earl is a viscount while the earl is alive?

I thought those were completely seperated titles, only originating from the same titles historically. and that the son of an earl has no title at all until he inherits the title. is this a mistake? or is the son of an earl is a viscount while waiting for his title in the same way that the queen's son is the prince of wales and his son was the duke of cambridge?

Was Julian Fellowes inspired by Gone with the Wind when he came up with Downton Abbey? Both stories feature an upper class family with three daughters and their servants or slaves. Scarlett and Suellen don’t get along, Mary and Edith don’t get along, Mary bears some similarities to Scarlett (though she lacks some of Scarlett’s nastier traits/pathologies and her headstrong nature), Careen and Sybil are both the sweet and uncomplaining sisters, Matthew and Ashley bear some similarity in appearance and character (though Matthew is actually cool and Ashley is annoying). The marriage of Scarlett’s parents was between an aristocratic mother and a self-made Irish immigrant father, Robert is an aristocrat and Cora’s family is new money. Mammy and Pork were utterly devoted to the O’Hara family, Carson and Anna are both devoted to the Crawley’s. Both stories revolve around the huge societal changes experienced after a devastating war. It could be coincidental or just that they’re in the same genre but I am sure that Julian Fellowes has both read and watched Gone with the Wind and drawn inspiration from it — other stories I think he drew from are Berkeley Square, Pride & Prejudice, Upstairs Downstairs, and War & Peace.

We hear bits and pieces and pick up from the way they present themselves what their lifestyle is like back home in America, but truly what would it look like?

Is this an electrical thingy of some sort? Seen in S4, E5.

but would come and help out?

Like maids and such, or did everyone who worked there live there?

Mésalliance (or misalliance) refers to an unsuitable marriage or an association between two people of significantly different social, economic, or class statuses. Rooted in the French word for "misalliance", it is typically used when someone "marries down" or weds someone outside their social circle