The Whittaker Saga - 1950s (updated 11/01)

@momelimberham I found the challenge I started with, and apparently I'm ignoring A LOT of rules in favour for good old fashioned research into the history of Louisiana and 1890s :D :D :D

The rules I've ignored and why:

• Add the Off-the-Grid lot challenge & No electricity. Use candles or lanterns to light up the house.
  A lot of the objects that should be off the grid in game, simply aren't (like the hanging gas lamp, several candles, wash basins and so on), which makes your options too few. I go for the things that look like they could be off the grid for the poorer households. However, for the richer households, electricity was increasingly common in the wealthier households in the 1890s. In Louisiana (Willow Creek) The Southwestern Brush Electric Light and Power Company was incorporated in New Orleans June 11, 1881. It stands to reason that the wealthier, and more progressive home owners would install at least some electric light.
  
  
• Outhouses required – no toilets in the home.
  The first WC was patented in the US in 1775. The idea of indoor plumbing (again for the rich only) was increasingly popular in the first half of the 1800s, and in the 1850s Chicago started working on a sewer system for the entire city. It stands to reason that some richer people would have indoor plumbing already in 1890, while those who are poor had outdoor plumbing, sometimes under horrible circumstances.
  
  
• Only wooden furniture is allowed in the house
  
• Wooden floors and walls. No drywall or wallpaper. Rugs are allowed.
  These two are just plain wrong, as we discussed before. Again, it was a matter of what you could afford. A poor family would not have wall paper, a rich person would not sit on wooden stools.
  
  
• Your sims may not throw any events besides weddings and family reunions.
  Again, ridiculous! If you've ever read Jane Austen you know that parties, balls and visits were a frequent part of social life even in the early parts of the 1800s. In the 1890s, definitely so! Again it was a matter of class, not the era. And of course you didn't throw wild dance parties with DJs or stereos, there were violinists, and piano players for the balls and guitars and home made instruments for the hay loft parties of the farmers!
  

Rules I'm intending to break:

• Vacations are not allowed, but camping is.
  Again this was a matter of class, not era. The rich started taking holidays by train during the Victorian Era. The ultimate trip was to go Europe, but that was only for the very rich.
  

I'm soon done with playing the first week of 1891 (so January and February) and will likely post an update to Abigail's story tomorrow.