The Frontier House-(PBS)-My Current Obsession

During the first year of our marriage, Biceps and I were strapped for cash. We lived in a small duplex (that eventually blew up), had a musician’s lifestyle of touring, pinching pennies and being creative on dates.

And of course, this lifestyle meant no cable t.v.. We only watched what we could get with our rabbit ears.
I remember coming upon this PBS series almost 10 years ago. We were fascinated by it, and stayed up almost the entire evening watching episode after episode.

Just recently, I rented it from the library while my family was in town over Christmas. We couldn’t watch it fast enough. My mother dreamt about it, my father dissected the personalities, I coveted the lack of bra-wearing….

PBS was way ahead of its time with The Frontier House Series. The show was long before reality shows were commonplace, scripted or full of hot tub scenes.
The show stars three no-name families from various walks of life–let loose on the frontier of Montana at the peak of Spring. It sounds romantic and beautiful.

But, there’s a hitch. They had to live as if it was 1886. This meant no cell phones, dishwashers, housing (for some) or modern medicine.
The girls had to milk the cows, wash the clothes, cook the food, heat the stove..well, you get the idea.
The men were in charge of chopping the wood, building the cabins, cutting the hay….again, you get the idea.

What is so captivating about the series is watching the progression of each family and the community as a whole as each of them immerse into an 1886 lifestyle.

What the women had hoped for in the experience was thrown to the way side in order to survive. No quilts were sewn, no running through the meadows.

The men became empowered and invigorated seeing a definite end result to their hard work.

Before I tell you anymore-you should just ask your local library if it has a copy. You won’t be disappointed.