Ben Sansum, The man who lives in 1946

[Indy Magnoli]

Have you guys seen this?

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28106466

Kind regards,
Magnoli

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Neat! And good to see you posting again good sir!

 

[St. Louis]

Fascinating. There appears to be a growing subculture of people who transform their entire lives back into the golden era. Everyone here knows about Miss Jo in Amsterdam, I'm sure, but I recently also saw a video of a Japanese lady who lives in the 1920s. Does anyone have any information about that? I'd love to see it again, but unfortunately didn't bookmark it and now can't find it.

I've been trying to retrofit my life to 1939 and have been working on that for years, but some of these people make me look like a real amateur. I find Mr. Sansum's clothing, demeanor, and home very impressive. I'm sure if he went back in a time machine, no one in 1945 would notice.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Fascinating. There appears to be a growing subculture of people who transform their entire lives back into the golden era.

I know I would if I could but there's only so much you can do with a suburban cookie cutter built in 1971.

 

[2jakes]

Fascinating. There appears to be a growing subculture of people who transform their entire lives back into the golden era. Everyone here knows about Miss Jo in Amsterdam, I'm sure, but I recently also saw a video of a Japanese lady who lives in the 1920s. Does anyone have any information about that? I'd love to see it again, but unfortunately didn't bookmark it and now can't find it.

I've been trying to retrofit my life to 1939 and have been working on that for years, but some of these people make me look like a real amateur. I find Mr. Sansum's clothing, demeanor, and home very impressive. I'm sure if he went back in a time machine, no one in 1945 would notice.

[video=youtube;mxYX10AVqEg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mxYX10AVqEg#t=45[/video]



Not sure if this is the video . It's in Japanese.
You need to click "CC" close caption to understand it.

Hope this is the one you've been looking for.

 

[2jakes]

[video=youtube;684n8FO68LU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=684n8FO68LU#t=266[/video]

 

[St. Louis]

Yes, thank you! That's the one. Thanks also for the info on closed captioning. I hadn't thought of that.

I'm lucky in that my house was built in 1929, and it was mostly left intact. Unfortunately the previous owners remodeled (I call it vandalized) the vintage kitchen and now I'm left wondering whether it would make sense to retrofit it.

 

[MissMittens]

I was about to post this link, but I'm wondering, is Ben a Lounger??

 

[2jakes]

Yes, thank you! That's the one. Thanks also for the info on closed captioning. I hadn't thought of that.

I'm lucky in that my house was built in 1929, and it was mostly left intact. Unfortunately the previous owners remodeled (I call it vandalized) the vintage kitchen and now I'm left wondering whether it would make sense to retrofit it.

If I had no plans on moving . I would make the kitchen as comfortable as possible for myself.
It might be too $$$ to have it done all at once. The fun part for me would be to add as much
as possible. Except for this contraption that I'm pounding on to convey my "thoughts"...all around
me is flavored with things I enjoy most. (my 2¢)

 

[Veronica T]

.... a video of a Japanese lady who lives in the 1920s.

Not sure if this is the video.

Nice catch!

Curious that if she is the モダンガール / modan gaaru (modern girl) which is the Japanese term for flapper, she wears the kappogi in the kitchen instead of an apron.

 

[GJ nord]

he (Ben) was quite a quiet friendly lad at school, not sure if he was into such things back then mind.....

 

[tonyb]

Good to see that he shows no sign of being delusional. He knows he is a 35-year-old living in 2014. He acknowledges that his manner of dress and his household appointments aren't for everyone. He even allows how he and his partner keep separate residences.
The headline, then, is a tad misleading.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You can live in 2014 without being *of* 2014. That's what a few of us around the Lounge are doing, and I suspect this gent is along the same lines.

 

[EmergencyIan]

Here's is another video, from 2010, featuring Ben, his "40's" home and his then girlfriend. It goes into a bit more detail. Though, I'm not sure if his house is even more "40's" now then it was then. Anyhow, here it is:

[video=youtube;HL1zUcz3-rs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL1zUcz3-rs[/video]

- Ian

 

[tonyb]

My sister-in-law, my brother's widow, recently replaced the toilet original to the 1908 house she and he bought in 1975. Had he still been around, he likely would have taken it to the radiator shop to have the guts of that oak-faced tank repaired, as he had done shortly after they bought the place.

I encouraged her to repair the old tank and mount it high on the wall and tape a toy revolver behind it. Alas, the encouragement failed.

 

[ChiTownScion]

It's the labor intensive aspect of average household work that makes me not want to relive the good old days of Boe- Doe- Dee- Oh- Doe 24/7. My hats off to those who love that aspect of it, but I can't pretend that I'd enjoy working my arse off laundering, house cleaning, or cooking with quaint but inefficient appliances.

 

[Fibber Mcgee]

You can live in 2014 without being *of* 2014. That's what a few of us around the Lounge are doing, and I suspect this gent is along the same lines.

Well said

 

[Fading Fast]

It's the labor intensive aspect of average household work that makes me not want to relive the good old days of Boe- Doe- Dee- Oh- Doe 24/7. My hats off to those who love that aspect of it, but I can't pretend that I'd enjoy working my arse off laundering, house cleaning, or cooking with quaint but inefficient appliances.

If it makes him happy, more power to him. And there are absolutely some less-efficient things I like and use - old radios and fireplaces, for example - where the tactile, throwback, simpleness feels good to me versus the more-effecient modern equivalents, but I have no desire to do laundry by hand (that looked brutal in the video).

 

[herringbonekid]

Good to see that he shows no sign of being delusional.

i've never met anyone who was so obsessed with the 30s-40s that they started to believe they actually were in that era.

You can live in 2014 without being *of* 2014.

i don't believe there's such a thing as being 'of' an era you weren't born in. even if you reject nearly everything about the times you currently live in, and romanticise a bygone era, you're doing it from the present.

 

[LizzieMaine]

i don't believe there's such a thing as being 'of' an era you weren't born in. even if you reject nearly everything about the times you currently live in, and romanticise a bygone era, you're doing it from the present.

Which isn't what I said at all. To be in 2014 without being "of" it is simply a matter of rejecting the prevailing way of life and the worldview that drives it. It's the same principle as the Biblical concept of being "in" the world but not "of" the world.

But then, we've been down this road before, and it's a waste of time to go down it again. If you have to ask, you'll never know.