History Main / YeGoodeOldeDays

-->-- ''[[ComicBook/ArchieComics Life With Archie]]'' #129

[[folder: Architecture]]
* The Gothic Revival style had been pushed far in some German restored castles, and peaked when King UsefulNotes/LudwigIIOfBavaria commissioned the building of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle Neuschwanstein Castle]] replacing an earlier ruin. It was [[AwesomeButImpractical practically unusable as a political center]] because all efforts being directed into making it as Medieval as possible. Despite this, it had little connection to anything the Middle Ages might have been and was instead more of a fairy tale setting with modern amenities such as electricity, running warm water or central heating. To round off the trope, Ludwig's design was used as the basis for the original Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland.

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', this is made into a plot point with a nascent superhero/villain calling herself Livewire believing that this was true. She brought New York into a massive blackout during an [[TooDumbToLive alien invasion]] to "bring mankind back to a purer era when they followed the moon." Superior Spiderman is quick to point out the problems.
* An Al Hartley-era ''Franchise/{{Archie|Comics}}'' [[http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics210.html comic]] has the gang transported to an idyllic 1890's small town with none of the ills of today's world...and none of the ills of the 1890's either.

[[folder: Film]]

* Nearly [[TheWildWest every Western]] ever made has immaculately clean townships, even when the characters have the appropriate sweaty, weary and dusty appearance ([[FridgeLogic which makes one wonder]] where they got that dirty in the first place). Horse dung, mud and flies, patched and ragged wooden buildings, straw on the pub floors to absorb spittle and spilled drinks and occasional drunken vomit were the norm rather than an exception in RealLife. On the other hand, it's very often {{averted}} in another manner, as the violence sometimes gets very exaggerated. Most towns had strict gun laws, requiring that visitors check them with the sheriff (perhaps the only films that shows this are ''{{Film/Unforgiven}}'', which even so has plenty of violence, and ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', in which the deputy demands that [[BigBad Buford]] checks his gun during a town fair). The bottom line is that the film version of the Wild West was both cleaner ''and'' more violent.
* ''{{Film/Timeline}}'': Marek has this view of life in the medieval era, saying people's lives had honor and purpose. The actual period shown is pretty brutal though, with little of honor. Nonetheless, he chooses to stay in the end.

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

* ''{{Series/Merlin2008}}'': Camelot is awfully cosmopolitan and clean for the Middle Ages, though the former is potentially justified by the setting being loosely (what with the castles in particular, very loosely) post-Roman Britain, which was actually very cosmopolitan - graves of highly-ranked people of North African origin, for instance, have been discovered in Britain, and a number of Roman legions (which recruited from all over the vast Empire) were garrisoned in Britain for hundreds of years, meaning that the cosmopolitanism isn't entirely surprising. The cleanliness, on the other hand, is.

-->Joel: Do you remember those days hangin' out at the village green?
-->Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans!
-->Drop a dime in the box, play a song about New Orleans!
-->Cold beer. Hot lights. My sweet romantic teenage nights!

-->John: I remember when rock was young.
-->Me and Suzy had so much fun.
-->Holdin' hands and skimmin' stones.
-->Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own.

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' took part in a reality show where they lived in a turn of the century lifestyle while their house is gassed for termites. The family had to ride Cugnot Steam Trolley to Apu's, and could only buy stuff that was sold in the era. In spite of this, largely they lived a pretty comfortable middle to upper class life. Eventually though they got ''so'' into it- even adopting the speech mannerisms and mindset of the era- that viewers grew bored. The show then gets derailed when the producers try to get more ratings through introducing a washed-up '70s TV actor (who's entirely out of place) and endangering the family by sending them and the house they're in down a river.

[[folder: Real Life]]

--> We tarried not, nor lingered long, on what we left behind:
--> The torture of that icy seat would make a Spartan sob!
--> For needs must scrape the gooseflesh with a lacerating cob,
--> Which from a frost-encrusted nail hung suspended by a string...
--> (My father was a frugal man and wasted not a thing.)

* [[UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA)]] effectively 'splits the difference' between historical accuracy and modern convenience; the unofficial slogan of the SCA is 'the Middle Ages as we'd ''like'' them to have been'. In cases where historical records are 'fuzzy' on a particular topic, or recreating a historically-documented practice would be impractical or unsafe, it's usually acceptable to create a reasonable approximation using existing historical data.

* Despite being a comedy, ''Film/UpTheChastityBelt'' plays the environmental aspects of chivalric romances remarkably straight, with no one ever beingbesmirched by their physicals exertions, whether it is in sodden England or the scorching heat of the Holy Land. TheDungAges is only invoked when needed for a particular joke.

* The glories of AncientGrome (and other pre-medieval societies) continue to hold in thrall the imaginations of a loose coalition of many ivory-tower types (tending to be the same ones who bemoan the discontinuation of Latin courses in secondary schools and even in colleges and decry [[LowestCommonDenominator the "dumbing-down" of modern culture]]), anti-Christians, and [[NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe sentimental nostalgists]] disgusted by such modern phenomena as obnoxiously beeping technology everywhere, multiculturalism[[note]]The Roman Empire was nothing if not incredibly diverse. It contained a higher percentage of people that spoke no Latin than the US today contains people that speak no English and Roman York had a higher percentage of black people than York does today[[/note]] and PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad. To hear these people talk, you'd think the Roman Empire was an ideal time for [[GoldenMeanFallacy "normal, civilized"]] people like the American middle class likes to think itself to be, with law and order courtesy of a huge standing army defending the populace from [[{{Demonization}} those murderous barbarians]], [[SceneryPorn beautiful architecture]], peaceful villas and orchards, fun-filled festivals, everyone bathing regularly unlike those [[TheDungAges filthy medieval bumpkins]] (or, for that matter, [[NewAgeRetroHippie New Age Retro Hippies]] and [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels redneck bikers]] today), folks being polite and knowing their place, and an erudite citizenry debating everything from politics to art in elevated language while wearing sexy togas, without any [[MoralGuardians cretinous Christian morality]] stifling anyone's creativity or spoiling their fun. OriginalPositionFallacy aside, there is a lot wrong with this view. It certainly doesn't help that countless plays, movies, and television shows have [[TheThemeParkVersion idealized the ancient Romans]] and other civilizations, leaving out most of the bad stuff like (in the case of the Roman Empire) widespread socioeconomic inequality (for one thing, a shockingly large number of people were on welfare, and ''not'' the "glamorous" nanny-state welfare we imagine today), an unstable parliamentary monarchical system with [[TheCaligula frequently psychopathic emperors]], an arrogant imperialist mindset that left Romans both bigoted and fatally complacent -- and the fact that [[WickedCultured while Romans were snobs, they were hardly civilized]], indulging in pornography, unusually cruel public humiliations and executions (reaching their nadir in crucifixion, of course, although the "triumph" parades were likewise degrading spectacles), and sadistic entertainments (gladiator fights to the death, slaughtering of wild animals) that made today's "Ultimate Fighting" look tame. Also, that technology ''has'' extended lifespans and made basic existence more comfortable, despite its annoyances and erosion of traditional ways. Even worse, there is the fact that these were ''slave'' societies -- in some cases, slaves made up the majority.

* UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance is often portrayed as too clean, when in reality hygiene had a marked decline in that era due to it being seen as unchristian to bathe (as in "in a bathtub") since it was an activity embraced by non-Christian societies like the Ottoman Empire, and also due to public baths being blamed for having spread ThePlague, which was blamed on people "pridefully" wanting to be clean. Taking what we call a sponge bath, with a basin and washcloth, wasn't nearly as frowned upon, and can be just as effective. Washing your ''clothes'', however, was more difficult. Modern men and women have very little idea just what women had to go through before the invention of the washing machine and dryer.

* ''{{Series/Merlin2008}}'': Camelot is awfully cosmopolitan and clean for the Middle Ages, though the former is potentially justified by the setting being loosely (what with the castles in particular, very loosely) post-Roman Britain, which was actually very cosmopolitan - graves of highly ranked people of North African origin, for instance, have been discovered in Britain, and a number of Roman legions (which recruited from all over the vast Empire) were garrisoned in Britain for hundreds of years, meaning that the cosmopolitanism isn't entirely surprising. The cleanliness, on the other hand, is.

* ''{{Series/Merlin2008}}'': Camelot is awfully cosmopolitan and clean for the Middle Ages.
** The former is potentially justified by the setting being loosely (what with the castles in particular, very loosely) post Roman Britain, which was actually very cosmopolitan - graves of highly ranked people of North African origin, for instance, have been discovered in Britain, and a number of Roman legions (which recruited from all over the vast Empire) were garrisoned in Britain for hundreds of years, meaning that the cosmopolitanism isn't entirely surprising. The cleanliness, on the other hand, is.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' took part in a reality show where they lived in a turn of the century lifestyle while their house is gassed for termites. The family had to ride Cugnot Steam Trolley to Apu's, and could only buy stuff that was sold in the era. Eventually though they got ''so'' into it- even adopting the speech mannerisms and mindset of the era- that viewers grew bored. The show then gets derailed when the producers try to get more ratings through introducing a washed-up '70s TV actor (who's entirely out of place) and endangering the family by sending them and the house they're in down a river.

* Some have gone even further back, idolizing pre-civilization and thus crossing into NobleSavage territory with their view of hunter-gatherer peoples (or foragers, as anthropologists now call them). While it's true some foraging peoples were peaceful, this was mostly the ones largely isolated who thus didn't have enemies to fight (with tragic consequences if hostile forces ''did'' find them). Many were extremely violent, with some anthropologists estimating their men on average as having a homicide rate as high as ''40-60 %'' due to endemic warfare. This may stem largely from guilt over how foraging peoples were and are treated, but it does not make such idealized conceptions of them any more correct than the opposite.

* Creator/MarkTwain wrote ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' and ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' specifically to avert this trope. It was a TakeThat against Creator/WalterScott's book ''{{Literature/Ivanhoe}}'', whose romanticizing of knights and chivalry he blamed for corrupting the antebellum South. In his view, it helped cause the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar because they clung to their culture in the face of change.

* Creator/MarkTwain wrote ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' and ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' specifically to avert this trope. It was a TakeThat against Creator/WalterScott's book ''{{Literature/Ivanhoe}}'', whose romanticizing of the Medieval knights with their code of chivalry (that in reality was mostly in principle, not practice) he blamed for corrupting the antebellum South. In his view, it helped cause the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar because they clung to their culture in the face of change.

* The Series/BBCHistoricalFarmSeries loves to avert this trope, but at the same time likes to call out misconceptions that exaggerate TheDungAges reputation of past societies.
* ''Series/TheDailyShow'' once had John Oliver try to track down when "The Good Ol' Days" ''were'', after hearing the likes of Radio/GlennBeck, SeanHannity, and Creator/BillOReilly lament their passing. He proceeded to interview people who'd grown up in each preceding decade (starting at the '70s), all of whom disproved the notion by [[LongList listing the things that were screwy]] during that period, culminating in a woman who'd lived in the '30s describing TheGreatDepression. He concluded they [[NostalgiaFilter all felt the good old days were when they'd been children]], since everything usually seems better at that point, largely because parents will go to great lengths to protect their children form poor circumstances.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' took part in a reality show where they lived in a turn of the century lifestyle while their house is gassed for termites. The family had to ride Cugnot Steam Trolley to Apu's, and could only buy stuff that was in the 1900s. Eventually though they got ''so'' into it- even adopting the speech mannerisms and mindset of the era- that viewers grew bored. The show then gets derailed when the producers try to get more ratings through introducing a washed-up '70s TV actor (who's entirely out of place) and endangering the family by sending them and the house they're in down a river.

* ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure]]'': our heroes travel to -- and pick up hitchhikers -- from ancient Greece, ancient Mongolia, and medieval Europe (among other eras), without needing to bother with unpleasant hygienic issues.
* ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'' had medieval England as a pretty nice place. It's moderately clean, and unless you stand under a window while walking down the street, you won't be covered in filth.[[note]]Watch out for the wives emptying the chamber pot![[/note]] TheProtagonist notes that his joust helmets smell something awful. Both the princesses are perfectly clean, but then again, ''they're princesses''.

Many champions of preindustrial living are not stupid: they are well aware of the more unsavory aspects of those past eras. Their stance is that those problems weren't extremely bad or were suffered by only a minority of people, or even that those who indulged in degrading practices were [[NoTrueScotsman not]] ''[[NoTrueScotsman true]]'' [[NoTrueScotsman exemplars of those societies]] and were ruining the social standards for everyone else.

->'''Archie''': I still don't understand how we all got here to Nostalgia Land!
->'''Jughead''': Me neither -- but I'm having a ball!

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' took part in a reality show where they lived in a turn of the century lifestyle while their house is gassed for termites. The family had to ride Cugnot Steam Trolley to Apu's, and could only buy stuff that was in the 1900s. Eventually though they got ''so'' into it, even adopting the speech mannerisms and mindset of the era, that viewers grow bored. The show then gets derailed when the producers try to get more ratings through introducing a washed-up '70s TV actor (who's entirely out of place) and putting the family in danger by sending them and the house they're staying down a river.

* Nearly [[TheWildWest every Western]] ever made has immaculately clean townships, even when the characters have the appropriate sweaty, weary and dusty appearance ([[FridgeLogic which makes one wonder]] where they got that dirty in the first place). Horse dung, mud and flies, patched and ragged wooden buildings, straw on the pub floors to absorb spittle and spilled drinks and occasional drunken vomit were the norm rather than an exception in RealLife. On the other hand, it's very often {{averted}} in another manner, as the violence sometimes gets very exaggerated. Most towns had strict gun laws, requiring that visitors check them with the sheriff (perhaps the only film that shows this is ''{{Film/Unforgiven}}'', which even so has plenty of violence). The bottom line is that the film version of the Wild West was both cleaner ''and'' more violent.

* UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance is often portrayed as too clean, when in reality hygiene had a marked decline in that era due to it being seen as unchristian to bathe (as in "in a bathtub") since it was an activity embraced by non-Christian societies like the Ottoman Empire, and also due to public baths having spread ThePlague, which was blamed on people "pridefully" wanting to be clean. Taking what we call a sponge bath, with a basin and washcloth, wasn't nearly as frowned upon, and can be just as effective. Washing your ''clothes'', however, was more difficult. Modern men and women have very little idea just what women had to go through before the invention of the washing machine and dryer.

* TheRenaissance is often portrayed as too clean, when in reality hygiene had a marked decline in that era due to it being seen as unchristian to bathe (as in "in a bathtub") since it was an activity embraced by non-Christian societies like the Ottoman Empire, and also due to public baths having spread ThePlague, which was blamed on people "pridefully" wanting to be clean. Taking what we call a sponge bath, with a basin and washcloth, wasn't nearly as frowned upon, and can be just as effective. Washing your ''clothes'', however, was more difficult. Modern men and women have very little idea just what women had to go through before the invention of the washing machine and dryer.

* Discussed and ultimately defied in ''(Re) Vive l'Empereur!'' After getting a taste of life in 2015 France and discovering that quite a lot of people are nostalgic of his reign, NapoleonBonaparte more or less calls them deluded, saying that if they are so unhappy in their own time, they won't be happier in any other era.

* ''Series/TheDailyShow'' once had John Oliver try to track down when "The Good Ol' Days" ''were'', after hearing the likes of GlennBeck, SeanHannity, and Creator/BillOReilly lament their passing. He proceeded to interview people who'd grown up in each preceding decade (starting at the '70s), all of whom disproved the notion by [[LongList listing the things that were screwy]] during that period, culminating in a woman who'd lived in the '30s describing TheGreatDepression. He concluded they [[NostalgiaFilter all felt the good old days were when they'd been children]], since everything usually seems better at that point, largely because parents will go to great lengths to protect their children form poor circumstances.

Ye Goode Olde Days comes into play when a historical or quasi-historical work makes things much nicer than they would really have been. Usually it stems from only partly Doing The Research: they might get the big stuff right -- authentic plate armour, the right kind of architecture, all that -- but the details of life in the past can be lost. So the farm village has nicely kept gravel paths, and everyone in the medieval village lives in a lovely half-timbered house with two bedrooms and a stone fireplace. The Renaissance maiden never gets mudstains on the train of her beautiful gowns, the Roman Senator has magnificent pearly white teeth, there's no infant mortality unless the plot requires it, no one ever needs to empty a chamberpot, and horses never take a dump in the street. It falls somewhere between subtle nostalgia and outright hilarity when dealing with ages closer to modernity, like the RoaringTwenties being an age of wild parties and shiny classic cars for ''everyone'' and not just the upper classes, or the [[SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Stalinist Soviet Union]] being a nice place where people happily work, [[VodkaDrunkenski drink]], have fun and never have to worry. In short, it's {{Disneyfication}} of history.

-->--''[[ComicBook/ArchieComics Life With Archie]]'' #129

* ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'' had medieval England as a pretty nice place. It's moderately clean, and unless you stand under a window while walking down the street, you won't be covered in filth [[note]] (watch out for the wives emptying the chamber pot!) [[/note]]. TheProtagonist notes that his joust helmets smell something awful. Both the princesses are perfectly clean, but then again, ''they're princesses''.

So said LP Hartley at the start of his novel ''The Go-Between''. Any prospective time travelers should also add the following: "make sure you get your shots before you go -- and ''don't drink the water''. Also, pack your own toilet paper!" The fact is that while we like to think that the past was just like the modern day but with funny hats and folk music, many of the things we take for granted just weren't common -- or even available -- back then.