MovieChat Forums > When Calls the Heart (2014) Discussion > When is this supposed to take place? 192...

When is this supposed to take place? 1920s?? Anachronisms?

posted 10 years ago by clarie
36 replies | jump to latest

I thought this was set in the 19th century... yet then the mill guy rides in on a motorcycle that looks like it was built somewhere between 1905 and 1920. And then Elizabeth gets home and discusses "the latest D.H. Lawrence novel". That places the show somewhere between 1915 and 1930. D.H. Lawrence was a child in the late 19th century, he didn't begin publishing novels until the 1910s. And then the characters regularly wear distinctly modern clothing mixed with 19th century clothing. The mountie uniform in the show dates from post-1920 as well I believe. And there's a reference to the Titanic too. Shouldn't someone, you know, have noticed that World War I has started?

So when is this supposed to take place? Apparently the 1920s??

[–] katherine5832 10 years ago

I don't watch the show, but every time I've seen previews for it, I've wondered when it's supposed to take place. I finally came here to see. Funny that the first thread I saw was this one. Even in the previews, I've noticed something seems off with the hair and clothes.

[–] ianlaws 9 years ago

I came here to ask this very thing. I don't actually watch this show but my wife does, and I couldn't help noticing that when ever I catch bits of it, it all seems to be set in different eras. I saw a part where they seemed to be using a modern camera, and in another where a man was wearing Edwardian type clothes. Then again I thought the women were dressed in 1940's fashions. I just assumed it was a show which bounced around the 20th century witnessing the life of a family or a village, but then my wife swears it's all meant to be set at the same time.
Bizarre.

[–] atomicseasoning 9 years ago

Yeah originally the show was supposed to be set about 100 yr ago in the early 1900s (1910s, pre WWI so far), but...since S2 its been a mishmash of styles with everything (especially the town now redubbed from Coal Valley to Hope Valley) suddenly pristine and the women especially dressed not very far from what's modern, upper middle class fashion today. (Especially in regard to their hairstyles most often. lol)

[–] kkovs81-212-555684 9 years ago

Years Halley's comet passed in any possible range:
(16 November 1835)
(20 April 1910)
(9 February 1986)

So it has to be 1910

[–] VIETgrlTerifa 9 years ago

I just saw this series on Netflix and I really do feel like something changed in-between season 1 and season 2. I wonder if there was a change in production or if Hallmark took more control over the series but the costumes, cinematography, lighting, and even the way the town looked changed even though most of the set and buildings stayed the same. It was as if the show got a directive to look cleaner, more polished, shiny, and add a lot more color. Not to say there would have been a difference between American and Canadian production values, but I can't help but remember when Sarah Polley left Avonlea because she felt the show was becoming too Americanized after Disney started having a heavier hand in its production, and I couldn't help wonder if something happened here.

I also find the children extras being inconsistent to be a little annoying too, though I notice they bring a the same ones back selectively after a few episodes though not at the same time.

[–] judy_white 8 years ago

The show is based on a book of the same name, written by a Canadian woman who was born in western Canada, and her story takes place in the Canadian west, starting in 1910.

[–] pd3145 8 years ago

In the latest Christmas episode, Elizabeth said she's been in Hope Valley for three years. So it should be 1913.