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Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a brochure from 1857. This brochure lists the departures and costs for traveling from the port of La Havre France to New York City. So, why is this in our collections? Well, our Fannie Delord Webb Hall and her husband Frank Hall were married in 1856, and went on a year long honeymoon in Europe. This must have been the schedule they got in La Havre, when they were booking their return voyage home. This brochure was found in a purse belonging to Fannie, just another souvenir from their time in Europe. The brochure is mostly in French, but there is some English sprinkled in the text to make it mostly legible for the British and American tourists. Let’s learn a bit more about Transatlantic travel in the 19th Century.

At the dawning of the 19th Century, crossing the Atlantic Ocean was quite an ordeal. Steam ships had not yet been invented, so your only option was sailing, which meant you were at the mercy of the winds. If you were lucky, you could make it across in 21 days, which was a screamingly fast journey. If you were unlucky the trip could take over a month, this would mainly be due to lack of sufficient wind. All of this changed in 1819, when the steamboat Savannah crossed the Atlantic. Originally fit out in New York as a sailing vessel, the engineer onboard also included a steam engine and a side paddle wheel. On May 24, she left the US bound for Liverpool. Her owners had so little faith that the vessel would arrive in tact that they had no passengers onboard, and zero cargo. It took her 29 and a half days to reach her destination, and the crew only used the engine for about 80 hours of the trip, due to how little coal they could carry on the Savannah. Still, this was a big deal in the history of crossing the Atlantic!

Almost 20 years would pass before another steam vessel crossed the Atlantic. In 1838 rival British and American companies deployed their top of the line steam vessels. The American ship Sirius, and the British vessel Great Western cruised across the Atlantic. The Sirius made it in 18 days, and the Great Western made it in just 15, a huge leap forward for people who were traveling across the ocean. As steam engines were improving, so were the times at which people could safely travel across the Atlantic. By 1855, it would take around 10 days, by 1880 you could make it in 7 to 8 days, and by 1920’s you could make it across the ocean in just four days. So in a hundred years time a journey that would have taken you over a month, was now down to 4 days. An incredible feat of ingenuity. Fannie and Frank’s journey likely took them around 8 to 10 days to cross. Fannie’s Mother and Father went to Europe in 1832 for their honeymoon. Thanks to a journal Fannie’s mother kept of their travels, we know that their journey across the ocean took 3 weeks! The cost listed on the brochure for a first class ticket was 730 Francs, which was the equivalent of $142 in 1857. In today’s money that ticket would cost you $4,860. A hefty price tag.

This brochure is in fair condition. The paper is quite flimsy, but given that this was meant to be something disposable, or what we would call today a throw away item, it’s actually shocking how well it’s held up. It is a glimpse into world travel in the mid 1800’s, and we are so lucky to have it in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by!

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Sunny Morning by MusicLFiles
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7813-sunny-morning
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://cemmusicproject.wixsite.com/musiclibraryfiles

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a collection of beautiful women’s caps. These lovely pieces are just a couple of caps we have in our collections. We have quite a few of them, with varying styles and decorations. These caps are made from either cotton of linen, and some have hand embroidery, lace trim, and needlework. All of them are hand sewn, as they all date before the invention of the sewing machine. Let’s learn a bit more about the history of these caps, and women’s hair covering in general.

The first writing we have on women covering their hair is from an Ancient Assyrian text dating to around the 13th Century BCE. It was a law stating that women must cover their hair when they are out in public as a sign of piety. This law only required women to wear a hair covering when the were in public though, women at home with their families did not need to wear a hair covering. This practice was popular within many countries and religions. Nations throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe required that women going out into public cover their heads with either a scarf, hat, or veil. It was considered immodest or even scandalous to go out of doors if you were an adult women without your head covered in some way. In many communities, head covering were not required for children and young adults. In Europe, throughout the Middle Ages, women’s head covering became a part of their fashions, and changed as frequently as their clothing. Again, in this period, it would have been socially and religiously unacceptable for a women of any social standing to appear in public without her head covered for modesty…… I’m looking at you THE LAST DUEL: whoever did your costuming, did you a disservice.

In the 16th and 17th Centuries in Europe and America, hats and caps were still very much in fashion, but due to elaborate hair styles, crowns and hair jewelry was also very popular. In the 18th Century we see our caps, often referred to as mob caps see their hay-day. These mostly linen caps were worn indoors, and also worn under hats and bonnets. The caps were almost always constructed of linen because the cotton gin was not invented until 1794, meaning that cotton was incredibly cost prohibitive. The mob cap is a round, gathered or pleated cloth bonnet consisting of a caul to cover the hair, a frilled or ruffled brim, and (often) a ribbon band, worn by married women in the Georgian period, when they it called a “bonnet”. Originally an informal style, the bonnet became a high-fashion item as part of the adoption of simple “country” clothing in the later 18th century. During the French Revolution, the name “Mob Cap” caught on because the poorer women who were involved in the riots wore them, but they had been in style for middle class and even aristocracy since the century began. The caps went out of style in the Victorian Period, although they were still used by certain people in the Service industry, such as house maids.

Our beautiful collection of caps or bonnets are from the late 18th to the early 19th centuries. They all have some form of wear on them, some are stained, others have fraying lace, but given that they are all over 200 years old, this is unsurprising. These pieces would have been heavily worn, so they are actually in good condition. They are a lovely glimpse into women’s fashions from well over 200 years ago, and we are so lucky to have them in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by.

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Sunny Morning by MusicLFiles
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7813-sunny-morning
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://cemmusicproject.wixsite.com/musiclibraryfiles

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another Artifact Corner. Today we will be looking at a pair of epaulettes from the American Civil War. These are a combination of materials, brass, leather, and fabric. There is also a button on the epaulettes with and eagle and crest. Inside the crest there is a capitol letter I. The I signifies that the epaulettes were worn by an officer in the infantry. So, we have a really interesting question, why are they in our collections?! We only had one family member who served in the Civil War, Frank Hall. But, Frank was a chaplain in the war, and he was never issued a military uniform. He wore civilian clothing throughout his time in the NY 16th Volunteers. So, either Frank was gifted or somehow ended up with these epaulettes, or they were donated to the museum at a later time. Let’s learn a bit more about the history of epaulettes.

An epaulette (which in French means little shoulder) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as an insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. The origin of our modern epaulettes start in the 17th Century. Military coats were decorated with bunches of ribbons, worn on the shoulders. These ribbons were partially decorative but also helped to prevent should straps from slipping. These ribbons were tied into a knot that left the fringed end free. This established the basic design of the epaulette as it evolved through the 18th and 19th centuries. Throughout the 18th Century and into the 19th Century, flexible metal epaulettes (which were often referred to as shoulder scales) were worn to designate the rank of the officer wearing them.

By 1851, in the United States the epaulettes became universally gold. Both majors and second lieutenants had no specific insignia. A major would have been recognizable as he would have worn a more elaborate epaulette, with the fuller fringes of a senior field officer. Epaulettes are fastened to the shoulder by a shoulder strap or passenten, a small strap parallel to the shoulder seam, and the button near the collar, or by laces on the underside of the epaulette passing through holes in the shoulder of the coat. The placement of the epaulette, its color and the length and diameter of its bullion fringe are used to signify the wearer’s rank. Although originally worn in the field, epaulettes are now normally limited to dress or ceremonial military uniforms. Today large metal epaulettes are not often used by the military. They have been replaced by cloth pieces that can be easily sewn in place and quickly replaced. Epaulettes have also become super popular in fashions today for both men and women. They can be a fantastic shoulder accent that can truly make any garment more chic.

Our epaulettes are in pretty amazing condition. The brass is in near mint condition, and the red leather covering the back of them is in quite good condition. The red silk and red velvet that form the shoulder piece is a bit more worn, which is to be expected as that is the part of the epaulette that would have had the most friction against the wearers uniform. These are in beautiful condition, and we are so lucky to have them in our collections, however they got here. Thanks so much for stopping by!

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Sunny Morning by MusicLFiles
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7813-sunny-morning
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://cemmusicproject.wixsite.com/musiclibraryfiles

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a letter that Betsey Delord Swetland wrote to her Granddaughter Fannie Delord Webb Hall. The letter was dated December 8, 1857, and reads as follows:

“My Beloved Child,
We have an open winter. So far the weather has been like September, only an occasional cold day. Our little bay was only frozen over Thanksgiving day. It was black with boys and girls skating, a fine sport. Next day all open and still continues open and raining today. I had rather have cold weather and snow. With the poor help I had, and not being well enough, I gave up asking Rev. Coit’s family for dinner Thanksgiving, as we always had them. I told Mr. Coit so, but as the time approached, I felt so bad about it and finally concluded to have them and do the best I could. We had a room full and made out a very nice dinner and all seemed to enjoy it. Since you left many friends calling and enquiring after you.”

Thanks to this letter, we know that the winter of 1857 seems to have been a rather mild one. Cumberland Bay was without ice and it was raining on December 8th. Betsey was 73 at the time of writing this letter, and putting on a big Thanksgiving spread would be awfully challenging, but she couldn’t let the day pass without making a big meal and inviting friends and family over to share it. I think we can all relate to that. Betsey does not state what exactly she served, but she has a couple of well preserved cook books from this time period.

In one of Betsey’s cookbooks from the 1850’s she has a really good recipe that we here at the museum have recreated. We think this could be a fantastic addition to any Thanksgiving dinner. Here it is, exactly as written:

“Stew five good sized apples, mash them fine and stir to cream two spoonfuls of butter, four of sugar, mix these with the apples, then stir in one pint of cream, half a nutmeg, grate in five crackers, and lastly beat six eggs to a froth, mix all together, beating it well, bake as a custard, and you will say it is splendid.”

The instructions are vague, which is unsurprising for recipes from the 1800’s. What do they mean by spoonful? What does, “bake as a custard mean?” If you plan to give this recipe a shot, I would use tablespoons, and bake this in a 350 degree oven for around 45 minutes, or until you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean. If you are feeling a bit lazy and don’t want to stew 5 apples, you could substitute in unsweetened apple sauce, which would work just fine.

Both the letter and cookbook give us a glimpse into life in Plattsburgh in the 1850’s, and we are so lucky to have them in our collections. From all of us at KDHM, we wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving, and we hope you are able to spend it with loved ones. Thanks so much for stopping by!

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Sunny Morning by MusicLFiles
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7813-sunny-morning
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://cemmusicproject.wixsite.com/musiclibraryfiles

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. You might notice a different voice today, and that’s because our Director who normally voices these videos is sick, and sounds like a frog. Today we will be looking at a Victorian pitcher, made sometime between 1850-1900. On the bottom of the pitcher, it has a makers mark that says “Blue Meissen,” and has L S & S and the number 27 on the bottom of it. Now if the name Meissen sounds familiar, that’s because they are one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers in the world. But our little pitcher is deceiving. This is not actually made by the Meissen company based in Germany. This was made by a British manufacturer based in England. Even by the 1850’s Meissen was a huge name in porcelain, and attaching that name to a product would absolutely add to the salability of the piece. Let’s learn a bit more about Meissen, and how they became the gold standard for European porcelain.

In the 17th Century, Europeans were all enamored with Chinese porcelain, and magical properties they believed the porcelain held. It was even said that if someone tried to poison food held in a Chinese porcelain dish, the dish would break into pieces. The first European porcelain was manufactured in Meissen in 1710, when by decree of King Augustus II the Strong. Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. From the 1720’s onward, Meissen’s work was clearly infused by Chinese and East Asian porcelain pieces. In 1720 Johann Gregor Herold became the director and in 1723 introduced brilliant overglaze colors that made Meissen porcelain famous, with an increasingly broad palette of colors that marked the beginning of the classic phase of Meissen porcelain. Throughout the 18th Century, Meissen created some of the most iconic and exquisite Rococo designs in Europe.

In the nineteenth century Ernst August Leuteritz modernized many of the rococo figurines, and reissued them, creating a “Second Rococo” characterized by lacework details (made from actual lace dipped in slip and fired) and applied flowers. In 1903, old styles were revived and reinterpreted, and eighteenth century models restored. Some appealing work in the Art Nouveau style was produced, but Meissen’s mainstay continued to be the constant production of revived eighteenth-century models. After World War II and under Communist rule, the manufacture that had always catered to the rich and wealthy had some difficulty finding its way. The danger was that Meissen would become a factory merely producing for the masses. It was not until 1969, when Karl Petermann became the director, that Meissen went back to focus on its old traditions and was also allowed a freer artistic expression. The Meissen company still produces some of the most beautiful porcelain in the world today.

Our pitcher is in quite good shape. There is crazing in the glaze, but given that the piece is well over 100 years old, this is not that surprising. The blue paint is quite vivid still, and the pattern is really lovely. It is a lovely example of Victorian European porcelain, and we are lucky to have it in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by.

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Sunny Morning by MusicLFiles
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7813-sunny-morning
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at this beautiful Victorian photo album, probably dating around the late 1860’s. This is a leather bound photo album with brass fasteners to keep the book closed, and keep the pictures from falling out. This book has a beautifully marbled paper lining, along with heavy cardstock sleeves for the photographs. This particular album has slots for 48 photographs, and an index in the front of the album, so you can label the pictures. Let’s learn a bit more about photo albums, and the people the Delord family chose to keep pictures of.

The oldest photo album in the Library of Congress in Washington DC is from the early 1850’s. Photography was becoming more commonplace and affordable in the late 1850’s and early 1860’s. With the easier availability of having pictures taken, people needed ways to collect and keep those pictures safe. Pictures were often quite small. The photos in our album are 2 inches wide and 3 ¼ inches tall, slightly smaller than a modern business card, which was a very standard size in the 1860’s. It would be hard to frame such a small picture for hanging, so an album to keep them all safe was a good storage solution.

The album mostly contains pictures of Union Civil War Generals and commanders, local government officials, and prominent New York citizens. One very interesting exception is a photograph of “Albert, Prince of Wales,” the future King Edward VII of England. There are no other foreign dignitaries in the album. So clearly, American’s fascination with the British Royal family has a long history. Prince Albert was the second child, but oldest son, of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Upon his mother’s passing, he became King Edward VII in January of 1901. This photograph was taken on February 11, 1862 when Prince Albert was 21 years old. This picture was taken in Germany while he was visiting his future brother in law, Prince Louis of Hesse. The Prince wrote about the occasion in his journal: ‘before luncheon we went through the ordeal of being photographed by Mr. Albert and the result was very successful’. We are not sure why Prince Albert’s picture is included in the album, but it’s an interesting addition.

Our Album is in quite good condition. The photographs and the card stock holders are in great condition, as it the leather binding. One of the brass clips is missing, but the other one is present and still in good working order. This is a beautiful early photo album, and a glimpse into the Delord families interests, and we are so lucky to have it in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by.

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Sunny Morning by MusicLFiles
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7813-sunny-morning
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://cemmusicproject.wixsite.com/musiclibraryfiles

Hi Everyone and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a delicate ivory fan from the Victorian period. This fan has pierced decoration along the piece as well as some beautifully hand painted flowers. This is folding fan, meaning that it can collapse on itself for ease of carrying. Each piece of ivory is held together by a small pink ribbon, which is quite fragile, thanks to over a hundred years of use. Let’s learn a bit more about the history of hand held fans.

Two of the oldest surviving fans are from the tomb of Tutankhamen and are around 4,000 years old. In ancient Egyptian these fans were called ‘shuwt’, meaning ‘shadow’ or ‘shade’, and feathers would have extended from the metal frame.These were highly prized objects in ancient Egypt. Around the same period in ancient China, they were also using hand fans. These were typically made from woven bamboo and wood. Fan design and construction in China evolved to use a variety of materials including paper, metal, leather, and feathers. Ancient Greeks and Romans also used hand fans, though almost none survive, they are portrayed in mosaics and on pottery from the time period. While the shapes, materials, and decorations for hand fans in the ancient world varied widely, all of the fans were a single piece known as a rigid fan, and not articulated.

The folding fan (Ogi) as opposed to the much older fixed or flat fan (Uchiwa) is popularly thought to have originated in Japan around 670. made of wooden or bamboo strips threaded together and secured by a rivet or pivot. The Chinese dispute this and claim that the hand fan was invented by them around the same period. Whoever invented the folding fan, it came into common use in the 7th Century. Hand fans were absent from the archaeological record in Europe during most of the Middle Ages until they were reintroduced in the 13th and 14th centuries. Fans from the Middle East were brought by Crusaders, and refugees from the Byzantine Empire. In the 18th century, fans reached a high degree of artistry and were being made throughout Europe often by specialized craftsmen. Folded fans of silk, or parchment were decorated and painted by finely trained artists, creating stunning works of practical art. Hand held fans continued to be used throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in warmer climates. Hand held fans started to decrease in popularity with the invention of mechanized fans. When electricity was commonly used in homes in the United States, people didn’t feel the need to carry hand held fans nearly as much.

Our fan is in quite good condition with the exception of the ribbon. This is most commonly the fail point on a fan, as it is the piece that handles the most stress. In the Victorian period, if the ribbon broke, you would simply remove and replace it with a new ribbon, and the fan was good as new. But, because this is an artifact, we will leave the original ribbon in place. All of the painting and decoration on the fan is in fantastic condition. The colors of the flowers are still remarkably vivid, and there is very little flaking of the paint. This is a beautiful little fan, and we are so lucky to have it in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by.

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Sunny Morning by MusicLFiles
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7813-sunny-morning
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://cemmusicproject.wixsite.com/musiclibraryfiles

Hi Everyone and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a Victorian hair wreath. Yup you heard me correctly, a wreath made of human hair. This was a fairly common practice in the Victorian period. Let’s learn a bit more about the custom of hair jewelry and decorations during the mid to late 1800’s.

So, why did this trend start? The Victorian Era was filled with morbid romantic literature, with authors like Percy Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and many more. Their works were capturing the mood of their generation. Victorian medicine was slowly working its way to modernity, but not fast enough for the array of diseases cutting people down. Life expectancy was around 40 years old for men, and 42 years for women in the year 1850, and by the year 1900 it had not risen that much, being only 45 for men and 50 for women. Loss and losing people you loved was common, and people coped with it as best they could. In 1861, Queen Victoria’s husband Albert passed away, and so began her 40 year long mourning process. Inspired by their Queen’s grief, England adopted cultural mourning practices like wearing black and creating memento moris, or items that remembered a lost loved one. It swept through the English middle and upper-classes and soon traveled abroad to other western nations. Eventually, the practice of wearing a loved one’s hair encased in a locket or brooch would evolve into the artistic, textile-reminiscent trade of making hair wreaths.

Hair wreaths were almost exclusively made by women. They were mostly made by the loved ones of the deceased as well. Most women in the Victorian period were skilled with a needle and thread and embroidery, which served them well in creating these works of art. To make a hair wreath, hair was collected from the deceased and formed into a shape. These shapes were normally natural motifs, usually flowers. They would then be woven together and added to a horseshoe-shaped wreath. The top was not connected and remained open to symbolize the ascent heavenward. The hair in the center of the wreath belonged to the most recently deceased family member; it would remain until another family member died, then be moved to the side to make room for the hair of the newly deceased loved one. Hair could also be woven into plaits or braids and made into bracelets, or placed in lockets and worn as necklaces. It was a way of keeping a physical piece of your departed loved one near you at all times.

If you are interested in learning more about Victorian death customs and practices, we have a fantastic event coming up at the end of this month. Our event called Weep No More, Victorian Mourning Customs. Step back in time with us as we explore things like our collections of hair jewelry, and discover why portraits and mirrors were covered in the home when people died. You’ll also have a chance to taste coffin cookies, and believe it or not, they are quite delicious, despite their name. There are so many other bizarre and fascinating customs as well. Tours are 4pm and 6pm on Friday, the 21st and 28th. Tours are 2pm, 4pm, and 6pm on Saturday, the 22nd and 29th. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for museum members. For more information, call 518-561-1035 or email the museum at [email protected]. This hair wreath is in fantastic condition, and is a unique glimpse at grieving and loss in the Victorian period, and we are so lucky to have it our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by, and we look forward to seeing you at the end of the month!

The following music was used for this media project:
Music: Sunny Morning by MusicLFiles
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7813-sunny-morning
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist website: https://cemmusicproject.wixsite.com/musiclibraryfiles