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Hi Everyone and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at these two beautiful cameos. Cameos were a favorite of Fannie Delord Webb Hall, and we have dozens in our collections. The first cameo is not set in anything, meaning it’s not something that can be worn. It may have been set jewelry at some point, but was removed from the setting. The second cameo is one of a set of earrings. It is set in gold, and has leaves and vines surrounding the cameo. The earring is also for pierced ears, which helps us to date it as Mid 1800’s. Both cameos are in great condition. Let’s learn a bit more about the history of cameos.

The cameo is usually a gem, having two different colored layers, with the figures carved in one layer so that they are raised on a background of the other. The first cameos were made about 3,000 BCE. Cameos have been found in Egypt, Summeria, Greece, and Rome. The subject of most of the cameos from this period are mythological and are often referencing their gods and goddesses. This is a roman cameo from around the 1st century BCE, and depicts a nymph riding a centaur. This is carved from sardonyx, a common stone used for carving cameos. Sardonyx is a type of agate whose banding is straight and runs parallel, making it perfect for carving cameos. Other materials that were popular at the time for carving cameos were carnelian shell, which is a lovely peachy color, Mother of pearl, which makes a bluish grey cameo, and a variety of colors of agate. Some cameos were carved of glass, which was considered the cheap version of this popular trend, and therefore made cameos affordable for anyone who wanted them.

Cameos fell out of favor after the fall of the Roman empire, and throughout the Middle Ages, but became incredibly popular again in the Renaissance period. During the Renaissance, Pope Paul II was an avid cameo collector. His passion for cameos may have led to his death, at least that was a rumor that was bandied about at the time. His excessive display of carved gems and stones on his fingers kept his hands so cold that he caught a chill that caused his death. This is in fact not true, he died of a heart attack in July of 1471. But, his affection for cameos must have been a very well known fact for that rumor to survive to this day. Queen Elizabeth I was also a big fan of cameos, and many of the women in her court wore them to curry favor with her and as symbols of wealth. Cameos remained popular in the 17th and 18th Centuries, but the era that is most well known for cameo collection is the Victorian period. Queen Victoria was an avid cameo collector, as was Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon actually founded a Parisian apprentice school to foster the talents of young cameo carvers. And, just like today, people wanted to copy the celebrities of their day, and so cameo collecting became very widespread. Cameos are still popular in modern jewelry, and certain celebrities continue to don these stunning works of art. Cate Blanchett often rocks this fashion trend.

Fannie Delord Webb Hall was very much a modern Victorian woman. She was fascinated by medicine, travel, and cameos. After she and her husband were married they spent over a year traveling through Europe on their honeymoon. Many of the cameos we have in our collections are likely from this period. Most of them depict figures, but we do have some that depict scenes and buildings, another common theme of cameos at the time. These two cameos are in beautiful condition, and would still be considered fashionable today. We are so lucky to have these beautiful pieces in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at this beautiful late Victorian coffee grinder. This piece is made of cast iron, and has a substantial weight to it. Perfect for setting on a table top and grinding coffee beans. This piece is also decorated with red black and gold paint. This piece was made by the Swift Mill Lane Brothers based in Poughkeepsie, NY. In 1845, Beriah Swift built a factory in Millbrook, New York to manufacture his own patented coffee mill, partnering with his cousins William and John Lane under the name Swift and Lane in 1855. The firm became the Lane Brothers in 1866. It is a very easy to use machine, simply slide the top to the side, pour in your beans, and turn the wheel. The ground coffee drops into the little tin container below, and viola, you have coffee. Let’s learn a bit more about the history of coffee.

Coffee originated in Ethiopia, and was first exported out to surrounding areas in the 15th Century by Somali merchants. Sufi monasteries in Yemen employed the beverage as an aid to concentration during prayers. By the 16th Century coffee had made it’s way through the Middle East, India, Northern Africa, Europe and South East Asia. The word coffee entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch word, koffie, spelled k-o-f-f-ie. This comes from the Ottoman Turkish word Kahve, spelled k-a-h-v-e. Coffee’s popularity continued to flourish anywhere it was introduced.

Coffee was first introduced to the Americas in 1720. Gabriel de Clieu brought a few small coffee seedlings to Martinique in the Caribbean. The little seedlings flourished and in just 50 years the handful of coffee plants had grown to around 18,700 healthy plants. On December 16, 1773, a group of American colonists gathered at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston to protest what they saw as “taxation without representation.” The colonist dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. This first act of defiance was widely publicized throughout the colonies, and drinking tea was considered unpatriotic. But, people still wanted a caffeinated beverage in the mornings, and so, coffee became the drink du jour for Americans. Coffee continued to be popular throughout the 1800’s. During the American Civil War, each Union soldiers were allotted 36 pounds of coffee per year in their rations. In 1864, Pittsburgh-born brothers John and Charles Arbuckle began selling pre-roasted coffee by the pound, getting rich by selling it to cowboys in the West. James Folger, who sold coffee to gold miners in California, also saw great success. Several other big name coffee brands, including Maxwell House and Hills Brothers, quickly followed suit. The love of coffee continued into the 20th Century as well. In America we consume about 400 million cups of coffee per day, making us the leading coffee consumer in the world.

This coffee grinder is in fantastic condition. Most of the paint is in tact, and the the gears still move freely. The coffee tin even still has ground coffee in it. The Delord Hall family was heavily involved in the Temperance movement, and therefore, no alcohol was served in their house. But, coffee was plentiful! If you’re a coffee lover, let us know what your favorite coffee is! And as always, thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at these beautiful ice skates from the early Victorian era. These skates are a combination of wood, brass and steel. The base is made of wood, the heel cap and the hardware surrounding the blade is made of brass, and the blade of the skate itself is made of steel. There are also five steel spikes sticking up from the base of the skate. These were meant to be worn with your existing boots, which would have had a heavy leather sole. The small steel spikes would help you keep the skate in place. These also would have had leather straps tied around them, to keep your shoes from slipping. The steel runners are flat, so there have been no edges cut into them. For a modern skater trying these out today, I’m sure they would be very difficult to use. Let’s learn a bit more about ice skating, and winter in the north country.

Ice skating dates back about 4,000 years to Finland as a way to save energy for long winter travels across ice. Ice skating spread in popularity through Northern European countries, mostly as a way to speed up travel and less as a leisure activity. That was not the case in China. During the Song Dynasty, which lasted from 960 to 1279, the royal family enjoyed ice skating as a sport and entertainment. In Europe, in the 13th & 14th Centuries the Dutch added edges to their skates, which allowed them more control on the ice. By the 17th & 18th Centuries in the colder European countries, ice skating was still used as a means of travel, but was also becoming more or a leisure activity for people. In England, when the river Thames froze over, it was very common to see dozens of people out skating and enjoying themselves. In Edinburgh Scotland, they organized their first formal skating club in the early 1740’s. Ice skating spread to America with the influx of northern Europeans, but was mostly a sport enjoyed by men. That is until the women’s fitness movement during the Victorian era, when ladies wanted more outdoor pursuits.

We have a lovely example of this from an article in the Plattsburgh Republican dated, January 21, 1860. It reads as follows:
“Skating is a great institution in these cold regions of the North, which are frozen up nearly half the year. The Lap’lander, the Norwegian, the Swede and the Russian make skating a national business. The Russian ladies all skate and the great Empress Catherine was a first rate skater. The ladies of Boston, and Albany, and New York are great skaters, and by another winter we shall have some first rate skaters here. Let us out upon the ice! Make the skates ring and the ice fly – only be careful and don’t bump our heads!”

Winters in Plattsburgh often meant a couple of months where Lake Champlain was frozen over, and recreational activities could be indulged on the ice. Ice skating became an incredibly popular winter activity for both men and women!

Our ice skates are in fantastic condition. There are a few scrapes on the wood, and there is some light rust on the steel of the skate, but that is to be expected. These skates are between 150 to 200 years old, so small signs of wear and some surface rust are minor to their overall condition. These are beautiful examples of early Victorian sports equipment, and give us a glimpse into winter recreation in the North Country. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at three portraits by the same artist. All of these portraits were painted sometime in 1818, and are of Henry Delord, Betsey Delord, and their daughter Frances Henrietta. All of these paintings were done by the artist Abraham G. D. Tuthill, an early American portrait painter. Let’s learn a bit more about Abraham Tuthill.

Abraham Tuthill was born in 1776 in Oysterponds, NY. Oysterponds has been renamed since the 18th Century, and is today called Orient, NY. It’s the very tip of one of the peninsulas off Long Island. Not much is known about his childhood, except that his family were well connected. It was clear that he showed an aptitude for painting, and that with some instruction, he could become a very good painter. As a young man he came to the attention of Sylvester Dering of Shelter Island who recommended him to a relative, William Broome, of New York. Broome was an artist himself, and a mover and shaker in New York Cities arts scene. He knew that if Abraham was to succeed as an artist he needed formal training in Europe. Broome reached out to some of his wealthier friends, seeking funding to send Abraham to study art abroad. Among the patrons that funded his studies were Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and George Clinton. I’m sure Hamilton and Burr’s names are familiar to you, but George Clinton was a huge name in late 18th Century America. He fought in the Revolutionary War, was a delegate to the Continental Congress, Governor of NY, and Vice President of the United States. Thanks to these men and others, Tuthill set sail for England in 1800 to study under the American born painter Benjamin West.

West was a very famous British-American painter who caught the attention of King George III. He was appointed historical painter to the court and surveyor of the King’s pictures. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Royal Academy of the Arts in London, and served as its second president. Many history fans will know this work, one of his most famous, depicting the death of General Wolfe. He also painted the death of General Nelson and the Treaty of Paris. If you have not seen his works, we highly recommend checking them out. Abraham’s talents developed under West’s tutelage, but he never attained the level of artistry that West had achieved. Tuthill remained in England until 1808, and upon his return, he began painting all over New York. He traveled out west to Utica, Northern New York, and Vermont. He also worked in New York City, where he had a small studio. Tuthill ended up settling in Montpelier, VT, and that’s where he passed away in 1843. His works are in many museums and historical societies collections around New York.

After these portraits were painted, Henry Delord sent them to France, so that his sister, Julie could see his family. He had not seen his family in France for almost 20 years, and wanted them to know he had done well for himself in upstate New York. Henry had hoped to return to France himself, but passed away before he was able to. His daughter, Frances Henrietta eventually made it to the ancestral home in Nismes France, and was able to send these three portraits back to Plattsburgh. We are so lucky to have these portraits in our collections. The painting of Henry is the only likeness we have of him, and so is invaluable for our museum! The portraits are all in excellent condition, and we are so lucky to have them in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Happy 2022! We will be starting out the new year with this beautiful pocket watch. This is a swing out case pocket watch, and the case is made of sterling silver. This clock was made by the American Waltham Watch Company, based in Waltham, Massachusetts. When doing the research for this video, I found that in our accession materials, it was labeled that this clock had “no opening in back or front.” This meant that they were not able to see the serial number, or any of the other information on the watch. It seems like this case stumped our previous collections crew, and to be perfectly honest, it did for us as well. Thankfully, there are wonderful videos online to explain how to open all sorts of pocket watches. In order to access the inner workings of this clock you need to carefully unscrew the glass, and then gently pull up on the stem. This should release the movement section of the watch, and it swings out, hence the name. Let’s learn a bit more about the American Waltham Watch Company.

The company was founded by David Davis, Aaron Dennison, and Edward Howard, in 1850 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Their goal was to make affordable quality pocket watches for the masses. Production began for them in 1851, but the first watches from the company did not hit the market until 1853. In the same year, the company was renamed, “The Boston Watch Company.” Over the next seven years the company went through a number of owners and name changes. In 1860 it became the “American Watch Company”. In 1861, the American Civil War began. The business came to an almost stand still, and the company looked poised for bankruptcy. The company downsized, and operated at bare bones levels, and managed to keep going through the war. According to the biography by Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln owned and carried a Waltham “Wm. Ellery” watch. The company continued to make watches and later clocks until 1957, when they ceased production altogether. It is still possible to purchase modern quartz watches that bear the Waltham name, but these watches are unrelated to the “genuine” American Waltham Watch Company. In fact, a 1961 ruling by the Federal Trade Commission prohibited any inference that a relationship to the original Waltham Watch Company exists.

In doing the research for this video, it highlighted something that museums need to contend with all of the time when evaluating their collections. Not every person can know every thing about every type of object. We here at KDHM have thousands of artifacts in our collections, and we have a few people who work directly with these pieces. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Samantha, and I am the museum director for KDHM. This allows me close access to artifacts, and I am quite good at dealing with metals, jewelry, clothing and textiles, and some fine art pieces. Does that make me an expert on Edwardian watches? Not at all. But, with careful research and using trusted sources, anyone can learn a great deal about an object. We’ll be discussing more about how deal with our collections in upcoming videos this year.

This beautiful, and still functioning watch was made in 1923. We now know this thanks to the serial number on the watch’s movement. The case and the stem have some wear on them, which is very common with item that are worn and handled many times a day. Overall this piece is in very good condition, and we are so lucky to have it in our collections. All of us at KDHM wish you a happy and healthy New Year! And as always, thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at this adorable children’s toy. This toy is made from paper mache, with a whimsical scene of kid’s toys along the side of the piece. It is red overall, with a metal crank, topped with a red painted wooden knob. When you crank the handle, the box plays a song. Now, try as we might, none of us could figure out the small tune it plays. It has a paper tag attached to it, which states that this was a gift for a little girl named Ellen. This piece is early 20th Century in date, and was likely a Christmas present. Let’s learn a bit more about music boxes, and mechanical music making pieces.

So, how does a music box work? Musical boxes are mechanical musical instruments that produce sound when tuned prongs are plucked by a revolving cylinder. The deeper the teeth or tuned prongs are cut into the comb, the lower the pitch that is produced. The more shallow the teeth, the higher the pitch. The first mechanical musical instrument was invented by a pair of brothers in what is today Baghdad, Iraq, in the 9th Century. They invented a hydropowered organ which payed interchangeable cylinders. In the 13th Century in Flanders a bell ringer invented a cylinder with cams attached that would then move to ring different bells at different times. In 1665, a clockmaker in London designed a clock that would strike a series bell every quarter hour, again using a cylinder. He also made it so that the cylinders could be changed, so it would play a different tune.

The real heyday of mechanical musical boxes comes in the 18th Century. In the 1760’s watch makers in London began to create watches with a pinned drum playing popular tunes on several small bells arranged in a stack. This meant that you could literally carry a tune in your pocket. This might seem like a small and even rudimentary thing to us today, given that we carry a device in our pockets that allows us to play any song in the world. But, imagine how magical it must have been for someone 260 years ago to hear music coming from their watch?! In 1796 Antoine Favre-Salomon, a clockmaker from Geneva replaces the stack of bells by a comb with multiple pre-tuned metallic notes in order to reduce space. This combined with a horizontally placed pinned barrel produces more varied and complex sounds. Music boxes continue to grow in popularity straight through the 19th Century, until 1877 when Thomas Edison invents the phonograph. This invention allowed people to hear their favorite singers actual voices, or their favorite musicians as if they were in the same room. Edison’s amazing invention spelled doom for the music box. By the 1920’s & 1930’s most music box manufacturers had either gone out of business or scaled down their production dramatically as demand had dwindled.

Our little toy was created at the end of the craze for music boxes. Manufacturers stopped creating high priced items for adults, and decided to make far less complicated items for children. This piece is in lovely condition, with very little wear, which is rare for a children’s toy! Most of the time they were heavily used, and therefore in poor condition, and often discarded. It is a wonderful glimpse into the early 20th Century, and we are so lucky to have it in our collections. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Also, Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Kent Delord House museum. We took a look through the Delord family letters to see if they specifically mentioned Thanksgiving. We only have one letter that survives from Betsey Delord Swetland to her Granddaughter Fannie, that she wrote in 1855. The letter reads as follows:

My beloved child,
Thanksgiving Day I had all Mr. Coit’s family but Henry Coit and Lucy Ann’s family to dinner, ten besides your grand father and myself. We had a large roast turkey, a boiled turkey with oyster sauce, fricassee chicken with toast and white gravy, a variety of vegetables, apple and pumpkin pie, Snow Ball apples & grapes; to finish off, a strong cup of coffee. I wish you had been here. They seemed to enjoy it. Nichols and Lynde have met with a loss. Their canal boat was swamped in a high wind. A great number of hogs heads of sugar, molasses &c. rolled off in the lake. The boat filled and wet all their other goods with Mrs. Nichol’s furniture. They have insurance upon the whole, but the loss of sale must be great. Mr. Nichols and Mr. Lynde are going to N.Y. for more goods. A day or two since I was walking to the village and Mr. Lynde overtook me. He inquired if I had heard from you and if you got home well. He said he should have called oftener, but that it was very painful to him and he must try and forget [you]. Our little bay is frozen over and fill’d with boys skating. Do cheer my heart by writing more frequently.
Your loving g. mother. E. Swetland

The meal sounds familiar to us, even 170 years later, with only a couple of exceptions. I think I might take a pass on the boiled turkey in oyster sauce, but maybe that’s just me.
I think every American knows the story of the first Thanksgiving when the pilgrims and the local Native Americans, the Wampanoag, gathered together to share a feast of thanks for a good Autumn harvest, and the peace treaty they had agreed upon. Initially the holiday was celebrated mainly in the North East, but slowly began to spread across the country when people began to move West, and brought the tradition with them. Thanksgiving becoming a national holiday is largely due to one woman, Sarah Jospeha Hale. Sarah was the editor of the magazine Godey’s Lady Book, and she campaigned for Thanksgiving to become a formal holiday that would be recognized by the nation. Sarah Hale is a fascinating woman who was not only an influential editor & activist, but also talented author, and guaranteed you know one of her works. Sarah Hale wrote the children’s nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb, a classic in American literature. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. All of Sarah’s hard work and petitioning had paid off.

From that time on, Thanksgiving has been celebrated on the last Thursday in November. Traditional fare for the meal includes a turkey, vegetables, and of course, some pumpkin pie. No matter what you serve today, we hope you have a beautiful meal surrounded by family and loved ones. Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com