Scenes from Sturbridge: A Glimpse into 1830s New England Life

In between camp duties and Rev War programming during Redcoats and Rebels weekend, I was able to snatch a bit of time to visit a good portion of the buildings that make up Old Sturbridge Village.  For those of you unfamiliar with the site, OSV, located in Sturbridge, MA, is one of the largest living history museums in the country.  It began as the vision of a single local family with a passion for history and collecting antiques; as their collection grew larger, so did the germ of the idea to construct a site worthy of displaying and sharing their valuable antiques with the public.

Slowly, building by building, the family began to collect 18th- and early 19th-century structures to both house their collection and to serve as demonstration platforms to preserve and teach early industrial New England trades and crafts.  Most of the buildings that make up OSV are thus not original to the site, but have been carefully moved there and restored to help bring to life the small village feeling so representative of rural New England during the first four decades of the 19th century.  The village contains a meetinghouse, several general stores, a gristmill and sawmill, numerous trade sites, a working farm, gardens, and a number of private homes of all sizes.  Costumed interpreters share stories of early American life while performing the work (and play!) of the village's 1830s citizens.

If you're interested in reading more about OSV's long and fascinating history, they have an excellent essay on it on their website here.

What follows is something of a photo essay of some of the domestic interiors and work spaces I encountered on my journey around the village.  The exhibit spaces - particularly the domestic ones - are beautifully staged to speak eloquently about the lives of those who once occupied them and called them home.  Everywhere you look, there are "personal" touches and details that make the museum experience extra special and even more memorable.

The Parsonage

Situated on the village green, this c1748 house was moved from its original location in eastern MA to its new home in 1940, where it now interprets the typical home of a New England minister.

The Salem Towne House

From its perch at the foot of the green, the 1796 Salem Towne House's imposing size and elegant architecture commands the admiration of all who pass by.  In the 1820s and 1830s, it was the home of Salem and Sally Towne and their large family.  The rooms of the house now interpret the family life of this well-to-do businessman, with toys strewn about the parlor and fashionable furniture and decorative pieces gracing its rooms.

The Freeman Farmhouse

Original to the town of Sturbridge, this 1808 farmhouse was relocated to OSV in 1950 to interpret New England farm life of the 1830s.  As a fully-functional farm with multiple barns to house animals and extensive fields in which to cultivate crops common to the central MA location, the Freeman farm site recreates the natural and seasonal rhythms of rural, pre-industrial daily life.

Additional photos from around OSV can be found on this flickr set.  Ashley also posted photos and further information from one of her previous visits in an earlier post, which you can find here.  If you're interested in learning more about these buildings or about visiting Old Sturbridge Village, be sure to visit their website!

Threaded Bliss

"Krasse" Cotton Print Working-class Jacket,
1760-1775

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, August 2013.
Photo by TMW.

The pattern: Because my fabric is dated quite specifically to 1761, I of course wanted to select a jacket style that reflected the 1760s .  At the same time, however, because my reenacting events (for the moment, anyway!) are so firmly within the Rev War period, I also wanted a style that was still current and fashionable during that later decade as well.  My thought behind this was that, as a camp-following lady, I've unpicked an old gown - perhaps one I inherited from my mother or purchased second-hand - and re-purposed the skirt panels to create a jacket in a style as functional and fashionable as was possible for me, a working class woman, to achieve.

The pattern I chose was thus the all-purpose and ever-trusty jacket from Janet Arnold, which I've used twice before for myself with my dark indigo linen jacket and my Christmas cranberry cassimere jacket, and once before with Ashley's goldenrod linen jacket.  I keep returning to it over and over because it's so comfortable and flattering and it's a breeze to put together.  Speaking of which...

Construction details: As I mentioned in the previous cranberry jacket post, the construction techniques and the process used to create this jacket are more or less identical to those used on the blue chintz jacket.  Since those have all been fully outlined in the jacket tutorial, I won't waste any space here reiterating any of the meticulous details here.

The front of the jacket, sans stomacher.

For those of you who haven't read the previous posts or just want a more general explanation of the construction characteristics, here are the basics.  The jacket body is sewn together using lapped seams; although this is not the technique used on the specific jacket on which this one is based, it was used on multiple contemporaneous extant examples and is thus fully documented.

One of the side-back seams, lapped and topstitched down.

The bottom half of the sleeves are set into the armscyes and these are sewn in with backstitches.  The top of the sleeves are then fitted into place with pleating while on the body to ensure a smooth and accurate fit.  Shoulder straps are topstitched over the cap of the sleeve to cover the raw edges.  Inside, the armscye is left unfinished, as was typical of the period.

A view of the shoulder strap from the back, topstitched into place.

The unfinished armscye in an interior shot.

One of my favorite features of this jacket is its full skirt, which drapes so nicely whether it's worn plain, as in this case, or over a bum roll (as in many of the pictures of Ashley's goldenrod jacket).  When worn without skirt supports, it has a habit of falling into quite perfect inverted pleats.

You can get an idea of how full the skirt of the jacket is when it's laid out flat.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, August 2013.

Just as in the case of the cranberry jacket, I altered the original pattern again so that this jacket too closes over a triangular stomacher.  I'm not overly fond of center-front closing jackets on myself (they look lovely on Ashley, though!), but I really like the stomacher look - despite the pain in the neck it always is to pin it into place when bleary-eyed at 7am!  I'm considering adding lacing holes to this one before I wear it next.  What do you think?  Or should I leave it as it is?

The fabric: This is the "Krasse" print from Duran Textiles.  The website indicates that this design is copied from a block-printed cotton that lines a Danish christening gown dated to 1761.

"Krasse" from Duran Textiles, dated to 1761.

The fabric is ideal for creating a working-class garment for Rev War purposes.  The cotton is of a medium weight with a weave that is noticeably coarser than the very fine, tight cotton textiles produced by Wagenmakers or US high-quality quilter reproduction fabric companies.  Its simple tri-tone colorway - a cranberry-red, grey-brown, and black - also marks it as a less expensive print of the sort that was common to the working classes of the 1760s through the early 1780s.  In weave and colorway, it's thus quite close to a number of the samples we saw amongst the textile tokens at the Threads of Feeling exhibit recently.

At Redcoats and Rebels 2013.

Photo taken by Frank Cabral, used with kind permission.

Finishing the look: Although I finished this jacket back in June, I wore it for the first time this past weekend at Redcoats and Rebels at OSV.  To complete the working class/campfollower look, I paired it with a red linen petticoat, a white window-pane checked neck handkerchief, and an indigo cross-barred linen apron.  A white linen cap, my new favorite silk-trimmed hat, and my trusty pinball and scissors completed the ensemble.  Everything, as always, is worn over a linen shift, fully-boned worsted stays, a set of pockets, and a linen underpetticoat.

The camp-following look, complete with sunburn and soot-stained apron!

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, Augus 2013.

Additional photos of this project can be found in its flickr set.

Redcoats and Rebels 2013

Our unit returning to camp from Saturday's battle.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

This past weekend was Old Sturbridge Village's 11th annual "Redcoats and Rebels" weekend, when the 1830s village gives way to the Revolutionary War years of over 50 years past to host the largest New England reenactment of the year.  Our unit has been attending this event for as long as it has been running (see Ashley's posts from years past), but this was the first time I've personally been able to make it, and I had a splendid time.  Of course I missed Ashley; it still feels strange attending events without her, since reenacting has always been our "sister time" together.  She couldn't make the long trip from her new home to attend the weekend's festivities, and everyone in our unit noticed her absence and expressed regret at it...though that was typically swiftly followed by a qualification that no one should feel too bad that Ashley was missing the fun, since she does get to play in the 18th century every day for "work" now...;-)  So because this was the first big event that we've missed being at together, this extra-long post is as much for Ashley as it is for general blogging purposes!  :-)

The British encamped on the village green.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Another view of the British camps with the Union Jack flying high.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

I drove up to OSV (too early) on Saturday morning with a couple of other ladies of the distaff and arrived bright and early to settle into the camp that had already been completely set up the evening before by some of our most dedicated and diligent members.  The morning was warm and sunny, so after helping to tidy up after breakfast (which we just missed, alas!), we sat under the kitchen fly catching up with everyone. 

Our camp at Sunday nooning.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Photo by TMW.

The view of one side of our camp from the road.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Photo by TMW.

This year, we had a fantastic location in the School House Field, right on one of the main paths between the town green and the farm fields in which the larger military demonstrations took place, so the visitor foot traffic through our camp came in an unrelenting stream of dozens of people at a time throughout the weekend.   To a group like ours, full of people who love to talk (and love even more to talk about the hobby and history we're so passionate about!), the chance to interact with hundreds of friendly and inquisitive visitors is what makes an event like this extra special and even more fun than our usual battle reenacting weekends.  I loved seeing so many families learning together, with kids visiting in mom-made costumes, eyes bright as they discovered a new (old) game or tried on a hat for a memorable picture as they asked questions about what we were wearing.

C preparing the spinach salad for Saturday's dinner.
Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Preparing Saturday dinner for 35 hungry souls.
Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Mistress M, who oversaw the food planning and preparation for the weekend,

did an incomparably splendid job, as always.  Thanks again for all your hard work!

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

After preparing and eating dinner, several of us ladies headed over to the "Runaway Runway" to partake of one of the cleverest and more humorous activities on the schedule.  Hosted by the Ladies of Refined Taste, the "Runaway Runway" is precisely what it sounds: a fashion show of working-class clothing with models dressed to replicate descriptions from 1770s runaway advertisements.  And who should I happen upon as we went into the show, but two of the models themselves - none other than the delightful Miss Emily (of Emily's Vintage Visions) and her finance!  We didn't get much of a chance to chat before the show, but spent some time afterwards catching up with each other.  And we also finally got our picture together!  Despite collective weeks spent together over the past few years while working on our shoes and everything, we had never managed to get a "formal" picture before, so here it is!  Unfortunately, it had to be sans Ashley this time, but next reunion, we'll get the three of us!  :-)

With Miss Emily.  I'm in love with the scarlet red lining of her bonnet's brim.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Because I hadn't been to OSV since a sixth-grade field trip way too many years ago, I spent much of the afternoon touring the village with some of the ladies and some of the younger members of our unit.  We skipped the battle that afternoon, opting to keep sight-seeing instead, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves wandering in and out of the trade shops and houses and stopping to visit with friends from other groups.  One of our stops was to a fellow CT militia unit, whose camp was clear across the village from ours.  Several of their members had taken part in our hearth cooking workshop back in February, so we were thrilled to see them again and excited to find that they were putting their new skills to most excellent use to feed their large number of weekend attendees.

Our friends from another CT unit put their new cooking skills to work with this splendid

display of culinary abilities.  While we were cooking for 35,they had to prepare enough food for 60!

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

A group of ladies keeping cool the 18th century way.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

The Brits returning to their camp after the battle.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

The Brits returning to their camp after the battle.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Although OSV closed their indoor sites and interpretation programs at the usual time that evening, they left the village as a whole open to visitors until quite late, which gave the guests more time to visit in the camps and watch as we prepared and consumed and cleaned up after supper.  By the time dusk fell and 8 o'clock came around and the park closed to guests, the majority of our group prepared to head over to the famed evening Jolly.  Exhausted from our early-morning drive, however, I and the other ladies with whom I'd driven opted to depart for the evening and headed to the mosquito-free and shower-awaiting comfort of our hotel room.

Evening shadows begin to fall over the camps scattered in the farm fields.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Back in camp early the next morning, we again helped clean up after breakfast and then got to work on lunch early.  As we were preparing a chicken stew, we wanted to give it maximum simmering time before lunch.  Well, that, and the tasty aroma of things cooking over a fire is always the ideal way to draw in visitors to camp!  :-) 

Some of our youngest members tending to the morning fire.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Once that was on the fire, we settled down to do a bit of sewing.  B began the process of trimming a new hat with some delicious red satin ribbon she purchased at Monmouth a couple of months ago, and K was working on finishing up a new shortgown, as was I.

B and K taking advantage of some down time with a bit of sewing.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

And then I got a very special surprise: a visit from family friends who had driven up from CT to spend the day!  After nearly a lifetime (no exaggeration, we've known them that long!) of hearing me and Ashley go on about how much we love Rev War history and reenacting and sewing historic clothing, they decided it was time they saw for themselves what it was we're always going on about!  Believe it or not, they'd never actually seen either of us in costume before, so they got quite a kick out of it!  One of them told me he was pleased to see I looked just like I did in all the pictures he's seen!  ;-) 

Sunday lunch was a chicken and wild rice stew with mushrooms, beans, and carrots.  Yum!

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Photo by TMW.

I gave them a quick tour of our camp and then we headed off to do a bit of sight-seeing together before I had to head back to camp to help with dinner, at which point they departed to watch the British troops assemble on the green before following them to the battle.  I missed Sunday's battle as well, as C and I stayed behind in camp to keep an eye on everything, but I didn't mind and my friends very generously shared their pictures afterwards.

Our men beginning to muster for battle.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

The Brits marching past our camp on their way to the battlefield.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Sunday's battle, Redcoats and Rebels 2013.

Photo by TMW.

Sunday's battle, Redcoats and Rebels 2013.

Photo by TMW.

Ah, the necessary anachronisms of the reenacting life!

Photo by JHW.

C is currently working on putting together her second camp-appropriate outfit, so while waiting in camp for the battle to end, we whiled away the time talking about styles and fabric options for new items.  You might recall that she began her very first bedgown at our distaff day back in June, and she wore it this weekend.  Didn't it come out lovely?  And speaking of which, K also sported the floral print neckerchief she finished during our sewing gathering over that weekend as well!  It's so fun seeing finished projects "come to life" at events!  :-)

C beginning work on a new apron, while sporting her recently-completed bedgown.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Following the battle, I met up with my friends again and we spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around town together seeing buildings we hadn't yet had a chance to visit.  Around 4, the sky started to look pretty threatening, so my friends decided to head for home (and generously took my new favorite hat home with them so it wouldn't get poured on!  Thank you!!!), and I scampered back to camp to help quickly pull tents down before everything got drenched.  Fortunately, it only ended up raining lightly for a quarter of an hour or so, but we decided to head out a little early and start our long drive home.

Returning safely to camp.

Redcoats and Rebels, OSV, 2013.

Another weekend, another set of fantastic memories!  With the exception of UTR, this is my only major summer event for this year, but it certainly lived up to its promise and was even better than I could have hoped it to be!  There are a multitude of photos of the weekend on flickr that can be easily found with a search; my own set is here, with apologies for its limited nature because I was too busy most of the time to have time to get too many pictures!  Many thanks to the W family for filling in the holes with their pictures and permitting me to use them for this post!

On both days during the weekend, I wore new outfits - a gown the first day and a jacket the next - so stay tuned for two new Threaded Bliss posts coming up very soon!  If you've joined us on Facebook, you've already seen a hint at what the gown project might be... :-)