The books highlighted in this post are something special in that they can help the historian and living historian learn more about daily home life through artifacts - many of which can still be purchased or reproduced at fair prices.
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| Two of my six bookshelves - all filled with history books~ |
Books have played - and continue to play - a major part of my life. I'm not sure how many I have, but I've no doubt they number more than a thousand. And, aside from a very few, they're all history books of some sort or another: American history (which make up the largest subject in my collection by far), world history, and even music history.
Now, I've written plenty of postings about the various books in my home library, but I am centering this week's post on a few books in particular that specifically look at "things"...mostly the common objects that folks of the 18th century may have had in their homes or outbuildings. Items they would have been familiar with. I use the books I list in today's post as guides when purchasing certain things for my living history excursions - sometimes authentic antiques while others being close replications - and these books have not failed to help me in my purchases to recreate a period home. I also have a couple of friends I contact sometimes in which to double check or hear an opinion---just to make sure. They're also great itentification guides for when visiting museums.
In fact, these are museum books---books oftentimes used by museums to date or define items in their own collections:
"Right here we find a reliable encyclopedia covering those cherished furnishings found throughout homes from colonial times up through the 1800's. A multitude of furniture, fixtures, appliances, and knick-knacks hundreds of years old are found throughout this volume."
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| ~Early American Antique Country Furnishings~ There is a wide-range of colonial home items in this book. So what's at your hearth? |
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| Flat-bottomed Spider that I purchased from a local blacksmith. |
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| ~Early American Antique Country Furnishings~ Nice, simple, descriptions that also include approximate years. |
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| Windsor Chair I found this at an amazing price...like around $40...on Marketplace |
"Colonial Living is EdwinTunis's vigorous re-creation of 17th and 18th century America of the everyday living of those sturdy men and women who carved a way of life out of the wilderness. In lively text and accurate drawings we see the dugouts and wigwams of New England's first settlers and the houses they learned to build against the cruel winters; the snug Dutch and Flemish farmhouses of Nieuw Amsterdam; the homes of the early planters in the South which would one day be kitchens for the houses they dreamed of building when tobacco had made them rich."
The one mistake I caught in this book is the bit on covered bridges. It is to my understanding that erecting covered bridges in America didn't occur until early in the 19th century. The first known covered bridge constructed in the United States was the Permanent Bridge, completed in 1805 to span the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. I didn't know this until recently.
Centuries do overlap, so, I suppose this book can and does do the same.
Don't you just love continuing research?
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| ~Colonial Living~ "Long research and a love for his subject gave (author) Tunis an intimate knowledge of the details of daily living in colonial times, from the period of tiny coastal settlements to the flourishing, interdependent colonies which fought a major war for independence." |
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| Sugar cutters and a tinderbox The sugar cutters are original 18th or 19th century, while the tinder box was made by tinsmiths at Greenfield Village. |
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| ~Colonial Living~ |
"Tunis shares all with his readers the building of houses, with their trunnels, girts, and hand-hewn beams, the spinning of yarn and its weaving and dyeing, the making of candles and soap, and the intricate business of cooking on the open hearth with lug poles, cranes, bake kettles, and spits. He describes the early crops, and pictures the implements and animals used to produce them; in detailed pictures we see again the tools and products of the craftsmen, the blacksmith, the cooper, the miller, the joiner, and the silversmith."
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| A friend pointed out this sketch in Tunis's book of a ladder back chair and a hog scraper candle stick...so I decided to replicate it ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |
And even more Edwin Tunis books:
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| ~Frontier Living~ "Frontier Living brings to light every significant aspect of daily life on the American frontier, with vivid text and more than 200 wonderful drawings. Immerse yourself in the character and culture of the men and women who stood at the harsh cutting-edge of our civilization: their dwellings, clothing, food, furniture, household articles; their hunting, farming, schooling, transportation, government; their amusements, superstitions, and religion. In Frontier Living the reader finds the forest frontiersman in his log cabin, the ranchero in his casa, the sodbuster in his prairie sod house." |
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| ~Frontier Living~ "Here is the keel-boatman, the cotton farmer, the fur trader, the mountain man, the forty-niner, the cowhand - each helping to shape a new and distinctive way from untamed country. The flintlock gun, the Kentucky rifle, the freight and Conestoga wagons, the stagecoach, the Ohio flatboat, the first steamboat and steam railroad, are all reconstructed here in exact detail. This informative, authentic re-creation of the American frontier, seen in relation to its historic perspective, offers a major contribution toward an understanding of the American character." |
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| ~Colonial Craftsmen~yep---Edwin Tunis yet again! "How are homes built? How do they make glass? How do carpenters make beautiful cabinetwork? Why should Paul Revere be more famous for his silversmith work than for his "Midnight Ride"? What were the handwork origins of frying pans? Bookbinding? Shipbuilding? That, and countless other things are beautifully and understandably described (with superb black and white drawings) in this book. This classic can actually fire up interests in yourself you never knew you had." |
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| ~Colonial Craftsmen~ "Tunis' descriptions of the colonial trades are easy to read but more than a basic description. Text seems to be at middle School Highschool level." |
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| From the book pages in the picture above this one~ Top left (on the wall shelf): an actual 1750s pewter candle stick Top right: a candle holder Bottom left & center: lanterns Bottom right: clay pipe, quill, and books/pamphlets |
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| A tin wall sconce - I purchased this at a reenactment only because I liked it. Imagine my surprise upon finding a similar original in the Colonial Craftsmen book! |
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| ~Everyday Artifacts America 1750 - 1850~ "Over 280 crisp color photos reveal artifacts of early American everyday life that were useful for surveying land, building log homes, farming the land, traveling, blacksmithing, and cabinetmaking." |
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| ~Everyday Artifacts America 1750 - 1850~ "From light paper ephemera such as land surveys and playing cards to heavy garden stones and Conestoga wagon components, they are pictured and explained. This book is ideal for all those with a passion for history or a curiosity about objects used in America in the mid-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries." |
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| ~A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America~ "Cited in virtually every colonial-era site study of North America, A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America holds a place of honor among historical archaeologists. It is a classic, highly sought-after handbook for the professional archaeologist, museum curator, antiques dealer, collector, or social historian." |
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| ~A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America~ "Though first published more than thirty years ago, Ivor Noel Hume's guide continues to be the most useful and accurate reference on the identification of artifacts recovered from Anglo-American colonial sites." |
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| Here are my replicated silverware. These were purchased from a variety of places including Samson Historical. |
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| ~In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life~ "A fascinating study of American life and an explanation of how American life is studied through the everyday details of ordinary living, colorfully depicting a world hundreds of years in the past." |
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| ~In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life~ "History is recorded in many ways. According to author James Deetz, the past can be seen most fully by studying the small things so often forgotten. Objects such as doorways, gravestones, musical instruments, and even shards of pottery fill in the cracks between large historical events and depict the intricacies of daily life." |
I have actually been eyeing the next set for a couple of years now, but the price was so dang high that I simply could not bring myself to buy them - I just could not justify paying such a price, upwards of $150-and up! But patience is a virtue, and I have learned patience, at least to some extent.
As you can see, they are now in my collection.
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| ~The World of the American Revolution~ "What was life really like for ordinary people during the American Revolution? What did they eat, wear, believe in, and think about? What did they do for fun? This encyclopedia explores the lives of men, women, and children―of European, Native American, and African descent―through the window of social, cultural, and material history. The two-volume set spans the period from 1774 to 1800, drawing on the most current research to illuminate people's emotional lives, interactions, opinions, views, beliefs, and intimate relationships, as well as connections between the individual and the greater world." |
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| ~The World of the American Revolution~ "The encyclopedia features more than 200 entries divided into topical sections, each dealing with a different aspect of cultural life―for example, Arts, Food & Drink, and Politics & Warfare. Each section opens with an introductory essay, followed by A–Z entries on various aspects of the subject area. Sidebars and primary documents enhance the learning experience. Targeting high school and college students, the title supports the American history core curriculum and the current emphasis on social history. Most importantly, its focus on the realities of daily life, rather than on dates and battles." |
Every-so-often I like to remember the everyday household objects that were used in the house I grew up in back in the 1960s and 1970s, and of how they are now a part of history, much like the items in the books here in today's post. Greenfield Village is reconstructing a house from 1965 that will be open to the public in 2026, known as the Jackson House (the name of the owner). Now though this house was once a home where Martin Luther King had stayed, my main interest will be the original furniture and objects that were a part of the everyday life of those who lived in it. Perhaps I will see the kind of items that I may recognize from my own youth. Wait---am I that old??
Until next time, see you in time.
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Now...just as a mention before you go...a sort of bonus...here is a brand-spankin' new book published in this year of 2025 about Paul Revere's ride - just in time for Lexington & Concord's 250th: The Ride.
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| 1st edition 2025 release for the semiquincentennial--- America's 250th |
I saw this advertised while I was scrolling a few of Facebook's history pages and it caught my eye. After reading the description - "Americans have heard about Paul Revere's heroic ride since childhood. But few understand the real story—the loosely coordinated series of rides by numerous men, near-disaster, capture by British forces, and finally success. Utilizing archives, family letters and diaries, and contemporary accounts, I set out to reveal just how complex the ride that determined the fate of a nation was. THE RIDE is the result and I can't wait for you to read it!" - I decided to purchase it. In fact, I just began to read it, so a full review is upcoming.
However, judging by the downright silly comments made on those Facebook advertisements - especially on the American history pages - Americans need to start picking up more books and begin to read them, for the idiotic comments made by those who obviously received their education from Facebook memes - "Facebook University" (as I call it - or, more currently, "The (ahem no longer history) History Channel"---where history is history lol), tend to show their lack of knowledge. And ya gotta love it when they comment even before reading the book, such as many did with this one here on Paul Revere. Most of the commenters had not read it (that was obvious), so they felt the need to throw in their "two-cents worth of knowledge"---which is about all their knowlwdge is worth! lol
Yes, I'm being harsh - at least read the book or learn something about the subject at hand. You don't look very smart when you don't.
Sheesh!
Anyhow, aside from the books I have listed in today's post, here are other Passion For the Pasts on some of the other books in my collection.
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