And as true as this statement is, I wonder...is anybody really hearing the cries?
Because so much history is not being told...
Living the Victorian farm life at the Port Oneida Fair. |
Recently, for the second year in a row, we did our Victorian/1860s farm life presentation at the wonderful Port Oneida Fair located along the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near the top of the lower Peninsula of Michigan. "Each August, amid the pastoral setting of meadows, maples, barns, farmhouses, and corncribs, the Port Oneida Rural Historic District awakens from its peaceful slumber and comes alive with activity true to the period when it was a community of robust farms. Visitors are invited to step back in time to experience life as it was in the late 1800s and early 1900s." This two-day rural history-based event spotlights historical demonstrations, including cooking, spinning, broom making, basket weavers, timber framers, quilters, and blacksmiths.
It is the perfect place for Larissa and I to give our 19th century farming presentation, don't you think?
As I mentioned, we have a back story that serves as our theme during our talks, and for this particular exhibition we based our tale on an immersion event story we've done during reenactments.
The model we use as our "home" - The Waterloo Farmhouse - - We have reenacted in this 1850s farm house quite a few times over the years so it seemed natural to us to use in our description. |
You see, we are a farm family with around 80 acres of good land in which to grow our crops. However, we have been blessed with only two children - and they are both girls. It seems that all historic stories and movies show farm families as having a dozen kids - six boys and six girls...you know, the perfect farm family...and everything runs like clockwork. Well, we know that life wasn't always as what Hollywood (or storybooks) like to show, hence the reason why we decided ours would have that bit of realism added to it by having two daughters only - no sons. And the audience definitely took note of that situation.
We did four 1860s farm life presentations that August day up in Port Oneida, and we had large audiences for each. |
As our story goes, my sister, who married a man that did very well for himself
in the mercantile trade, offered to send our eldest daughter, Christine, who is
16, to a finishing school in the big city in hopes of her learning to be a fine
lady instead of living the life of a farmer's daughter.
And that's where the conundrum occurs; because we have no sons, we've raised Christine to do traditionally boy's chores, and thus, while our younger daughter, Jill, is helping mom in the kitchen with the food preservation, preparation & cooking, along with house cleaning, clothes washing & mending, soap and candle making, emptying chamber pots, and other duties, Christine is spending the four seasons of the year out in the fields with me doing farm chores normally more suitable for the male sex, including manuring, plowing, harrowing, planting, harvesting, hauling, fence mending, making maple syrup, banking the house against the cold weather, and other necessities that need to be done.
And because of the help I need completing these chores, Larissa and I then discuss with the audience how necessary it is to have Christine remain with us rather than send her off to some fancy school.
You
see, at the end of our presentation, we leave it to the audience to help us in
our decision by asking them what should we do - send Christine away to
finishing school or have her remain with us.
More often than not, the audience votes to have her remain with us, for they realize how much we depend on her help.
In addition to our little tale we also speak about our clothing, show our period home and farm accessories, and throw in a little bit of fun humor to keep it lite.
And that's where the conundrum occurs; because we have no sons, we've raised Christine to do traditionally boy's chores, and thus, while our younger daughter, Jill, is helping mom in the kitchen with the food preservation, preparation & cooking, along with house cleaning, clothes washing & mending, soap and candle making, emptying chamber pots, and other duties, Christine is spending the four seasons of the year out in the fields with me doing farm chores normally more suitable for the male sex, including manuring, plowing, harrowing, planting, harvesting, hauling, fence mending, making maple syrup, banking the house against the cold weather, and other necessities that need to be done.
And because of the help I need completing these chores, Larissa and I then discuss with the audience how necessary it is to have Christine remain with us rather than send her off to some fancy school.
We drew pretty good crowds for each of our four performances. |
More often than not, the audience votes to have her remain with us, for they realize how much we depend on her help.
In addition to our little tale we also speak about our clothing, show our period home and farm accessories, and throw in a little bit of fun humor to keep it lite.
I really enjoyed watching the lumbermen with their contests taken right out of the 19th century, including axe throwing, log sawing, and log chopping. The two men in the pictures below really showed their might in each contest.
And now - - -
From the 1860s we shall go back further in time...to the 1760s.
Shortly after presenting at Port Oneida, Larissa and I were asked to give another historic farming presentation, only this time it would center around daily life on a colonial farm.
Our reaction?
Excitement...and a challenge!
But also..."Yes! Another opportunity to expand our repertoire!"
Larissa, chained to the kitchen... Photo by Jean Cook |
Ken, chained to the plow... Photo by Jean Cook |
And I came to find that many of the farming procedures from the 1860s had not changed much in a hundred years. I was easily able to modify and adapt my Victorian agricultural information to fit the 1760s.
However, we needed to come up with a new back story; we still like the idea of having only two daughters rather than this large a-typical farm family, for we believe it adds to the sense of it being more realistic.
So we did...
We agreed from the start not to base our colonial farming presentation on the Daggett family. Instead we utilize the general description and style of their saltbox house. |
We decided to go through an entire farm year, just as we do for our Victorian presentation, but rather than have to decide on sending one of our daughters off to finishing school, we decided to ask the audience if they felt whether or not we may need to pay for hired hands, for we both need help with our work. You see, on our Colonial farm, same as our Victorian farm, our eldest daughter works with me doing the farm chores and duties, while our younger daughter helps mother inside.
...shoulder yoke. Also known as a milkmaid's yoke, this 21st century young lady got a small taste of what it was like to try on a yolk - bucketless. Photo taken by Vicki Johnson |
If
it were 1750, it would take 49 more trips just to keep this garden alive
another day. With men off doing the hard labor, this Sisyphean task fell to
women or children."
(Taken from THIS site)
Describing making beeswax candles by dipping as well as by a tin candle mold. Photo by Darrin Green |
One of the oldest and most famous of farm tools, the scythe. Photo by Darrin Green |
Daily life in colonial times.
Yes, I suppose the past really does cry out to those who will listen. And I'm glad that there are those who do.
~ Benjamin Franklin, Sybil Ludington, and Paul Revere ~ Another historical presentation available from Our Own Snug Fireside! |
Until next time, see you in time...
If you would like to further your reading on colonial life, please click HERE
If you would like to celebrate a Victorian Harvest, click HERE
If you want to contact Our Own Snug Fireside for a historic presentation (metro-Detroit area only), click HERE
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