~Last year Greenfield Village shut its gates for the month of October, which caused anger to the members. And we sent them letters and emails of complaint.
They listened, and therefore re-opened for October this year.
Thank you.~
I also cannot tell you how absolutely giddy with excitement I was when I heard Greenfield Village was bringing back their Fall Harvest event. It's been since 2019 that they had their last one (click HERE). Though they have done some harvesty things since, it's been nothing like when they made it into an actual weekend event.
Celebrating old time harvest traditions and old time agriculture - now that's what I'm talking about!
I was told by multiple people - Greenfield Village presenters and visitors alike - that the Harvest Weekend was far busier than anyone expected. This makes me very happy~
Of the names Autumn and Fall, both are commonly used, though autumn is thought to be slightly older, appearing in the 1300s, with the word fall first appearing sometime around the 1500s in reference to leaves falling off trees.
However - - - - -
an even earlier name for this season is Harvest. Harvest comes from the Old English word hærfest, of Germanic origin, perhaps with an underlying, ancient sense of “picking, plucking” (as in, picking fruits to harvest them).
~-- -- --~
With the telling of ghost stories after a hard day's work harvesting and processing, I thought we'd begin with the harvest then move into the spooky season, for harvest time and Hallowe'en are unreservedly connected~~~~~
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| Printed at the printer's shop |
Harvest actually begins in late May or early June when the asparagus, cabbages, and other greens are ready for picking first. But if I had to choose one day where harvest time became a major deal this year, that day and date would have been Monday July 7, the day that the summer wheat harvest at Firestone Farm took place. I was just drawn into the past of 140 years ago. You can read about that HERE.
In the 1880s, the summer wheat harvest involved a combination of hand labor and early mechanical assistance. Farmers used horse-drawn reapers to cut the wheat, but still needed to manually bind the cut grain into sheaves. The labor involved was significant, though advancements like the reaper were starting to reduce the time and effort required compared to earlier methods.
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| All hands on deck for the summer wheat harvest on July 7! If you look off in the distance, you can see the horse-drawn reaper. And you thought harvest time was only in the fall... |
I have been going to Greenfield Village for over 40 years, and I have said it before and I'll say it again: 19th century farming past comes to life at Firestone Farm like nowhere else that I've seen - both in the house and in the fields. I can honestly tell you I’ve learned so much from Firestone Farm workers in all of those decades of me visiting. Through the years I’ve watched the summer harvest and fall harvest, and I do thank each and every presenter I’ve spoken to over that time that they've taught me/shown me about farm life from the 1800s and the 1700s.
In a very real way, they've given me my start.
The harvest has historically been a time for celebration across cultures to mark the end of the growing season, mostly in the fall, and give thanks for the bounty of God's blessings. These festivals often included feasting, music, dancing, story telling (oftentimes, stories of a ghostly nature), and community gatherings to celebrate the end of hard labor and ensure enough food for the winter. Harvest time indeed!
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| Year's ago, this event was called The Fall Harvest Weekends, for it was for two weekends (usually that last weekend in September and the 1st weekend in October). Then they ended it for a few years, from 2006 through 2009. But, not unlike recently, due to public demand, Fall Harvest was brought back in 2010. However, they brought it back under a new name: Fall Flavors Weekends. These are the hand-out guidemaps from that period that I've collected and kept over the years (there were no handouts from the original Fall Harvest Weekends that I recall). |
Fall Flavors was everybit the same as Fall Harvest, just under a new name and a greater concentration on period food cooked in a traditional manner.
The last Fall Flavors took place in 2019. I was told Covid was why it had not continued after that.
From 2020 through 2024, they did do harvest chores, but most was done without much fanfare or notice...little to no announcements. And I wrote them - and would get my friends to write as well - asking for them to bring this important history lesson back.
And they did...sorta...but you had to purchase tickets for the Hallowe'en event to see anything, allowing visitors who purchased tickets to see a few - just a few - harvest chores, such as dyeing of wool, beer brewing, and cornhusk crafts. Pretty much hardly anything.
Borderline lame.
So I continued to send them emails, complaining: Bring Back The Fall Harvest!
Well, guess what?
This year of 2025 they did!
This year of 2025 they did!
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| Fall Harvest at Greenfield Village 2025~ Not quite the handout as in previous years, but Fall Harvest is BACK! I was so excited - the fall harvest at Greenfield Village was always my favorite times to visit; I learned so much about historic farming and heirloom apples and so much more, all due to this. |
So, in early September......
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| Here we see corn stalks in the Edison garden near the birthplace of Luther Burbank (a house I wish was utilized more). Luther Burbank, famed horticulturalist, was born in the red house seen here in 1849. This house was built around 1800 in Lancaster, Massachusetts. |
In the 19th-century, farmers used manual labor and animals to cultivate corn, which was primarily used for animal fodder but also consumed by humans and used for trading and bartering. Early practices involved hand-planting corn, with horse-drawn planters developed later. After harvesting, farmers either shucked the corn and stored the ears or left them on the stalks to dry in shocks before husking. Corn was an important crop, and contributed to America’s agricultural development throughout the colonial period and into the Federal period and beyond.
By Luther Burbank’s time, in the mid-1800s, mechanical planters, pulled by horses, were developed to plant two or four rows of corn at a time.
As America was continuously settled by pioneers in the mid-19th century, corn remained a crucial crop for establishing farms and contributing to its agricultural prosperity.
So the Burbank Birthplace and harvest time all seem to tie in together. I only wish his house of birth, the red building we see in the above photo, was opened and decorated as it should be.
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| I went down to the crossroads... From this angle we can see the late summer growing season from the front yard of Firestone Farm. To the left is the red Martinsville Cider Press Building. |
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| Poor Tom doing "women's work" or "children's work" --- ---snapping green beans~lol |
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| Pumpkins from the patch for pies, soup, and even perhaps carving. |
We carve pumpkins as a tradition with origins in ancient Celtic and Irish folklore, meant to scare away evil spirits. Irish immigrants brought the practice of carving turnips to ward off spirits to America, but they switched to pumpkins because they were more abundant and easier to carve. The act also became associated with the "Stingy Jack" tale, where a man who tricked the devil was denied entry to both heaven and hell, and was doomed to wander the earth with a single ember in a carved turnip, which became known as a jack-o'-lantern (Jack of the lantern).
So many harvest stories that tie into Hallowe'en...
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| Apples will soon become butter and cider! |
"To imagine farm lives centuries ago, we must return to a time when family life and the economy blended to a degree unknown today. Farm men and boys worked in their own barnyards and fields. Artisan shops were attached to the house or stood nearby. Women and girls cooked and preserved in the house and garden. In the eighteenth century, fathers and mothers were always the bosses. They governed during the work day and at night, in the house, and in the fields. Children worked at whatever tasks their parents assigned to them.
The brute facts of farming meant that the family had to work. Everyone knew their lives depended on it. Much as children may have resented their father's heavy hand, they knew that only constant toil kept them from hunger. Reality was on their father's side."
Richard L. Bushman
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| Morgan paring the apples for apple butter. |
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| Sarah stirring apple butter. |
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| This young lady did a fine job at her task. Making apple butter would have been a fun but lengthy job/chore to do. |
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| I would love to taste this~~ |
"Farm life offers the complete satisfaction of knowing that each day's work has been truly productive, a joy scarce in present times. In the old days, whether you were a blacksmith, a butcher, a carpenter, a politician, or a banker, you were also a farmer. Before setting out for the day, there were chores to be done that often took as much time as a complete day's work for the average man of today."
Eric Sloane~
In fact, George Washington and John Adams both returned to farm the land after their terms as President.
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| It's back! What's back? The Firestone Farm heirloom apple tree tour! |
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| Getting apples down by hook or by crook. He is using a hook to grab the branches to give a good shake! Apples being bruised by falling to the ground was no matter, for they would have been turned into butter or cider anyhow. |
~"By hook or by crook" is an English phrase meaning "by any means necessary", suggesting that any means possible should be taken to accomplish a goal. The origin of "by hook or by crook" is obscure, but the most supported theory links it to a 14th-century English practice of collecting firewood from royal lands, where people could take deadwood they could reach with a hook (a billhook) or pull with a crook (a shepherd's crook). A billhook or bill hook is a versatile cutting tool used widely in agriculture and forestry for cutting woody material such as shrubs, small trees, and branches.~
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| Belmont Apples were first grown in the earlier part of the 1800s. |
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| I see Roxbury Russet apples hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees. |
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| Roxbury Russet Apples - said to be the oldest named American apple, dating back to the 1600’s in Roxbury, Massachusetts |
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| Another photo taken of the Roxbury Russet. Apples are not native to North America. They were brought over from the Europeans. However, crabapples are native to this continent. |
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| In much the same manner as they used to do back before covid, there is a table set up for taste-testing the heirloom apples. |
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| Try a Roxbury Russet! |
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| Or maybe you'd rather try a Belmont. Perhaps try both and compare! Either way, you are tasting the foods of our ancestors. |
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| Our tour group - taste-testing apples and watching the steam locomotive chug passed. The red building there on the right is the cider press. We'll get to that shortly. |
It was a fine autumnal day; the sky was sunny and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet.
Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from the neighboring stubble field.
As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast store of apples: some hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees; some gathered into baskets and barrels for the market; others heaped up in rich piles for the cider-press.
...and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ample prospects of the most luxurious of pies...
(various desceiptions taken from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving - with only slight, barely noticeable variations)
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| Sauerkraut is shredded cabbage fermented with salt for several weeks. So guess what they're making in the Firestone Farm cellar - - - ??? being they are of German ancestry. |
"Sauerkraut is popular in the fall because white cabbage, the key ingredient, is in season and thrives in cooler weather, making fall the ideal time for cabbage harvests and subsequent fermentation into sauerkraut."
The Firestone Farm gang did press apples into cider using a portable press on Harvest Weekend. However, they also did this chore a week earlier, which is when the following images were captured:
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| Morgan dunps the apples in a bucket of water first to be rinsed. |
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| Of course, on a warm autumn day the temptation a-rises to eat a fresh apple or two. |
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| To make cider with an 1880s home press, apples were first ground into a pulp by an attached grinder, then wrapped in linen or a burlap bag, and placed in a wooden frame or basket. |
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| While one drops apple pieces into the apple chopper/grinder, the other turns the handle to smash the apples enough for the juice to come streaming out. |
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| The dark juices flow into the cheese cloth before dripping into the barrel. The cheese cloth will remove any apple chunks or seeds. |
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| To make enough cider for the family, this would have been an all-day chore. |
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| This is the Martinsville Cider Mill, a replicated 19th century mill that was constructed inside of Greenfield Village in 1942 to conform with the 19th century cider making machinery Henry Ford had in his collection. Demonstrations of pressing apples into cider take place here every fall. I believe that horn-looking thing is some sort of an air-release. |
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| The cider mill in action~ |
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| Peter's Fields at Firestone Farm. |
Many assume Peter's Fields were named after a Firestone. But that's not the case. There is a placard near the front placed upon a rock that states:
"These fields, known as Peter's Fields, are dedicated to the memory of Peter H. Cousins Jr., curator of agriculture from 1969 to 1995.
We remain inspired by his deep convictions, superior scholarship, and belief in the history of ordinary folks.
Family, friends, and co-workers
September 1996"
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| Walkimg along Peter's Fields... There, on the right, is the Martinsville cider press building. |
How can you not celebrate fall and autumn without celebrating agriculture?
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| September 1st - in the Firestone Farm cold room - quite a haul so far! Apples and corn will keep us well. |
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| September 25 |
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| September 28 |
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| October 18 |
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"Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization." ~ Daniel Webster |
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| Looking over Peter's Fields...Fields of late September... |
From the 1880s we will go back 120 years to the 1760s - at the Daggett Home.
Let's begin in early September.
The vegetables are coming into fruition, so the ladies of the house would take advantage of the still warm weather, and will harvest what was available in their kitchen garden.
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| Could this be Asenath and Talitha, the two Daggett daughters? |
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| And could this be Anna Daggett at the hearth? I see a chicken being roasted on a spit. |
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What I liked hearing was the comments made by the Daggett presenters who were working on the afternoon of October 4th: there was a power outage and the Daggett presenters had no idea! That says a lot!
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| We can see vegetables hanging, drying while the two girls are out working in the kitchen garden. |
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| Chuck and Lyle get to work brewing beer as was done 250 years ago. |
Daggett presenters have been brewing 18th century beer here for many years, and I never tire of watching and learning. Just the smell of the mash is like the returning of an old friend. Visitors came in droves to watch garvest time come to life.
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Although there were those who drank to get drunk (just like in our modern 21st century), most in the colonial times drank beer because it was healthier than water. They did not necessarily drink to get inebriated. Just trying to correct another myth... |
From Colonial Williamsburg:
The introduction of hops resulted in a change in the definition of beer and ale. By the 1500s beer had become a malt beverage with hops, while ale was a malt beverage made without hops. This distinction was maintained for about 200 years. During this period fines were imposed for putting hops into ale. Soon, the preserving qualities of hops won out over the prejudice against its flavor. During the 18th-century the distinctions between beer and ale became more vague. The term "ale" is sometimes used to indicate a stronger drink, but this usage is not consistent. So during the 18th century, beer for ale and ale for beer were often intertwined.
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| Chuck has been brewing beer here for years, so it's nice to see the knowledge being passed on. |
I recall back before covid that I often helped just a little in beer brewing.
Along with apple cider, ale and beer were major dietary staples in the colonies. Literally everyone partook. It was the common item which spanned generations, from cradle to grave; everyone drank beer or cider: farmers, laborers, merchants, lawyers, and craftsman.
You would think they would be drunk, according to our modern manner of thought, but it was another beverage for health's sake. Alas, they were quite sober, for they kept the alchohol content fairly low, especially while drinking at a meal.
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| Boiling water ~~~~ Eighteenth century texts say to, “Bring your water to a boil and put it into the mash tun. |
When it has cooled enough that the steam has cleared and you can see your reflection in the water, add your malt to the tun."
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| Pouring the hot water into the mash tun. |
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| The mash tun. |
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| I visited on the Sunday of that Harvest Weekend, so 'twas not near as busy as Saturday, but it was still much busier than a normal Sunday. |
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| Why did the turkeys cross the road? Why, to get to Samm Daggett's place...!! |
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| In looking up the staircase I could make out the Daggett winnowing basket. It would have been great to see it in use. |
For this harvest chore, farmers would toss the threshed wheat into the air on a breezy day,
allowing the wind to carry away the light chaff while the heavier grain fell to the ground or back into the winnowing basket.
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| Do you call it Autumn or Fall? Looks like "Fall" may win out here! |
"Fall" and "autumn" are interchangeable terms for the season between summer and winter, with "autumn" being the more formal name and "fall" being more common in American English. The term "fall" refers to the leaves falling from trees, while "autumn" comes from Latin and originally referred to the season of harvest.
The word "autumn" came first, entering English in the 1300s. The word "fall" appeared later, originating from the phrase "the fall of the leaves," which was shortened in the 1600s to become a common name for the season in Britain before it became popular in America.
The word "autumn" came to English from the Latin word autumnus in the 1300s. At first, it was a more formal and popular term in both Britain and America. But the use of "fall" as a name for the season became popular in England around the 17th century, arising from the poetic phrase "the fall of the leaf".
"Fall" eventually became the more common term in America, while "autumn" remained the dominant term in Britain, a difference that developed over time.
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| The fallen leaves give the wood pile a colorful blanket. |
Men would cut and prepare specific firewood for the many needs such as for cooking, warming, and laundry.
The amount of wood needed was impressive: in Colonial times, before the improved efficiencies of the Rumford fireplace and later wood stoves, farmers had to cut, split and manage upwards of 40 cords of wood to keep their homes warm and their farms in operation.
Another example documents a family burning “twenty seven cords, two feet of wood” between May 3, 1826 and May 4, 1827. One impoverished woman mentioned that she endured a Boston winter on twelve cords of wood “as we kept but one fire except on extraordinary occasions.”
The William Ford Barn was built in 1863 - the same year as Henry Ford's birth - by Henry's father, William, in Springwells Township, Michigan (now a part of Dearborn). It was originally located across the road from the family homestead and stored grain and hay and, at times, tools and livestock.
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| During the autumn harvest time of year, a barn such as this one during the later part of the 19th century served as a multi-purpose hub for storing the season's harvest, including loose hay, grain, and root vegetables. |
Freestanding granaries or separate, tightly partitioned bins within the barns kept different types of grain, like wheat, oats, and rye, separate. These bins were often elevated to deter rodents. Before the use of widespread threshing machines later in the century, grain was often threshed by flails on a dedicated threshing floor inside the barn. The clean grain was then moved to the storage bins. For storing corn, specialized cribs would have been built with slatted walls to allow for ample airflow. This was necessary to properly dry the corn on the cob before it was used for animal feed.
Then there's the grain brought to the gristmill, to be ground into flour if wheat, or to be ground into meal if corn.
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| In this photo I am standing near the Loranger Gristmill. Gristmills flourished in America when settlers built water-powered mills in the colonies to grind grain locally for food, as it was more efficient than grinding by hand. |
Now it's time to visit a piece of Detroit history that was nearly torn down:
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| The Detroit Central Market, built and opened in Downtown Detroit in 1861 and re-constructed & re-opened in Greenfield Village in 2022. The structure is part of the original farmers market. It’s one of the buildings where vegetables were primarily sold to the more urban dweller. I'm so glad they are using it again, mostly for its original purpose. |
Okay---time for me to do a shout out:
I've been going to Greenfield Village regularly for over 40 years now, and it's mainly because of the Village that I got the itch to wear period clothing and get involved in living history. And now...well...you know (lol) - - - -
~It was at 1880s Firestone Farm that I'd first witnessed historic farming practices
~It was at 1880s Firestone Farm that I'd first learned about historic plowing and harrowing and planting and harvesting
~It was at 1880s Firestone Farm that I'd first learned about (and tasted) heirloom apples
~It was at 1880s Firestone Farm that I'd first learned about making homemade ice cream the 19th century way
~It was at 1760s Daggett Farm that I'd learned about historic kitchen gardens and of their importance
~It was at 1760s Daggett Farm that I'd learned about flax and processing flax
~It was at 1760s Daggett Farm that my wife learned about spinning on a spinning wheel by watching the spinners intently and asking questions
~It was at 1760s Daggett Farm that I'd learned about the shaving horse
~It was at 1760s Daggett Farm that I first learned about 18th century beer making
And there is so much more - - as many/most of you know, I put nearly all of these historic chores/crafts into practice during my living history excursions.
So, thank you everyone - past and a few newbies (you know who you are---lol) - for all you have done. I'm still watching and learning.
A GREAT BIG SHOUT OUT!!!
Okay - no...not trying to leave the other historic buildings and presenters out---Mattox presenters taught me about winnowing, Ford presenters taught me about taking items to market, there's not a better restaurant than the Eagle Tavern to eat traditional-style food, and, well, so much more.
Now on to Hallowe'en~~~~~~~and how it ties in with harvest~~~~~
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| We'll ease into Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village at Detroit's Central Market, where the local farmers would sell their harvested yield to the urban city dwellers of Detroit. |
The telling of ghost stories on Hallowe'en derives from both the Druids' belief that the ancestral dead arise on this night and the Christian directive to honor the souls of the departed at Hallowmas.
It was only natural, then, at early American harvest time get-togethers, when the communities would gather for such harvest time activities as corn-husking parties, apple paring parties, sugar and sorghum making days, and even at thresherman dinner parties, that ghost stories would become an integral part of these autumn celebrations. Many American ghost stories evolved from actual superstitions and rituals practiced by those who lived in the British Isles. These tales of the ancestral dead were told and retold by the elders to a spellbound crowd, late at night, after all of the activities were done, when the moon was fully risen and the trees outside shook with the autumn wind. That's when people gathered around a fire and told one another tales of the silenced dead lying in graves nearby.
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| Graves... |
The blending of harvest time with Hallowe'en is an age-old practice---a practice that I work to teach in presentations and write about here on Passion for the Past and even on my Facebook pages, including my home page and the various history pages I run or am a member of.
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| Happy Hallowe'en! |
I've heard many negative things about Hallowe'en growing up so I decided to do what I do best: research. And I researched not just one but multiple books as well as a few of the better history sites on-line and learned there is much more to Hallowe'en than most may realize (click HERE). Oh, I may not consider it my favorite of holidays - Christmas and the 4th of July/Independence Day clearly has it beat in my opinion - but I learned Hallowe'en has fairly strong ties to Christianity, mainly through the Catholic holy days it precedes, particularly All Saints' Day, which is celebrated on November 1st. "All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honor of all the saints of the Church, whether they are known or unknown."
In fact, the name Hallowe'en is a contraction of All Hallows Eve.
But how did this become the spooky holiday that we know it to be?
There is an early in depth history to Hallowe’en HERE, but I have the basics very much consolidated written here for you:
The telling of ghost stories on Hallowe'en derives from both the Druids' belief that the ancestral dead arise on this night, and the Christian directive to honor the souls of the departed at Hallowmas.
It was only natural, then, at early American harvest time get-togethers, when the communities would gather for such harvest time activities as corn-husking parties, apple paring parties, sugar and sorghum making days, and even at thresherman dinner parties, that ghost stories would become an integral part of these autumn celebrations. Many American ghost stories evolved from actual superstitions and rituals practiced by those who lived in the British Isles. These tales of the ancestral dead were told and retold by the elders to a spellbound crowd, late at night, after all of the activities were done, when the moon was fully risen and the trees outside shook with the autumn wind. That's when people gathered around a fire and told one another tales of the silenced dead lying in graves nearby.
American author, Washington Irving, shows such a scene in his Legend of Sleepy Hollow short story he wrote and published in 1820. Main character Ichabod Crane was invited to an autumnal gathering at the home of the wealthy Van Tassel farm, and later in the evening, after food had been eaten and dancing had finished, "Several of the Sleepy Hollow people were present at the Van Tassel's, and, as usual, were doling out their wild and wonderful legends. Many dismal tales were told about funeral trains and the mourning cries and wailings heard and seen near the tree where the unfortunate British Officer Major Andre was taken. Some mention was made also of the woman in white, that haunted the dark glen at Raven Rock, and was often heard to shriek on winter nights before a storm, having perished there in the snow."
But no story made the skin crawl like the Headless Horseman.
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| And we'll get to that shortly, for no one around does it better than Greenfield Village! |
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| Hallowe'en decorations - vignettes, if you will - are placed throughout Greenfield Village. |
Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and wearing scary costumes are some of the time-honored traditions of Halloween. Yet, the Halloween holiday has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “SAH-win”), a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer, when people would light bonfires, entertain each other in a variety of ways, and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
It is believed that the “veil” between this world and the world of the dead is the thinnest on this day, and it is easier to communicate with the dead.
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| Mr. Wylde's Marvelous Misfits~~~ Sword swallowing and playing with fire! |
In the early days of American history, as well as European history, as the foreboding darkness cloaked the landscape, folks retreated to their abodes to a-wait the liberating first morning light, many fearing ghosts, specters, apparitions, and even criminals and other creatures of the night. Goblins, imps, fairies, and trolls were thought to do a lot of mischief. This was especially true around Hallowe'en; it was the night spirits were out, and farmers bolted their doors and avoided walking alone at night. This was the night when doors were blocked with carts, or attacked with a fusillade of turnips. Plows and carts were carried off and hidden. Gates were taken off their hinges and thrown into a neighboring ditch or pond. Horses were led from the stables and left in the fields a few miles away.
This was Hallowe’en past…or does this still happen on this night?
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| They changed the name of Smiths Creek Depot to Brimstone Station--- ---just for Hallowe'en. |
Beginning in 2020, Greenfield Village introduced the Hallowe'en Express train ride experience.
"Board one of our ghostly passenger cars for a ride on the Hallowe'en Express. This 20 minute train ride will take you on a tour of ghosts, monsters, and urban legends as it winds through the erie but enchanted woods of Greenfield Village. What sort of spectral beings or creatures of the night will you see?"
(from the Greenfield Village Hallowe'en hand out)
The train travels out of Smiths Creek Depot...er...renamed Brimstone Station for Hallowe'en, every 15 minutes (they have a few trains running to accomodate the throngs of visitors).
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| Our tickets were for 7:00 - twilight time - and my daughter-in-law captured a beautiful, almost firey glow. |
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| "Do you have a can of pork n beans?" |
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| The Grim Reaper~~~~~ |
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| This picture is of a "ghost train." Note the fire from the smokestack. |
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| "Covered bridges are known to be places of enchantment and portals to other dimensions." And that is exactly what we were coming upon~~~ |
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| "Our Ackley Covered Bridge is no exception, with delightful surprises instore." (from the program guide & map) |
The two pictures of the Ackley Covered Bridge here were taken from the train. However, when we walked back later into the evening, I mentioned to one of the trolls that they could have my grandchildren. Grandson Liam just looked at me and said, "No way!"
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| As the train huffed and puffed along... I don't remember what this grouping was, but I believe it represents some sort of pagan ritual. |
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| I took this photo when I visited during daytime hours a few days later. Statues... |
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| Looks like this guy had an accident...a lo-o-ng time ago...and is still here... |
New this year:
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| From Google: The Lost Colony of Roanoke refers to the 1587 English settlement on Roanoke Island, North Carolina, whose 117 colonists mysteriously disappeared by 1590. When Governor John White returned from a supply trip to England, he found the settlement abandoned with the only clue being the word "Croatoan" carved into a post. The leading theory is that the colonists moved to nearby Croatoan Island (modern-day Hatteras Island) and assimilated with the local Croatoan tribe, a theory supported by recent archaeological findings." |
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| Perhaps next year we'll take a later train ride...during the nighttime~~~ It'll be a little spookier... |
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| This poor woman has been waiting for nearly a hundred years for the train to stop and pick her up. |
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| Tell the tale! Tell the tale!! Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow being told in preparation for what was about to happen~ |
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a story about Ichabod Crane, a superstitious and lanky schoolteacher who competes for the hand of wealthy Katrina Van Tassel with the local hero, Brom Bones. During a party at the Van Tassel farm, Ichabod is spooked by ghost stories about the Headless Horseman, a local legend. On his ride home, Ichabod is chased by a spectral figure that he believes is the Headless Horseman, but the story strongly suggests it was Brom Bones in disguise. Ichabod disappears, leaving behind only his hat and a smashed pumpkin, while Brom marries Katrina.
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| Sleepy Hollow is a village in New York State’s Hudson Valley. It’s known as the setting for Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Irving is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. So Greenfield Village somewhat recreated their version of Sleepy Hollow, especially the Headless Horseman. They're not doing a replication necessarily of the Village itself, but more of a re-imagining... |
"Visit Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown, New York, and immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of Washington Irving's short story. Meet Ichabod Crane and maybe some other characters, too."
(from the program guide)
What they did was use the Liberty Craftworks section of Greenfield Village, where glass blowing, pottery, weaving, and the printing shop is located in an attempt to simulate Sleepy Hollow.
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In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the schoolhouse was the target of pranks by Brom Bones, who would go to the schoolhouse and turn all the furniture upside down and stop up the chimney so the smoke would fill the room. Brom did this out of jealousy. |
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| Since the shape of the Gunsolly Carding Mill was closest to the shape of an old school house, Greenfield Village hung a sign that read Sleepy Hollow School. Hopefully next year they'll have a better quality sign, and maybe even utilize other buildings in Liberty Craftworks area in the same manner. |
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| Could this be the Headless Horseman's replacement head? Naw...too happy! |
The "woman in white" in Sleepy Hollow is a legendary ghost of a woman who perished in a snowstorm, and her spirit is said to wander the area, crying out in a voice that sounds like the wind.
The Greenfield Village Woman in White searches for her lost mate, tormented by her fate.
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| There are numerous tales in lore about a woman in white. I prefer, of course, the Sleepy Hollow legend. |
Of course, the Hallowe’en at Greenfield Village event is where one can go to witness not only the Lady in White at the Robert Frost Home, but also Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman in the front field at Firestone Farm, now called the Van Tassel Farm for the Hallowe’en event.
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| A warning sign~~~ |
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| Ichabod Crane does not have his own horse, but borrowed one from the stables belonging to Hans Van Ripper, a farmer he was staying with. He took the horse without asking permission to ride to the Van Tassel farm for a party. |
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| Here is where Ichabod leaves the Sleepy Hollow Village. If you look close you can see the Firestone Farm in the distance. For Hallowe'en they changed the name to the Van Tassel Farm. The thing is, you only see the Van Tassals while on the train. Sadly, I didn't know they were having this so I didn't get any pictures. Perhaps next year they will allow folks to walk up a bit to see and hear them. Still...I like the addition. |
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| And there's Ichabod atop his horse, Gunpowder. He looks uncertain to which direction he should go. |
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| But here comes the Headless Horseman! An apparition of what is said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball during some nameless battle of the American Revolutionary War, and who is ever seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind, and who rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head? Or is it Brom Bones pulling a prank? |
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| The sun sets on another eerie October in Sleepy Hollow... |
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| Ichabod was either frightened away by the Headless Horseman or that his rival, Brom Bones, was responsible for his disappearance. After a terrifying chase, Ichabod is knocked off his horse, and a shattered pumpkin is found where his hat lay the next morning, but he is never seen again in Sleepy Hollow. |
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| Then again...maybe it actually was the Headless Horseman~~ |
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| The Corn Creeper |
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| This gristmill fits in with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. |
The gristmill in Sleepy Hollow is where Washington Irving heard the story of a headless Hessian from an African American miller. In his tale, Irving used a gristmill as a historically accurate element to set the scene for the legendary Headless Horseman. The mill in the Sleepy Hollow story, which also included a church and a cemetery, created a secluded and spooky atmosphere, perfect for the story's climax involving Ichabod Crane. So it's fitting to have this Loranger Gristmill not only near Greenfield Village's Sleepy Hollow and Headless Horseman scenario, but to have it decorated in a spooky manner.
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| I took this picture solely due to the moon shining in between the Cotswold Cottage and the Daggett House. It is the Harvest Moon. |
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| The Hallowe'en Tree. In Ray Bradbury's book, "The Halloween Tree," the Hallowe'en Tree itself is a mystical tree adorned with glowing jack-o'-lanterns that appears in the yard of a mysterious man named Moundshroud. Here is Greenfield Village's version. |
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| I llike the eeriness of this photo and glad my camera was able to capture not only the moon high in the sky (along with the street light in the parking lot lol), but there's the Grim Reaper crossing the Ford yard (that's the birthplace of Henry Ford there). |
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| Mr. Irving in the Ford yard. |
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| A plate made at the Pottery Shop there at the Village last year. These were selling like hot cakes, and every time I looked for one in the souvenir shop, they were sold out. So...how did I acquire this one? |
You see, the original Washington Irving story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow from 1820 is a wonderful American ghost story. To me, it is to Hallowe’en what Dickens' A Christmas Carol is to Christmas. For as long as I’ve been going to Hallowe’en at Greenfield Village – close to 20 years – they’ve had reenactments of Ichabod Crane being chased by the Headless Horseman over in Peter’s Field at Firestone Farm. It’s always been my favorite part of the Village’s Hallowe’en event. Still is. When I heard there was only one plate available at the shop, I scurried up to the Village – a half hour drive for me – and purchased it right away! I now bring it out for Hallowe’en as part of our decor. It’s a wonderful souvenir keepsake, especially for those of us who go to Hallowe’en at Greenfield Village. And I thank my friend who notified me about it – you know who you are.
On the lighter side - - - -
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| My oldest granddaughter with Alice in Wonderland. |
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| My oldest grandson~ |
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| The front of the sweat shirt and hoodie they were selling. However, I prefer t-shirts. If it was a t-shirt I'd buy it in a heart beat. |
I have always loved the fall up & beyond any other time of year.
Even as a child.
Okay...Christmas was at the top, but fall lead into Christmas, and I would get very excited when we'd have that first autumn chill and my Dad would light the fire in the fireplace and my Mom would have candles lit. The leaves would gradually change and begin to fall...some of my fondest memories.
And that love for this time of year never left me. In fact, when my wife was still my girlfriend, we carried on, and expanded on, fall traditions such as apple picking, driving to rural areas to see the colorful leaves and farmers working the fields, going to a country pumpkin patch, and even traveling to Bronners Christmas Store in Frankenmuth. Every year I added to our seasonal activities...including visiting Greenfield Village for their harvest days. Then Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village was added to our activities.
It kept going and going...
Now, with the Fall Harvest and Hallowe'en at Greenfield Village - and let's not forget my own fall harvest living history activities - everything's been upped ten-fold plus! I don't know...this season just seems to revitalize me. During harvest time at Greenfield Village, I really love how the presenters show the traditional crafts and chores of apple cider and apple butter making, hearth cooking, spinning on a spinning wheel, the dyeing of spun wool by way of bark, berries, and flower pedals, learning of the 18th century herbal garden, a 19th century cold room for vegetable and fruit storage, and winter preparations...and then to top it off, this year a horse drawn fall tour---being in that setting...wow---just the whole wooden-ness of it all, you know?
Then there's the harvest time connection to Hallowe'en. I know they attempted to connect the two over the past couple of years, but there just isn't enough time for visitors to experience both harvest and Hallowe'en together on the same night - there's just too much going on. But bringing back the harvest weekend as they did this year, which occured the weekend before their Hallowe'en event, well, that works perfect!
Ya done good! Keep it up!
My friend Brian Dewey and I visited Greenfield Village on the final Sunday in October (the 26th) dressed in period clothing - me in my 1770s clothing, and Brian, who reenacts the 17th century, wearing his 1620s clothing.
The first thing we did was take the horse-drawn fall tour.
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| Ed Davis snapped this, angling it to look like we were driving the horses. |
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| Mary M. snapped this shot - such stark colors! |
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| Traveling down Maple Lane--- I swear...Greenfield Village has some of the most beautiful autumn leaves! |
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| Traveling down pathways not on the normal route. |
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| This was my favorite part of the ride. Our peak fall colors were a little behind, but still...it was awesome to see. |
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| Not taken the same day that Brian and I went, but on the same route - I like that the Village horses are watching us. |
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| This is Suwannee Lagoon, where the streamboat used to be. |
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| Speaking of the Plympton House, I snapped a photo of Brian through an opposite window while inside. This house was built in the very early 1700s, so Brian's fashions would not be far off. |
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| Here is a picture of Brian behind the Cotswold Cottage, a structure of "his time"--1620. |
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| At the back gate. |
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| Perhaps he is gathering nails... |
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| There I am, behind my favorite house. And over my right should is the red Plympton House. |
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| If you look close, there I am by the center-right tree. I'm just immersed in Autumn! |
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| Me speaking with the ladies of Daggett. I was bidding them a fond farewell until next time. |
So there you have autumn in the proverbial nutchell.
We did not have much rain around here this summer and fall. It was a hot and mostly dry summer, and they warned us it could affect the fall. Luckily for us we did get enough rain to help create the beauty we desired - a little later than normal, but fall came!
It came just the same~~~
Now, a short history of Greenfield Village's Fall Harvest/Fall Flavors weekends:
The original Fall Harvest Weekend ended with the 2005 season, but, like very recently, after many complaints was brought back by 2010 under the guise of Fall Flavors Weekend. That lasted through the 2019 season. From 2020 through 2024, it was shelved once again. More complaints from many of us, which brought it back this year of 2025, thankfully.
I've written many blog posts about their harvest weekends over the years, though I have nothing on the earlier ones.
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2012
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2013
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2014
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2012
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2013
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2014
Fall Colors at Greenfield Village 2014
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2015
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2016
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2017
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2018
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2015
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2016
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2017
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2018
Fall Harvest/Flavors at Greenfield Village 2019
Hallowe'en's history click HERE
Like the title of this post says: Fall...harvest...history...and Hallowe'en----they all tie in together.
Until next time, see you in time.
(Some pilgrim and Thanksgiving posts coming up in a few weeks!)
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