Historic New England Winter-Spring 2008

HistoricNEW ENGLAND

PRESENTED BY

THE SOCIETY FOR

THE PRESERVATION OF

NEW ENGLAND ANTIQUITIES

WINTER/SPRING 2008

PRESENTED BY

THE SOCIETY FOR

THE PRESERVATION OF

NEW ENGLAND ANTIQUITIES

WINTER/SPRING 2008

LOOKING INTOTHE KITCHEN

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F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T

Perhaps the most important thing that I have learned in thirty-two years of workingin history museums is to appreciate thatunderstanding the past requires puttingmany detailed pieces together. We tend tosimplify history by thinking in big segmentslike “the Victorian era” or “the age of immi-gration,” when the reality is that every age isvastly complex and consists of millions ofunique, often contradictory human stories.

In Historic New England’s holdings ofhistoric houses, landscapes, collections, andarchives, we find myriad details about thingslarge and small. Understanding their signifi-cance comes from thorough research, assem-bling bits of information, and making con-nections to the larger context. Only then canwe be confident about how we present ourmaterial to the public. Those of you whosupport our work do so because you valuethe authenticity of the properties, the depthand breadth of the collections, and the ability of staff, members, volunteers, andfriends to use them to increase understand-ing of New England’s heritage.

In this issue we show how old wall-paper, stone walls, pet stories, and kitchensancient and modern allcomprise parts of ourregion’s history, and howunderstanding these variednarratives helps us betterunderstand and appreciatethe world around us today.

—Carl R. Nold

SPOTLIGHT 1Passionate about the Past

MEMBERSHIP 8Advice on Call

MAKING FUN OF HISTORY 10History of Pets

MUSEUM SHOP 13The Historic New England Book Store

PORTFOLIO 14History on Your Wall

PRESERVATION 16Caring for Wallpaper

OPEN HOUSE 22The Man Who Loved Dogs

NEWS: NEW ENGLAND & BEYOND 24

ACQUISITIONS 26Proud Symbol

Except where noted, all historic photographs and ephemera are from Historic New England’s Library and Archives.

Looking into the Kitchen 2

Stone Walls: Links to History 19

V I S I T U S O N L I N E AT w w w. H i s t o r i c N e w E n g l a n d . o r g

HistoricNEW ENGLAND

Winter/Spring 2008Vol. 8, No.3

Historic New England141 Cambridge StreetBoston MA 02114-2702(617) 227-3956

HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND magazine is a benefit of membership.To join Historic New England, please visit our website, HistoricNewEngland.org or call (617) 227-3957, ext.273. Comments? Please callNancy Curtis, editor, at (617) 227-3957, ext.235. Historic NewEngland is funded in part by the Institute of Museum and LibraryServices and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Executive Editor Editor DesignDiane Viera Nancy Curtis DeFrancis Carbone

COVER From a pamphlet for the Hoosier Kitchen Cabinet Company, c.1925. Collection of Richard Cheek.

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1Winter/Spring 2008 Historic New England

S P O T L I G H T

hat does a collector from Ohio have incommon with a curator from Scotland?They were both curious about NewEngland material culture, wanted to

learn more about it, and registered for a week of totalimmersion in Historic New England’s Program in New England Studies. Each June,participants assemble at Historic New England’s headquarters in Boston for lectures,behind-the-scenes museum tours, workshops, and trips to house museums and privatehomes in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.

Historic New England has the most important collection of New England mate-rial culture anywhere and almost one hundred years’ experience in preserving,researching, and interpreting it. Those who attend the Program in New EnglandStudies spend time with curators and scholars and observe how they approach thestudy of objects and buildings. Participants include owners of historic houses, collec-tors, students, teachers, museum professionals, and history buffs; what they share is apassion for New England’s past as seen through its material culture.

The program makes extensive use of staff expertise. Senior Curator RichardNylander and Curator Nancy Carlisle guide the group on in-depth tours of HistoricNew England’s house museums and the extensive study collection, which includes fur-nishings, art works, costumes, wallpaper, and other household artifacts. Highlights ofthe program include tours of First Period houses with distinguished architectural his-torian Abbott Lowell Cummings; a furniture workshop led by Brock Jobe, professorat the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture; and a lecture by Historic NewEngland President Emeritus Jane Nylander, which provides a social and historical context for the houses and artifacts on view. Lectures, bus trips to historic sites andprivate homes, receptions, and plenty of opportunities to talk with speakers, curators,and other participants make the program a rich and unique experience.

The 2008 Program in New England Studies will include a visit to an exceptionalproperty that has not previously been included, the Codman Estate in Lincoln,Massachusetts, noted for its superb collections and the layered effect created by theaccumulated possessions of several generations of one family.

—Joanne Flaherty, Exhibitions SpecialistKen Turino, Exhibitions Manager

This year, the Program in NewEngland Studies runs from June 16through 21. For information andto register, call (617) 227-3957,ext. 246, or [email protected].

ABOVE Curator Nancy Carlisle

points out the original applied

moldings on a seventeenth-

century joined chest at Cogswell’s

Grant, Essex, Massachusetts.

BELOW Senior Curator Richard

Nylander shows participants

some of the many examples of

textiles in Historic New England’s

study collection.

W

Passionateabout the Past

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Looking into

the kitchen

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and when it came to be viewed through a nostalgic lens as aroom signifying comfort and love.

In most colonial and early nineteenth-century house-holds in New England, people cooked on a large open hearthin a room that served multiple purposes. Family members ofvarious ages, hired help, and, in some households, slaves,cleaned, laundered, made soap and candles, and prepared,processed, and preserved food. People gathered in the

kitchen to eat, work, read, rest, and even, onoccasion, to sleep. Of course the primary func-

tion of the space was the preparation offood. Cooking was often a group activity,

FACING PAGE The newer of two kitchens at

Coffin House, Newbury, Massachusetts, added

c. 1712 and updated in the 1760s. ABOVE LEFT A woman uses a

bake kettle placed over a pile of coals and shovels more coals on top

of the lid. ABOVE RIGHT A woman kneads bread, while behind her

the fire heats the bake oven. LEFT Late eighteenth- and early nine-

teenth-century cast-iron cooking ware.

Not just

the heart of the home

life, engendering memories of warmth, comforting smells,family traditions, and mother’s love. But the room has beenmuch more than simply “the heart of the home.”The kitchen has long been the place wherenew technologies, foods, gadgets and appli-ances, and designs enter the home, signalingchanges in the world at large. In somehouseholds, this room has been a contestedspace at the center of complex mistress-servantrelationships, where personal, racial, and ethnic ten-sions converge. Above all, the kitchen has been a work site –and as such a place of drudgery as well as one of accom-plishment. A study of the history of the kitchen reveals notonly how people have used this room over time, but also how

ore than any room in the house,

the kitchen, for many of us,

symbolizes the best of family M

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4 Historic New England Winter/Spring 2008

and the kitchen, the site of a communal workforce. Men cut and split wood, banked fires, carried water, and

helped with seasonal projects like paring apples for applebutter or making sausage after butchering, but most kitchenwork fell to women. There was never a shortage of work:daily chores like cooking and dishwashing, weekly rounds oflaundry and baking, seasonal activities such as gardening andpreserving, and the seemingly never-ending tasks of sewing,spinning, and caring for the young, ill, and infirm. Theseactivities brought housewives to the well, cellar, garret, dairyyard, kitchen garden, smokehouse, and beyond, but thedemands of housekeeping generally kept women, and there-fore children, close to the kitchen hearth. Young girls learnedthe skills of housewifery at their mother’s side.

In the nineteenth century, industrialization brought newtechnologies to the households of the growing middle class.In an era that brought more affordable goods and increasedwages to the middle class, many women accumulated agreater variety of cooking tools—specialized pots, utensils,and accessories. But the most important development wasthe introduction of the cookstove. Cast-iron stoves had beenproduced in Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century; by the1840s, they had become commonplace. The cookstove trans-

formed kitchen work and served notice that the technologi-cal advances of the industrial revolution were now enteringthe home.

Recalling the change that had taken place in her kitchen,Vermonter Abby Hemenway wrote, “The pleasant old fire-place with the swinging crane of well filled pots and kettles,hearth spiders with legs and bake-kettles and tin-bakers tostand before the blazing logs and bake custard pies in—allwent down at once and disappeared before that first stovewithout so much as a passing struggle.” Not everyone adjustedeasily. Many feared that poorly made stoves might blow up,while others complained of a “burnt, disagreeable odor.”And, stoves required new chores as well—weekly cleaningand blacking and periodic cleaning of the stovepipe, a miser-able, filthy task that usually fell to the man of the house.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, middle-classfamilies preferred to gather in the parlor. Houses built duringthis period had the kitchen at the back of the house. Ideally,the room was large and open with a stove, a sink, a table ortwo, possibly a pie safe, one or two chairs and perhaps acomfortable rocker, all arranged around the walls. With themen working outside the home, the kitchen became a work-site filled by female family members and, in wealthier house-

ABOVE LEFT This Empire Crawford stove at Castle Tucker,Wiscasset,

Maine, purchased in 1905, was the third cookstove owned by the

Tucker family. Their first stove was purchased in the middle of

the nineteenth century. ABOVE RIGHT Most nineteenth-century

kitchens, like this one at the Fowler House in Danvers, Massachu-

setts, were furnished with open shelves and work tables. Built-in

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holds, female servants. These servants were likely to be ofdifferent racial or ethnic backgrounds than their employers—African-American, Irish, German. Cultural and languagebarriers divided employer and employee, and immigrantcooks had to learn how to prepare unfamiliar foods. Manyyoung women chose factory or shop work rather than workin private homes while those wholabored as servants complained, not onlyabout the way they were treated, butabout “the awful lonesomeness.”

By the early twentieth century, asmore and more laboring women soughtwork in factories or shops, homeownersfound it increasingly difficult to hiredependable help. Magazines of the periodare filled with articles on “the servantproblem.” In an effort to mitigate thedependence on servants, domestic reformers began adaptingfor the kitchen many of the industrial scientific managementprinciples then in vogue. Domestic engineers like ChristineFrederick conducted time-motion studies aimed at reducingthe number of steps required for preparing meals andredesigned kitchens to be hygienic, highly efficient work places.

Furnishings like the popular Hoosier cabinet wereexplicitly designed to save time and labor by storing all theingredients and tools needed for baking together in one loca-tion and providing a work surface as well. For a time, theideal kitchen was no longer a social space, but rather a care-fully conceived laboratory for the preparation of food. As

one reform-minded author pointed out in1900, these new, highly efficient kitchensmay have simplified kitchen tasks, butthey no longer accommodated the family:

A small kitchen is much moreconvenient than a large one, althougheven that has its drawbacks, as thewhole family are inclined to congre-gate “where mother is.” While thismay be sociable and pleasant…there

is such a thing as the room being too crowded forrapid work, and it is anything but agreeable to haveevery inch of available space around the cookstoveoccupied by irresponsible, hungry people, while thecook, tired and perhaps cross, must reach inbetween or over their heads to attend to things on

cabinets with countertops were a later development in kitchen

design. ABOVE LEFT To advertise their stoves to women, countless

manufacturers used trade cards showing tranquil domestic scenes.

ABOVE RIGHT This photograph of a farm kitchen in Norfolk, Con-

necticut, suggests it wasn’t only family members who were drawn

to the comforting heat of a cookstove. BELOW Advertisements like

this one indicate the efficiency of a well-planned kitchen.

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ABOVE LEFT When the Tucker family installed this Hoosier at

Castle Tucker in 1921, Jane Tucker wrote to her brother,“Ma won-

ders now how we ever got on without it—cuts all her work in half.”

ABOVE RIGHT Girls have always learned their way around a kitchen

by mimicking their mother at work. BELOW This Kitchen Maid ad

shows the 1950s ideal of a mother and child happily sharing time in

the stove; or between their feet to see if the food inthe oven is baking.

Kitchens were now becoming mechanized, with runningwater, electric and gas appliances, and labor-saving devices,often billed as “electric servants.” Housework was no longerportrayed in popular culture as a chorebut as exacting work best done by a loving mother alone at home. Adver-tisements for appliances and brand-name products wooed consumers withvarious strategies, from flattery to guilt,using romanticized depictions of orderlykitchens with happy homemakers andwell-behaved children. The one assump-tion that was rarely challenged was thathousework was women’s work, and no number of labor-saving devices relieved the emotional weight of this work.

In the 1950s, designers began to advocate open floorplans so mothers would no longer be isolated in theirkitchens and could interact with their husbands and childrenwhile they prepared meals. While this meant women were nolonger alone while they cooked, it also meant, according to

feminist author Betty Friedan, that they no longer had anyspace to themselves. The 1950s housewife had to cope withthe demands of her family while she worked to prepare theirdinner. Of course some of the workload was alleviated by theburgeoning frozen food industry. This was the age of the TVdinner, invented by Swanson in 1953.

Apart from the near universal use ofthe microwave, the basic elements oftoday’s kitchen are little changed fromthe kitchen of the 1950s, As in the 1950s,the ideal kitchen today is part of an openplan, the center of household activity.Here, people eat, pay bills, do home-work, visit with friends and neighbors,and even entertain while cooking. Themost dramatic change in the kitchen over

the past half century may be the trend toward the kitchen asa less gendered space. In the complex family dynamic of todayin which both parents commonly work outside the home, andmany children live in single-parent households, men areincreasingly involved in preparing family meals.

Given the changes that have occurred in the kitchen overthe last three centuries, one has to wonder when the room

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first came to be seen nostalgically as the center of family life.Perhaps not surprisingly, this view of the kitchen appearedaround the middle of the nineteenth century, generated, atleast in part, by the same fear of onrushing change broughtby industrialization that led to the Colonial Revival. Oncethe cookstove began to supplant the kitchen hearth manypeople started to write longingly of the days before itsarrival. One author was convinced that Patriot soldierswould not have “gone barefooted and bleeding over snowsto defend air-tight stoves and cooking ranges.” NathanielHawthorne wrote of his fear that with the demise of thekitchen hearth there would be nothing to draw the familytogether to one spot. Sarah Orne Jewett described a man inone of her stories who waited until his wife was away and,after a drink or two with a friend, took the stove apart pieceby piece and disposed of it. (Jewett noted that women knewbetter than their husbands did how useful this device was.)

No matter how much the kitchen has been romanticized,there have always been countless women who felt differently.These included people like Hetty Morrison, who wrote in1878, “Not of my own free will did I enter upon a career ofbroiling, roasting and baking.” Hetty blamed men, believingthat left to themselves women would be perfectly happy

“with a few chocolate caramels and an occasional cup oftea.” She also wrote, “I wish to say that I think two-thirds ofcook book authors should be hanged without benefit of clergy.” Harriet Beecher Stowe was notorious amongst herfamily for her lax housekeeping, despite having written withher sister one of the most popular domestic advice books ofthe nineteenth century. Stowe complained in a letter to herabsent husband, “I am sick of the smell of sour milk, andsour meat, and sour everything.”

The history of the kitchen reveals that it is a complexspace that can tell many stories. Its centrality in everyday lifemeans that it is also associated with powerful emotions.Historic New England is engaged in a multi-year project tostudy the kitchen and enrich the visitor experience at itshouse museums, which represent four centuries of kitchentechnology and social history. This year will see the publica-tion of a handsome, profusely illustrated book, America’sKitchens, by the authors of this article, and beginning nextyear, look for kitchen- and food-related programs at HistoricNew England’s properties.

—Nancy Carlisle and Melinda Nasardinov Co-curators, America’s Kitchens project

a bright and spotless kitchen. ABOVE The Gropius family’s mid-

twentieth-century kitchen survives intact at the Gropius House in

Lincoln, Massachusetts.Walter and Ise Gropius’s daughter remem-

bers an atmosphere of “dogged desperation” once her mother

took over the family’s cooking during the Second World War.

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wners of old housesknow how challengingand time-consuming it isto find reliable advice,

whether it’s on how to repair historicplumbing, finish a softwood floor, orchoose an appropriate paint color.Plenty of general information is avail-able in magazines and on television orthe Internet, but it can be very difficultto find the right solution to a specificproblem in your particular house.Eighteen months ago Historic NewEngland launched the HistoricHomeowner membership program toconnect homeowners with answers,support, and advice on caring for theirhistoric houses through direct access toa preservation specialist.

The Historic Homeowner mem-bership is an outgrowth of HistoricNew England’s Stewardship Program,which partners with owners of more

than seventy-five privately owned prop-erties across the region on whichHistoric New England holds preserva-tion restrictions. Both programs servethe organization’s mission to protectthe region’s built environment and pre-serve its unique character. HistoricNew England’s technical expertise andauthentic approach to maintaining historic architecture, gained over nearlya century of maintaining its museum houses, underpin the programs. HistoricHomeowner members receive “bestpractices” technical assistance and con-sultation on call, either by telephone oremail.

Historic Homeowner membershipfills a genuine need and is especiallyvaluable for those who have recentlypurchased an old house and need helpin getting oriented to its historic char-acter and fabric. Historic Homeownermembers Jacqui Dulak and Mark Klee,

M E M B E R S H I P

O first-time old-house owners of a c. 1835brick farmhouse in central Massachu-setts, wanted to understand the partic-ular historic features of their home.Through Historic Homeowner mem-bership, they learned that the walls oftheir early Greek Revival double parlorhad very likely originally been wallpa-pered; accordingly, the couple havedecided to paper the room, usingreproduction wallpaper. They are alsolooking into reproducing painted blackmarbling on the mantelpieces in theparlor, which show evidence of blackpaint and which also retain handsomeGreek Revival cast-iron fire frames,decorative iron inserts set into the fire-places.

Madelyn Mitton became a HistoricHomeowner member after searching invain for the right resources to help herprotect the windows on her uniqueproperty, an Italianate-style 1848 train

AdviceOn Call

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which now hang in her home.Historic Homeowner members can

connect with Historic New Englandstaff and with each other at exclusiveprograms in which members visit amuseum property while conservationwork is underway or tour the collec-tions storage area. There are also spe-cialized opportunities for lectures,workshops, and old house clinics.Members also have exclusive access toa password-protected website contain-ing extensive technical information.

The Historic Homeowner member-ship services more than 150 membersand is growing steadily. The kinds ofhouses involved range from FirstPeriod dwellings through mid-twenti-eth-century Modernist homes. Thesehomeowners act as stewards of sharedassets in their communities—buildingsthat contribute to the historic characterof the towns and countryside thatmake New England wonderful.

—Sally ZimmermanPreservation Specialist


station that was relocated and convertedinto a residence in 1882. The HistoricHomeowner staff located a supplierwho could custom-manufacture wood-en storm windows.

Historic Homeowner benefits mayinclude a major consultation for paintcolor selection, evaluation of proposedalterations or additions, or help deci-phering architectural evidence in ahome. Consultations result in a detailedwritten report with recommendationsfrom Historic Homeowner staff.Members may also be sent packets oftechnical information, articles, andphotos providing background data,specialized treatment recommenda-tions, and additional references for fur-ther study. Historic Homeowner mem-bers are encouraged to call or emailtheir questions, large or small. Solutionsto a particular problem or questionoften involve several phone calls oremails while staff and the homeownerwork together on a problem.

On several occasions, membershipin the program has resulted in unantic-ipated discoveries. Take for example,Karla Pearlstein, who purchased a FirstPeriod house in Harvard, Massachu-

setts, and was researching it remotelyfrom her home on the West Coast, withhelp from Historic Homeowner staff.Records revealed that Historic NewEngland owned an original leadedcasement window from the house,which had been removed in the 1920sduring an early restoration. In anothercase, staff authenticated the early wall-paper in the home of a HistoricHomeowner member in Hebron, NewHampshire, which matched a bandboxcovered in the same hand-printedFrench c. 1820 pineapple motif paperin Historic New England’s collections.

Homeowner member Cheryl Bonin,who lives in a c. 1775 tavern in Sutton,Massachusetts, had heard rumors thatfolk art collector Nina Fletcher Littlehad purchased items from her house.Through the help of Historic NewEngland staff, she found that a pair ofportraits of the original owners of herhouse, Samuel and Prudence Waters,are now part of the collection at theLittles’ former summer house, HistoricNew England’s Cogswell’s Grant, inEssex, Massachusetts. Mrs. Boninrecently visited Cogswell’s Grant andordered photographs of the portraits,

FACING PAGE Historic

Homeowner members get

a closer look at the inside of

the massive 1687 chimney at

the Boardman House, Saugus,

Massachusetts. FAR LEFT The

1848 Ballardvale Station,

Andover, Massachusetts, c.1920.

NEAR LEFT The companion sta-

tion building, moved in 1882,

under restoration today.Co

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This strange-looking contraption, made during the late nineteenthcentury, is a combination birdcage/fish bowl. The bird is sitting onits perch in the hollow of the glass bowl and is watching the fishswimming in the water. Do you think the fish liked having a feath-ered friend come to visit?

M A K I N G F U N O F H I S T O R Y

�

4000 BC Cats domesti-cated inancient Egypt.

Eighteenthcentury Children keepsquirrels as pets.

1801–1809 President Thomas Jefferson keeps a mockingbird named“Dick” inthe White House Oval Office.

Mid-nine-teenth century Songbirds arepopular pets.

1850sFirst home aquari-ums for fish becomeavailable, with plantsto filter water andprovide oxygen.

Can you guess what this is?

Pets

do you know �

Let’s learn about the history of pets.

Children have enjoyed pets for centuries.Even on farms, where most animals provided work and food, families oftenkept favorite animals for fun and affection. Cats and dogs havealways been popular, but wemight be surprised by some ofthe pets people have kept in thepast, including squirrels, wildbirds, and even woodchucks.

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Two legs are sitting on three legs with oneleg in its lap. Four legs comes, takes one legand runs off with it. Two legs throws threelegs at four legs, and four legs brings one legback. What’s happening?

Answers can be found on page 25.

1860James Sprattdevelops com-mercial dogfood.

1860s Guinea pigs arefirst importedfrom SouthAmerica.

��puzzle

riddle me this

1884AmericanKennel Clubis founded.

1947 Edward Loweinvents KittyLitter.

1970sSnakes and lizardsgain popularity aspets.

1975Pet Rocks are a popular fad.

Pets have long appeared in children’s stories and nursery rhymes. Identify these well-known characters, then transferthe letters in the squares to the numbered blanks belowto spell the name of a pet that once lived at the Rundlet-May House. Read more about pets on pages 22–23.

1. Famous collie, heroine of books, movies, and television.

2. In The Call of the Wild, this pampered pet becomes a wild dog.

3. Alice misses this cat while having adventures in Wonderland.

4. Harry Potter’s owl.

5. Watches over the Darling children in Peter Pan.

6. Named for the color of his coat, this dog befriends two poor brothers in Texas.

7. In this lullaby, Mama promises to buy Baby this same type of songbird (same kind as the one kept by Thomas Jefferson).

8. Charlotte the spider was this pig’s best friend.

9. Dorothy’s companion on the way to Oz.

10. Went to London to see the queen.

Write to CaseyFor many years, artistsand photographers haveincluded favorite petsin their portraits ofkids. Send me a picture of yourselfwith your pet, and I will send you a funnyphoto of a dog that once belonged to theCodman family. Write to me [email protected], or Casey the Clock, Historic New England, 141 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114.

This is an old riddle.Can you figure out the answer?

1 _ _ _ _ _ _

2 _ _ _ _

3 _ _ _ _ _

4 _ _ _ _ _ _

5 _ _ _ _

6 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

7 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

8 _ _ _ _ _ _

9 _ _ _ _

10 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1 2 3 5 6 8 9 10

Answers can be found on page 25.

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M A K I N G F U N O F H I S T O R Y

For centuries, people have kept cats around their homes

to catch mice. Here’s a toy mouse you can sew for your

cat to play with. You can stuff the toy with catnip.

European settlers introduced this herb to North

America and grew it in their herb gardens

because of its medicinal qualities as a sedative.

Catnip has quite the opposite effect

on cats—the scent causes a state of

euphoria.

make a cat toy

Suppliesfeltsewing threadneedlepinsblack yarn or embroidery flossscissorsthree-inch piece of yarn cotton batting or dried catnip3– 4 bristles

Directions1. Trace and cut out the pattern, pin the pattern onto the feltand cut around it. Repeat to cut out a second piece. Cut twopieces of felt for the ears.2. Pin the two pieces together so that the edges are even.3. Sew small even stitches all the way around the mouse,about 1/8" away from the edge. Leave a one-inch hole in thewide end. 4. Turn the mouse inside out and stuff it with batting or catnip.5. For the tail, knot the end of the piece of yarn, and put theknot inside the mouse. Sew the opening closed, stitchingthrough the yarn to secure it.

6. Thread the black yarn or embroidery floss on a needleand knot the end. Stick the needle into the mouse where youwant the first eye to be, pushing it out where you want thesecond eye to be. Pull the thread all the way through, knot it,and trim both knots close to the felt. 7. Sew on the ears.8. For the whiskers, cut three or four bristles from a softpaint brush, tie them together in the middle, and sew ontothe mouse’s nose.

—Kathleen SimoneLead Museum Teacher, Otis House Museum

Mouse Pattern

Ear

stitch 1/8" from cut edge

stitch staightedge to body

cut here

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M U S E U M S H O P

The Historic New England Book Store

To order, please call (617) 227-3957, ext 237. Shipping charges and applicable taxes apply.

David F. Wood’s An Observant Eye:The Thoreau Collection at the ConcordMuseum, an illustrated catalogue ofobjects that belonged to Henry D.Thoreau and are now owned by theConcord Museum, is an illuminatingstudy of what can be learned frommaterial culture about the man and his times. Hardcover. Price, $39.95,Member Price, $35

Honor

Book

Honor

Book

Historic New England Book Prize and Honor Books

Book

Prize

Winner

Richard S. Jackson, Jr. and CorneliaBrooke Gilder’s Houses of the Berk-shires, 1870–1930 chronicles thirty-five resort estates designed by leadingfirms such as McKim, Mead & White,Carrere and Hastings, and FrederickLaw Olmsted, as well as the distinc-tive social and literary colony aroundLenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts.Includes more than three hundred historic photographs and floor plans.Hardcover. Price, $75, Member Price, $67

Every year a panel of Historic New England staff and outside experts evaluates recent monographson aspects of New England culture for the Historic New England Book Prize. The 2007 prize win-ner is J. Ritchie Garrison, Two Carpenters: Architecture and Building in Early New England,1799–1859, a study of Calvin and George Stearns, who worked mostly in the newly settled townsof central Massachusetts and southern Vermont. Based on the account books and daybooks of thetwo men, the book looks closely at the role house builders played in influencing the styles of homespeople lived in. Fascinating and informative, it discusses architecture of a period that has been largelyoverlooked. Hardcover. Price, $48.95, Member Price, $44

The World of OrnamentBatterham, David / Haslam & Whiteway Ltd.Includes DVD-ROM containing high-resolution scans of all individual ornaments for unrestricted use. This large and gorgeously printed volume combines two well-known French decorative arts books: Auguste Racinet’sL’Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875/1888) andM. Dupont-Auberville’s L’Ornement des tissus (1877). Thepages faithfully reproduce the colors of the original chromo-lithographs in the original volumes, with patterns drawnfrom historical material dating back to antiquity—jewelry,tiles, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts, textiles, andceramics. The designs encompass a wide range of cultural

aesthetics including Egyptian, Greek, Roman,and Etruscan motifs, Asian and MiddleEastern patterns, as well as European designsfrom medieval times through the nineteenthcentury. Hardcover. Price, $200 Member Price, $180

The panel also named two Honor Books:

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P O R T F O L I O

hotographs from the Libraryand Archives have long beenone of Historic New England’smost important resources for

sharing the lives and stories of NewEnglanders. Now, for the first time,many of these important and historicimages are available for purchasethrough our online Museum Shop.

Streetscapes, the countryside, peo-ple at work, people at play, and the sea and shoreline are among the diversesubjects depicted by such well knownphotographers as Emma Lewis Cole-man (1853–1942), Baldwin Coolidge(1845–1928), Mary H. Northend(1850–1926), and Nathaniel L. Steb-bins (1847–1922). Prints of these pho-

tographers’ works andmany others, producedfrom high-resolution scansof the originals in blackand white, on matte, high-quality paper, are nowavailable for purchasethrough the online Mu-seum Shop gallery. Topreserve historical accur-acy, the prints are notedited but have been sizedto fit standard frames.Conservation-quality mat-

Pting is also available. The photographsshown here are only a few of the sev-enty-seven selections and represent justa fraction of the 350,000 photographsin the Library and Archives.

To view the selection, visitHistoricNewEngland.org/museum/Hist_Photo.htm.

The prints make perfect gifts, suit-able for home or office. Prices varyaccording to size, from $40 to $95. Asalways, Historic New England membersreceive a 10% discount on all purchases.

If you don’t find what you want inthe selection online, contact us at [email protected] call (617) 227-3957, ext 271, and ifan image is available, we will be happyto make a print for you.

History onYour Wall

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FACING PAGE TOP The schooner Gitana, 1883. FACING PAGE, BOTTOM

Family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, 1887. THIS

PAGE, RIGHT Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts, c. 1919

THIS PAGE, MIDDLE LEFT General store, Shrewsbury, Massachu-

setts, c. 1890. MIDDLE RIGHT The Red Sox in their first year at

Fenway Park,1912. LEFT Rainy day on Tremont Street,Boston,

late nineteenth century. ABOVE The lagoon in the Public

Garden, Boston, c. 1890.

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allpaper sets thestage and defines thecharacter of a room.Far more than mere

background, it should be considered alarge work of art on paper. Hand-painted Chinese export paper, Englishflock wallpaper, and French panoramashave long been placed in this categoryand written about extensively, butmore recent machine-made papers alsodeserve respect. Research has greatlyexpanded understanding of the historyand proper care of both types of wall-papers. Today, however, rapid shifts intaste and the fact that houses changehands more frequently have led toincreasing scarcity of older wallpapersof all kinds.

Some homeowners appreciate oldwallpaper that survives in their home,especially if it contributes to the house’speriod character. If your house con-tains historic or older paper that youwould like to keep in good condition,this article offers guidance on the “bestpractices” of caring for it.

Like all works on paper, wallpaperis fragile. It can last for centuries ifproperly made and cared for but ishighly susceptible to damage from envi-ronmental conditions, pests, and poorhandling. In addition, some wallpaperscan suffer from intrinsic flaws—acidicpaper, corrosive inks, and the failure ofthe adhesive or the support.

P R E S E R V A T I O N

W Environmental conditionsThe first steps you can take to protectwallpaper should be to monitor andcontrol environmental conditions.Historic wallpaper is susceptible todamage from overexposure to light. Toprevent fading and degradation ofmaterials, keep shades or shuttersclosed when the room is not in use,protect the walls from direct sunlight,avoid fluorescent lights, and try to limitoverall exposure to bright light of anykind.

Paper has a natural tendency toabsorb water and will expand orshrink with changes in relative humid-ity. Try to keep the room climate stablewith an ideal temperature of 65 to 70degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humid-

Caring for Wallpaper

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ity of 50 to 55%. Relative humidityabove 70% may result in mold growth,insect activity, and corrosion of anymetals used in decoration. Very low rel-ative humidity can cause flaking paint,tears, and detachment from the wall.

Other factors that play a signifi-cant role in damaging wallpaper areheating and air pollution. Direct heatand high temperatures accelerate dete-rioration. Ambient particulate air pol-lution can be harmful as well. A heat-ing and ventilation system with HEPA(high efficiency particulate air) filtra-tion greatly reduces pollutants and air-borne particulates.

Micro-organisms, insects, androdents are common threats to wallpa-per because the cellulose and adhesivesused in its manufacture are a foodsource for fungi, silverfish, and rodents.Clean and inspect dark spaces in theroom regularly; if you suspect infesta-tion, use insect traps and mouse trapsto identify the type of pest and thentreat accordingly.

A few standard rules A little extra care and common sensewhen handling wallpaper will prevent

most damage caused by people. • Use gloves or clean and dry handswhen handling wallpaper to preventstaining. • Do not attempt to clean with wateror liquid cleaning products, and becareful when cleaning the windows ormopping the floor. • Never use tape or glue to reattachwallpaper.• To prevent abrasion, avoid placingfurniture and objects directly againstwallpaper. • When possible, avoid making holesin wallpaper for fixtures; use picturerails rather than picture hooks, andplace spacers behind pictures to allowair circulation.• Be careful using heat-generatingdevices near wallpaper. Candles, stoves,and fireplaces can be harmful not only because of the heat but because of the smoke they gen-erate. Do not allow smoking in a wallpapered room.• Do not attempt to conceal stains, losses,or discolored varnishby touching them upyourself, because paint is

not reversible and may discolor in thefuture. Inpainting is a specialized skillrequiring careful selection of materialstailored to the individual wallpaperand should be done by a conservator.

What a homeowner can doMost damage to wallpaper requirestreatment by a professional conserva-tor, but there are some basic preserva-tion measures that you can safelyundertake. Photograph the wallpaperoverall and in detail to document itscondition. Keep track of the dates ofunusual activities or special equipmentbeing used in the wallpapered room incase damage shows up later. If smallwallpaper fragments fall off, placethem in a ziplock bag with a note and

a copy of the record photo-graph indicating

FACING PAGE A c.1780 flocked wallpa-

per in the Sarah Orne Jewett House,

South Berwick, Maine. ABOVE LEFT To

clean surface dust, brush gently with a

soft brush towards vacuum nozzle cov-

ered with gauze. CENTER A dry cleaning

sponge may be used if the surface is not

fragile. RIGHT For a temporary repair

of a tear or loose section, use stainless

steel or aluminum pushpins to support

wallpaper.

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where they came from. They will needto be reattached by a conservator. Keeplarger fragments in an acid-free card-board folder, interleaved with acid-freeglassine paper.

Dry cleaningTo remove dust, spider webs and loosedirt, use a soft brush and a vacuumcleaner on low suction. First, cover thevacuum cleaner nozzle with gauze ormuslin to prevent fragments frombeing sucked into the vacuum. Then,with a soft brush, gently wipe the sur-face of the paper in the direction of thevacuum nozzle, taking care not toremove any flaking paint or liftingfragments. After overall surface clean-

ing, use a dry cleaning sponge to removemore intrusive dirt and soil. Test thismethod first by lightly rubbing thesponge in an inconspicuous area. If the soil is reduced, continue to clean thewhole surface with gentle, short, evenstrokes.

ReattachmentSections of wallpaper that are becom-ing detached may be held in place tem-porarily with pushpins or thumbtacks.Use only stainless steel or aluminumpushpins; regular tacks will quicklyrust and leave stains. Push the pin intothe underlying wall support along thetear or seam so that the edge of the pin,not the point, holds the paper in place.This is a short-term measure thatshould be followed by treatment by aprofessional.

Visit www.wallpaperhistory.org where you will find a searchableonline catalogue of Historic New England’s internationally knownwallpaper collection, notes on the history and care of wallpaper,historic photographs of interiors, and a list of resources, includinghow to find a conservator. Sharpen your eye by visiting HistoricNew England properties, many of which feature notable wallpaper.Of particular interest are the Sarah Orne Jewett House, in SouthBerwick, Maine, and Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House, inGloucester, Massachusetts.

Dry cleaning sponges can be ordered at Talas, cat. no TCD083001/TCD083002 (www.talasonline.com) or at University Products, cat. no. 961-1000 (www.universityproducts.com). Alternatively, try the Gonzo Wonder Sponge(www.gonzocorp.com, or www.organize-everything.com).

In case of an emergency Fire, flooding, and other disasters canall cause significant damage. Immediateresponse within the first forty-eighthours is crucial to salvaging the paperand preventing mold growth. A littleadvance planning can help lessen theimpact of a disaster, so keep someemergency supplies on hand and knowhow to contact a conservator in yourarea. A basic kit would contain poly-ethylene drop cloths, blue tape, push-pins, blotting paper, flashlights, fans,mold masks, and rubber gloves. To finda conservator, contact the AmericanInstitute for Conservation of Historicand Artistic Works (AIC), Washington,tel. (202) 452-9545, email: [email protected], or website: www.aic.stan-ford.edu.

These simple guidelines—monitor-ing the environment, care in handling,taking preventive measures, and know-ing when to call in a professional—willgo a long way in helping you maintainyour historic wallpapers in good condi-tion.

—Judith BohanMellon Fellow in Conservation

BELOW Block-printed wallpaper in the

Jewett dining room, hung about 1855.

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L A N D S C A P E

Stone Walls: Links to History

There is no part of the New England landscape more quintessentially characteristic of theregion than its stone walls.They are so much a part of the countryside that they are oftentaken for granted, abused, and neglected.Wherever they survive—whether on farms wherethey remain functional and are maintained, or in woodlands where they lie fallen—they arean exemplary source for learning about the many changes in land use in New England. Asboth landscape features and historical evidence, stone walls deserve preservation as muchas the historic buildings and landscapes they surround.

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tion and an increase in the popularity of sheep farming.During the sheep boom, more walls were needed becausesheep had to be kept away from fertile topsoil reserved forraising crops. Sheep could easily climb a typical tossed wall,so farmers built lace walls—walls constructed with openspaces between the stones. Sheep perceived these walls asunstable and would not climb them.

The extent of stone wall proliferation was well docu-mented. In 1871, the Department of Agriculture’s publica-tion “Statistics of Fences in the United States” listed the typesof fences according to building material, length, and cost ineach state. In all six New England states, stone walls madeup the highest percentage of total fencing. Based on thisreport, experts estimate that more than 250,000 miles ofstone walls may have been built in the Northeast—requiringthe effort that could have built the pyramids of Egypt onehundred times over. But after 1860, as industrializationexpanded and the rural economy declined, farmers foundemployment in factories or left New England for richer landson the western frontier, and the heyday of stone walls cameto an end.

In the twenty-first century, as before, land use patternsand cultural trends continue to shift. While the utilitarian

European settlers brought over the concept of fencing as ameans of separating livestock and crops and keeping manureconfined and available. Wood was their first choice in mate-rial, but its short life span and the amount of labor to main-tain it became a nuisance. The colonists began to use theabundant rocks that were being cleared from their fields tocreate sturdy and longer lasting walls. Walls were made bysledding larger rocks to the edges of the field and tossingsmaller rocks on them. Tossed walls were naturally limited inheight due to human strength and ability—only reachingabout waist high. Taller walls exist, built at chest height, andare classified as fences.

Rhode Island has some of the earliest stone walls in NewEngland, owing in part to the availability of plentiful labor.Rhode Island had been active in the slave trade since the1650s and had more slaves than the other New Englandcolonies. The Native American population was sometimespressed into service as well. Because of this large labor force,Rhode Island had more stone walls than elsewhere in theregion until the last quarter of the eighteenth century, and by1871, an estimated 14,000 miles of walls existed in the state.

Between 1775 and 1825, New England experienced aprolific surge in stone wall building due to rapid deforesta-

PREVIOUS PAGE AND ABOVE LEFT The handsome dry-laid walls at Casey

Farm, Saunderstown, Rhode Island, are evidence of the intensive

labor involved in building walls of great length. ABOVE RIGHT Three

projecting stones at Casey Farm form a stile, which allows people,

but not cattle or sheep, to climb over the wall.A

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function of stone walls has diminished, people are becomingaware of the value of old stone walls as landscape features.Local advocacy groups have begun to focus attention on pro-tecting walls, which are vulnerable not only to developmentbut also to random theft by passers by, through which entiresections of wall can vanish in a short period of time.

A stone wall can be placed into one of three categories:abandoned, heritage, or recent and rebuilt. Abandoned wallsare those that have fallen out of use and into a state of disre-pair, sometimes called wild walls. They are usually sur-rounded by trees and lie tumbled and covered with growth.It is best to leave these walls as they lie, as they have likelybecome a habitat for a variety of species and have also takenon the task of stabilizing the soil. Be respectful of them as his-toric artifacts, and do not disturb them. Heritage, or historic,walls play a significant role in local culture and history. Theseare the walls that are still prominent; they may surround ahistoric home or run parallel to a road. These structures shouldbe monitored and documented, and, as local landmarks, theyshould be maintained. Recent or rebuilt walls are exactly that.They can be old walls that have been rebuilt or new ones builtin the traditional manner. They may not need preservation carebut should still be managed and maintained carefully.

21

Property owners and community members concernedabout the well-being of walls in their vicinity should be mind-ful that the most important aspect of repair is prevention. Itis best to monitor stone walls and detect problems as theydevelop, before major repairs are required. This includeskeeping the wall free and clear of growth, other than lichen,because the root systems of vines and saplings can prove dev-astating to a wall’s support and structure. If a rock falls,place it back with care. When repairs are necessary, it isextremely important to use traditional techniques. Thismeans dry laying and chinking to build the strongest wallpossible. A dry-laid wall can move and settle and has superiordrainage, whereas a mortared wall, while appearing stable,may harbor serious structural flaws. When hiring a mason to build or repair a stone wall, take care that he does not use “stripmined” stones, acquired by means of stone-by-stone theft.

Author and stone wall advocate Robert Thorson said itbest, “The stone wall is the key that links the natural historyto the human history of New England.” It is our responsibilityto preserve these monuments, which balance order and chaos,as a tribute to the agrarian history that shaped New England.

—Dana C. TitcombPreservation Manager

Winter/Spring 2008 Historic New England

ABOVE This relic wall bounding a field in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is

a typical example of a thrown wall.

BELOW Wild walls in a Lincoln, Massachusetts, woodland enclose a

former pasture.

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O P E N H O U S E

epin, a black poodle sits up, paws in the air,haunches on a wide rock.

In the next frame, she sits face forward, reveal-ing perfectly clipped forelegs, curly-haired ears,

and composed gaze. In each photo a gentleman in a derbyhat, and suit, holding a walking stick, fixes his gaze upon her.The gentleman is James Rundlet May of Portsmouth, NewHampshire. His grandfather was James Rundlet, who madehis fortune in the early 1800s and built the imposing houseon Middle Street that became home to four generations ofRundlets and Mays.

Around the middleof the nineteenth centu-ry, as prosperity andleisure time in the UnitedStates increased, atti-tudes towards domesticanimals began to shiftfrom largely utilitarianto affectionate, even sen-timental. James RundletMay and his son, Ralph,who treated their dogs

as valued companions, exemplify this transition. Pet keeping, asrecognized today, had begun in earnest.

James, who served in the Civil War as a young medicalofficer, clearly had great affection for dogs. When the gunboat on which he was traveling on the James River inVirginia stopped at an abandoned plantation, he went ashoreand found a black pointer dog that had been left behind. Headopted her, named her Flora, and brought her home toPortsmouth, where she was something of a curiosity. Peoplecalled her the “Confederate Dog.”

In his medical notebook, among remedies for diphtheriaand the common cold, James copied lines from a poem byGeorge Washington Doane (1799–1859), Episcopal bishopof New Jersey, “On His Dog”:

I am quite sure he thinks that I am God-Since he is God on whom each one dependsFor life, and all things that his bounty

sends— My dear, old dog most constant of all

friends;… So, faithful, mindful, thankful, trustful, he Tells me what I unto my God should be.

The Man Who Loved Dogs

P

“I am quite sure he thinks that I am God–”

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FACING PAGE, ABOVE James Rundlet May with Pepin, and the 1871 dog

license for Hylax. FACING PAGE, BELOW The 1807 Rundlet-May House

in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. ABOVE LEFT The pet cemetery

is in a quiet corner shaded by a cherry tree.

ABOVE RIGHT, TOP Argus’s collar, displayed on a bookcase in the

third-floor study. ABOVE RIGHT, BELOW Argus’s tombstone. BELOW

The 1878 Constitution and Bylaws of the New Hampshire Society

for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.


founding the New Hampshire Society for thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals. He

remained on the board of directors of the orga-nization for forty-five years, until the time of his

death in 1918. During his years on the board, the society expanded, growing from being a

Portsmouth-based group to a statewide organiza-tion in 1875. In succession, May performed the

duties of president, treasurer, and secretary. His1881 Secretary’s Report states that the organization

was able to investigate and put a stop to 998 cruelty cases fordomestic animals in twenty-one New Hampshire towns. Afterhis death, his son Ralph acted as treasurer for the society.

Affection for pets and a civic desire to seek protectionfor all animals was a strong commitment for these two gen-erations of May men. After the Rundlet-May House becamea museum in 1971, animals no longer had free run of thehouse, yet the sounds of galloping legs, jingling collars, andplayful barks still reverberate in the imagination.

—Elizabeth FarishRegional Site Manager, Maine and New Hampshire

The grounds at the Rundlet-May House preservethe geometric pattern first laid out by JamesRundlet, with an orchard and formal flower beds,in the early nineteenth century. They include alater addition dating from James’s time—a petcemetery. T.H. Cochran, who conducted a land-scape survey of the property in 1984, describesit, “…there was a plot in which were laid torest the succession of family pets. Surely this, morethan any other single feature of the garden, speaks of thesacred regard in which this place was held by family mem-bers.” The plot contains nine stones, including those ofFlora, Pepin, Ajax, and Argus, as well as a canary namedSunny Boy. It lies near the peony garden and is overlooked bythe office and gentleman’s retreat on the third floor, whichwas used by both James Rundlet May and his son, Ralph.Among the travel guides, histories, and literary works on theoffice bookshelves, Argus’s studded collar, bearing a metaltag inscribed “Argus May,” holds pride of place. Both out-side and inside the house, objects and family photographssignify the May family’s devotion to their animals.

With such evidence of James May’s esteem for his com-panions, it is no wonder that he played an integral part in

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News New England & Beyond

Having a ballLast summer, more than 150 friends attended acostume ball on Eastern Point in Gloucester,Massachusetts, to celebrate the hundredthanniversary of Beauport, Sleeper-McCannHouse, the summer and weekend retreat ofnoted interior designer Henry Davis Sleeper.Local residents Caroline Stride and Chip andMargaret Ziering co-chaired the event with thesupport of committee members Lois and PhilipBudrose, Ty Dowell, George Handran, PhilipHayden, John Rando, Elisa Sawall, AndrewSpindler, Linda and Oliver Wolcott, and TedVasiliou.

Many of the guests wore costumes inspiredby decorative themes at Beauport, while otherswore early twentieth-century fashions or cos-tumes like the ones shown in photographs ofSleeper’s own parties. The evening was beauti-ful, everyone had a wonderful time, and the ballraised more than $20,000 to support ongoingpreservation of the museum.

Top one hundredA silhouette of the family of SamuelAppleton by Auguste Edouart (1789–1861), recently acquired by Historic NewEngland, is featured by Art and AntiquesMagazine in its annual list of the top onehundred museum acquisitions of 2007.Edouart, a French artist who combined cutsilhouettes with pencil drawings, spent twoyears in Boston in the 1840s, during whichhe portrayed several prominent families.The image is replete with detailed infor-mation about fashionable taste in Bostonat the time. Senior Curator RichardNylander will contribute an article on thework in a future issue of Historic NewEngland magazine.

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Senior Curator Richard C. Nylander to retireAfter more than forty years at HistoricNew England, Richard Nylander willretire at the end of March. A veritablewalking memory of Historic New Eng-land, Nylander has personally exam-ined most of the nearly 110,000objects in the organization’s collec-tions, not only those on view in thehouse museums but also items in col-lections storage.

A graduate of the College ofWilliam and Mary, Nylander receiveda master’s degree from the Cooper-stown Graduate Program and joinedHistoric New England in 1967. In theearly 1970s, he oversaw the refurbish-ing of the Harrison Gray Otis House inBoston. The scheme’s bright colors andauthentic furniture arrangements, basedon both documentary evidence and sci-entific analysis, dazzled visitors and seta new standard for accuracy in historichouse interpretation. Nylander laterapplied the same principles to therefurbishing of other Historic New

England properties, including HamiltonHouse, in South Berwick, Maine, andCodman Estate, in Lincoln, Mass-achusetts.

Nylander is internationally recog-nized as an expert on historic wallpa-per. Author of two books on the sub-ject, he was curator for the exhibitionOff the Walls: Historic Wallpapers inNew England, and is a member of theCommittee for the Preservation of the

Visit this winterBring your friends and out-of-town guests this winterto one of Historic New England’s house museums.The Otis House in Boston is open year roundWednesdays through Sundays, 11 am to 4 pm.Winter hours at the Gropius House in Lincoln,Massachusetts, are Saturdays and Sundays, 11 am to4 pm. The Phillips House in Salem, Massachusetts,is open Saturdays and Sundays, 11 am to 4 pm,through February 24, in conjunction with the exhi-bition “Samuel McIntire, Carving an AmericanStyle” at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Solution to puzzle on page 11.

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White House, where he was involvedin the redecoration of the Blue Roomand the State Dining Room during theClinton administration. He has writtennumerous articles in both popular andscholarly journals, lectured widely, andconsults nationally on historic houserestorations.

(Answer to riddle: A man is sitting on a stool with a bonein his lap, a dog comes and takes the bone.The man throwsthe stool at the dog and the dog brings back the bone.)

LEFT The Phillips House, in Salem, Massachusetts,

contains carvings by both Samuel McIntire and his

son, Samuel Field McIntire.This mantelpiece in the

library, decorated with overflowing baskets and

horns of plenty, was carved by the son in 1813.

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141 Cambridge StreetBoston MA 02114-2702

Presented by theSociety for the Preservationof New England Antiquities

Non-Profit OrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDBoston, Massachusetts

Permit No. 58621

ABOVE Watercolor of Creese & Cook

Tannery, Danvers, c.1922. Gift of Jean S.

and Frederic A. Sharf.

the buildings were taken down twoyears later. The land is now a Super-fund site because of the residue of toxicchemicals used in the tanning process,but the drawing survives as a record ofa once proud New England business.

—Frederic A. SharfCollector and Scholar

recently purchased this handsomewatercolor of the Creese & CookTannery in Danvers, Massachu-setts, with the explicit objective of

donating it to Historic New England. Iknew nothing about the company, butI recognized the quality of the render-ing and looked forward to the fun ofresearching the piece.

My research led me to a 1946 history of the company published bythe Danvers Historical Society. In1918, the basic factory complex withthe tall chimney in the center wasenlarged by a two-story brick buildingon the northwest corner, and in 1922,by a three-story building on the southside. As both additions appear in theimage, it is likely that the drawing wascommissioned by the company in 1922to depict the latest view of theirimpressive manufacturing site. Imageslike this were often used as the basis fora promotional poster or calendar.

After World War II, the businesswas sold. By the 1970s, the shoe indus-try had changed so drastically that theoutdated plant could no longer com-pete. The factory closed in 1982, and

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A C Q U I S I T I O N S

Proud Symbol

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Historic New England Winter-Spring 2008

Documents

Transcript of Historic New England Winter-Spring 2008