editor, Peter Benes ; associate editor, Jane Montague Benes ; contributing editor, Ross W. Beales, Jr.
Place of Publication
[Boston, Mass.]
Publisher
Boston University,
Date of Publication
1990.
Physical Description
136 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Series
Annual proceedings / Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife ; v. 13
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 116-131).
Contents
Chapters: Provision for daughters: the accounts of Samuel Lane by Jane C.Nylander /// The "single-parent" households of Portland's Wadsworth-Longfellow House by Joyce Butler /// Murder in Middletown:lower-class life in Connecticut in 1815 by Doris Sherrow /// "Slavish" and other female work in the Parkman household, Westborough, Massachusetts, 1724-1782 by Ross W. Beales, Jr. /// The dilemmas of domestic service in New England, 1750-1850 by Charles A. Hammond /// Home fires: cookstoves in American culture, 1815-1900 by Priscilla J.Brewer /// "A great help to many families": straw braiding inMassachusetts before 1825 by Caroline Sloat /// Eliza WildesBourne of Kennebunk: professional fancy weaver, 1800-1820 by Sandra S. Armentrout /// Selected bibliography on aspects of house and home in New England and the Northeast before 1870 by Gerald W.R. Ward
Chapters: The Meeting House Devil // Rum and Slavery // The Composite Puritan // The Personality of the Meeting House // The Summons To Worship // The Seating of the People // The Wretched Boys // Disturbers of Public Worship // The Neighbors of the Meeting House // The Comedy and Tragedy of the Pulpit // The Poor Parsons // The Notorious Ministers // The Simple Evangelist // The Muse of Choral Song // The Bible and the Confessional // The Hour Glass
Summary
The author uses the Colonial Meeting House as a central focus of the New England town and from it looks to other practices and customs to better illuminate life in the town and New England.
First published in 1977 and expanded in 1995, James Deetz’s "In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life" begins with a memorable anecdote of a New England appraiser who in 1658 included as his final entry to an estate’s listing—“In small things forgotten, eight shillings six penceâ€â€” in which Deetz calls attention to the appraiser’s acknowledgment that “things that he may have overlooked...nevertheless have valueâ€. Drawing from a variety of sources including ceramic dishes, funerary art on gravestones, earthfast foundation construction, shot gun houses, and tobacco pipe diameters, and with the aid of clear sketches and diagrams by Amy Elizabeth Grey, Deetz demonstrates how historical archaeology offers a fruitful lens for conducting history as an engaging and insightful alternative to textual analysis. As a colleague and friend of Henry Glassie as admitted to in his introduction, Deetz also points out how “not all the people [of modern history] were able to read and write†and thus material culture analysis—particularly historical archaeology—has the potential for a more accurate and democratic representation of history. He speaks directly to this point with his chapter entitled “the African American past†that among other points contends that historical archaeological evidence as well as textual sources suggest that the veranda, or porch, that became such a pervasive feature in the architecture of the American South during the late eighteenth century most likely came from West Africa influences rather than European traditions. Deetz reveals how rather than simply reading American slave history as one dominant culture forcing its “superior†ways upon the captive, the small everyday common objects left behind and discarded tell a very different story of how both European and African cultural traditions contributed to the distinctive Southern culture shared by both races despite written narratives contending for their separateness. Historical corrections, especially ones that restore the contributions of oppressed minorities, are prime examples of the importance and potential of looking first to material culture before turning to the written record that tends to speak less honestly than objects do. [from goodreads.com]
BUNDLING. "A man and a woman lying on the same bed with their clothes on; an expedient practiced in America on a scarcity of beds, where, on such occasions, husbands and parents frequently permitted travellers to bundle with their wives and daughters."—Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. BUNDLE, v.i. "To sleep on the same bed without undressing; applied to the custom of a man and woman, especially lovers, thus sleeping."—Webster, 1864. BUNDLE, v.n. "To sleep together with the clothes on."—Worcester, 1864.
Bundling was an important part of American courting life, enjoyed by all good country maids and men and blessed by honest folk. During the nineteenth century, many ttlefiedelders clothed bundling in a licentious mantle, and a dark veil was drawn over the subject. Henry Reed Stiles, no believer in the theory that objectionable portions of history should be kept in the shadows, here defrocks these misconceptions and sheds light on this lost American custom and its origins. This book was banned in Boston in 1872. [from Rowman and Littlefied publishing]
Includes bibliographical references (p. [419]-478) and index.
Summary
"They began their existence as everyday objects, but in the hands of award-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, fourteen domestic items from preindustrial America-ranging from a linen tablecloth to an unfinished sock-relinquish their stories and offer profound insights into our history.In an age when even meals are rarely made from scratch, homespun easily acquires the glow of nostalgia. The objects Ulrich investigates unravel those simplified illusions, revealing important clues to the culture and people who made them. Ulrich uses an Indian basket to explore the uneasy coexistence of native and colonial Americans. A piece of silk embroidery reveals racial and class distinctions, and two old spinning wheels illuminate the connections between colonial cloth-making and war. Pulling these divergent threads together, Ulrich demonstrates how early Americans made, used, sold, and saved textiles in order to assert their identities, shape relationships, and create history." [from the publisher]
The R. Theodore Bixlers' Collection of Lancaster Authors.
Summary
The visit of this Lancaster native, Ms. Phebe Earle Gibbons, to France and Belgium in 1878 is described in detail. It includes her visit to the Paris World's Fair, though that is just one stop on a journey to absorb the way of life in these two countries.
