![]() ![]() These relics of a seemingly distant era become a window through which we realize most intensely the familiar, shared traditions and values of our common heritage–and in doing so, we come to a fuller appreciation of the hardships and sacrifices, the ordinary joys and celebrations, of the people who came before us. Photo Credit : Hornick/RivlinĪs we touch the worn surfaces of their homes and workrooms, as we read their letters and diaries, the tapestry of their lives opens to us, and we recognize ourselves in them. Photo Credit : Hornick/Rivlin At his forge, the town blacksmith makes and repairs iron and steel tools for kitchen and farm. In summer they preserved excess milk by making cheese surplus butter and cheese, sold locally and as far as Boston, were important sources of income for Yankee farmers. Most New England farm families in the early 1800s kept cows the women of the house churned butter in the cool of spring and fall when milk could be set out in large shallow pans for the cream to rise. Photo Credit : Hornick/Rivlin This room is a “buttery,” off the kitchen of the Freeman Farmhouse. She’s expecting company for dinner, so has donned her good dress and a freshly starched cap with silk ribbon. 1748 Solomon Richardson home, built in the “lean-to” (now called “saltbox”) style, the woman of the house pauses as she brings serving bowls–of imported English transferware–to the kitchen. Photo Credit : Hornick/Rivlin In the parlor of the c. Space was at a premium in early American homes, so each bed might accommodate two or even three girls. Topping linen sheets and wool blankets are a quilt (left) and a hand-woven coverlet (right). ![]() Mattresses, whether filled with straw or feathers, rest on a web of ropes. Upstairs, the chidren’s beds are in the garret, a narrow space under the eaves above the kitchen at the back of the house, where the family’s trunks, barrels, and other household belongings are stored. The museum’s interpreters, dressed in period costumes handcrafted on site, invite us to step into history, to peel back the layers of time and discover the resilience of spirit that defied the harsh challenges these early New Englanders faced. It is a working community of the 1830s, preserving the artifacts and experiences of our vanished past. Immersed in the rhythms and rituals of rural New England, this outdoor living-history museum brings to life the everyday culture of an early-19th-century town. The tang of woodsmoke and the warm aroma of baking bread waft over the landscape as the days grow shorter, harvest season is drawing to a close here in Old Sturbridge Village. On the crisp air of late fall come the lowing of oxen and the rustle of leaves underfoot a chorus of voices rises from the meetinghouse and echoes across the common on the thin breeze. 1840 in neighboring Charlton, Massachusetts, and was moved to the museum’s property in 1951. Their home was relocated to Old Sturbridge Village in 1950, a century after Pliny had retired from farming. They were in their late forties, and raised the two youngest of their seven children here. 1810 a few miles south of central Sturbridge, was bought in 1828 by Pliny and Delia Freeman. Photo Credit : Hornick/Rivlin The early-19th-century Freeman homestead remains a working agricultural operation today, following the timeless rhythm of the seasons. A good hostess had to provide refreshments, and sometimes one member of the party would entertain the rest by reading aloud. One popular pastime was the “quilting frolic,” when neighborhood women would gather to talk and sew. With fields and gardens dormant, rural people had more time for visiting family and friends. Photo Credit : Hornick/Rivlin In the early New England countryside, late fall through winter was a time for more-relaxed socializing, as seen here in the ballroom of the Salem Towne House, home of a prosperous merchant. Cash was in short supply, so most storekeepers gave credit for customers’ surplus butter, cheese, and produce, which they sold in cities such as Boston in turn they brought manufactured and imported goods back home. In early New England, local country stores, such as Asa Knight’s, pictured here, stocked items that farmers couldn’t produce on their own: essentials such as rum and brandy, spices, tea and coffee, sugar, shoes, and textiles. ![]() Amid the rolling hills of south-central Massachusetts, a cluster of 19th-century homes and shops stand arrayed around a pretty green. ![]()
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