Some items you can only buy in large quantity or are best bought in larger quantities. This can include straw plait, caning, buckram, tape, spools of ribbon, etc. The average person does not need 100 yards of plait (enough for 5 bonnets) or a full coil of reed (many, many bonnets) or a 50 yard spool of one ribbon. Chances are though, other people who live near you or attend the same events may need the same items. You can get together to purchase the larger quantity and end up paying less by dividing the cost. Or, you can buy the larger quantity then trade for other items you may need. For example, Bevin and I have traded reed for buckram in order to each make caned bonnets. To find out who may want to split a purchase or trade resources, consider in-person networking, putting a note in a group’s newsletter, posting on a networking site or on a forum you are part of.
Happy 2009! My Tentative Event Schedule.
The book club will continue throughout the year.
February 8th – Lincoln’s Day Ceremony
February 14/15th – Snow Fest ?
February 21st – Cage Workshop (closed)
March 15th – Local meeting (closed)
March 21st – Workshop – cuffs, collars and undersleeves.
May 8 – Volunteer Day at GCVM (closed)
April 25th – a fundraising tea for the Mills Mansion in Mt. Morris. (Vacation week)
May 2-3 – Spring Camp of Instruction (closed)
May 23rd – Memorial Day Weekend at Genesee Country Village & Museum. (closed)
May 30th – Candle-light Tours at Genesee Country Village & Museum (closed)
June – Hopefully have a picnic or two.
June – day trip to Elmira.
July is the start of Pioneer Days for the Landmark Society of Western New York.
July 17-19th– “Mumford” event at Genesee Country Village and Museum
August is a bit up in the air depending on where dates land and travel timing.
Tinker Homestead
Arcade and Attica Railroad
Erie Canal Village in Rome
Hale Farm
September 18th &19th– Zoar Village in Ohio
September (11&12th?) – Hull House Or LH in Gettysburg
Fall will include another possible workshop on winter hoods.
October 17th – Fall campout (closed)
October – Ended of the year banquet (closed)
November – Veterans Day Ceremonies tbd.
Volunteering to Ease Economic Hardships
Many, if not most, of us are feeling the effects of our hurting economy. We are short on our budgets, finding our retirements lighter, losing our jobs, and watching costs rise. While we are feeling the pinch of bad times, so are our favorite museums and historic sites. Many sites are getting hit hard with lower attendance, cut government funding, and endowments significantly decreased. Some are finding it necessary to let some dedicated staff go, pull back on programming and post pone improvements. We all would love to support these important institutions, but simply can not give all the money we would like to due to our own hardships. While we may not have the money to give, we do have time. Volunteering costs only time, the gas to get to the site and possibly a lunch packed at home.
Museums and historic sites will have an increasing range of needs as they find it necessary to tighten their budgets. Some will need help in the office with mailings or fliers. Some will need help on the grounds gardening, cleaning up or painting. Some will need help with staffing events and programming. The volunteer opportunities at most sites are endless.
If you previously donated money to a historic site or museum but can not budget it this year make up for it by donating time.
If you are still able to donated money, add to your donation by offering your volunteer time as well.
If you attend an event at a museum or historic site, offer your time to show your support of their programming.
If you already volunteer, donate more of your time to increase your support.
If you regularly volunteer, ask a friend to join you in donating their time.
If you have never volunteered before, call the museum or historic site’s volunteer coordinator or human resources director to offer them your time.
Mixed Harvest: The Second Great Transformation in the Rural North, 1870-1930
Mixed Harvest: The Second Great Transformation in the Rural North, 1870-1930 By Hal S. Barron
This is the last book for the “Reading Between the Lines” program at GCVM through the NYS Counsel on the Humanities. This book is chronologically just beyond the time period I regularly read but the focus on rural society is on I find interesting.
I am reading this book out of order, starting with the chapters catching my attention first. I began with the chapter on the improvement of roads called “And the Crooked Shall be Made Straight.” This chapter made me want to know more the development, placement, and types of roads in the first half of the century. I hadn’t previously looked at the social and agricultural influences on the establishment of roads. Barron’s explanation was enlightening. I now better understand many of the roads I drive on, on a daily basis. All-in-all, a nice chapter. I think I will see about finding Common Landscape of America, 1580 to 1845 by John Stilgoe.
The next chapter I read was the one on mail-order catalogs called “With all the Fragrant Powders of the Merchant”. I have mixed thoughts on this chapter. I liked that pre-war information was included. I found this very interesting. I did not like the tone as the chapter progressed. It almost felt patronizing. I also felt Barron neglected to fully acknowledge those who lived in rural villages who didn’t abide by the republican simple life he describes. In addition to these issues, some of the statements made were not documented as well as I like. One example was the generalizations made about pre-war merchants. These merchants were described as manipulative and greedy. The few passages quoted came from secondary sources, rather than primary research.
He makes a few statements but doesn’t cite as well as I would like. Some of what he says I can accept as generally true:
“Besides these attitudes, the main source of tension between country merchants and their rural customer was the determination of value and the negotiation of prices, and because both parties tried to by cheap and sell dear conflict was inherent in their dealings. For agricultural produce such as butter and grain, farmers and merchants could refer to newspaper market reports to determine a satisfactory price….”
But he continues into what I think needs more primary documentation to avoid over generalizations:
“… although storekeepers had to remain vigilant against such ploys as rancid butter at the bottom of the tub and other adulterations.”
His quotations are minimal, including one by P.T. Barnum (which the author does admit has exaggerations)
“It was ‘dog eat dog’ – ‘tit for tat.’ Our cottons were sold for wool, our wool and cotton for silk and linen, in fact nearly every thing was different from what is was represented…. Each party expected to be cheated, if it was possible. Our eyes, and not our ears, had to be our masters. We must believe little that we saw, and less that we heard. Our calicoes were all ‘fast colors,’ according to our representations, and the colors would generally run ‘fast’ enough and show them a tub of soap-suds. Our ground coffee was as good as burned peas, beans, and corn could make, and out ginger was tolerable, considering the price of corn meal. The ‘tricks of the trade’ were numerous.”
Since this section irritated me so much, of course, I need to do some additional reading. The author notes an article by David Jaffee “Peddlers of Progress and the Transformation of the Rural North, 1760-1860” in the 1991 Journal of American History.
I’ve gone back to read the chapters on education reform and the dairy industry at the same time. Lets see if I get this done for Saturday with the distraction of the new pile of books Kathy handed me.
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 