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Spring Festival
Saturday April 26• 12 Noon - 4 PM • Admission Free
(Auction at 2 p.m.)
(Rain Date– Sunday, April 27, 2007)
Although the Howell Works Company was a planned industrial community, it was nestled in the heart of an agrarian district. Many of the company’s workers came from the local farms while others were immigrants to the young country, finding employment at the Howell Works. Because of the diversity of cultures, including descendants of the old Dutch, German and English families that settled eastern Monmouth County to the immigrant Irish, Italians, Western European Jews and Scandinavians, the spring festivals that developed in the 18th and 19th Centuries were rich and diverse.
Combining various Christian aspects with ancient pagan traditions, the early Americans began celebrating spring festivals about the latter part of the Colonial era; however the type of celebration was dependant upon the area of the country. Puritan New England saw the celebrations as pagan, and even followed very strict celebrations of Easter. The Southern states, where the climate was moderate to semi-tropical for most of the year, held planting festivals and barbeques or outdoor parties. Spring, especially for the Southern aristocracy, was the beginning of the social season start with New Orleans’ Mardi Gras and Charleston’s St. Cecilia Balls. This was also the beginning of the horse racing season in the South and many of the balls and celebrations coincided with the opening of the various race tracks. The Mid-Atlantic states celebrated what we, today, think of as being a more traditional Spring Festival.
Spring Festivals throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania focused primarily on the planting and rebirth aspect of the season as well as the end of winter. Homes would be opened up and thoroughly cleaned while fields were plowed in preparation of the planting season. After the work was finished, quite often, the area farmers and their families would go to the local town where various festivities were held. Here they would find markets where plants and seeds were offered for sale alongside jellies, preserves and baked goods made by the local women. Music and dancing, entertainments for the children and auctions of household and farm items were always a part of these holidays. Many times the local militia units would gather and drill and often political campaigning was found. The early Suffragettes and Temperance leaders could often be found at these events promoting their causes, while the town’s tradesmen such as the blacksmiths and wheel wrights were kept busy repairing the local farmer’s vehicles.
The Historic Village at Allaire will re-create this important part of rural American history at its Spring Festival where there will be demonstrations in jelly making at the Manager’s House, 19th Century Music and dancing, Militia Drills, an Open Air Village Market and an Auction. Children will have the opportunity to plant their own bean plants on the Charcoal Depot and Village Green and a silhouette cutter will be in town to ply their craft. Of course the Howell Works Bakery and the General Store will both be open so visitors can stock up on their summer supplies, while the blacksmiths, carpenters, tins smiths and wheel wrights will be plying their trades at their various shops. There will also be demonstrations in 19th Century Gardening techniques, along with lectures and symposiums. Children, and adults alike, can assist our authentically costumed Historic Interpreters in preparing the gardens, planting, watering and weeding using 19th Century tools and methods. Lectures are also planned on the various styles of 19th Century Gardens including the Four Square Garden and the Raised Bed Garden; the uses of medicinal herbs, household herbs and cooking herbs; and on natural fertilizers and insect repellents which visitors may find useful even today.
Please join us, then, for this family oriented fun filled and informative event.