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Village Life at the Howell Works
Sunday May 20 • 1pm– 4 pm. • Admission Free
Life in early 19th Century America was not an easy one, however with advances in technology people were finding themselves with more free time in which to explore leisure pastimes and establish a social culture unknown until that point. A burgeoning middle class was arising in the United States, and throughout the world, as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Free Schools were being formed and the general populous was changing from an illiterate one to one which had, at least, a primary education in reading, writing and mathematics.
In the large cities entertainments such as the theater and the opera were becoming popular. Famed authors, poets and literary critics including Edgar Allan Poe, Sarah Helen Whitman and Charles Dickens toured the world giving readings, lectures and presentations Even the master hoaxster of all time, Phineas T. Barnum, was beginning his career when in 1835, he purchased a slave named Joice Heth for $1000. Heth claimed to be 161 years old and the nurse of George Washington. Throughout the agrarian countryside, revival and evangelistic meetings, country fairs, traveling circuses complete with the infamous snake oil salesmen and village markets provided entertainment.
Books, though still expensive, gained in popularity. Especially popular were picture books such as David Roberts' book of lithographs, published by F G Moon of London, and based his paintings done while traveling the Holy Lands. Books for women, though primarily addressing social proprieties and the running of a proper household, also gained in popularity. It was also at this time the world saw the introduction of the Gothic Novel, with the printing of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The rising middle class also found they had more time for the enjoyment of music and dancing. The popular reels of the upper classes developed into what today is known as the Square Dance and the local festivals abounded with music. With more free time on their hands the rising middle class encountered the problem of an increase in alcoholism. Along with this though, there was an expansion in the number Temperance Societies, mainly headed by women, during the time. Hand in hand with the Temperance Society came the Suffragettes Societies promoting equal rights for women. The 19th Century woman was beginning to come into her own and could even be found joining the work force. No longer was the working woman relegated to positions in the Church, those of servitude, seamstress, laundress or some darker and less respectable employ, but now, with the advent of the machine, women found they were able to gain employment in factories. James P. Allaire, himself, employed women and children in the Screw Factory and Filing Mill at the Howell Works. Along with factory work, also came the opportunity for women to become teachers.
Despite the additional leisure time people had, however, there were still chores to be done at home. Wood had to be chopped and split, gardens needed tending, fences mending, meals had to be prepared, marketing had to be done, beds made, houses tended, sewing done, water fetched and a myriad of other daily chores necessary for survival that we take for granted in this day and age. Although many of their methods for getting these things accomplished were much different than those we use today, the people of the early 19th Century were, in many ways like us. They prepared their meals, tended their homes, worked, went to school and in their free time played.
Join us and see how the residents of the Howell Works Company lived, worked and played as we paint an historically accurate portrait of daily 19th Century living during our Village Life Event. Visitors to the Historic Village at Allaire will see, and have the opportunity to assist in, daily chores, trades, crafts and leisure activities at this family oriented event. Take a step back in time to the year 1836 and experience a day in the life of a 19th Century Howell Works villager.