What is an ‘Ell’?
in Historical, Writing
as deerfield, ell, old houses
What did a nineteenth century family do when they needed more space? Wanted to attach the house to the barn? Or wanted to keep the kitchen separate from the more formal dining room and parlor?
They built an ell. It means exactly what it sounds like – the addition was built at a right angle to the original house forming an ‘L’. They didn’t always stop with just one addition – if the family grew, then so did the house.
During my trip to Historic Deerfield, MA earlier this spring, I took these photos of two houses with ells. I think it gives a rather rambling look to the house and makes me wonder why each addition always seems smaller….
As a writer, I like to think about the history behind why the additions were built and the conflicts it might have caused. Were the children separated from visiting adults? Were people sneaking around in secret passageways placed between the two structures? Did a new bride find herself under the thumb of her mother-in-law? Was a crazy old relative housed in the new attic?
What does the building of an ell make you think of?
Redware
in Historical, Writing
as kiln, Old Sturbridge Village, OSV, potter, pottery, Redware
In Wait for Their Return, my historical character needs appropriate dishes. Some of these dishes are made from redware, a kind of pottery that went into production in America in 1625. Redware was given its name because that was the color the clay turned after firing. The production of redware continued at high levels until the mid-19th century when the industrial revolution began to offer alternatives and many potters moved west or began to work in mills.
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In the photos below (taken at Old Sturbridge Village, MA), you can see a potter with wet hands turning what appears to be the beginning of a mug. The next step is to let the clay dry for several days before dipping it in a reddish brown glaze. When enough pottery is accumulated, it will be stacked inside the large kiln. The opening is bricked up and the pottery is fired by building a fire at the base of the kiln until a temperature of 1850 degrees F is reached. In the last photos, you see some of the finished products.
For more information about redware visit Old Sturbridge Village.
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Open Hearth Cooking
in Historical, Writing
as 1840, bake oven, Old Sturbridge, Old Sturbridge Village, open hearth cooking, OSV
Wait for Their Return incorporates a lot of historical facts from the 1830s. To get the details as accurate as possible, I spent a huge amount of time reading and researching. The library has seen a lot of me this past year. * I also made several trips to Sturbridge Village in order to get [...]
Soap, The Hard Way
in Historical, Writing
as ashes, lye, making soap, Old Sturbridge Village, old-fashioned soap, OSV, soap
I was at Sturbridge Village last weekend (detecting a theme?) and there happened to be two costumed interpreters making soap, the old way. In an earlier post, I mentioned that the ashes from all those wood fires were saved for making soap. I had a vague idea of the process, but took the opportunity to [...]