Theodore Roosevelt, the Bears, & the Oaks

Loretta reports:

During my recent visit to the Historic Paine Estate’s Holiday Open House,

I came upon a small room filled with teddy bears. Of course I wondered what this had to do with the Paine family—or was it simply holiday décor?

A little of both, it turns out.

The name “teddy bear” derives from an incident involving Theodore Roosevelt and a bear he refused to shoot.

But what did Theodore Roosevelt have to do with the Paines?

The clue lies in this wedding invitation (recently discovered, if I remember correctly*). It’s tricky trying to take photos of objects under glass, and we had a very sunny day. But the invitation reads:

“Mrs. and Mrs. George C. Lee request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter, Wednesday, October Twenty-seventh at Twelve o’clock, Unitarian Church, Brookline.”

Mr. and Mrs. Lee’s Daughter was Alice Hathaway Lee. The Timothy Bigelow Chapter of the DAR, whose chapter house this is, did some research and learned that she was a great-great-great-granddaughter of Judge Timothy Paine. This is an invitation to her wedding to Theodore Roosevelt in 1880. Sadly, she died on Valentine’s Day 1884, two days after giving birth to the formidable Alice Lee Roosevelt.

I thought the teddy bear display was a charming way to celebrate the holiday as well as the Roosevelt-Paine connection—just one example of the discoveries and intriguing network of history related to this lovely old house.

*You can find out more here about the intriguing bits of history that turn up in the Oaks.

Please click on images to enlarge.

Miss Tyler's Rug 1825

Loretta reports:

One of many items that caught my eye during my last visit to the Historic Paine Estate, the Oaks, was this rug hanging on the wall of the small dining room (where we previously encountered the table at which John Adams dined). I had assumed this was the work of a skilled adult—until I got a look at the little information card below it, which reads:

This rug was ‘wrought,’ with a needle, in public school, by Elizabeth Tyler of Haddam Connecticut in 1825, she being then nine years of age. Presented to Col. Timothy Bigelow Chapter D.A.R. in May 1919 by Elizabeth Reed Brownell.

We often see samplers made by schoolchildren (the Oaks has several on display). This is a rather different enterprise. I’ve had to play with the color a bit, because of problems with reflection from the glass, but believe me, it’s quite vivid in person. Even if it were badly faded it would still be a wonderful example of the artistic heights a girl could reach with her needle. Walter’s close-up pays homage to both the detail and the sweet design.

Some of our readers, I know, are experienced needlewomen. And some will recall learning to sew in the classroom. Does anybody recall tackling a project like this in elementary school?

Don’t know about you, but I’m impressed by Miss Tyler.

You can see more wonders like this at the Historic Paine Estate, the Oaks, (previous blogs here, here, here, and here), 140 Lincoln Street, Worcester, MA. Remaining visiting days for 2015: 3 October 1-4PM and the Christmas Open House 5 & 6 December.* Please click here for an idea of how pretty the DAR chapter house looks at holiday time.


*For special group tours, please contact the DAR Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter: col.timothybigelowchapter@gmail.com.

Please click on images to enlarge.

Victorian Mourning Jewelry at the Oaks

Loretta reports:

In a place like the Historic Paine Estate, the Oaks, treasures can turn up anywhere, as Jennifer Willson has discovered. In this case, she opened a teapot and found this white sapphire hair bracelet inside. This is one of many items which leave us wondering: Whose was it? When was it made?

Unfortunately, details on many of the treasures are lacking, but my research indicates that hair jewelry became especially popular from the 1850s. In some cases, it was a craft practiced at home. Godey’s was no doubt one of many magazines offering patterns and instructions.  However, the making of hair and mourning jewelry was a commercial enterprise as well.

Something new in hair work.—Madame L. Kampmann, of this city, has undertaken to get up for us, mourning pins composed of hair. Weeping willows, tombs, trees, &c., on ivory , making a very pretty picture. They will be furnished set in gold, for a breast pin, for $12.00

—Godey’s Vol 52-53 1856

Why mementos made of hair?  The following, from an 1825 New Monthly Magazine piece, “Criticism on Female Beauty,” is extensively quoted (without credit to the source) well into the late 1800s.

Hair is at once the most delicate and lasting of our materials; and survives us, like love. It is so light, so gentle, so escaping from the idea of death, that with a lock of hair belonging to a child or a friend, we may almost look up to heaven, and compare notes with the angelic nature; may almost say, " I have a piece of thee here, not unworthy of thy being now."

—The New Monthly Magazine, Volume 14 1825

The set at left, in better condition—although the bracelet is missing its stone—is dated to about 1860. as always, if anybody can shed further light on any of these items, the help will be greatly appreciated. Jennifer is trying to catalog the items, with the aim of eventually making the collection available online.

If you’re in the area, you can examine the house's treasures up close and personal at the Oaks on 12 September and 3 October 1-4PM as well as during the Christmas Open House in early December. For special group tours, please contact the DAR Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter: col.timothybigelowchapter@gmail.com.

Is It a Pelerine, a Mantilla, or Something Else?

 Loretta reports:

Continuing my report on my recent trip to the Historic Paine Estate, the Oaks,* I call on our fashion historians to play Sherlock Holmes.

The majority of items in the Oaks’ collection have very little historical information attached. In all too many cases, we know only the name of the donor—and sometimes not even that. In the way of clues, Jennifer Willson, who is working on organizing the vast treasure trove, has this to say: “ ... the bulk of these items were donated in the early days of the chapter after the purchase of the Oaks in 1914,  so from a 1910 or 1920 standpoint, the items were considered "old."  I can only assume that they were the former possessions of the mothers and grandmothers of those women and date them that way, since belongings tend to scatter to the wind after more than a generation or two.”

So that seems to put us in the Victorian era for the majority of the collection, but which part of that lengthy era (1837-1901) is the question.

This beautiful cape or mantelet or mantilla or pelerine or _______________? is today’s mystery item. The black has faded somewhat, but otherwise it seems to be in very good condition. It might have been worn as mourning, or simply as fashionable black. The bugles and fringe make me think “mourning.” What do you think?

And where would you place it on a timeline? If I had days to spend on the research, I could probably narrow things down quite a bit, but blogging is my side job. Here’s what my researches have produced in the short time allotted.

Do we think it belongs to the 1850s, like “le Bijou” of 1855? (elsewhere in this volume of Godey’s we see “the Rosaline” and “the Raglan”) or this article for 1856.

Or is it much later?

Demonstrating the trickiness of dating such items, this one is placed between 1860-1900.

I know the ladies of the Oaks will be grateful for enlightenment—as will I and many other readers.

If you’d like to see the cape/mantelet/mantilla/pelerine in person, this year’s remaining visiting days are 12 September and 3 October 1-4PM.  The DAR also holds a Christmas Open House in early December, with the Oaks dressed up for the holidays. The Historic Paine Estate, 140 Lincoln Street, Worcester, MA. For more info or special group tour scheduling, please contact the DAR Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter: col.timothybigelowchapter@gmail.com

Previous posts on the Historic Paine Estate, the Oaks, here and here.

Please click on images to enlarge.

A Victorian Mourning Wreath at the Oaks

Loretta reports:

As promised, I made a second trip to the Historic Paine Estate, the Oaks,
this time for a private tour with Jennifer Willson. This splendid old house is filled with treasures, some appearing in unexpected places. I hope to get to several of them in the coming weeks.

Today I start with mourning, which became a major industry during the Victorian era. Though Queen Victoria represents the extreme of grief, mourning did become more strictly codified and ostentatious in the U.S. as well as England, and fashion magazines like Godey's commented disapprovingly on current practices. Still, what looks to us like a morbid obsession may simply reflect the Victorian tendency to over-decorate and overdo. It may be a coping mechanism, too, for a time when even London's privileged lived over filth, and cholera, typhoid fever, and other epidemics raged through communities to decimate families.

In the days before photography, the bereaved used their loved ones’ hair to create mementos, and the practice continued long after photography became possible. Our predecessors did create some beautiful if rather macabre objects.

The wreath made of hair is one of the more spectacular expressions of mourning from this era, and the Paine Estate owns this fine example, as well as mourning jewelry, which I'll be showing in the very near future.

This blog post explains hair wreaths in some detail. And here is an example from the Everhart Museum.

And now for the plug, because this house deserves to be seen and experienced (and it needs our support):
If you’re in the area, I think you'll find a visit to the Oaks (140 Lincoln Street, Worcester, MA) as fascinating as I did. This year the remaining visiting days are 12 September and 3 October 1-4PM.  There will also be a Christmas Open House in early December, when the Oaks gets all dressed up in her holiday finest.

Doesn't fit your schedule? You can arrange a special group tour by contacting the DAR Colonel Timothy Bigelow Chapter: col.timothybigelowchapter@gmail.com.

 I also recommend Jennifer’s blog Revolutionary Oaks. She's a true Nerdy History Girl.

Please click on images to enlarge.