Countdown to the Agricultural Fair!

One Day to go until the Agricultural Fair!!

This year's fair is gearing up to be our best yet and features Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem! Get your fortune told by a traveling mystic, hear a sales pitch from a medicine woman, see a magic show, try your hand at phrenology and try a taste of heirloom variety apples. There's plenty to see and do!

Thrill to the many performance opportunities offered: our Grand Show will be the amazing Signora Bella, slack rope walker and juggler. She will astonish you with her talents at knife and fire juggling all while balanced on a slim rope! Having performed at Mt Vernon and Colonial Williamsburg, she is a world-class act you won't want to miss!

 

For the little ones, see the classic Punch and Judy Show where the time-honored story-telling technique of puppetry will delight them. On Sunday, see the Magic Show at the Davis Opera House. Can the magician guess which card you have without looking?  

Roaming around the Village Square, see impromptu encounters with the Medicine Woman and her remedies. Do you believe her pitch?

 

 

A Special Exhibit at the McKay house will thrill you! Harry Houdini Original Artifacts will be on display there all weekend accompanied by the grand-nephew of the Handcuff King himself!

The Horticulture Tent is filled with glorious displays of the harvest abundance. See heirloom varieties of carrots, potatoes, squash, and cucumbers and taste some of the apples from the Village. Assist the farmer with thrashing and processing corn and find out how to grow your own heirloom vegetables from our Master Gardener.

Step into the Tent of Wonders and you are sure to be thrilled! See the amazing 6 foot tall Man-Eating Chicken, a rib from the Ark, the Shield of an Amazon Warrior Princess, a painted Lady, the Waters of the World and many more such fantastic items.

New this year, you can try your hand at guessing the objects at the Tactile Teasers table. What is in the box? Can you guess just by touching? Our Barker will be happy to assist you in your guesses and reveal the true answer!

Around the Village Square are a variety of tents to entertain and inspire you. Learn how to tell someone's character by the bumps on their head at the Phrenology Tent. Have the mystic answer your questions about the future, all in good fun, of course, at Fortune's Favorite. Learn about the evils of Demon Rum through an entertaining tableaux and sign the Temperance pledge at the Temperance Society booth.

Shopping opportunities abound, whether getting a jump of Christmas, or taking home the farm-fresh products you love, the popular Market Tent features specialty vendors offering  cheeses, baked goods, maple products, spices, honey, cider, apples and other specialty items. Vendors include Abbott's Custard, the historical Popcorn Wagon, Helmut's Strudel, Rochester Herb Society, Kutters Cheese and many more!

In addition, you can purchase Village-made products like baskets, pottery, 

 brooms, and naturally-dyed wool at the Peddler's Wagon, or the Flint Hill Store.  

Special guest Gretchen Sepik, also known as "Erie Canal Sal," will be on campus both days offering a book signing at the Flint Hill Store and performances daily in St. Feehan's Church.  Sal, the cook on the boat, the Saint Francis, is a seasoned storyteller. She weaves together history and folktales about the Erie Canal into a fine tapestry of fact and fiction. In her Irish brogue she will insist that each story is true and it is up to you to decide!  Book is available for purchase on line or in the Flint Hill Store. 

There are exhibitions in more than 150 categories of judged baked goods, preserves, hand-made needlecrafts and the industrial arts—including tin, iron and wooden wares; pottery; cooperage (barrel making); printing; and broom and soap making.

Youth compete in 60 different aged categories, from penmanship and pottery to photography and pumpkin pie.

Among the competitions are those for the largest pumpkin, one for weight and a second for size. The competitions are open to museum members and the public alike, and most have both 19th- and 21st-century categories. This year, entrants will receive one day free admission to the Ag Fair. Click Here for Contest Entries!

Prize-winning sheep, oxen, cows, alpaca and horses will be on display, in addition to a poultry show, sponsored by the Rochester Poultry Assn.  On Saturday watch the goat show and competition hosted by the Genesee Valley Dairy Goat Club.

And, as was common at 19th-century fairs, museum vintage base ball teams will square off for the Mayor’s Cup Championship trophy.

Special performance on Sunday: you won't want to miss the Harmonics Concert at Brooks Grove Church at 2pm.

Today's Word of the Day is Cursed Dear. Cursed Dear was a phrase used to describe something expensive in price. "That chocolate was very tasty, but cursed dear."

Countdown to The Agricultural Fair!!

Only 2 days left to go until the Agricultural Fair!
Our word for the day is bracing. Bracing means brisk "I put on my hood against the bracing cold."


One of the tents at the Agricultural Fair will feature Phrenology. Phrenology is a "scientiffic" way to tell someone's character. The idea is that the brain is an organ of the mind, and the skull takes the shape of the brain. Therefore, by measuring the skull, and noting any irregularities of it, such as bumps, one could theoretically know a person's "mind". It was thought that a "reading" of the skull would indicate the clients character, emotions, and thoughts.

Two of the most celebrated American practitioners of Phrenology were the Fowler brothers, Lorenzo and Orson. They were born in Cohocton, a small town about an hour and fifteen minutes south of the Museum. Orson published a book on the subject, Phrenology, Proved, Illustrated, and Applied, after graduating from Amhurst College in 1836. Lorenzo studied in England and became the originator of a Phrenological publishing house, L.N. Fowler and Co., and developed a "Phrenological Head" or bust which detailed the various zones on the head and their relation to a person's character. They practiced the science into the 50s and gave readings to such notables as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Horace Greeley, President Garfield, Mark Twain, and  John Brown, and Brigham Young, the Mormon leader.

Visitors to the Agricultural Fair will be able to learn to give readings and have a chance to experiment while using an original Fowler Head.

Now, the Genesee Country Village and Museum has a deeper connection to the Fowlers and Phrenology than might be first thought. Orson had a wide interest in what we might call self-help today. He was a proponent of Women's Rights, Children's Labor rights, Hydropathy, Mesmerism, improvements in Farming and Industry, and an advocate for marriage counseling, sex education, and also......Octagon Houses! 

By 1848 Fowler had expanded into the realm of architecture as he branched out into new areas. In that year he published a book entitled: The Octagonal House: A Home for All, or A New, Cheap, Convenient, and Superior Mode of Building. An octagonal house, he would always point out, could have its plans adapted for small or large houses, and thus the basic plan could serve both the rich and the poor. Moreover, he had discovered a new, inexpensive technique for house construction which used gravel, lime, and sand to create concrete which could be poured into molds for the exterior walls of a house, and this technique he used in Fishkill, New York, in building his own large mansion.

Not only was an octagonal structure more healthy, Fowler claimed, but it was less expensive to build. He pointed out that an octagonal house enclosed one-fifth more space than a square house plan and one-third more space than a rectangular house plan of equal perimeter, and he proved this through the drawings and the house dimensions given in his book. Moreover, an octagonal house would use less heat in the winter, and it would allow more light into rooms since with its eight sides there could be more windows. It wasted less space on hallways since all rooms radiated from one central hall. A spiral staircase in the center of the house would provide for the circulation of fresh air in the summer and heated air in the winter. Not only would it be less costly to build and more healthy to live in, but it would be more convenient for its denizens than a standard house plan.

Some 2,077 octagonal house still stand today, the most noted of which are now museums. One such unit is our own Hyde House, built in 1870 by Erastus Hyde and his wife Julia in Friendship, New York. He was a homeopathic physician and herbalist while she was a Methodist minister. They had become involved in the then popular Spiritualist Movement which began not too far from Rochester, Their wooden, octagonal house, by virtue of its plan, was perfect for spiritualist séances—since it had no deep corners which could harbor evil spirits during their séances with the spirits of the dead. Naturally, in time the house came to be considered haunted. The building was dismantled into 6,000 numbered pieces in order to move it to the Genesee Country Village Museum where it has been carefully restored and furnished in the proper Victorian fashion of its day. Legend claims that the workmen involved in the restoration of the building were bothered by the fact that their tools moved of their own accord into different places from which they had been left, and the Museum Director's dog always refused to go into the building when its master entered it. Nonetheless, it is a most popular building in the Museum Village today, despite the overtones of its haunted nature.

At the time of this Post, we know of existing Octagon houses in Alfred, Binghamton, Olean, Chautaqua, Freedonia, and a study built by Mark Twain's sister in Elmira.

And there you have it: the connection between Phrenology and the Octagon house! See both this weekend at the Agricultural Fair!

Countdown to the Agricultural Fair!

Three Days to go until the Agricultural Fair!!

This year's fair is gearing up to be our best yet and features Magic, Mystery, and Mayhem! Get your fortune told by a traveling mystic, hear a sales pitch from a medicine woman, see a magic show, try your hand at phrenology and try a taste of heirloom variety apples. There's plenty to see and do!

Thrill to the many performance opportunities offered: our Grand Show will be the amazing Signora Bella, slack rope walker and juggler. She will astonish you with her talents at knife and fire juggling all while balanced on a slim rope! Having performed at Mt Vernon and Colonial Williamsburg, she is a world-class act you won't want to miss!

 

For the little ones, see the classic Punch and Judy Show where the time-honored story-telling technique of puppetry will delight them. On Sunday, see the Magic Show at the Davis Opera House. Can the magician guess which card you have without looking?  

Roaming around the Village Square, see impromptu encounters with the Medicine Woman and her remedies. Do you believe her pitch?

 

 

A Special Exhibit at the McKay house will thrill you! Harry Houdini Original Artifacts will be on display there all weekend accompanied by the grand-nephew of the Handcuff King himself!

The Horticulture Tent is filled with glorious displays of the harvest abundance. See heirloom varieties of carrots, potatoes, squash, and cucumbers and taste some of the apples from the Village. Assist the farmer with thrashing and processing corn and find out how to grow your own heirloom vegetables from our Master Gardener.

Step into the Tent of Wonders and you are sure to be thrilled! See the amazing 6 foot tall Man-Eating Chicken, a rib from the Ark, the Shield of an Amazon Warrior Princess, a painted Lady, the Waters of the World and many more such fantastic items.

New this year, you can try your hand at guessing the objects at the Tactile Teasers table. What is in the box? Can you guess just by touching? Our Barker will be happy to assist you in your guesses and reveal the true answer!

Around the Village Square are a variety of tents to entertain and inspire you. Learn how to tell someone's character by the bumps on their head at the Phrenology Tent. Have the mystic answer your questions about the future, all in good fun, of course, at Fortune's Favorite. Learn about the evils of Demon Rum through an entertaining tableaux and sign the Temperance pledge at the Temperance Society booth.

Shopping opportunities abound, whether getting a jump of Christmas, or taking home the farm-fresh products you love, the popular Market Tent features specialty vendors offering  cheeses, baked goods, maple products, spices, honey, cider, apples and other specialty items. Vendors include Abbott's Custard, the historical Popcorn Wagon, Helmut's Strudel, Rochester Herb Society, Kutters Cheese and many more!

In addition, you can purchase Village-made products like baskets, pottery, 

 brooms, and naturally-dyed wool at the Peddler's Wagon, or the Flint Hill Store.  

Special guest Gretchin Sepik, also known as "Erie Canal Sal," will be on campus both days offering a book signing at the Flint Hill Store and performances daily in St. Feehan's Church.  Sal, the cook on the boat, the Saint Francis, is a seasoned storyteller. She weaves together history and folktales about the Erie Canal into a fine tapestry of fact and fiction. In her Irish brogue she will insist that each story is true and it is up to you to decide!  Book is available for purchase on line or in the Flint Hill Store. 

There are exhibitions in more than 150 categories of judged baked goods, preserves, hand-made needlecrafts and the industrial arts—including tin, iron and wooden wares; pottery; cooperage (barrel making); printing; and broom and soap making.

Youth compete in 60 different aged categories, from penmanship and pottery to photography and pumpkin pie.

Among the competitions are those for the largest pumpkin, one for weight and a second for size. The competitions are open to museum members and the public alike, and most have both 19th- and 21st-century categories. This year, entrants will receive one day free admission to the Ag Fair. Click Here for Contest Entries!

Prize-winning sheep, oxen, cows, alpaca and horses will be on display, in addition to a poultry show, sponsored by the Rochester Poultry Assn.  On Saturday watch the goat show and competition hosted by the Genesee Valley Dairy Goat Club.

And, as was common at 19th-century fairs, museum vintage base ball teams will square off for the Mayor’s Cup Championship trophy. Games are at 1:30 pm at the Silver Baseball Field both days. 

Special performance on Sunday: you won't want to miss the Harmonics Concert at Brooks Grove Church at 2pm.

Today's Word of the Day is cabbage. Cabbage is a synonym for plagiarize. "I like the way that pumpkin is carved, but I don't want to cabbage it."

Word of the Day

Today's Word of the Day is Ape. To ape someone was to imitate them. "I saw that she aped the dress I had last week." 

Stay tuned: the countdown to the Agricultural Society Fair is upon us and more information about this spectacular event will be forthcoming!

Word of the Day

Today's Word of the Day is Haberdasher of Pronouns: a schoolmaster or usher. 

 

Word of the Day

Today's Word of the Day is Loobie. A Loobie is a silly fellow. "Thus while I tell you the truth about loobies, my reader's imagination need not be entirely excluded from an occupation with lords!" George Elliot, Middlemarch.

 

Word of the Day

Our Word of the Day for today is steam. Steam is a slang term for beer that was brewed using non-traditional brewing methods. "Greive's Brewery does NOT make any steam. In fact, Greive's uses methods and receipts (or recipes) from 1803!"

Getting ready for the weekend we are featuring some exciting things on Saturday!

First is a special chocolate presentation in the Town Hall from 11am to 3pm. In the presentation, visitors can see how people in the 19th century obtained chocolate. It goes through the whole process from the cocoa bean on the tree to a cup of hot chocolate! The chocolate being featured is the American Heritage Chocolate from the Mars Company. It is the same receipt as that used in the 19th century. The presentation also talks about different flavors that were added to chocolate, some may surprise you! Visitors can also sample the historic hot chocolate.

 

The second exciting thing that is happening is the final showing of the season of our "Grand Tour: A Woman's Travels in 1830". This is a special performance lasting 20 minutes in Hosmer's Inn where visitors get to meet a lady traveler, Julia Winner, and hear the stories she has collected on her journey through the area. Visitors will also get to peek inside her travel bag and learn what women traveled with. At the end of the performance, visitors can try a gingernut, a small cookie that was recommended to travel with as a snack. The performance will be held 3 times on Saturday: 11:30am, 1pm, and 2:30pm.

Word of the Day for September 22

Our word for today is again from the medical dictionary: Nephritis. Nephritis is any of various acute or chronic inflammations of the kidneys. 

Looking ahead to the weekend, there are many activities going on.

First is a new theatrical production taking place in Hosmer's Inn called "The Grand Tour: A woman's travels in 1830." The performance is 20 minutes long. During the performance, visitors get to meet Mrs. Julia Winner, a traveler in 1830. She tells stories of her adventures and also shows visitors what she is traveling with and why. There are three performances on Saturday: 11:30am, 1pm, and 2:30pm. It is a free show.

On Saturday, we will be having a special demonstration of the American Heritage Chocolates. American Heritage Chocolate is a special blend of chocolate put out by the Mars company for historic use. It is an accurate representation of the chocolate available in America in the late 18th century and 19th century. In the Town Hall, visitors can see how chocolate goes from growing on the tree as a cocoa nut to becoming a rich hot chocolate drink in the 19th century! Special herbs and spices where added to flavor the drink, even some unusual ones like cayenne. Visitors can even try a taste of the hot chocolate. It's very different than our modern hot chocolates, but if you love chocolate, you won't want to miss it! And if you want to take home a piece of your very own American Heritage Chocolate, the Flint Hill Store would be happy to accommodate you.

There will be a baseball game each day at 1:30 to lead up to play offs. The action should be great!

Word of the Day for September 21

Our Word for the Day is another one from a 19th century health manual: Pleurisy. Pleurisy is inflammation of the pleura (membrane surrounding the lungs) usually occurring as a complication of a disease such as pneumonia, accompanied by accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity, chills, fever, and painful breathing and coughing.
"Several of our villagers have recently had a bout with the pleurisy, but they have quite recovered now."

At least it's better than what these men have!

Word of the Day for 9/20

Today's Word of the Day is from a medical dictionary from the 19th century.
Contused Wound: an injury in which the skin is not broken, a bruise. "Many children sustain bumps and contused wounds in their lifetimes with little to no ill-effects." 

Other news:
Louise, one of our weavers, is in the process of warping the loom in Humphrey House for a new project. She will be weaving 3 corded petticoats based on an original from the Ontario County Historical Society that we have had on loan for the past two months.  When finished, the fabric she weaves will make 3 "stick-out" petticoats. These petticoats were woven with cords in them for stiffness. The cords would also absorb starch and, before the advent of the hooped petticoat, maintain enough stiffness to give a fluffy, 1830s-1850s silhouette.


This example from the MET has the corded sewn into the fabric rather than woven.

Foster-Tufts has changed into it's final exhibit for the season; Mourning in the early 19th century. In the exhibit, you can see how a house was prepared to receive callers for a funeral, what foods were served, the attire of some of the mourners, and other accessories and decorations for the occasion. 







 

Remembrance of 9:11

Our last day of the 19th Century Salute to Seniors remembers the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and the attempt that failed in PA. There will be a church service at 10 am in the Brooks Grove Church.
At 1pm, the bells in Brooks Grove will be rung for one minute as part of the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States. As a tribute to those we lost, we ask that everyone cease all activity and conversation for one minute.
At 2pm, there will be a Harmonics Concert in Brooks Grove that will have a patriotic program.

Demonstrations you can see today are dyeing yarn, black powder shooting, fly tying, fly casting, butter churning, tinsmithing, and blacksmithing.
Tastings for today are Shrub, herbed butter, and jam.
You can try your hand at making sweet bags, teacup quilts, fly tying, bread kneading, 19th century games, tin ornaments, and churning butter.
There are two ladies baseball games today as well as the Victorian Tea in the Garden Pavilion.

Meet our Pioneer Family for the weekend, the Burns family. They are the descendants of the family that donated the Pioneer Farm to the museum. See how they are enjoying the weekend living in the Pioneer Cabin.
Our Trolley will be running.
The word of the Day today is knee high to a...which many of our visitors may have heard before. It is a humorous description of short stature or youth. "I remember when the trees in the Village Square were knee high to a mosquito."

Day 4 of the 19th century Salute to Seniors

Our word for today is actually a saying: Some Pumpkins, which means something or someone impressive. "One of them thinks he's got a horse that's some pumpkins." from A Quarter Horse Race in Kentucky, 1846.

Today we continue to have demonstrations in cheesemaking, pottery, basket-making and selling, and 19th century dancing.
Our tastings are shrub, jam, and herbed butter.
You can try your hand at kneading bread, 19th c. games and dancing, fly tying, sweet bags, tin ornaments, and teacup quilts. 
Our trolley will be on hand to assist in transportation needs. 
The Garden Pavilion restaurant is open for drinks and Ice Cream! 
There is a dulcimer concert on the Livingston Backus porch featuring some talented local players.
You can also meet a person from 1830 at our "Grand Tour" performance. Mrs. Winner has been traveling in the area and will relate many of her tales to you. Followed by light refreshments!

Day three of the 19th century Salute to Seniors

Continuing with our Salute to Seniors week, our word for today is Slantindicular, which means slanting. "The roads on Flint Hill are very slantindicular."

Some special events for today are the Victorian tea in the Garden Pavilion, a Walking Victorian Fashion Tour, black powder demonstration. There will also be fly tying and casting, and butter churning.
Our concert for today is an organ concert in the Brooks Grove Church at 3pm.
Visitors can try various tastings such as herbed butter, shrub, and jam as well as crafts like punched Tin ornaments. As always, our 19th c. games are up and running and we welcome you to the Grieve's Brewery where our brewmaster will explain the mysteries of the brewing process! We hope you'll join us. It's going to be a lovely day!

Day two of of the 19th century Salute to Seniors

Today is the second day of our 19th century Salute to Seniors, a week-long event jam-packed with special activities for visitors to the Genesee Country Village and Museum. Our word of the day today is Peart, which means fresh and happy, or sprightly. "Despite the weather, we are all quite peart today."

Visitors can enjoy demonstrations on pottery, blacksmithing, tinsmithing, coopering, basketmaking, fly tying and casting, butter churning, and black powder shooting.
Activities to try yourself include teacup quilts, sweet bags, embroidery, tin ornaments, and log sawing.
Tastings include jam, herbed butter, and shrub.
Two concerts today: 2pm there is a Ragtime Concert in Davis, and at 3pm an Organ Concert in Brooks Grove Church.

As with yesterday, our trolley will be running all day with increased stops to allow greater access to the Village. Hope to see you there!

19th Century Salute to Seniors week, September 7-September 11

New this year is an event devoted to Seniors. It will run from September 7 through to September 11 and is jam-packed with activities for all ages.

Some highlights:
         Victorian teas in the picturesque Garden Pavilion
         Demonstrations on fly tying, casting, pottery, weaving, spinning, yarn dyeing, basket-making, cheese-making, butter churning, low sawing, tinsmithing, blacksmithing, black powder shooting, and bread making.
         Tastings of some of our most popular condiments and beverages.
         Activities to try yourself such as log-sawing, bread kneading, games of the 19th century, sweet bags, teacup quilt squares, butter churning, and punching tin.
         The Trolley will be running the whole week to provide access to as many locations as possible.
          Shop for the holidays at the Flint Hill store where we have books, candy, and Village Crafts.
          Free concerts in the Davis Opera House, Brooks Grove Church and a special performance in Hosmer's Inn.
          Double-header baseball game on Saturday.
          A patriotic concert by the Harmonics in the Brooks Grove Church on Sunday.

Special admission price is $10!

Word of the Day for September 7

The Word of the Day for September 7 is Man Alive! Which as you might guess is an exclamation of surprise or shock. "Man Alive! Have you seen all the things going on for our Salute to Seniors week?"

Word of the Day for September 6th

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day!!
The word of the day is Jonathan. Jonathan was a name denoting the American people. Also known as Brother Jonathan and later to become Uncle Sam. " Jonathan was hard to provoke, but when once you did get him up, he remained at a dead white heat for a long while!" from Mr. Root, the Ohio house of Representatives on December 24th, 1846

Word of the Day for September 3

Our next word of the day is Dashing.
Dashing: Showy, elegant, spirited, especially in dress. "She cut a most dashing figure in her new silk dress!"

Word of the Day

The word of the day will be a special word from the 19th century that is no longer or rarely in use today. For September 2nd is Chirk: cheerful, chirp, or chirpy "She is not very chirk, but more chirkier than the hand been; and all our folks appear more chirkier than they really feel, in order to chirk her up" from the Yale Literary Magazine, 1843

We are all quite chirk here at the Genesee Country Village and Museum, come join us!