History has Never Tasted so Good!

"When they wish to take chocolate, they send for chocolate".

(The Physiology of Taste, 1854)

We invite you to taste chocolate as our ancestors did. Full of richness, layered with exotic flavors and spices, GCV&M offers you a truly authentic tasting experience with American Heritage Chocolate. With each tasting, allow your taste buds step back through the centuries while learning about the history of chocolate as it ingrained itself into our society.



Chocolate Tastings will be available during select events throughout the season.


Once you’ve fallen in love with American Heritage Chocolate, be sure to visit the Flint Hill Store to take some home with you. We offer a variety including chocolate sticks, bars and shavings for hot chocolate.

We also have chocolate graters made by our local tinsmith.

Preparing for the Holidays!

Today we are decorating the village houses to get ready for Yuletide. During Yuletide, visitors take special guided tours around the Village and observe different Christmas scenes in each building. We are still looking for singers for our chorus for this. If you are interested, please contact Megan at mbarrell@gcv.org.

Along with Preparing for the Holidays, you can observe more ways that our 19th century counterparts were getting ready for the festivities on Saturday the 26th. You can try making some Christmas Crafts for your tree and home, taste some flavors of the season, and even see how a hog gets from the barnyard to the feast table! 

In other news, Genesee Country Village and Museum hosted it's very first Civil War Immersion event. An Immersion event is one in which the participants are in First-Person the whole time. That is, they assume a character for the weekend and do not break it for the whole 48 hour period. Nothing is scripted, so the participants have to be prepared to react to whatever may happen. In this case, the event was set in Western Virginia in 1861. A local bridge had been burned and the area occupied by the Federal Army. The Confederates are hoping to retake the bridge area. We did not expect to see soliders in town, but we did, many times! It was quite exciting!

Here are the civilian participants in front of Hosmer's Inn.

We hope to host such an event again as it went off very well and all had a great time!

Open Call for Actors and Actresses!

Gearing up for the Yuletide in the Country here at the Museum means finding actors and actresses to fill the roles in the scenes that tour groups witness in buildings around the Village Square. The scenes celebrate how Christmas traditions evolved over the 19th century and range in date from 1830 to 1870.

Performance dates are December 2-4, 9-11, and 16-18 in the evenings and rehearsals will be held on November 5,12,19,29 and a dress rehearsal that family of participants can attend on November 30.
Contact Megan Barrell to schedule an audition at a time that works for you at mbarrell@gcv.org

Interested in participating, but not into memorizing lines? One of the scenes needs a Christmas Chorus to sing two simple carols in a church setting. We're always looking for volunteers there! Please contact Megan above if you would like to be part of the chorus.

Want to help but not in the Village? Part of Yuletide in the Country is a large buffet offered in the heated Meeting Center.  We are looking for volunteers to help bus tables, greet guests, and serve food from stations from 4-8:30 on the nights of tours. help out one night or several as your schedule allows! Contact Brett Elliot, Director of Volunteer Services, at belliot@gcv.org if you'd like to be part of the magic!

 

End of the Season!

On this, our last regular day of the season, our final Word of the Day is hyson. Hyson is the 19th century word for green tea. A good cup of hyson would warm you today!

After yesterday's rainy episode, we're now back to enjoying the sunshine, if not the warm temperatures. 
Today in our village, you can try a taste of quince jam at the Livingston Backus house as you warm yourself by the fire. The last of the fall berries are being made into jams and preserves to last the winter through on warm fresh bread from the oven!

To go with that jam, you can head over to Jones Farm to help make some butter from the last milk of the year. It should make up quickly in the cooler temps!

We're getting ready for winter by making warm quilts of scraps of fabric in the Eastman House. You can help us get the word done by putting a few stitches in yourself! 

 

End of the Season!

Sad to say it, the end of our regular season is already upon us. Today and tomorrow are the last two full days of regular admission. Not to worry though, it is only the kick-off of our special themed programs like the Spirits of the Past Tours, Trick-or-Treating, Yuletide Tours, and Preparing for the Holidays events. You can find more information about those programs here.

Today, visitors can taste Quince Jam at the Livingston-Backus house. Jam was often being put up for winter use out of the fall bounty. 

Observe the last cheese of the season being made at the Jones Farm. In about 3 months it will be ready to enjoy by a warm January fireside as the snowflakes fall! 

The Word of the Day is palaver. To palaver is to talk profusely. 

We villagers have been having a Word of the Day contest where entrants must write a story in 300 words or less that utilizes as many of the past Words of the Day as they can. Points are awarded for correct use of the words as well as humorous content. Stay tuned for the winner's story!

This Weekend: Baseball and Tastes of Fall

To go along with this Saturday’s Mayor’s Cup Championship base ball game and a celebration of the sights, sounds and taste of fall, we are offering a special admission price to any young baseball players under the age of 16. If they wear the uniform of the team they play for, they can receive a special admission rate of just $5.00. This offer is good any day this weekend Saturday, Sunday, or Columbus Day Monday.

Come watch the Flower City and Live Oak base ball clubs play under the rules of 1865 for the coveted Mayor’s Cup on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the museum’s own Silver Base Ball Park. You can enjoy a hot dog, cold drinks and a variety of other snacks from our concession stand located just behind home plate. Celebrate a great fall tradition in one of the grandstands in America’s only recreated 19^th century ball park.
Sunday will host another game: Rochester v. Victory at 1:30pm.

Families can also enjoy a variety of other games on the village square. The sugar maples surrounding the square are ablaze with fall color and provide a wonderful backdrop to a great family outing. We’ll have all of our favorite 19th century games out to enjoy including bowling, croquet, stilts, hoops, graces and many more. It’s a great way to spend time outdoors on a perfect fall day.

The women in the village and some of our household cooks have been busy using up some of the season’s harvest for some special autumn treats available for you to taste.   Guests each day can try fall favorites like homemade apple sauce and apple-butternut squash soup made using historic receipts (recipes). There will be a special elderberry shrub available in the newly renovated Hosmer’s Inn on the village square along with our famous 1-2-3-4 cake at the Livingston-Backus House. We’ve even used up some of our herbs in some wonderful herbed butter that’s great for any holiday table.

There will also be $2.00 hot dogs and plenty of cold drinks at the Depot restaurant located on the Great Meadow. The Depot’s regular menu will also be available. The museum’s Freight House and Tap Room will also be open Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 until 5:30 for anyone interested in one of our great area craft brews, including our own 1803 Fat Ox Ale. Be sure to stop in at our Flint Hill Store for the latest creations from our kitchens with new seasonal candy apple and pumpkin varieties of fudge in our now famous home-made fudge offerings. There are also some terrific seasonal items for sale and the new stoneware pottery from the first firing of our new salt-glaze kiln is available. 

 

Meet our final pioneer family for the 2011 season this Saturday and Sunday at the Pioneer Farm and find out how they enjoy living the life of the Genesee Country pioneers in the early 1800s. They will be living, eating, and sleeping in the log pioneer house for the weekend and learning how to cook on an open fire, caring for animals at the farm, dress in 19^th century-style clothing, learning 19^th century games, and even finding time to do some dancing. They’ll also be learning how to prepare for the upcoming winter by stuffing sausages and drying fruits and vegetables.

Other villagers are also getting ready for the upcoming cold season: visitors can assist the quilter in making warm bed coverings out of scraps of leftover fabric, the kitchens are putting up preserves and condiments to use throughout the winter, and the spinner is making warm wool yarn for winter knitting projects. In addition to spinning, the spinners will also be dyeing the last of the yarn Sunday and Monday. See what fantastic colors can be achieved with natural materials! The villagers are giving their houses a last airing out on this fine weekend and getting out the warm clothing…before we know it, it will be winter!

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."