Meet Tom & Mike

If you've been to the museum before, you've probably met (or have at least seen!) our oxen, Tom & Mike.  Since they are a fixture around the village and we get a lot of questions, we thought we would tell you a little more about them!

What are oxen?

Oxen (plural of ox) are cattle trained as draft animals. Often they are adult, castrated males. Usually an ox is more than four years old because it takes that long for them to learn their jobs and to grow to full size. 

The museum currently has one pair of oxen. Tom and Mike are Ayrshires. The Ayrshire is a medium-sized animal frequently seen in New England and easily recognized by its long horns. This breed tends to be a little more active than many of the other breeds. Ayrshires carry a little more flesh and muscle than other dairy breeds, and their size makes them a good choice as an all-around farm or woods team. A mature Ayrshire ox weighs about 2,000 pounds. The average life expectancy is 20 years. Tom and Mike were born in the spring of 2003 and are from the same herd.

An ox is not a unique breed of bovine. An ox is simply a mature bovine with a four-year education. The animals learn to respond to their names and to obey commands, both individually and as a team. At Genesee Country Village & Museum, the driver uses the following commands:

Hitch up- stand in place to get yoked

Step up-  move forward

Go gee-  turn to the right

Come haw- turn to the left

Step gee side- step to the right

Step haw side- step to the left

Back -step backward

Step in-move closer to each other

Step out- move away from each other

Stand -stand still

Whoa -stop

Oxen are most often used in teams of two. At the museum, Tom and Mike are a team. They are always hitched in the same order, and the driver always walks on the left side. According to their driver, Tom is the “near ox” on the left, and Mike is the “off ox” on the right. 

Oxen must be trained from a young age. Their driver must make or buy as many as a dozen yokes of different sizes as the animals grow. A wooden yoke is fastened about the neck of each pair so that the force of draft is distributed across their shoulders. Oxen must have horns because the horns hold the yoke in place when the oxen lower their heads, back up, or slow down. 

Oxen can pull harder and longer than horses. Although they are not as fast as horses, they are less prone to injury because they are more sure-footed and do not try to jerk the load. Many people throughout the world use oxen today, and they are quite common in developing nations. Recently at the museum, we had our team hauling large logs for use in the village.

Oxen can be proud of their contributions to the history of the United States. They pulled out tree stumps to clear land, moved covered wagons across the prairies, and hauled cannons in battle.    

Bovine Vocabulary 

Bull: A bovine male, usually denoting animals past puberty.

Bullock: A young bull, typically younger than 20 months of age.

Calf: A young male or female bovine animal younger than 1 year of age.

Dairy Steer: A neutered male of any of the dairy cattle breeds. The "dairy steers" are raised for meat production and usually managed like beef cattle.

Dam: A mother or female parent in a pedigree.

Heifer: A bovine female younger than three years of age that has not borne a calf. Young cows that have had their first calves are often called first-calf heifers.

Herd: A group of animals (especially cattle), collectively considered as a unit.

Polled: A breed that naturally does not grow horns. Cattle can damage each other with their horns.

Registered Cow (Purebred): A cow that has a pedigree and is registered in the herdbook of a breed association. Today, the six major dairy breeds are the Holstein, Jersey, Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey and Milking Shorthorn. Major beef breeds are the Angus (Black and Red), Charolais, Hereford (Horned and Polled), Limousin, and Simmental.

Steer: A male bovine that has been castrated (testicles removed) prior to puberty.
 

What about All of Those Brightly Painted Things in the Village

Recently we were sent a blog comment that went something like:

“What’s with the ugly bright painted items out there” 

And because the answer is long, and actually pretty interesting, we thought it would make a great blog post for our readers rather than to just bury the answer in our comments section.  

So what is with the brightly painted furniture out there?

Our mission being that we are a Living History Museum, is to immerse you in the time-period. And this demands as much accuracy as we can muster.

Those bright colors that you have seen in some of the building this season are, in fact, accurate for the time periods that they represent.  Just like the painting of Foster-Tufts this year as well as the bright green shutters you may have seen making their way into the village square, these colors are based in reality and have been chosen for the village via our historic paint expert as well from what we know about furniture styles and finishes of the time period.

Please be aware that we evaluated the museum's furniture collection prior to this project and some of the "antiques" on exhibit, were found to be marriages of styles, old reproductions and probably outright frauds. Rather than just discard these pieces, it gave us the perfect opportunity to use the pieces in a more meaningful way to tell an accurate story of 19^th Century life.

Another reason for painting the objects, beyond the historical accuracy of it, is the clear indication it gives you that these items are for use and not on exhibit.  This means you can touch them, sit on them and pretty much participate in some of the buildings in a way that was not possible before.

It is not our intent to change all buildings or spaces in this manner, just in places where it makes sense.

Sometimes styles popular in bygone eras don't do much for our 21st century tastes and sensibilities. Whether it’s the bright and exuberant “fancy” styles popular between 1800 and 1850 or the taste for plaids, avocado green and plush carpet of the 1970s there is no arguing that people’s tastes change.  And it’s our job as an educational institution to be as faithful to those tastes as possible whether or not we like them personally.  Otherwise, we are simply decorating to our taste.   If you find that the pieces are difficult to get used to in a place you love, try and think of them as reminders of the days when work and life were often harsher and people did what they could to "brighten" up their surroundings with up cheerfully painted objects, bright walls, colorful carpets and floor cloths, as well as fanciful carpet and wallpaper designs.  

Raining Outside? Consider a Visit to GCV!

As I sit here in my kitchen watching the rain come down outside I'm thinking I might be a nice time to visit the museum. My husband and I are big museum goers (GCV and otherwise) and often find that the nicest times we've had occur at time that other people don't consider visiting.

Don't believe me? Here are but a few reasons to visit in the rain:

1)The village is operational even when it rains.

2) Although the GCV is considered an open air museum, one thing to remember is that all of our exhibits are buildings. That you can go in to.

3) The museum is relatively uncrowded in the rain. If you've never been to the museum with few people in it, it's a different experience that when it is bustling with visitors. Both scenarios are fun but a rainy day provides you a chance to see the village in a quieter moment and appreciate it's beauty and stillness.

4) Because of #3, our interperters see very few people on rainy days. They are just waiting for the chance to see and speak with people-You'll have them all to yourselves for as many questions as you want. Your kids can churn butter and pound corn all day if they want to.

5) Ever thought about how cosy it is to come out of the rain into one of our buildings that has a nice fire going?


6) Our "roads" are gravel covered so you aren't likely to get very dirty, even in the rain.

7) It was not always sunny and bright in the 19th century. A visit on a rainy day gives you one more way to envision life in the 19th century.

Have I convinced you yet? The next time you're looking for something to do on a rainy day, don't rule out the museum-grab an umbrella or a raincoat and head on over!

Who Is Cutting The Grass In The 19th Century?

Pioneer Farmstead

As it turns out, hardly anyone.

Recently we were sent a comment regarding the upkeep around some of the village properties that we thought deserved a detailed explanation regarding our vision for the grounds of the museum.

This year, in order to provide a more accurate and educational representation of 19th century life, we have altered the way in which the grounds are taken care of around many of the village buildings.

The pioneer farmstead has the least manicured lawn, in fact, it is interpreted to have a yard rather than a lawn as a pioneer would not typically have "planted" anything like lawn and would not have had the time or the inclination to cut, weed and water it.

Field For Haying

The space between the Pioneer Farmstead and Kieffer's Place has been left uncut deliberately as we will be haying this for our animals, as would have been done in the 19th century.

The Jones Farm has a more of a lawn would have been part of a more established farm. Even though the grass has been cut more than at the Pioneer Farmstead, you might see growth around fences as a 19th century farmer would still have been very busy and not likely to do yardwork as we do today.

Jones Farm Fence Post

Contrast this with the manicured lawns & gardens of The Hyde House, The Hamilton House and The Livingston-Backus House and you can see the difference in styles of gardens at the time as well as the difference that money and leisure time have on upkeep of grounds and gardens.

Formal Garden At Livingston-Backus

We hope that this change in direction is one that provides yet another layer of understanding of 19th century life for our visitors.

Historic Paint Colors Make Their Debut On Foster-Tufts & The Jones Farm

Foster-Tufts New Look

This year we are making great strides in returning some of our buildings to their original and authentic paint colors.

Wonder how we determine what colors to use on the buildings?

Steve Jordan, our conservation specialist and historic paint expert takes small pieces from the houses where paint would have accumulated over time and then studies the layers of paint under a microscope. Along with the sequence of paint colors he is also able to tell us approximately how long a building was bare wood before being painted as well as if a certain sections have been replaced with newer wood.

Once the original colors are determined a decision needs to be made on what color to use. Many factors are weighed when making the decision such as the paint colors popular for the time period that the building is being interpreted as, as well as the current use of the building in the village. For instance, at one point in time our town hall had been a red tavern. It's use as a town hall necessitates a color other than red!

Jones Farm

One of the most notable changes is the dramatic color change to the Foster-Tufts house. You may also notice that the large hinges on the sliding door to the left have been painted over. This is not a mistake but what would have been the norm in the 19th Century! The Jones Farm has also been given a new (old!) look and the Brooks Grove Church is currently being painted.

In addition, this season we will be changing the shutters on many of the buildings in the village square to bright green, a popular color in the Mid 19th Century. These shutters are already visible on St Feehans Church and the Romulus Female seminary.

Green Shutters On The Seminary

For those interested, the paint colors used on Foster-Tufts and The Jones Farm are:

Foster Tufts:
Main Color-Grand Teton White-Benjamin Moore

Jones Farm:
Main Color: Edgecomb Gray-Benjamin Moore, Historic Color Collection
Doors: Spiced Berry-Dunn-Edwards Paints
Trim: Alexandria Beige- Benjamin Moore, Historic Color Collection

Come See The Village in Spring

One of the wonderful things about the village is that it is gorgeous in any season!  Visit soon and celebrate the beauty of spring with us!

2 Local Bloggers Post About The Genesee Country Village & Museum

Two local Bloggers have posted simply gorgeous pictures of the museum on their blogs!

Click on the blog names or the pictures to view their posts!

Elizabeth Pellett



Reflections In The Window

New at the Foster-Tufts House

This year, the Foster-Tufts house will feature 3 different exhibits that revolve around the stages of life. These will change as the season progresses.

The first theme will focus on Birth and will feature discussion on all aspects of a country birth in the early 19th century.
A rocking chair, cradle and a custom made baby layette will all be part of the exhibit. The layette pieces are beautifully done in linen and wool with rolled edges all around so as not to bother a newborn baby's skin. They are truly a masterpiece and were made to be handled so please do! There is also a name game to take part in. This program will run from opening day until the 4th of July.

The next theme, Marriage and Courtship, will run from July up until the fall. Find out how people met, courted & married and how that differs from today. The back bedroom will be adorned with typical dowry items and we even have a marriage manual that you can consult!

Finally, in September, we will introduce our program on death. The program will depict an 1830's country rural mourning scene. This will be in contrast to the high mourning of the Victorian era that is often depicted at the museum and will be complete with discussion of burial techniques and customs as well as a real coffin!

For each topic, there will be items in the kitchen that correspond with that theme. For instance, a wedding cake for our marriage program will be featured.

The quilters, who have been housed in the Foster-Tufts home are being moved to George Eastman's Boyhood Home for 2010.

Also, keep your eyes out for the change of color this building will undergo in 2010! Based on its paint history, we will be restoring it to one of it's original colors! We'll let you wait and see what color it's going to be!