A Visit To Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House Close To Twenty Five Years Ago

Searching for old book illustrations that are in the public domain and finding the Project Gutenberg free Little Women eBook and illustrations reminded me of one of my granddaughter's visits so many years ago.  

You'll have to bear with me. Don't ever ask a senior citizen what year something was or remember specific details so many years later....lol but, I think, it was the summer of 1995, 1996 or 1997.  

 

When my granddaughter was coming for a visit for a week in the summer her mother and I talked about things she might be interested in and things we could do.  Her mother said she had been taking American History during the school year and we thought it might be fun for her to actually see some of these places. So, given we weren't that far away we thought some of the historical places in Lexington & Concord might be fun for her.

Being an amateur history buff and lover of the Victorian Era (for the dresses, of course) I couldn't help but love that idea.  Anything regarding the Victorian era and history was always interesting to me.  Hopefully, it would be for my granddaughter as well.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org

In thinking about where to go we thought it would be fun to tour around Lexington & Concord, visit Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, the Minuteman Statue, Old North Bridge, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and have lunch at the Concord Inn (which has been reported to be "haunted.")  

So, that's what we did.  

If I remember correctly we started with touring Louisa Mae Alcott's "Orchard House" on Lexington Road first.

Little Women By Louisa May Alcott Free eBook

Two of the first books I got from my grandmother back in 1966 when I was a young lady were Little Women and Little Men by Louisa May Alcott.  

I loved the books and especially loved Jo because she was so fiercely independent.  I also admired Louisa May Alcott as she was an abolitionist, feminist and involved in the women's suffrage movement.  

In so many ways she reminded me of my great aunt Flossie, who was born in 1882 and is shown in the picture above.  She was fiercely independent,  graduated from Tufts University in Medford, Ma in 1904, never married, and worked for the Massachusetts State Department of Corporations & Taxes as a tax assessor.  

She, too, was a feminist and suffragette.  Like my grandmother, Flossie was very intelligent but was quiet and reserved.  She had a very strong constitution and was never afraid to let her views and opinions be known.

As you know, during the past few months I've been looking for illustrations in some of the free e-books that are in the public domain on the Project Gutenberg website.  

So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw the Little Women free E-Book (cover shown above) on the Project Gutenberg website from 1880 that had more than 200 illustrations by Frank T. Merrill and a picture of the Home of the Little Women by Edmund H. Garrett. Even though they were all black and white I was still thrilled.

The books my grandmother had given me had 4 color illustrations for Little Women and 5 color illustrations for Little Men, which is certainly not a lot of illustrations. Plus, they currently aren't in the public domain.

As I started looking through the pages, looking at the beautiful black and white illustrations, and reading some of the chapters again I felt inspired and thought they'd make for some adorable mixed media, collage, decoupage  or paper-craft creations. 

Just like Louisa May Alcott "I want to do something splendid...." however, unlike Louisa my creations would involve crafts not writing books.

"I want to do something splendid....

Something heroic or wonderful.

That won't be forgotten after I'm dead....

I think I shall write books.

Louisa May Alcott 

“I like good strong words that mean something…”–Louisa May Alcott

"They all drew to the fire, mother in the big chair, with Beth at her feet"

I thought you might get inspired by the books and illustrations too, so I decided to post a link to the eBook here and post the black and white illustrations with excerpts of the text in my Linda's Blog for you all to enjoy as well.

Little Women eBook - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37106

Per Project Gutenberg - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

"Go then, my little Book, and show to all

That entertain and bid thee welcome shall,

What thou dost keep close shut up in thy breast;

And wish what thou dost show them may be blest

To them for good, may make them choose to be

Pilgrims better, by far, than thee or me.

Tell them of Mercy; she is one

Who early hath her pilgrimage begun.

Yea, let young damsels learn of her to prize

The world which is to come, and so be wise;

For little tripping maids may follow God

Along the ways which saintly feet have trod."

Adapted from John Bunyan.

There are 204 black and white illustrations in the Little Women eBook which I posted to my Linda's Blog here.

I have so many ideas in mind for ways to utilize the black and white illustrations and hope you do too.

How Can I Be A Feminist Victorian???

I have to wonder sometimes why I have such a fascination or passion for the fashions of the Victorian Era when I am clearly a feminist (the ultimate feminist according to my son-in-law).

My inner self seems to be fighting with itself. Women's rights versus love of a time when women had, basically, no rights, but, wore the most beautiful dresses.

So, I thought that maybe I should investigate this further. What is it that draws me to the era when it is so contrary to my basic beliefs.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary feminism is "a doctrine that advocates or demands for women the same rights granted to men, as in political or economic status."

Feminists clearly believe in this, so therefore I clearly am a feminist (and PROUD of it to boot). In fact, make that VERY PROUD.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary a Victorian is defined as "Pertaining or belonging to the period of Queen Victoria's reign. Exhibiting qualities usually associated with the time of Queen Victoria, as moral severity or hypocrisy, middle-class stuffiness, and pompous conservationism. A person belonging to or exhibiting characteristics typical of the period of Queen Victoria."

Clearly, I am not Victorian.

Clearly, their attitudes towards women and society is for the BIRDS (maybe they don't even want to be associated with it).

Yet, I am drawn to their fashions. Drawn to their style. Why?

Why do I love to make Victorian dolls when I clearly am not Victorian? I am as perplexed as you are.

Perhaps, I should explore this further and delve a little more into the rights of women during the Victorian Era.

Maybe if I get so disgusted with their lack of rights I'll stop loving the Victorian Era and Victorian Fashion.

Maybe, I'll stop designing Victorian dolls? Maybe, I'll stop designing dolls all together. Maybe, I'll stop loving dolls. Maybe, I'll stop loving history and genealogy.

Maybe, I'll turn into a Victorian and start to believe their treatment of women was right. Yeah! Right!

In your dreams Queen Victoria!

We've Come A Long Way Baby and Still Have A Long Way To Go!

I love to just browse thru history books, genealogy records, and the encyclopedia. Browsing thru the Wikipedia encyclopedia I came across the women's suffrage stamp (see picture on the left). In looking at the women's suffrage stamp I got to thinking about my great, great Aunt "Flossie" and my Grandmother "Dee." Why did these two women come to mind when I saw the stamp? They came to mind because they grew up during the time that the women's suffrage movement was at its peak.

Little history lesson : American women earned the right to vote with the passage of the 19Th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. This amendment was finally accomplished after years (actually decades, if not centuries) of effort by women, in general, and the women's suffrage movement, in particular.

My "Flossie" Victorian doll  is named after my great, great Aunt Florence (who is shown on the left). My great, great Aunt Flossie was born in 1882 and was the first women to go to college in our family. She graduated from Tufts University in 1904. She then went on to be one of the first women to work for the State Department of Corporations and Taxation. She worked for the state until she retired in 1947.

My "Dee" Victorian doll is named after my Grandmother Doris (who is shown below). My Grandmother "Dee" was born in 1896, went on to college and graduated with a teaching degree in 1917.

My great, great Aunt "Flossie" was a true believer of women's rights, as was my Grandmother "Dee". Both women were very intelligent and were very strong women. Both were very confident in themselves and both held strong beliefs and convictions. They both were believers in women's rights. Their beliefs definitely had a profound affect on my mother which, in turn, had an affect on me.

As an aside. I just love asides, don't I? The only weakness in my Grandmother as far as women's rights were concerned had to do with the wearing of pants. She strongly disagreed with this fashion statement and was very critical of my Mother for wearing them. I never saw my Grandmother in anything but a dress or skirt. God forbid a bathing suit. Yikes!

In any event, where is all this leading us. In thinking about all of this I came to the sad realization that some of the young women of today don't realize how difficult the path for women's rights has been and how important the right to vote is. Some don't realize how far women's rights have come.

Just the difference in rights between now and 35 years ago when I started working is staggering. While the changes in the workplace are very evident and promising, they still have a long way to go. When I started working "old boy networks" were the norm. Women really weren't wanted in the workplace. Most of the boards of directors of all the companies were men. All of the executives, to be sure, were. All the politicians were men. And so on, and so on, and so on.... A women executive, no way. The men would say "they don't have the skills." I would argue "how can we get the skills if you never give us a chance?"

My grandmother and great, great Aunt lived in some amazing times for women. They would be astonished at the accomplishments of women today. That said, however, we still have not had a female President, the number of females in Congress is still far too little and one of the only two females on the Supreme Court has just retired.

The women in my Grandmothers and great, great Aunts day had to fight for their rights and fight for the right to vote. We've come a long way, baby (how true). Yet, we've still got a long way to go.

Grandma, Will You Read Me A Story?

Don't you just love this quote from Dr. Seuss:

The more that you read,
the more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go.
~ Dr. Seuss ~

A verse so simple yet so very true. Children learn to read from their parents or as Emilie Buchwald said in 1994, "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." So, it is vitally important for parents to read to their children from infancy. The more children read, the better they become at reading. And, the more young children are read to, the greater their interest in reading. Reading out loud to children helps them with their verbal skills, enhances their development and teaches them how to express themselves verbally.

Other people have also stated this so eloquently:

Books, to the reading child, are so much more than books -- they
are dreams and knowledge, they are a future, and a past.(1940)
~ Esther Meynell ~

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child. (1952)
~ Mary Ellen Chase ~

It is not enough to simply teach children to read;
we have to give them something worth reading.
Something that will stretch their imaginations-
something that will help them make sense of their own
lives and encourage them to reach out toward people
whose lives are quite different from their own.
~ Katherine Paterson ~

If you've been a reader of my Linda's Blog you know that I've had a long term love affair with dolls, doll patterns, the Victorian era, floral design, and genealogy. You also know that I love research and history. What you don't know until now is that I have always LOVED books and reading, too. As far as I'm concerned you can never have enough dolls and you can never have enough books.

My house is filled with them. Books of all kinds. My love affair with books began very early on. My Mother is an avid reader, my Father was an avid reader, my Grandmother and Great-Aunt were avid readers, and so it was passed down to my siblings and I.

I can remember sitting in my Grandmother's rocking chair (which I still have) and having her read me a story. Sometimes we would sit there while she was watching her soap opera's and then she would read me my story. I never minded just sitting there with her. I always knew there would be a story. And, I always felt safe in her arms.

Now, when I read I think about sitting with my Grandmother or listening to my Mom and Dad talk about their love of reading and it brings back warm and pleasant feelings for me.

Reading is such an escape. You can literally get lost in a book. The book for a brief moment becomes your life and you can imagine that you're experiencing it. There is nothing more powerful then your imagination. Even the most spectacular movie with all its wonderful special effects and cinematography cannot compare to what you own imagination can create. There are no limits, no boundaries to your imagination when you are reading. Reading can take you anywhere. If you know how to read you can do anything because there isn't anything you can't do if you put your mind to it.

I am a firm believer in books and reading as a way of teaching children. And it must be taught at a very young age, on the laps of our parents, as the graphic above nicely conveys. As Mccosh quoted, "The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think."

In fact, my Grandchildren can attest to the fact that every Christmas or Birthday they know what at least one of their presents will be from their Grandmother: books. To me, that is one of the best presents I could give them. By giving them books all the time, I hope somehow I'm conveying a love of reading to them. Reinforcing the value of reading time and time again. Making them think. Hopefully, by developing good reading skills they learn how to think for themselves.

For I firmly believe in the following quote:

To read is to empower
To empower is to write
To write is to influence
To Influence is to change
To change is to live.
~ Jane Evershed ~
More than a Tea Party

In fact, I was watching a show on one of the cable channels about the greatest invention mankind has ever seen. They counted down through hundreds of inventions until they got to #1. Do you know what it was? The greatest invention mankind has ever seen was the invention of the printing press. Why, because it opened the whole world up to everyone and mankind was never the same again.

So, grab a book. Take it to a quiet place and get lost in your own imagination. And the next time your Grandchildren come to visit spend the weekend reading to them, not watching T.V. or playing video games. Just reading from books. Your Grandchildren may surprise you and love it. And, you will open up a magical world to them from which they will never return.

I did it!
Come and look
At what I've done!
I read a book!
When someone wrote it
Long ago
For me to read,
How did he know
That this was the book
I'd take from the shelf
And lie on the floor
And read by myself?
I really read it!
Just like that!
Word by word,
From first to last!
I'm sleeping with
This book in bed,
This first FIRST book
I've ever read!
~ David L. Harrison ~
(from Somebody Catch My Homework)

How Can I Be A Feminist Victorian???

I have to wonder sometimes why I have such a fascination or passion for the fashions of the Victorian Era when I am clearly a feminist (the ultimate feminist according to my son-in-law).

My inner self seems to be fighting with itself. Women's rights versus love of a time when women had, basically, no rights, but, wore the most beautiful dresses.

So, I thought that maybe I should investigate this further. What is it that draws me to the era when it is so contrary to my basic beliefs.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary feminism is "a doctrine that advocates or demands for women the same rights granted to men, as in political or economic status."

Feminists clearly believe in this, so therefore I clearly am a feminist (and PROUD of it to boot). In fact, make that VERY PROUD.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary a Victorian is defined as "Pertaining or belonging to the period of Queen Victoria's reign. Exhibiting qualities usually associated with the time of Queen Victoria, as moral severity or hypocrisy, middle-class stuffiness, and pompous conservationism. A person belonging to or exhibiting characteristics typical of the period of Queen Victoria."

Clearly, I am not Victorian.

Clearly, their attitudes towards women and society is for the BIRDS (maybe they don't even want to be associated with it).

Yet, I am drawn to their fashions. Drawn to their style. Why?

Why do I love to make Victorian dolls when I clearly am not Victorian? I am as perplexed as you are.

Perhaps, I should explore this further and delve a little more into the rights of women during the Victorian Era.

Maybe if I get so disgusted with their lack of rights I'll stop loving the Victorian Era and Victorian Fashion.

Maybe, I'll stop designing Victorian dolls? Maybe, I'll stop designing dolls all together. Maybe, I'll stop loving dolls. Maybe, I'll stop loving history and genealogy.

Maybe, I'll turn into a Victorian and start to believe their treatment of women was right. Yeah! Right!

In your dreams Queen Victoria!

My Love of Genealogy and Dolls

Hello, everyone. I hope you enjoy reading my BLOG. Everyone who knows me knows that I have always LOVED dolls, sewing, genealogy, and floral design since I was about 10 years old. I was always making my own clothes (you can never have enough), collecting or making dolls (you can never have enough), creating floral centerpieces (every holiday table needs one), creating Christmas decorations (you can never have too many) and researching my family genealogical tree (the past is vital to who we are today). So, I was so happy when I decided to start my own webpage which allowed me to combine my love of dolls, sewing, crafts, florals, and genealogy all into one.

My passion is for the fashions of the Victorian Era and I have to credit my grandmother for that. When I was knee-high she gave me a very old print of Godey's Fashions for August 1870 that belonged to my great, great Aunt Flossie (the first female in my family to graduate from college). I was captivated with the dresses and forever hooked. The picture at the top of this post is the Godey's print.

Since I have also been a genealogy buff all my life, I wanted to find a way to honor my family's ancestors and relatives. I decided to name my patterns after them as a way to show that they haven't been forgotten. Hopefully, those who have gone before us are looking down and smiling.

There is a story behind each of the names chosen and why that particular doll which I hope to share with all of you over time. Please come back and visit from time to time and read some of my posts and to catch up on the news and/or events of my life. The little girl that is seen in all my banners is from the 1870 Godey print above. She is also what I use for my avatar in the doll forums that I belong to. Isn't she just adorable!!!!