Bonnets and Crooked Hats

Dear hobby friends, we are reaching out to you all on behalf of the organizing committee for The Gaslight Gala, a preservation benefit for the historic Jones Mansion in Findlay, OH. As part of our evening soirée we had planned a raffle of period items, with the winners being drawn that evening, the funds of course going to the continued restoration and preservation of the mansion. We are reaching out to our friends in the community to ask for donations for the raffle, these can be handmade reproductions or unique original items. If you have an item(s) you’d like to donate please PM us, no contribution is too small! Our current list of prizes includes reproduction embossed whiskey flasks, reproduction jewelry, an original 1864 Peterson’s Magazine, and more!

Our first event of the season: An 1860 Strawberry Festival!

June is an enchanting month for an 1860 Strawberry Festival! A time to celebrate strawberries and low neck dresses, ice cream and linen finery, early summer sun and Victorian lawn games.

As we welcome the season, we welcome you to join us at Troy Historic Village for a Festival of Strawberries!
This event is a fundraiser for this beloved Village and an opportunity to allow spectators to experience what a popular strawberry festival in 1860 would be like. This event is unlike other picnics or festivals you’ve attended. The Village will be bustling with summertime activities and sweet vanilla ice cream with strawberries as the sounds of period music fill the air. Dancing, sack races, parlor games, and grand speeches.

Please reach out if you’d like to participate in the event or if you’d like to purchase a ticket to attend! Let’s enjoy the Delights of Summer together!
Troy Historic Village - Troy, MI
Date: Saturday, June 25th, 10am - 3pm

Tickets are on sale now for The Gaslight Gala!

Link to register is in the comments.
Check out the latest updates in the event group including hotel accommodations and more.

Here’s a toast to the future, a toast to the past, and a toast to our friends, far and near!

Happy New Year!!

May all that is beautiful, meaningful and brings you joy be yours this holiday season and throughout the coming year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
From the Bonnets and Crooked Hats crew ❤️

And it wouldn’t be a proper post without a little bit of research 😉 so please enjoy this linked article regarding the first Christmas cards, of which you can see below.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-christmas-card-180957487/

Merry Christmas Eve! We wanted to share our special Eve with you! Though the commercialization of Christmas began during the period, the birth of Jesus was still the prominent focal point of Christmas. It only felt right to include this aspect in our Victorian Christmas.

We started our festive weekend with a Christmas Eve service held at the Village Church Friday evening. The service opened with a reading from the fourth Sunday of Advent of John 1:1-14 followed by the prayer found in the Book of Common Prayer. This reading was followed by two classic hymns “O Come All Ye Faithful” published (pub.) in 1841 and “Hark! The Herald Angels sing” pub. in 1739. As a congregation, we read together the Christmas story found in Luke 2:1-20. A special rendition of “O Holy Night”, pub. in 1847, was sung by Hayley and Allison. Our time of singing finished with “Silent Night” pub. in 1818 and a hearty rendition of “Joy to the World” pub. in 1719. The service ended with a beautiful blessing found in Numbers 6:24-26 and a wish for a Merry Christmas to all!

Having a service at our Christmas weekend was an incredibly special aspect that not only transported us back in time, but created a unique moment for our Village to begin the weekend with.

Another way we reflected the prominence of faith for the period during this season was with caroling. Many of our timeless Christmas carols were very popular during this time! It was more difficult to narrow down which songs we’d sing than scrambling to gather them. “Ding D**g Merrily on High” sung since the 16th century, “Angels We Have Heard on High” pub. in 1862., and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” pub. in 1849 were just some of the pieces sung! We sang these timeless pieces door to door and within our home together. There’s just something neat about music at an event, and the Christmas Spirit felt more active while we sang!

We also had on display two beautiful reproduction Nativities. These paper cutouts were featured in a well-known German magazine — “Der Bazaar.” One was from 1855 and the other from 1862. These nativities were very popular in homes and something that could have been cut out by children and assembled along the lines of paper dolls or toy theaters. It was neat to show to the public as they inquired about our customs and traditions for Christmas.

“It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, good will to men
From heav’n’s all-gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.”
- “It Came Upon a Midnight” pub. 1849

People often remark on how wonderful it is seeing children at our events, as if they’re somewhat of an oddity to be found there, but honestly how can you possibly hope to accurately represent life in the mid 19th century by being unwelcoming to an entire demographic?

This event was no different, although Christmas celebrations weren’t so entirely child focused like they are today they did provide a lot of fun opportunities for us to enjoy with the kids in our group. From making decorations and snowball fights to presents and paper punch bags they hardly sat still long enough to grow bored!

Probably the highlight of the event from their perspective was the birthday celebration for Ulysses who was turning eight over the weekend. To kick off the festivities, the birthday boy was crowned king for the evening with a gold and silver foil crown. Next, a paper bag decorated with cut paper and tassels and filled with hard candy treats was suspended from a doorway. Each boy took turns hitting it with a stick until the final blow sent a shower of candies down to the floor and boys squealing with delight as they filled their pockets and caps. As with any birthday a cake, apfelkuchen per Uly’s request, was brought out and a rousing chorus of “for he’s a jolly good fellow” was sang before he was presented with his birthday gifts — a small fishing kit and a creel.

What happened next wasn’t entirely based on documentation, but was a fun and memorable moment nonetheless. A visit from Krampus had the crowd of adults all a titter, but left our youngest participants quiet and cautious. After a few posed pictures and a lot of laughter Krampus departed and the evening began to wind down. It was joked that this must be an explanation for all of the unusual late 19th century and early 20th century images of children with “creepy” St. Nicholas and other characters of years gone by presented with almost no context.

What’s Christmas without a delectable spread of sweet treats and savories for you to enjoy with family and friends? Our 19th century counterparts were no different in their love of holiday feasts and the Christmas season provided an excellent opportunity to enjoy some special culinary dishes not often had the rest of the year.

While a prize turkey did not grace our tables this time, like the Cratchits, we instead tried our hand at a traditional roasted goose. There never was such a goose. Goose, along with turkey and ham seem to be universal choices for a Christmas dinner. It was pasture raised, fattened with corn, and then later stuffed with onions, apples and fresh sage before slowly roasting to perfection. The goose was paired with well researched sides brought by each member of our party including fried oysters, winter squash mash, pumpkin soup, boiled potatoes, applesauce, and a savory poultry pie.

For dessert there is no equal to the traditional Christmas pudding. Made from various dried fruits and old bread crumbs soaked in brandy the pudding has long been a symbol of Christmas celebrations and in America has slowly morphed into the candied fruitcake logs we know today. For our Christmas dinner we shared both a traditional Christmas plum pudding made with a recipe featured in Godey’s as well as a “figgy” pudding made with dried figs and cherries soaked in brandy.

And of course we can’t forget the colorful candies of yesteryear, a classic Christmas staple for the youngest members of our party. Jen, caringly wrapped up delightful cones filled to the brim with rock candy, taffy, licorices, and hard candies of every flavor imaginable. After dinner the tables were graced with a selection of even more penny candy and delicate ribbon candy for all to enjoy along with a bowl of oranges and apples for those less tempted by the sugary sweets.

“At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being tasted, and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire .” — Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol.

When our Victorian Christmas weekend was first dreamed up, we had sugar plum fairies dancing about our heads at the prospect of a cozy, festive weekend spent back in time. What was experienced by all far exceeded those expectations! You can’t fabricate magical moments. Our weekend spent at Troy Historic Village during Christmas of 1865 was nothing short of Christmas magic.

Much of the inspiration was taken from various vignettes, period newspaper drawings, articles and descriptions of Christmas during the 1860’s, and paintings found from the period. As the commercialization of Christmas began during this time, traditions like the Christmas tree, homemade decorations, gift giving, caroling, festive meals, and “Saint Nicholas” evolved and become our focus for the weekend. In each of the Village homes, we interpreted aspects of these traditions in various stages of economic status. It was important for us to recreate the Christmases we saw and read about for the public to share in the Christmas spirit in a unique way. A Merry Christmas was shared by Troy Village as we celebrated a very magical Christmas of 1865. So the trees were trimmed, the mistletoe was hung. The presents were given, the carols were sung. As a favorite poem perfectly writes, “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”