Jabbering in June

It is June and Allaire Village has officially began its summer hours! From now until Labor Day, the Village will be open Wednesdays thru Sundays, 12:00-4:00pm! The buildings are open today so feel free to stop by and take a stroll. It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged so here’s some catch-up information about what’s going on around Allaire.

Things have been busy here; we had the Wedding of Maria Allaire last Sunday, which is always  a hit.

This upcoming weekend we have a Summer Flea Market on Saturday, and an 1836 School Days event on Sunday. This event is a lot of fun and great for the entire family! Children (and adults!) will get to experience an 1830′s school lesson complete with prizes, 19th century games, and “punishments” if you don’t behave!

For a full list of our June events check out our calendar!

On a different note:

As you could probably tell if you’ve browsed my previous posts, books are a big thing at Allaire. Perhaps because history and reading are so closely connected, books are always around: getting checked out of our library, lying around the volunteer lounge, or getting passed between the villagers. Much of our volunteer base is comprised of young adults under the age of 18. It’s always wonderful to see them reading classics like Jane Eyre, The Odyssey, A Tale of Two Cities, and more in-between tours. While the classics (obviously) are necessary I often love recommending more modern young adult literature. Thankfully, this genre has exploded over the past couple of years thanks to excellent works like the Harry Potter series (hello), The Hunger Games, etc.

Thus, on a weekly basis, the staff and volunteers will be recommending a quality work of Young Adult Literature. The recommendations will be posted weekly on our twitter and facebook pages, as well as monthly on this blog. These are books that we heartily recommend to our volunteers as well as our visitors/subscribers/followers!

Since it’s already kicked off here’s our first few recs:

Week 1: Divergent by Veronica Roth

A truly intelligent and enthralling read. Modern dystopia at it's best!

Week 2: What I Was by Meg Rosoff

It's sweet & sad, contemplative & compelling, and should be read by all!

Enjoy the reads!

-Hannah

This week is National Library Week!

April 10th-16th is the ALA’s National Library Week 2011. Last year we asked our staff and volunteers for their favorite historical novels. Thankfully (our blog had just gotten off the ground) we got great and numerous responses. You can read those posts here and here. For this year’s blog feature, we wanted to do something a little different. While historical novels (and non-fiction) are obviously a huge and important genre (and prevalent to our Village), there are many different genres that are equally necessary to explore as both young and older readers.

This year we asked our Facebook friends this question : What books/poems/short stories should everyone read before age 18? These are stories you can read and enjoy as an entire family. We received a wide variety of awesome responses, some of which you can read here!

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (suggested by Cindy A)
• The Giver by Lois Lowry (suggested by Kasi D)
• Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet (suggested by Joanna S)
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (suggested by Buffy B)
• Pine Barrens by John McPhee (suggested by Chase S)
• Fight Club by Chuck Pahlaniuk (suggested by Caitlin S)
• Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin (suggested by Devon C)
• The Pillars of the Earth (suggested by Buffy B)

Villagers reading a story

We also got some great suggestions from Mary’s Historical Programs, a business that offers living history presentations to schools, senior centers, libraries, etc. Mary suggested:

• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Thunder at Gettysburg by Patricia Lee Gauch

Thanks to everyone who participated! Check back later in the week for more book recommendations! And Happy Library Week!

Go read a book

-Hannah

We went out to the ballgame. (And other Allaire happenings)

So things have been pretty busy here at Allaire and I figured I’d devote this post to letting you guys know all the happenings!

First off, the Rolling Iron Antique Auto Show has been re-scheduled to Sunday, August 29th due to rain. >:/

Boo you, rain.

In other news, our Villagers had an awesome time last week. Why? Because they got to hang out with the BlueClaws, that’s why! On August 17th, the Allaire Townball team became Future BlueClaws and ran out on field with the players! Yes, in costume.

The Huddle

We came, we saw, we conqured.

It was insanely awesome.

Here’s something we’re very excited about! On September 1st, Allaire Village is participating in Ask A Curator, an event where twitter users (tweeters? twitterers?) can post questions to museum and historical organizations around the world. There are over 200 museums participating! To post a question, be sure to add the Ask a Curator hashtag (#askacurator) and mention the museum that the question pertains to. Any Allaire questions that have been bugging you? Here’s your chance to ask them!

Don’t worry, if you don’t have a Twitter account you can still post your questions? Either leave a comment on our blog or Facebook page and we’ll post your questions (and our answers) here on September 2nd!

Lastly (but certainly not leastly :P), Allaire has a new favorite website! It’s Historical Tapestry, a group of book bloggers dedicated entirely to Historical Fiction! If you need a good book to read they have some excellent recommendations!

Over and Out,

Hannah

Kick back and relax, 1830′s style

So for this post I decided to do something a little different. The idea started a few months ago when the staff were trying to figure out what books would be appropriate to read while in the buildings. This turned into a large list of books written in the 1830′s (& before) that most of us had never heard of before. This led to a few of our younger volunteers getting interested in the classics which is a truly beautiful thing. So for this post I’ll give you guys an idea of some  novels (and a couple short stories) written between 1830-1839.

1830: James Fenimore Cooper- The Water-Witch

1831: Victor Hugo- The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1832: Washington Irving- Tales of the Alhambra

1833: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow- Outre-Mer

1834: Honore de Balzac: Le pere Goriot

1835: Nathaniel Hawthorne: Young Goodman Brown (short story, possibly one of the scariest works I’ve ever read)

1836: Hans Christian Andersen: The Little Mermaid (fairy tale)

1837: Mary Shelley: Falkner

1838: Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist

1839: Edgar Allan Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher (short story)

And just for fun I’m including a couple of movies that are set in the 1830′s!

Children of Paradise (1945)

Oliver Twist (1948 & 2005)

Across the Wide Missouri (1951)

The Alamo (1960 & 2004)

Amistad (1998)

The Young Victoria (2009)

An original illustration from Oliver Twist

Enjoy!

-Hannah

T.G.I.F (and nice out)

Another beautiful day at the Village,

*insert heavenly chorus here*

…and we’ve been pretty busy getting ready for tomorrow’s event: Early 19th Century Spring Festival. This is usually a pretty popular event that includes a market auction, hearth cooking, tours, and children’s games. Thankfully, the weather is on our side (so far). Starting in May the Village will be open every weekend from 10 am to 4 pm. Then, from Memorial Day to Labor day we will be open Wednesdays through Sundays (10-4).

With the Summer weather we’re able to do many more outdoor activities. One of the new projects we’re most excited about is starting a Town ball league. Town ball can be considered the grandfather of baseball (think a combination between baseball and cricket) and was played differently in towns throughout America in the early 1800′s. We’re in the planning stages at the moment but our first game will probably be in late June, early July (visitors of course are welcome to play)! For a look at town ball, check out the Cooperstown, NY reenactors, here!

As promised, I have a couple of book recommendations! Molly, a visitor to the blog suggests:

Bedlam South by Mark Grisham and David Donaldson: I appreciated the historical accuracy of the narrative, and the plot is compelling, taking place not only on the battlefield, but in an insane asylum. Awesome read, especially for those interested in that time period and the war’s impact on everyone in the country at that time!

One of my favorite historical fictions is:

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant: Alessandra Cecchi is swept up into the world of art during the Italian Renaissance. Set in Florence during the height of the Medici reign, the rich descriptions set a compelling setting to the story. A story of love, betrayal, power, and Renaissance art, it is not to be missed by any history or art lover!

Cheers,

Hannah

19th Century Baking: A Photo Narrative

Hello again, Blogosphere

It is another gorgeous afternoon at the Village making me once again wish I was outside. I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to last week’s Historical Book Recommendations in celebration of Nat’l Library Week. We had a lot of recommendations so I’ll be including some in the posts to come. This Sunday was our 19th Century Bee Hive Baking Event. The weather was thankfully lovely and we had a pretty good turnout. I’ve decided that instead of boring you with a long summary, I’d let the pictures speak for themselves. (For those of you that want more info on the event, click here)

The little darling on the left tried to give me a hug. It did not end well.

Ta dah!!!

Everybody loves bread!

Thanks to all volunteers and staff who helped out and all visitors that stopped by! Our next event is this Saturday: Early 19th Century Spring Festival!

Since there’s quite a few book recommendations left I figured I’d include the remaining recommendations throughout other posts. (Because reading doesn’t have to be celebrated for just one week!) Marissa, our resident artist and volunteer suggests in addition to The Count of Monte Cristo:

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy: Published in 1905 this is considered the classic adventure novel. Set during the French Revolution, Marguerite Blakeney, a French actress is caught up into the mystery of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Little does she know the identity of the elusive English spy might be someone closer than she thinks.

-Hannah

Forget your old textbook, these history books are worth reading!

Mary and I went to a conference centered around using social media in historical settings. It was pretty interesting; more on that Monday. Today I want to continue our celebration of Natl. Library Week!I have a feeling our book recommendations are going to bleed into next week, we had such a great response! Besides, who says reading needs to only be celebrated for one week?

Maureen, a long-time tour guide and historic interpreter recommends the following:

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson: A story about the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and a murder that took place there.

A Diary from Dixie by Mary Chestnut: A true account of a “southern belle” who left behind an interesting diary from the Civil War period.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire by Elaine Landau: A harrowing and informative piece about the tragic factory fire in NYC in the early 1900′s.

Dweep, one of our teenage volunteers and our 2010 Volunteer of the Year recommends:

Le Colonial: A Novel by Kien Nguyen: A story of three men who leave from France in search of the “colonial dream” in Annam, a far off land in the Middle East. When faced with the reality of civil war, famine, and disaster, they must redefine the meaning of their journey, and the morality of colonization.

Jen, our archivist and archeologist extraordinaire recommends the author Rudyard Kipling (AKA: Brilliance with a bushy mustache!).

The Jungle Book (1895): Kipling’s most famous book, composed of linked short stories about a human boy raised by wild animals in the jungle.  Throw all images of the Disney movie out of your mind before you pick up the book.  Mowgli has his old friends Baloo and Bagheera, but a host of feisty new allies and enemies that didn’t quite make the movie.  This is also a great book to read if you like silly poems or mongoose!

Stalky & Co. (1899): A collection of liked short stories following a mischievous group of British school boys and their quirky yet persuasive leader, Stalky.  The Dangerous Book for Boys may very well have gotten its inspiration from some of Stalky’s antics!

Just So Stories (1902): Yet another group of Kipling’s short stories, because he’s just brilliant.  These fantastical stories tell about how natural phenomena (like the armadillos… what’s up with that thing?) came into being…

Perhaps one of my own favorite books:

The Book Thief: Markus Zusak: It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . . Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. (Product Description) This book is beautifully written,a winner of the Michael L. Printz award, and in my opinion a book that should be read by everyone.

-Hannah

Read a Book, part II

Greetings, blogosphere!

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s post by our guest blogger, Jen. She is a plethora (my new favorite word) of Allaire information and fun facts! In case you don’t know, this week is National Library Week and in celebration of how awesome books are we had our volunteers and staff contribute recommendations for their favorite history-related books!

The Count of Monte Cristo- Alexandre Dumas: My favorite work of historical fiction (and my favorite book) is without question, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. This classic adventure novel takes place in France between the years of 1815 and 1838 and chronicles the life of Edmond Dantes, a young up-and-coming sailor from Marseille. Dantes is unjustly imprisoned for unknowingly accepting a letter from a Bonapartist set on returning the deposed Napoleon Bonaparte to power. While incarcerated in the Chateau d’If, Dantes meets Abbe Faria, another political prisoner who is attempting to tunnel his way out of there. Faria, who is a Roman Catholic priest, mentors the young Dantes and eventually entrusts him with the location of a vast treasure hidden on the Italian island of Monte Cristo. When the priest dies, Dantes escapes the Chateau d’If, claims the treasure, and transforms himself into the Count of Monte Cristo in order to punish those who had wronged him. The Count of Monte Cristo centers on the internal conflict of Edmond Dantes, pitting love against vengeance while he seeks for answers on life that he had stolen from him. Although completed in 1844, the overall theme of redemption is something that everyone can identify with today and should be a part of every history-lovers collection. -Greg

(Greg and Marissa, two volunteers at our village unknowingly recommended the same Dumas classic. Greg is a former intern for Allaire and is the Militia Guild Master. In addition, he won the Rookie Volunteer of the Year Award for 2010. Marissa is also a dedicated volunteer and a is contributor to the Allaire Village Art Show.)

Jen, (our guest blogger) recommended numerous books including:

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There – Lewis Carroll – 1871: If you liked Alice in Wonderland… this book could be for you!  It may not have Johny Depp, but it continues Alice’s adventures in Wonderland and has some fantastic characters and poetry to boot!

One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights): A collection of Middle Eastern stories as told through Scheherazade.  She was the most beautiful woman in the world who was forced to marry the Persian Sultan.  However, the Sultan had a nasty habit of killing his wives the morning after their wedding day.  In order to save her live, Scheherazade begins telling him a story that she never quite finishes.  Each day she makes up enough to keep the Sultan so intrigued that he cannot kill her the next morning.   This continues for 1001 nights… and you have to read it to find out what happens (and what was so fantastic about Scheherazade’s stories)!

Mary, our Museum Program and Education Coordinator recommended  the author Ann Rinaldi, a historical fiction writer for teens. Some of her popular books include:

The Redheaded Princess: A Novel: A story of a young Elizabeth I.

Girl in Blue: The story of Sarah Louisa, a girl who disguises herself as a Civil War soldier.

The Fifth of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre

Stay tuned for more fabulous book recommendations tomorrow!

Happy Reading,

Hannah