Valuable “windows to the past,” diaries provide fascinating comparisons to life today, offering a slice of someone’s thoughts, activities and other memories from a particular period in time. Since cooking has been an important part of everyday life, recipes (or receipts as they were often called years ago) frequently worked their way into women’s diaries…
Intro by J.M Duffin and Mark Lloyd The diaries of Philadelphia banker and Germantown resident Cornelius Nolan Weygandt provide an valuable insight into life in Philadelphia at the final decades of the nineteenth century. With details ranging from the food he ate, to the daily cash positions of his bank, to brief and sometimes pointed…
Lemon pie is often considered a Southern confection, conjuring up images of plantation parties with lovely slices of the sky-high pie served on fancy china. Others may think of it as a Diner restaurant staple, a featured highlight in the revolving glass dessert case alongside other luscious treats such as cream puffs, éclairs and cheesecake.…
VICTORIAN THEATRE IN MODERN TIMES The theater program began with the interactive Murder Mystery held in the Mansion’s rooms every October, like a game of clue come to life. Our murder mystery events are unique in that they always focus on a part of Victorian, and very often, Philadelphia history. Death of a Titanic Survivor…
THE TRUTH BEHIND “A DOLL’S HOUSE” “A woman cannot be herself in modern society. It is an exclusively male society, with laws made by men and with prosecutors and judges who assess feminine conduct from a masculine standpoint. I must disclaim the honor of having consciously worked for the women’s rights movement. Without any conscious…
From the Diaries of Cornelius N. Weygandt Like most upper middle class Philadelphians in the last half of the nineteenth century, Cornelius N. and Lucy E. (Thomas) Weygandt took advantage of the large pool of migrant and immigrant labor to hire inexpensive, live-in domestic employees. The Weygandts employed two “domestic servants” in 1870; three in…
This entry describes a fairly typical Saturday in Cornelius N. Weygandt’s life. By the 1890s people generally did not work a full day on Saturdays. One of the things that Weygandt enjoyed doing in the nice weather was driving around northwest Philadelphia and the immediate suburbs in his phaeton, a small carriage. On this particular…
A VERY VICTORIAN MURDER I’ve loved the board game Clue ever since I was a child. When I played it, I always imagined myself as Professor Plum (usually) moving through the darkened rooms and secret passageways of Boddy Mansion, trying to solve a murder. When I first came to work at the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion…
Cornelius and Lucy Weygandt hosted the Weygandt family for Thanksgiving Day in 1886. The families of Cornelius’ brother George and sisters Sophie, Bessie and Tilda were all there as well as his mother and aunt, everyone coming out on the nearly opened Pennsylvania Railroad line to Chestnut Hill. The large group of grandchildren ranged in…
Cookies, cakes and pies are the desserts most Americans associate with Christmas today, but back in the Victorian era, plum pudding was the highlight of the holiday feast. Even the poor Cratchit family in the Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol had one on their holiday table. We have the British to thank for bringing their…