Today we drove to Winterthur (pronounced Winter tur) which was the du Pont family estate. The mansion on the estate has 175 rooms and the estate was originally 2,000+ acres but is currently now 1,000 acres. Henry Francis du Pont was the forth generation to live in the house, however, he was the only one to actually be born in the house. He lived in the house with his wife, Ruth, and two daughters, Pauline and Ruth Ellen. Du Pont began to aquire artifacts that dealt with early American culture; furniture, doorways and flooring from houses, sets of china (which he had over 60 of) tapestries, art work, etc. They currently hold over 100,000 items. Du Pont and his wife eventually “downsized” to a 45 room cottage also on the grounds, and turned the larger house in to a museum. They turned all the restrooms, hallways and kitchens into display rooms once they moved out. The mansion has 9 floors and we were able to walk through period rooms and displays on two of the floors.

Our speaker this morning, Cathy Matson, presented us with a lot of information. I truly believe she tried to put an entire semester of lecture into the 2 hours she spent with us this morning. She was an effective speaker, however, there was simply too much information to absorb. At the beginning of her presentation she presented us with three questions; 1.) What is a consumer revolution? 2.) What were the signs that a consumer revolution in North America was underway by the 1740’s? 3.) Who made the consumer revolution and what social relations were necessary for it to happen?

According to Matson, the consumer revolution happened in North America during the 18th century (1740’s and 1750’s). There was a noticeable spike or increase in production and consumption of goods. In addition, England’s exports doubled between 1700 and 1750 and then quadrupled between 1750 and 1790. Those goods mostly came to America. Incomes were also rising and the Atlantic World was expanding. This trade across the Atlantic included manfactured goods, slaves and raw materials such as sugar and cotton. She went on to explain that the consumer revolution is about the mingling of people and was also about the slave trade. She stated that 3/4 of all people who came to North America came as bound labor. That includes those who were indentured servants for a period of time as well as enslaved peoples. She then gave numerous descriptions of coffee houses and the role they played in this consumer revolution. Groups of people would come to discuss politics, literature and other controversial topics.

We were then given a tour of the library and were able to see samples from the rare books collection. The women who gave us these talks were very informed and eager to answer our questions. The books and items that they had on display were wonderful. The best part, we could touch them!!! This is an open research library and anybody can come and use it (much different than the American Philosophical Society).

After lunch we took a tour of the “house”. (It is a mansion in every sense of the word!)  We were taken to two of the nine floors in the house. It was magnificent. Everything in that house was historical and reflected America; from the doors and woodwork to windows, flooring, materials on the chairs, window treatments, etc. I absolutely loved the way that du Pont had a vision to display all of these priceless items in his home. What a place to have grown up in. He would purchase all the contents out of specific houses, or having seen a doorway he liked, would purchase and display it in the home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were then broken up into groups and taken through their Maker to Marketplace activity. One of the things they have the kids do is look at their shoes (usually on the tongue of the shoe) to determine what country they were made in. That gives them some perspective about the global economy. I loved the artifact activity where they had items that you had to identify by analyzing the color, the composition, etc. and then place it on the map to show what country it came from. That would be so fun to do even with middle school kids. All of that hands on learning and then to add in reading and geography skills. It’s wonderful! I would really like to get copies of the artifact description cards that they had.

I also liked the activity they had us do where we created our own sign to hang outside our business. Since most people couldn’t read, they used symbols on their store fronts to show what the business was. I think my group was quite creative.

 I also could not believe that du Pont had actually purchased the entire cabinet making shop, clock shop, etc. of the Dominy family. He couldn’t put the actual buildings inside the museum so he sent architects to view them and had them make a replica of the shops. He then bought everything that was in them; tools, furniture, etc. and had it placed in the replicas at the museum.  

Despite the slow and somewhat difficult start to the morning, I absolutely fell in love with the estate, mansion and gardens. I would love to see the gardens in bloom. It is an absolutely spectacular facility.

I REALLY want copies of the artifact activity so I can reproduce it and use it in my class.