To Church Go the Gammages

Not all the Gammages are regular church goers, but today they all walk down Benefit Street to Benevolent - a sizable journey in skirts. Persis had a good grumble about not using one of the horse cars that went up and down Benefit, but Julia insisted that the day was too beautiful not to walk. Althea hated the straw that lined the floor of the horsecars, which was supposed to be there for insulation. The rumor is that the smelly straw was actually there so that the drivers could retrieve any change or valuables dropped , because it proved impossible to find things on the floor quickly enough upon exit.

The Gammage family, for as long as they have been in Providence , have attended the Unitarian Church . This church was actually the third in Providence , built when the earlier church burned.

Their church was beautiful , and can be seen all over Providence.

Note- readers familiar with present day Unitarian Churches of today won't be surprised to know that women were more involved in the Unitarian Church than in other churches in 1885. They would be advised to learn about the difference in theology at that time, because the Unitarians had not yet merged with the Universalists. A link to wikkipedia Unitarian History

The Gammage's church .

The church that burned . See more at Church History

You'd Think They Were an Argumentative Family!

While Althea is banging away in the workroom, the other Gammages have decided to use the delay in Laura's arrival to do much much needed repairs and updates to the house. Remember that the house was built in 1805 by their father Josiah's grandfather, Isaac Gammage.

The current " discussion" came about when Julia wanted to hang the picture of Josiah over the mantel. Unfortunately , hanging the picture would cover the part of the painted wall - Persis and Althea's favorite part of the wall, with a little house on a windswept mountain.

Julia had always been embarrassed by the painted murals. They were meant to be in the style of Moses Eaton and Rufus Porter, but were executed by a much more primitive and unskilled hand . Aunt Augusta had mixed emotions- she loved the murals which of course she had grown up with, but she didn't like the dark cave-like feel they gave the room.

What do you think?

The real thing.

This could almost be miniature, but it's not!

The Gammage over mantel in progress .

Disappointment. And Family Portrait

Laura has written. She is not able to come until June . Althea, her twin , couldn't hold back tears, and now loud banging is heard from the workroom, where she is working on some secret for Laura.

The others , Julia, Persis and and Aunt Augusta felt disappointed, but didn't approximate the acute sorrow felt by Althea. She had been looking forward to celebrating their birthday, on April 15th, with the sisters reunited. Laura had not shared the reason for the delay, or given them any idea of when she might arrive. A great deal of Althea's upset was grief that it seemed that Laura didn't feel pulled to come home.

Augusta insisted that they write a letter , and enclose a new family portrait in front of the fireplace. The twins had spent so many hours in front of the fire; first playing with toys, then writing in journals and just keeping warm in the cold Providence winters. Althea came upstairs for the portrait in her old flowered shirt, with a pair of Father's pants underneath! She had recently become drawn to the Dress Reform movement, and had been wearing the most outlandish costumes in the fashion of Amelia Bloomer.

Julia would have nothing to do with Althea until Aunt August suggested that she and Persis stand in front of Althea , concealing the pants. The discontent the sisters felt is very evident in the picture!

The Sisters Get a Carriage!

They've not had their personal conveyance before, relying instead on public hacks. Persis is just dying to have a horse ,and has picked out a small palomino. Tough to find a palomino in Providence, but she has had her heart set on the spotted pony since she visited Laura in Iowa. It wan't Laura's horse , because she was living in a boarding house right beside the Gilbert School, where she taught grades K- 8th. Iowa was one of the first states to add kindergarten, and has long been considered the most literate state in the country.


I couldn't figure out how I was going to make a buggy until I was collecting random stuff for my Trash to Treasure bin. See my other blog, , for an explanation and background on that! I found a banged up doll carriage( of the pram variety ) and quickly saw that the base could be made into the Studebaker buggy I had picked out after a Google search. So now to paint and build the body !

Workbench for Althea

Working on my workspace, I've only been working a little on Gammage house. I decided that I would make a possession for each of the sisters, and since Althea is building several of the other possessions, I started with her workbench . You know I like researching, and I came up with some pictures of workbenches that people have turned into kitchen islands and tables. My simple project just got more difficult, but more interesting. I need to find a round piece for the vice, which I plan to make similar to my dad's . I've got a book I got at the New Bedford Whaling museum that I can use as a reference for the tools. Somewhere. Time to get the books together, I think!

Travel from Iowa

For the first leg of the trip , Laura will travel to Dubuque .

Excitement - waiting for Laura!

I don't know I mentioned this , but Althea has a twin named Laura. Laura left home 5 years ago to go west with the sisters' cousin Kate. While Kate went on further west, Laura met a man named Keller in Iowa and stayed to become the school teacher in a German speaking community near Davenport.

Laura is on her way home to be married!

Revelation- the basement store as a stationers and post office

I knew the Gammage women had to have occupations other than being ladies of leisure. The fancywork and domestic articles around the house are the work of women long gone. but even their mother, Cecile , preferred writing and illustrating botanical journals to prettying the house, which is why the decor speaks of their grandfather's lifetime more than the year of 1885.

The basement was used for years as an apartment for workers or temporary quarters for other shipmasters who weren't in Providence long enough to go home. For those who wanted to escape the drunken brawls of the boarding houses serving mostly sailers, the basement was a warm restful alternative. A somewhat primitive kitchen served both the upstairs and the basement living quarters. The current occupants of the house have done a bit of updating in the kitchen, with a new stove and inside sink.

Since the unpleasantness, the exterior room of the basement was converted into a post office and stationers store, with Julia as the proprietor. The shipmaster's quarters were somewhat preserved, but the larger part was converted as a wood shop for Althea, who makes beautiful clocks, sewing boxes and commissioned work.

So finally , I know how to proceed on the basement!

As you see, I am between color schemes on the house too, but I've added the beginnings of steps as well.

Aunt Augusta on her way!

I couldn't resist the small Parian doll on Ruby Lane . She will be Aunt Augusta Gammage, who is Josiah's older sister. I'm not yet sure where she sleeps! But there is a small secret room in the basement that might make a cozy nest for Althea.Talking Julia out of her blue bedroom is unlikely, and even though it seems rude , we may find that Aunt Augusta stays in the attic. or possibly the front room becomes a bedroom, and the bathroom is imaginary? I don't think I can do it! ( see the suspend disbelief post.) No more additions!

Aunt Augusta is on the, so I probably should get Althea's feet back on.

The Gammage sisters revolt

So the sisters seem to have gotten wind of the recent work stoppage on their house. Not happy! (and comments from my family as well since they seem to think that one dollhouse at a time is the gold standard.) Money for minis Is looking pretty slim this month after the $2000 for the dentist and the $95 for a new car battery in one day.

So time to at least introduce Julia ,the oldest Gammage sister. If you'll remember, Persis is the free spirited youngest , and the closest to being truly half scale. Julia is exceptionally tall . She would very much agree with my family about finishing one thing before starting another. Her room is a model of organization and beauty as well. Persis has never seen her in grubby clothes and jewelry. She does however need new boots. After dressing Persis, I'm marveling at the detail of her clothing! right now she is very unhappily surveying the mess outside the basement of Gammage house.

Cardstock

I go excited about using card stock after seeing the work of Shane Downes and decided to figure out how to use it. I love to cut wood , but the thinner wood breaks when trying to cut diagonals or details . What I've learned so far- my blade runner does cut card stock, but the scroll saw works better. After using the saws I'm just too impatient to cut by hand.

Meet Persis

The youngest of the three sisters ... so I might have changed this already, is Persis. She is a tiny stone bisque or parian doll , and was the beginning of the house makeover . Here she is undressed, and then with her new clothing . She's dressed in antique fabric scraps from an unfinished crazy quilt. I've quite lost the knack of miniature sewing!

She's surveying the addition construction in what will be her room.

An eventful evening here-my impulsiveness ?  First I pinched my finger in the jigsaw (handheld) while removing the dormers. YES! I removed the dormers. I kept looking at them and realized they were too big . I also couldn't stand looking at the messed up roof shingles- so off it all came. 


And then, I set off the fire alarms. It was much easier to get the shingles off with a little heat from the heat gun- but then some glue got on the heat gun. I guess we know they work now! 


Progress though I think. I worked on the door more , then changed the pitch of the roof in front . Which of course put the dormers at the wrong angle . But I'm pleased with the change , although as usual I gave myself work to do.  

Feeling better

The porch went on well. I experimented with putting the doors on switched, but decided that didn't work. Looking at the doors- I realized that if I really have to , I can strip them down to wood and start the trim again.

Here's the porch - I've built the doors out because I love the look of a mini room on a door- so it looks like the house is set too back on the porch. I haven't decided if the added on kitchen at the bottom left will have stone or clapboard.

This Poor House

I've enjoyed so much other people's dollhouse blogs, especially the ones with regular posts- so I'm adding to the mix. This poor house is half inch scale, and was purchased when my oldest, who is now 28, was about 2. At one point I gave up on it and let the kids at school glue the shingles on. At another time , I got creative and decided to paint it with oils. And lately I've just done whatever I felt like- and the house keeps getting taller and taller and bigger and bigger.

Maybe documenting progress will keep me honest.