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

Quarter Inch Scale on this Blog

It's driving me crazy not to explain this- I really am going to have quarter inch Scale here someday, because the Gammage House will need to be renovated in year 1970 or so, and the house will be reproduced for this purpose in quarter inch. At some point. After I finish the Gammage House, the Inn , the Petite Chateau, and my newest fancy, a Willowcrest housing a modern day Historical Society and Genealogiccal Museum!

Who Have I Welcomed- Who Have I Not?

As a new blogger , I love opening up my dashboard and finding a new follower. But somehow I lost track . I'm honored but a little bit intimidated by the work I see on all of the follower's websites!

Welcome to Jennifer ( we'll have to talk about the use of my name) , who is having a giveaway at http://www.plushpussycat.com/.

I love the work Elga at http://elgakoster.blogspot.com/. The carving on chairs she showed this week is wonderful.

Who else?

The first is Maria from http://lascosasdemariaayamontino.blogspot.com/. I am so determined to learn Spanish- I am picking up more and more as I read blogs. My family find it interesting that I read blogs out loud- but I think you learn languages more quickly if you say a well as read the words.

Another person who is teaching me Spanish without knowing it is ,Carmen whose blog is at http://pekevasion.blogspot.com/.

Linda, at http://lindasminis.blogspot.com/ doesn't say what kind of music she plays - is it traditional music. I play ITM, Irish Traditional Music.

I'm overwhelmed, and actually realize I started at the end instead of the beginning, so I'll finish later!

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!

Translations again

I found another way to translate- I'm very interested in how good the translations are- please tell me! If you go down to the bottom of the page there is a "select language" pull down from Wiyiba. See what you think! 

The Carriage and Horse - Research Serendipity

I was doing my usual messing around with Google searches, when I thought to type "carriage maker, Rhode Island 1885. " I came up with an amazing article about a carriage maker named Chauncey Thomas , in about the right era and place. Not only did the article have pictures, it had advertisements and diagrams! See the article here - Chauncey Thomas .

Then, reading through my blog list, I came across the True2scale blog, which has tutorials for 50 projects. There is a tutorial on how to convert a plastic sheep into a well... You'll have to look, because it is wonderful! There in the before and after pictures, I found a wonderful horse.

So of course, the horse I was merely painting is now minus mane and tail, and will soon be covered with Gesso . Definitely a lucky Google day!

50 Miniature Spring Tutorials

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 !

Welcome New Followers!

Welcome to Maria Angeles , Maria and Drora. I was so excited when I saw comments and new followers! I have looked at your blogs and love each and every one. And thank you to Rosamargarita for sending you here!

I am trying Google Translate , but only after I try to understand the Spanish. I got three apps on my IPad to work on my Spanish as well. Maybe soon, I will be brave enough to write something in Spanish . Meantime I am going to research Spanish speakers in Providence RI in 1885. In my research on Izannah Walker, who grew up in Somerset Massachusetts , I found that someone in her family sailed to Portugal and I believe that her great grandmother might have even from there. Don't quote me on the grandmother, because I'll have to check that!

Translations?

I loved getting the comment in Spanish from Rosamargarita. Welcome! I translated every word individually using the Spanish to English app on my IPhone - and had a very good time doing it! Does anyone know of a way to add translation capabilities in Blogger, so that other people can read comments with less time investment?

One of the things I love about blogging is the way it pulls people together. I find it exciting and reassuring that all over the world people have interest in dolls , miniatures and history . Irish music is also a common denominator among nations - if you go on an Irish music site like The Session, you will find that there are fiddlers, guitar players , flute players and bodrhan bangers who play Irish Traditional Music all over the world. I play Irish fiddle, and have met people who also play who are from a number of Europian countries - Germany, Holland , Belgium . Even a fiddle player from Japan!

Predictive text just had a heyday with bodrhan, which if you don't know , is the name of a percussion ( I guess) instrument which is mostly annoying until you hear a master play.

I have always wanted to learn other languages. I visited Miami about 5 years ago, and was horrified to find that even the small children knew more than one language - some of them 3 languages, and that I only knew one. I know English really well, but still....! I think I will begin my Spanish study again.

I'm pretty sure that Julia has a friend named Rosamargarita who will appear later in the story. Maybe much later, because it will tough to find a 3 inch doll with dark hair and eyes- I may end up making her!

You might think having a friend from a Spanish speaking country is a stretch for a person living in Providence in 1885, but one of the things I learned on my trips to research Izannah Walker dolls in Rhode Island was how common travel around the world was for the men who whaled and and built ships , and even for their wives and families.

Please comment in whatever language you speak!