Summer 2007

Summer Tour Schedule begins May 1, and lasts until Oct. 31. The Museum’s three 18th-century houses are open for tours every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Tuesday. The 1711 Buttolph-Williams House on nearby Broad Street is also available to tour. A guided one-house tour costs $8 per adult, $4 per student with ID, and $4 per child aged 5 to 18. Thirty-minute, one-house tours are also available. Large group tours can be scheduled ahead of time. Call for more information at 860-529-0612.


New on tour is the Children’s Museum in the 1788 Stevens House that features a 19th-century children’s bedroom; a toy room with 19th-century toys, including a large dollhouse, a rocking horse, a Noah’s Ark, a collection of dolls, and more; and a hands-on activity room where visiting children can try out 19th-century reproduction clothes, toys, and games. (Such toys and games are for sale in the Museum’s Shop.) Children and their families will also be able to “meet” 19th-century children through portraits and engravings displayed on the rooms’ walls.

Tuesday “Summer Sampler” Programs for Children, June 26-July 31. Six- to 10-year-olds will be able to experience a child’s life in the 18th and 19th centuries in six Tuesday morning classes that will meet from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon, June 26 through July 31. Each session costs $15, or $90 for all six sessions. Call Lisa Sillitto at the Museum at 860-529-0612 to register a child. The classes will include the following themes and fun activities—

“Be a Clown”—Tues., June 26: Wethersfield’s own Sparkles the Clown will share the history of clowns, demonstrate how she applies her makeup, and teach the kids how to juggle and make balloon art. Sparkles will end the program by face-painting each student attending.

“Grand Old Flag”—Tues., July 3: In honor of the Fourth of July, participants will make their own American flag, and decorate a cake with the traditional red, white, and blue colors by using strawberries and blueberries. Kids will also learn about the life of a Revolutionary War soldier, including how to march like one.

“School Days”—Tues., July 10: Children will visit the nearby 1711 Buttolph-Williams House to learn about attending school in early America. They will make their own “horn books” and learn to write with quill pens. Recess outside will feature 19th-century games and toys, such as graces, hoops, and the Jacob’s ladder. At the end of the session, children will make their own toy to take home.

“Picture Perfect”—Tues., July 17: Children will take a tour of
the 1752 Webb House and the 1788 Stevens House to see how children’s portraits were taken in 18th- and 19th-century America before photography was invented. They will learn about the oil painting, the watercolor ivory miniature, and the paper-cut silhouette. Children will pair-off to draw and cut each other’s life-size silhouette to be taken home.
They will also make a self-portrait cookie!

“Early American Apprentices”—Tues., July 24: Children will learn about the life of an apprentice in various trades in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the leather-maker, the potter, the weaver, and the dye-maker. Children will dye their own wool yarn, and weave their own bookmark with pieces of hand-dyed wool yarn.

“Work and Play at the Stevens House”—Tues., July 31: The final program will teach the children what it was like to be a 19th-century Stevens child living in the grand home of the Stevens family. Participants will try out some of the chores and games the Stevens children would have participated in. And the program will end with a special treat of ice cream sundaes with ice cream made from an old-fashioned ice cream maker!

On Wed., The Fourth of July, the Museum will be closed.

Gardening Demonstrations on Sunday, July 8, Connecticut Historic Gardens Day, 12 noon to 4 p.m., in the Museum’s Webb House Colonial Revival Garden, located behind the 1752 Joseph Webb House. Learn from the Museum’s master gardeners how to keep a healthy garden. Printed copies of the garden’s layout will be available.  Everyone is welcome!

For more information, please call the Museum at 860-529-0612 or email us.