Staying Warm: Women’s Winter Clothing at Colonial Michilimackinac Posted November 26, 2021 With winter settling in on the Straits of Mackinac, it can be difficult to image what life was like here in the 18th century. When guests visit Colonial Michilimackinac during the summer months, they get to see staff dressed for warm weather, but people often wonder: what did they do they when it got cold? For most women living at Michilimackinac year-round, the first thing to think about was changing the type of textiles that they were wearing. Light-weight summer wools and linens would be swapped for warmer or heavier layers. Wool was the obvious answer and imported from Europe in abundance. Some wools were so soft that they were more than comfortable to wear next to the skin while others were coarser and better suited for outerwear. Silk was another winter fabric option. It was lightweight, came in an amazing array of colors and allowed for less bulk. It has the ability to hold heat close to the body and is still used for long underwear today. In the 18th century it was used for mitts, petticoats, gowns, neckerchiefs, stockings, hats, and cloaks. Fur was another warm option but considered to be a little too bulky to make into a full garment. It was used more often as a trim for cloaks, gowns and for accessories such as muffs and mittens. Another option was to mix fabrics. Petticoats or skirts could be quilted with wool or down between the layers of wool or silk. Some women also wore quilted under-waistcoats that were meant to hold the heat close to the body and be hidden under their other clothing. Cloaks with hoods were sometimes lined and quilted with eiderdown to keep the head and core especially warm. The key to staying warm for the 18th century woman was to choose the right fabrics and layer up. If you are interested in seeing 18th century women’s winter clothing in action, come to Colonial Michilimackinac on December 11 for a celebration of the holiday season. For more information or tickets visit mackinacparks.com/a-colonial-christmas.
The Commanding Officer’s Privy: A New Addition at Michilimackinac Posted October 29, 2021 When you visit Colonial Michilimackinac in 2022, if you look in the right place you’ll see a newly-reconstructed building. It’s small and very humble, and is located behind the Commanding Officer’s House. Up against the palisade, you’ll find a privy! While the privy is by no means the largest building at Michilimackinac, it’s the first reconstruction added to the site since 2013, when the South Southwest Rowhouse was completed. More importantly, our new privy helps us better recreate and interpret Michilimackinac as it appeared in the 1770s. Our reconstructed privy is located in the same spot as an original structure associated with the Commanding Officer’s House. Ruins of the original privy were discovered during work on the palisade wall in June 1985. Although not formally excavated, archaeologists noted the privy’s location and retrieved a few artifacts, some of which are currently on display inside the Commanding Officer’s House. The remains of the privy were reburied and remain largely undisturbed. In 2021, interpretive staff members decided to rebuild the privy as a season-long demonstration project. The wood for the privy was hewn and sawed at Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park, where millwright interpreters assembled the framing timbers. Dimensions and construction details were copied from another 18th century privy located near the powder magazine, which was fully excavated and documented by archaeologists in 1978-79. The framing timbers and lumber were brought to Michilimackinac in August and assembled onsite by staff and volunteers during our Askin’s Men and Women special event. Finishing touches, including the seat and cedar shingles, were added soon after, and our interpretive staff moved the completed structure to the location of the original privy behind the Commanding Officer’s House. Although it isn’t very large, the new privy helps us interpret 18th century health and hygiene at Michilimackinac. Archaeologists have discovered remains of other privies around the fort, including near the powder magazine and behind the Southwest Rowhouse, but only the military latrine in the northwest corner of the fort had been reconstructed prior to the addition of the new privy. While not every house had an associated privy in the 18th century, they would have been a common sight at Michilimackinac. The privy is just one part of our ongoing efforts to reconstruct Michilimackinac, which began over 60 years ago. In the next few years you will likely be able to visit a much larger reconstructed building. Mackinac Associates, our friends group, has generously funded design work for an additional house unit of the Southwest Rowhouse. Rebuilding the house will provide additional interpretive or exhibit space and will better represent the rowhouse at it appeared in the 1770s (this house unit was excavated archaeologically in the 1960s, but not rebuilt). If you would like to support future reconstruction efforts, please consider joining or making a donation to Mackinac Associates, and we hope you’ll visit us at Colonial Michilimackinac to see what’s happening next!
Using Cold Frames at Michilimackinac Posted July 9, 2021 Gardeners, especially at the Straits of Mackinac, have always been interested in helping their plants grow despite sometimes problematic environmental conditions. Building walls or planting hedges can protect plants from the wind, which might break fragile stems and leaves, while changing the soil chemistry with manure or compost can make a poor soil rich enough to grow the sweetest melons. But what about the cold? How would gardeners in the 18th century protect tender plants from the snow and frigid temperatures so common in northern Michigan? Cold frames may have been the answer. Our gardeners at Colonial Michilimackinac have recently been generously gifted with a very nice cold frame. Built using 18th century specifications, it is essentially a miniature greenhouse. Pots of plants are set inside the frame, or seeds can be planted directly in the soil to get off to a good start in the small, protected environment. The wooden frame is topped with two glass “lights” or windows that can either be kept closed in cold weather to trap heat, vented to release moisture, or completely removed to allow for air flow on sunny and warm days. With a bit of work, a cold frame can even be used to generate heat to keep young plants warm and healthy. Historically, frames were placed over brick-lined pits full of animal manure. As the manure decomposed, it released heat, keeping the inside of the frame warm enough to support lettuces, spinach and other cold season vegetables throughout much of the winter, or at least late fall and early spring. Modern gardeners use electric heat mats to produce similar results. If you are interested in see our new cold frame and learning more about the gardens and the people that lived at Colonial Michilimackinac visit mackinacparks.com for tickets and more information.
Archaeology at the Biddle House Posted January 29, 2021 This Castle pattern plate was manufactured by James and Ralph Clews of Staffordshire between 1815 and 1834. The Mackinac Island Native American Museum at the Biddle House will be one of the exciting new offerings from Mackinac State Historic Parks for the 2021 season. As visitors explore the new galleries a few of the artifacts they will see come from an archaeological excavation that took place on the property nearly fifty years ago. In the summer of 1972, Dr. Lyle Stone, then staff archaeologist, brought over a small team from the Michilimackinac project to excavate the site of an old privy. It was discovered while restoring the privy you see on site today, which was built in the mid-nineteenth century. This older privy, five feet west of the existing one, appears to have been in use from the early 1820s into the 1840s, immediately preceding the existing one. The privy was constructed of horizontal log cribbing.Several styles of wine glass were present in the privy. The Biddle House was constructed around 1780 during the move of the community of Michilimackinac from the mainland to the island. Edward and Agatha Biddle purchased it in mid-1820s and moved in around 1830, so the excavated privy dates to the early years of their residence. Fragments of two birchbark containers were found, reflective of Agatha’s continued ties to her Anishnaabek heritage. A wide variety of industrially manufactured artifacts made between 1810 and 1840 were recovered as well. Some of these may have been purchased from the American Fur Company store at the end of Market Street.Glass tumblers from the privy had a variety of designs on their base. At least fifty-seven mendable ceramic vessels were represented. Nineteenth-century ceramic materials, forms and designs changed quickly as the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. These changes were well documented and form the basis for dating the privy. Twenty-eight of the vessels were blue transfer-printed earthenware, including twelve plates, eight bowls/saucers, five cups and two pitchers and jugs. Other ceramic types represented are pearlware and annular-decorated creamware. Fragments from a wide range of glass vessels were recovered. Recognizable bottle forms included dark green wine bottles, a clear rectangular case bottle, pharmaceutical phials and some indeterminate condiment or medicine bottles. Recognizable tableware forms included at least twenty-three clear tumblers, clear wine glasses, a light green glass pitcher and a small decanter or cruet. Utilitarian glass forms include fragments from two oil lamp bases and a fragment of windowpane.Ceramics with annular designs around their circumference were popular in the early nineteenth century. Other commercially made artifacts included eleven white clay smoking pipe fragments, two milk glass buttons, a drawer handle, a scythe fragment, and an iron trap part. The most unusual finds were forty-two textile fragments, which consisted of fifteen types of fabric, mostly wools, perhaps from socks, coats, or sweaters. Food remains included seeds and bones. Raspberry, cherry, grape, and squash/pumpkin seeds were identified. Pig, snowshoe hare and passenger pigeon bones were identified. Many fish bones were present but could not be identified as to species. Two coprolites (fossilized feces) were recovered, neither of which contained any parasites. Taken together, the artifacts reflect a fairly high-status household, as we would expect from the Biddle family, successful merchants.
Making Charcoal: A Blacksmith’s Experiment Posted October 30, 2020 Charcoal is one of the few things that we know for sure would have been produced at Michilimackinac in the 18th century. Join Michilimackinac blacksmith Justin Popa as he attempts to make charcoal the same way the historic residents of Michilimackinac would have. Enjoy!
What’s Growing in the Garden? Carrots! Posted May 1, 2020 Carrots in the ground. We have begun our spring cleanup of the gardens at Michilimackinac! It Is the best time. Every year we find a few unexpected things, and this week we came across a number of forgotten carrots. We are usually quite meticulous about digging our root vegetables and storing them for use later, but it seems that these escaped our shovel. Surprise! What will these be used for? Well, 18th century sources abound with recipes and uses for carrots. Some books recommended them as a cure for everything from cancer to asthma. Cooks turned the root vegetable into puddings, added them to soups, and used them in salads. One of our favorite historic ways to use carrots is from a recipe by E. Smith that was published in the Compleat Housewife in 1736: To make Carrot or Parsnip Puffs Scrape and boil your carrots or parsnips tender; then scrape or mash them very fine, add to a pint of pulp the crumb of a penny-loaf grated, or some stale biscuit, if you have it, some eggs, but four whites, a nutmeg grated, some orange-flower water, sugar to your taste, a little sack, and mix it up with thick cream. They must be fry’d in rendered suet, the liquor very hot when you put them in; put in a good spoonful in a place. They end up being sweet and deliciously greasy. While it is not uncommon for root vegetables to winter over in the gardens at Michilimackinac, it still always seems like something that shouldn’t be possible. Check back later to see what other things are happening this spring at Michilimackinac. If you would like to help support our gardens and other activities at all of our historic sites, consider joining Mackinac Associates, and visit our website for tickets and more information.
The Winter Table at Michilimackinac Posted January 17, 2020 Michilimackinac in the 18th century was an important transshipment point for the fur trade. With the abundance of material goods and huge shipments of supplies coming through the Straits of Mackinac on the waterways all summer long, there were many opportunities to source fresh and tasty foods. Some items were sourced from the farms at and around Detroit, while others came through the Great Lakes from Albany, New York and beyond. Once the lakes and rivers froze, however those shipments stopped and the eating habits of the Michilimackinac population had to change. (more…)
Canoes Posted April 6, 2018 Today, thousands of people travel to the Straits of Mackinac every summer, most of them by car. Similar numbers of people came to this area in the 18th century, but traveled in a very different vehicle, a birch bark canoe. (more…)
Ste. Anne de Michilimackinac Posted October 27, 2017 A recent wedding at the church. After the question is popped, the real fun begins- planning the wedding. One of the most exciting and challenging tasks is finding the perfect location for the memorable day. Outdoor or indoor venue? Intimate or spacious? In a busy city or tucked away on a quiet beach? The options are endless. Mackinac State Historic Parks offers ten historic wedding venues on Mackinac Island and in Mackinaw City. One of our truly unique historic wedding venues is the Ste. Anne de Michilimackinac church. Located in Colonial Michilimakinac, this reconstruction was built on the original location of the 18th-century church. (more…)
Archaeology Update Posted October 13, 2017 Pewter Button The second half of the field season was even richer in artifacts than the beginning. Gunflints and buttons continued to be found throughout the excavation. (more…)
