The Blog of Colonial Williamsburg
The fear of machinery replacing jobs is a fear as old as… invention itself. While it is easy to consider this a modern anxiety – cashiers being replaced by automated checkouts, industry being hit by mechanized assembly lines – the concern goes back centuries. Becoming obsolete is a frightening prospect in any era….
Photo by Wayne Reynolds
The weather has turned in a very nice direction just in time for Spring Break. We’re looking forward to seeing lots of families spending their days off with us here in Williamsburg. So if you’re looking for a few tips for enjoying the 18th century with kids (and without too much stress), here are a dozen suggestions….
On this day in history, in 1770, the Boston Massacre, a major milestone on the road to revolution, took place. The first published report in Williamsburg came three weeks later, with rumors in William Rind’s Virginia Gazette of a “fray” resulting in British soldiers being driven out of town by angry inhabitants. By the next issue, new details painted a more somber picture, and the incident was already being referred to as a “massacre.”
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It’s that time of year. Coworkers are out sick, kids are missing school, and friends are posting on social media about all the nasty stomach bugs going around. In addition to over-the-counter solutions, many of you may be turning to all-natural remedies, including essential oils. But what would they have used in the 18th century?
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Today we call them cookies, but in the 18th century (and still today, if you’re British) they were known as “biscuits.” To give you a taste of colonial Virginia, we’ve teamed up with Historic Foodways Apprentice Tyler Wilson to bring you three different biscuit recipes, all with varying levels of difficulty, to try with your family this holiday season.
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This evening is a special one for Historic Trades & Skills of Colonial Williamsburg. Tonight, tradespeople who are usually seen by their colleagues in 18th-century attire (attire often marked with charcoal, dirt, or other evidence of the day’s work) will don 21st-century duds and gather for this year’s Annual Trades Dinner. The purpose? To recognize those who have completed their formal apprenticeship and are advancing to the status of journeymen, as well as a group of journeymen supervisors who have advanced to the prestigious title of master.
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Our Tin Shop, with the assistance of some Historic Trades colleagues, recently delivered working 18th-century lamps for three of our carriages, making it easier for drivers and passengers to see and be seen.
And isn’t that the point of a carriage ride?…
Minutes from now our Brickmakers will put the year’s work to the torch, firing about 24,000 bricks in a kiln they built over the course of the last month. In the next few days, the heat will rise to about 2,000 degrees, and by Saturday night the giant oven’s metal doors will glow an eerie reddish-purple and, with smoke billowing from the top, the temporary edifice will begin to hum like an engine.
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Photograph by NG Studios/Griffin Kenemer
Before there were historic trades there were prehistoric technologies. Here comes a rare opportunity to see them side-by-side. For one day only, Saturday, November 19, RE-Arc, a meeting of reconstructive and experimental archaeologists, will bring some of the foremost experts in the world to demonstrate ancient technologies in conjunction with the group’s annual conference in Williamsburg. …
As the end of the year draws near, our horses are getting a stylish 18th-century look, courtesy of our Weavers. At the behest of Paul Bennett, head of the Coach and Livestock Department, the shop is making 26 new blankets to keep the horses cozy on those cold winter nights.
Classic black, of course. It goes with everything….