Archive for November, 2010

The hair trunk is a beast of a chest, made of leather, wood, iron, copper and cow hide, complete with, of course, hair.

George Washington ordered six such containers from a New York merchant in 1783 to transport his official wartime papers back to Mount Vernon, then store them once there. Washington being who he was made these efforts not so much for his own benefit but for that of posterity.

Never one to overlook details, Washington ordered the items by asking for “six strong Hair Trunks well clasped and with good Locks … I should be glad to have a label (in brass or Copper) containing my name, and the year on each.”

The General had engaged Richard Varick in May 1781 to copy and organize all of his official papers, a project that was not completed until the end of 1783.

Apart from the hair chest, Washington had even grander plans for his notes and correspondences, which he expressed to Secretary of War James McHenry in 1797. He wanted, in his words, to build an edifice “for the accommodation & security of my Military Civil & private Papers which are voluminous, and may be interesting.” But the project would never come to fruition.

The trunks and the papers would remain at Mount Vernon until Bushrod Washington, George Washington’s nephew, took possession of them and allowed them to be sent to Richmond so that John Marshall could use them to write a biography. Bushrod Washington’s nephew George Corbin Washington inherited the papers next, keeping them in his office in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. until the Department of State purchased them in 1834. In 1904, the majority of the papers were transferred to the Library of Congress.

The papers may be long gone from Mount Vernon, but one hair trunk remains, albeit with a little less hair. Check it out in the General’s Study in the south wing of the Mansion.

Object Spotlight is a regular feature on George Washington Wired that highlights some of the household belongings that Washington came into contact with in his daily life.

Purchase, 1953; W-1878.

Apple, the turkey who President Barack Obama pardoned earlier on Wednesday, arrives via carriage at his new coop at Mount Vernon to the tune of trumpet fanfare. He’ll be on display throughout the holiday season. Because he’s not a historic breed that is accurate to George Washington’s time, he’ll retire to our on-site livestock facility afterward. Apple will spend his days hanging out with Cider, the vice presidential turkey who arrived the same day as well.

The two birds will enjoy a quiet Thanksgiving, far from any plates.

Portraying the characters who lived at George Washington’s Mount Vernon can require a lot of studying and practice for human beings, but Aladdin the camel, who hails from a farm in Berryville, Va., seems to play the camel that Washington brought to Mount Vernon in 1787 with little effort.

Historians are aware of a historical camel’s existence based on one lone entry in Washington’s ledger:

“By the man who brot. a Camel from Alexa. for a show…. 0.18.0″

According to a report by Mount Vernon historian Mary Thompson, Washington had a fascination with animals.

“Over the years,” she writes, “George Washington and various members of his household were able to learn something about the world outside Virginia from the itinerant entertainers who traveled along the eastern seaboard and would have been drawn to large gatherings of people at events such as fairs. Many of these individuals seem to have worked with exotic or specially-trained animals. For example, in some of the earliest references to this sort of thing, Washington recorded paying 10 shillings to see a ‘Lyoness’ in June of 1766 and three years later spent 3 shillings and 1 1/2 pence to see a ‘Tyger,’ which may have been either the now-familiar striped Asian tiger or a North American cougar or puma, which the colonists referred to as ‘red tigers.’ At least twice in his life, he paid to see an elk and during the presidency, he forked out $1.75 ‘or to see Elephant’ and took the whole family several months later. The Washington family was also interested in animals exhibiting special qualities or training. During the presidency, they gave $3.00 to a ‘man who had a very sagacious Dog,’ so that they could see ‘his performance’ (presumably they meant a performance by the dog, not the man). This was very likely a dog brought from Europe by a man named Gabriel Salenka; the canine is said to have been able to ‘beat any person at playing at cards.’ Washington definitely saw a ‘Cugar’ in Philadelphia during his presidency, as well as a ‘Sea Leopard,’ a type of sea lion.“

No newspaper records of a camel in Alexandria during that time can be found, but it is known that in 1787 a pair of camels were imported to New York (from Arabia, via Africa and the West Indies) and were purchased by a businessman for $1,600. The furry couple traveled New England, and only the male seems to have survived.

Whatever the camel’s provenance, there would have been quite a crowd of relatives and neighbors at Mount Vernon that time of year to view the spectacle.

Today, a sizable crowd still gathers, visiting Aladdin at Mount Vernon’s 12-acre field, where he will remain available for viewing and petting throughout “Christmas at Mount Vernon,” which lasts until January 6.

The official White House press release announcing the turkey festivities.

The turkey President Barack Obama pardons on Wednesday in his annual pardoning ceremony will immediately travel to George Washington’s estate where it will live for the first time ever.

Although Disneyland has taken the turkeys since 2004, and a farm in Herndon, Va., took them before that, Mount Vernon is stepping in as the turkey’s place of domicile post-pardoning. The bird will arrive at its pen on a horse-drawn carriage, with trumpet fanfare and a proclamation read by Washington’s farm manager, “James Anderson,” at 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, November 24.

In 1789 Washington became the first president to issue a Thanksgiving proclamation, so it’s appropriate that the turkey comes to live here. Mount Vernon already has a number of wild turkeys roaming its grounds.

The bird that President Obama pardons will be on view during “Christmas at Mount Vernon,” a special program that runs through January 6. Mount Vernon will also showcase a camel named Aladdin during that time, representing the camel that Washington had visit Mount Vernon during Christmas 1787.

Because Mount Vernon displays only historic breeds of animals that Washington would have owned, the turkey will live out the rest of its days in Mount Vernon’s nationally recognized livestock facility, away from the public. That means if you want to see the bird, stop by for Wednesday’s ceremony or our Christmas festivities. For more information on the turkey tradition, see the Washington Post.