Archive for the ‘George Washington’ Category

January is one of the chilliest times of the year, which also means that here at Mount Vernon, it’s one of the most overlooked by visitors, who neither stop by for vacation nor pop by for neighborly visits during this coldest of months. It also means January is ideal for having the estate to yourself. Discover the five best reasons to get to Mount Vernon before February and the busy Presidents Day season begins.

1) Visit the estate without disruption: Attendance in January usually hovers around 20,000 to 25,000 visitors, which means there are six or seven times fewer bustling people than during busy months such as May. Lines are shorter and the estate’s sweeping panoramas are that much more stranger-free for your picture-taking purposes.

2) Scouting-oriented children get in free: All Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Camp Fire members wearing their uniform or official pen get into the estate for free through February 17 — not a bad treat after a long season of cookie sales. They can also complete activities toward patches and pins.

3) It’s a romantic time of year chez Washington: George and Martha, the happy colonial couple, were married on January 6; it was a day referred to back then as Twelfth Night, which marked the end of the Christmas season. For current-day Americans, Christmas is long gone by January 6, but not the Washingtons’ anniversary.

4) Hot cider abounds: The Mount Vernon Inn is a place filled with the adjective delicious. Add hot cider to the menu and you’ve got yourself a warm treat to enjoy beside one of the inn’s several fireplaces.

5) There’s always snow here: Even if it’s not snowing much outdoors this winter, it snows every day in our Revolutionary War Theater, where film-watchers have an immersive experience when real “snow” falls on the audience as Washington crosses the Delaware.

How did the Washingtons ring in the new year? Celebrating January 1 was more of a Dutch than British tradition, so the Washingtons’ New Year’s festivities were likely at their peak during the period of George Washington’s presidency when the first family lived in New York City, which had been settled by the Dutch.

In 1790 Mrs. Adams, who was the wife of Vice President John Adams, wrote that “the New Years day in this state, & particularly in this city [New York City] is celebrated with every mark of pleasure and satisfaction. The shops and publick [sic] offices are shut. There is not any market upon this day, but every person laying aside Buisness [sic] devote[s] the day to the social purpose of visiting & receiving visits. The churches are open & divine service performed begining [sic] the year in a very proper manner by giving Thanks to the great Governour [sic] of the universe for past mercies, & imploring his future Benidictions [sic]. There is a kind of cake in fashion upon this day call’d New Years Cooky. This & Cherry bounce as it is calld [sic] is the old Dutch Custom of treating their Friends upon the return of every New Year.”

Something akin to turducken (the infamous chicken-stuffed-inside-a-duck-stuffed-inside-a-turkey entree), an 18th-century Christmas pie incorporated just as many if not more meats under a crust-like exterior that leaves many modern-day visitors to George Washington’s kitchen believing that they’re looking at a decadent dessert rather than a carnivore-worthy feast.

Like 21st-century revelers who come to terms with Christmas dinner in meal after meal of leftovers, 18th-century pie partakers had a lot of eating to do in subsequent days.

In November of 1786 one of Washington’s friends wrote to inform the General that he would not be able to make the Washingtons’ Christmas dinner and eat their pie. On December 26, having dined with at least nine people, Washington informed his friend that they “had one [pie] yesterday on which all the company, tho’ pretty numerous, were hardly able to make an impression …”

Consuming concentric layers of turkey, goose, duck, partridge and pigeon, surrounded by hare, woodcocks or whatever other game or fowl was available, was no doubt an arduous task. And that’s not including the four pounds of butter and bushel of flour that were called for in the recipe that belonged to Martha Washington.

But as large as Washington’s pies may have been, they were no match for the nine-foot-circumference record-breaking Christmas pie that was said to have been made in London in 1770. It’s a case of Christmas gluttony at its best. Check out Mount Vernon’s faux food replica of a much smaller Christmas pie on display in the Mount Vernon kitchen through January 6.

What animals had the honor of being the first first pets? We can’t say for sure how many creatures held this title as there is no official record of the furry and feathered friends cohabitation with the Washington family in New York and Philadelphia, but two are known for sure: Frisk the lapdog and Snipe the green parrot.

Small and spaniel-like Frisk plus Snipe belonged to Martha Washington’s granddaughter Nelly Custis, who lived with the Washingtons as an adopted child. Despite Nelly’s preference for these animals, the General had his own thoughts, none of which seem to be pleasant. One can only imagine the noise created by two such companions. Upon packing up after the presidency to return to Mount Vernon, we have what is perhaps the best insight into Washington’s true feelings on the matter:

“On one side I am called upon to remember the Parrot [sic], on the other to remember the dog. For my own part, I should not pine much if both were forgot.”