George Washington Wired

Approximately 106 years ago an unspecified visitor to Mount Vernon sent this post card to one Miss Irene Tringle in Madison, Wis. There was no message or name of sender on the back, which only has an address, a one-cent Benjamin Franklin stamp and two postmarks — one from Washington, D.C., on March 27, 1906 when the post card was sent and the other from Madison, Wis., on March 29, 1906 when the postcard arrived there. The picture depicts the Washington bedchamber, where the bed that George Washington died in is still the centerpiece today. To check out similarities and differences between the room then and now, see our current photo of the space.

The postcards featured in the MV Mailbox series and hundreds others are part of Mount Vernon’s postcard collection. They range vastly in age and subject matter, but have one underlying commonality: George Washington’s estate.

If renting a pineapple sounds ridiculous, then it’s only because you’re not from the 18th century.

In George Washington’s day, his compatriots across the ocean in England were known to pay a premium to grace their tables with this most exotic fruit, often putting it atop a decorative fruit pyramid. In such instances the delicious pineapple would not have been eaten, but simply passed from dining room to dining room.

Fortunately for Washington, America’s close proximity to South America – the pineapple’s place of origin – meant that he had slightly better access to the tropical produce, which he was known to particularly enjoy.

When he went to Barbados as a teenager, Washington marveled at what he called China oranges, avagados or alligator pears, and pines, by which, of course, he was referring to oranges, avocados and pineapples. And while he recorded in his diary that the pear was “generally most admired” he professed that “none pleases my taste as do’s [sic] the Pine.”

It was a sentiment that seemed to stick with him throughout life. When ships left Mount Vernon laden with fish, flour and other goods to be traded in the West Indies, Washington would ask the captain to bring back a few pineapples. Local merchants also sold them, except during the Revolutionary War, when trade was disrupted and they became few and far between.

Pineapples were likely consumed raw most of the time, but Martha Washington’s granddaughter Nelly Custis had two recipes for frozen pineapple desserts: “fromage of pine apples” made with minced pineapple and “pine apple cream,” which involved steeping a pineapple rind in boiling cream.

Looks like it’s a good thing the Washingtons weren’t renting theirs.

Research on George Washington and pineapples was provided by Mount Vernon research historian Mary Thompson.

A new home for George Washington’s manuscripts and valuable belongings is being built at Mount Vernon, across the street from the estate. The Fred. W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington isn’t slated to open until summer 2013, but construction is well underway.

In addition to the Washington family Bible and a number of other maps, documents and possessions, the library will house Mount Vernon’s education, collections and library departments. Conferences will be held at the facility and a resident scholar will even reside in a nearby, brand-new abode.

Interested in following along as we chart a new path with our library? Check back for more video updates as construction progresses.

Even if they were fancy people, the Washingtons had to wipe food off their faces just like the rest of us. Luckily they had some very fancy napkins.

Sometime in the 1790s George Washington purchased a set of 48 napkins with a neoclassical design of lacy swags, flower-filled urns and florid vines. Back then tableware, including linens and napkins for each guest, were critical for establishing societal status.

Washington’s table napkins were no exception, and either he or Martha Washington had each one numbered with an embroidered laundry mark so that they could be rotated for use, thereby wearing them out at a greatly reduced rate. Napkins and linens were often marked with the owner’s initials and the number of items in the set, but the individual numbering of each item was not as common.

Perhaps this fastidious record keeping was due in some small part to Washington’s propensity to notice such napery. In 1760 he noted scornfully after attending one ball that “pocket handkerchiefs served the purposes of Tablecloths & Napkins.”

Slaves would have ironed the napkin, whose origin was likely Ireland. The cross stitching was likely carried out by a paid servant or a slave.

Linen damask napkins have been in use since the sixteenth century. Although they were originally for aristocrats, by the time the Washingtons were daubing and wiping their mouths with them, they were commonly used by the gentry and those aspiring to that status.

By the mid-eighteenth century, napkin decorum was much the same as it is today: napkins were placed beside or on top of a plate and then kept in the lap to prevent stains and wipe the mouth.

Looks like a lot of things – including people’s propensity to spill food – haven’t changed in the past few hundred years.

See the Washingtons’ damask napkin in our new Hoecakes and Hospitality exhibit in Mount Vernon’s Donald W. Reynolds Museum or check it out in the exhibit’s companion book Dining With The Washingtons.

Assistant Curator Alison Bliss contributed to this report.

Object Spotlight is a regular feature that highlights household belongings used by the Washingtons. Check out Mount Vernon’s eMuseum to explore more Washington-related objects.

Gift of Constance Lee Peterkin, 1926 [W-582]