Saratoga News
News
McWilliams house offers a trip to the past
By Chris Vongsarath
Children may not like doing the chores at home, but send them back a century to Saratoga's oldest house and maybe they'll have a different perspective when they return home.
Probably not, but they might learn something.
At least that's what the Saratoga Historical Foundation is counting on with the opening of the McWilliams house and its educational program of docent-led tours for the area's third- and fourth-graders.
On Oct. 20, the foundation opened the doors to the McWilliams house, home of former Saratoga blacksmith John McWilliams and his family, after a year of renovations that have furnished the home with authentic pieces from the 19th century.
Hundreds of visitors toured the home, taking in what life was like before electricity and automobiles.
"Some people showed up at 10 this morning while the volunteers were still setting up," said Peggy Schoppe, volunteer coordinator at the Saratoga Historical Foundation. "We're trying to give them the real experience and take them back 160 years."
The foundation is also trying to educate children on the McWilliams family and the day-to-day chores around the house.
During the tours, students will stop at four stations: school in the 1870s, the McWilliams family, kitchen and bedroom areas and the wash room. There will also be an outdoor assembly for Victorian games.
"We're trying to make it as hands-on as possible," said Linda Hagelin, a retired teacher who is heading the program. "At every station there's something for them to do."
Students will try on period clothing, learn Victorian manners and sing songs in the "parlor"--the equivalent of today's family room but with more etiquette.
The 400 visitors at the opening got a taste of what life was like back then as they also took in other activities.
Adrianna Castellanos, 13, was busy making dolls out of cornhusks at one of the stations. The cornhusks are soaked in water to make them pliable, and ties and some creativity are used to construct male and female dolls.
Adrianna started with some basic designs, but a couple of tries later she came out with a dozen or so different dolls.
"I'm probably going to give them to my grandma," she said.
Meanwhile, in the front yard, volunteer Merle Learned and her rope machine demonstrated and twisted numerous threads of sisal, stiff fibers made from an agave plant, to make rope. Her machine twisted together three separate threads while her hands on the "rope maker" adjusted the tension.
Learned's machine was equipped for only about a 3-foot rope, but she said cowboys used to attach bigger machines to trees and made longer rope.
Asked how she stumbled upon such a machine, Learned replied, "My husband was a junk collector. He probably found it at a garage sale or swap meet."
One of the many uses of rope was for the bed.
The "rope bed," which uses ropes to support the mattress instead of springs, made for a rather uncomfortable night's sleep, Hagelin said. But it also served as the birthplace for a familiar bedtime saying.
"The ropes had to be tightened every couple months because the mattress would sag down," she said. "That's where the term 'sleep tight' came from."
The McWilliams house committee has been scouring antique stores and the Internet for anything from the 1800s that would bring the house back to life.
The committee also visited several Victorian-style houses around the Bay Area to get a vision of what a Victorian home would look like.
"The hardest part was seeing what was period and what wasn't," said Judy Moring, a member of the committee.
Because John McWilliams was a blacksmith, Moring and the other members had to consider what a working-class family would have. Sometimes they would find things that suited the period but would not realistically fit in the McWilliams household.
Thankfully, many of the items in the house came from donations, Schoppe said.
To schedule a visit or classroom presentation, call Linda Hagelin at 408.867.3763. For more information on the McWilliams house, visit www.saratogahistory.com.
