In 1972, Lillian Schwartz sat down with a bundle of pipe cleaners. She tested their flexibility, twisting them into loose loops and serpentine figures. Lillian was an artist and often used unconventional materials in her work, but these pipe cleaners weren't for arts and crafts. In front of her sat her colleague Max Mathews, who also worked at Bell Laboratories, a technology research facility in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Like Lillian, Max used the extensive computer equipment at the labs for creative endeavors, but he made music instead of art. Today, they were doing something different.
Lillian wrapped the pipe cleaners around Max's shoulders, experimenting with different positions — under his armpits, behind his neck — until she found a configuration that worked. The pipe cleaners sat over his right shoulder, arching from back to front, the front end spiraling up toward his mouth. Lillian would use this pattern to design a prototype hands-free telephone.
Max, like many people, easily tired of sitting in one place and holding a telephone receiver when taking calls. In the days before mobile phones, he couldn't even stand to walk around and burn off steam. Now, Max could easily take notes or pace across his office. Lillian's design not only responded to questions of ease and convenience, it anticipated hands-free technologies we're still experimenting with today.
Continue ReadingThe holiday season is upon us, and visitors to Greenfield Village may catch a full Victorian Thanksgiving meal being prepared by presenters at Firestone Farm. Try our delicious Thanksgiving recipes at home. They all taste best with a healthy helping of homemade apple cider!
A roast turkey is served at Firestone Farm in Greenfield Village. Photo courtesy of Larissa Fleishman.
Roast Turkey
Wash, dry and stuff with a dressing of dry bread, soaked in water, pressed out and mixed with salt, pepper, thyme, butter and an egg. Sew up the turkey snugly, and put in a pan with a little water; roast slowly, allowing three hours for a ten-pound turkey. When commencing to brown, rub over with a little butter to keep the skin from blistering; boil giblets in water, chop fine and put in gravy.
May Perrin Goff, The Household of the Detroit Free Press, 1881, p. 590.
Continue ReadingLouis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) transformed the glass world with his patented Favrile process, which created a shimmering, iridescent effect, in the 1890s. More than a century later, Tiffany remains a household name, conjuring images of iridescent stained-glass windows and lighting. How has Tiffany stood the test of time?
Daffodil table lamp, designed by Clara Driscoll for Tiffany Studios, 1903-1920. / THF167923
Tiffany worked with the leader of the Art Nouveau movement in Paris and became internationally renowned in the 1890s. Competing European glassmakers took inspiration from Tiffany, and rivals in the American market worked to develop wares that were almost indistinguishable from his — all helping to establish Tiffany as the look in art glass. Tiffany famously applied Art Nouveau aesthetics to lighting, creating what would become the iconic “Tiffany lamp.”
American tastes changed after World War I as people began searching for something modern and different in their décor. A new geometric style called Art Deco emerged, but Tiffany products remained rooted in the now-passé Art Nouveau. Sales plummeted in the 1920s, and the Great Depression finally shuttered Tiffany Studios. One scholar noted that Tiffany lamps, vases and decorative objects became fodder for tag and rummage sales. Nevertheless, influences of Tiffany’s aesthetic lingered throughout the 1930s and 1940s.
This 1930s White Castle sign shows Tiffany’s lingering influence. / Detail, THF101929
In the 1950s, museums began reevaluating Tiffany’s contributions to American culture. In 1955, the Morse Gallery of Art in Winter Park, Florida, organized "Works of Art by Louis Comfort Tiffany," the first solo exhibition of Tiffany since his death. Others, including Henry Ford Museum, began collecting Tiffany objects as early as 1954. By 1959, the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York included Tiffany glass in its modern design gallery and produced a groundbreaking exhibit, "Art Nouveau: Art and Design at the Turn of the Century." This reappraisal led to the beginning of new scholarship on Tiffany and a broader market for art glass among collectors from the 1960s onward.
The revival of interest in Tiffany's work — and in Art Nouveau in general — came into vogue through the counterculture of the 1960s. Just as before, a younger generation sought out new directions in material culture. In this, they referenced just about anything that rebelled against the prevailing minimalism of mid-century modernism. The highly decorative and organic qualities of Tiffany glass appealed to them.
The sense of nostalgia evoked by hippie culture appeared early on in mainstream material culture through old-fashioned ice cream parlors like Eurich's in Dearborn, Michigan, seen here circa 1962. Note the Tiffany-style lighting above the counter. / THF147849
By the early 1970s, Tiffany was more than a name — it was a style. Tiffany lamps reached the height of their popularity. And with the United States Bicentennial in 1976, Americans became even more enamored with the nostalgia of the American past. This led many companies to embrace an old-fashioned look that often included Tiffany-style lighting — the sort that filled early Wendy’s fast food restaurants, for example.
In the 1970s, Tiffany became fully diffused in American mainstream culture, as evidenced by Hallmark’s Tiffany Classics series of holiday ornaments. / THF177479
This nostalgia continued throughout the early 1980s but began to wane over the course of the decade. Yet even as the Tiffany style faded from fashion, it remained a cultural icon.
Charles Sable is curator of decorative arts at The Henry Ford. This post was adapted for the blog by Saige Jedele, associate curator.
Beginning in 1948, the white-majority National Party of South Africa began codifying the harsh systems of racial segregation that had existed in South Africa since its colonization. Known as apartheid, this institutionalized segregation mobilized a new generation of leaders within the South African organization known as the African National Congress (ANC) to launch a larger liberation movement. Committed to fighting for Black South African rights, by the early 1950s leaders within the ANC, like Nelson Mandela, were promoting nonviolent demonstrations, strikes, boycotts and acts of civil disobedience in protest of South Africa’s white regime.
ANC leaders drew upon the nonviolence teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian lawyer who before leading India to independence from Britain in 1947 had spent over 20 years in South Africa honing his ethics and nonviolent protest tactics against white colonial rule. Gandhi’s teachings and the ANC‘s liberation mission was not lost on organizations in America fighting for similar equality goals. Civil rights activist Bayard Rustin helped create the American pacifist organization known as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) with George Houser and others who were influenced by Gandhi’s nonviolence teachings. In 1953, and in support of the ANC’s mission of resistance, Rustin and Houser founded the American Committee on Africa, one of the first national organizations dedicated to informing the American public about anticolonial struggles in Africa.
Continue Reading
Images of the composer rarely appeared on sheet music for popular songs. Maria Grever’s photo graced the cover of “My Margarita” in 1939, along with photos of the performers, the usual images included to help increase sales of sheet music. / THF713047
What do the Andrews Sisters’ 1938 hit song “Ti-Pi-Tin” and Dinah Washington’s Grammy-winning 1959 recording of “What a Difference a Day Makes” have in common? Both songs were written by Maria Grever, the first female Mexican composer to attain international attention. Yet amazingly, Grever is little known today.
Grever, born Maria Joaquina de la Portilla in Mexico in 1885 to a Spanish father and Mexican mother, showed musical skills at an early age. While growing up in Spain and then Mexico, Grever’s wealthy family saw to it that she received a fine musical education, studying piano, violin and voice. Grever achieved early success as a composer; at 18, her song "A Una Ola" ('To a Wave') sold three million copies to its Latin audience.
When she was 22, Maria married Leon Grever, an American oil company executive working in Mexico. The couple had two surviving children. Amid the ongoing political turmoil of the Mexican Revolution, the Grever family arrived in New York City in June 1916. Leon returned to his job in Mexico while Maria remained in New York. For the next 35 years, Grever continued her musical career as a composer, singer and vocal coach in America as she navigated its New York-centered music industry.
In her compositions, Grever sought to share her Mexican heritage. While Grever was interested in modern jazz rhythms, above all she cherished Mexico’s rich musical culture. Latin music was only beginning to capture the attention of Americans in the 1930s. The rhumba, a genre of music and dance that combined American big-band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, appeared in East Coast ballrooms. By the 1940s, Latin-influenced music — Grever’s compositions among them — had begun to take its place in popular songs, musicals and movie scores.
Maria Grever’s lush romantic songs and ballads focused on finding universal appeal as she mixed popular song forms with the rhythms of Latin American music. Grever wrote hundreds of songs — sources mention between 800 and 1,000 — composing the music and creating the Spanish lyrics. Her songs found popularity in Latin America and the United States. Grever also worked with American lyricists — including leading songwriters of the day Stanley Adams, Irving Caesar and Raymond Leveen — who translated her songs into English to increase their accessibility for American audiences. Grever wrote film scores for Paramount, MGM and 20th Century Fox. She created one-act operas, choral works and instrumental pieces in a wide variety of styles. Music critics noted her “innate gift of spontaneous melody.” Testimonials provided by performers mentioned her “exquisite melodies and rare rhythmical charm” and compositions that “are beautiful and reach the heart of the people.”
Maria Grever provided the Spanish lyrics for Cole Porter’s 1935 “Begin the Beguine.” / THF713039
In 1935, the year Grever became a member of ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), composer and lyricist Cole Porter, a fellow ASCAP member, asked Grever to provide Spanish lyrics for his musically complex “Begin the Beguine,” a song he wrote for the Broadway musical Jubilee.
Maria Grever’s first big hit in America was “Ti-Pi-Tin.” / THF702012. Gift of Jeanine Head Miller.
Grever’s 1938 song “Ti-Pi-Tin" was Grever’s first big hit in the United States. Yet initially, Grever couldn’t interest a publisher in “Ti-Pi-Tin,” so she published it herself. When bandleader Horace Heidt heard the song, he quickly recognized its possibilities. His orchestra played it on NBC radio — immediately launching the song to success. The demand for sheet music was huge. To keep up, Grever allowed Leo Feist Inc. to publish it. That same year, the Andrews Sisters would create their own smooth and slightly jazzy version of “Ti-Pi-Tin.”
“Magic in the Moonlight,” a song Grever originally wrote in 1930 as “Te Quiero, Dijiste,” was featured in the 1944 MGM movie musical Bathing Beauty. / THF713033
Grever’s romantic ballad, “Magic Is the Moonlight” (Te Quiero, Dijiste) graced the 1944 MGM movie Bathing Beauty, a film that featured many on-screen performances by big-band greats of the era. In the movie, Carlos Ramírez sang Grever’s “Magic Is the Moonlight” in Spanish, accompanied by the Xavier Cugat Orchestra. The melody recurs throughout the film.
At the height of Grever’s career in the 1930s and 1940s, she was living at the Wellington Hotel at Seventh Avenue and 55th Street — near Broadway, Carnegie Hall and Central Park. The Wellington was a residential hotel that became a favorite among those in theatrical circles. The apartments of some tenants served as both living space and artistic studio. Here, in addition to composing music, Grever coached voice students on vocal technique and Spanish pronunciation.
Dinah Washington’s recording of Grever’s “What a Difference a Day Makes” ("Cuando Vuelva a Tu Lado") received a Grammy in 1959 for best R&B performance. / THF370537
Grever is best known for “What a Difference a Day Makes” ("Cuando Vuelva a Tu Lado"), written in 1934. Bing Crosby called it “the loveliest of all your lovely songs.” Dinah Washington’s 1959 recording, which earned her a Grammy for best R&B performance that year, made the song one of Grever’s longest-lasting hits.
While Maria Grever’s name is little known to most people today, her songs and international legacy live on. A host of singers — prominent and lesser-known — have performed Grever’s compositions, including Enrico Caruso, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, the Andrews Sisters, Tony Martin, Carlos Ramirez, Andrea Bocelli, Bobby Darin, Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Tony Bennett and Plácido Domingo. El Centre d’Estudis Musicals María Grever, a music school, can be found in Barcelona, Spain, while the theater Teatro María Grever is located in Grever’s birthplace of Leon, Mexico.
Though New York City was Maria Grever’s adopted home, upon her death in 1951 and at her request, Grever’s remains were transported to Mexico City to be buried in Panteon Español, just as she had wished.
As I wrote this blog, I relistened to some of Grever’s songs. Her tunes easily lingered in my mind — testimony to Maria’s Grever gift for melody.
Jeanine Head Miller is curator of domestic life at The Henry Ford.
The current What We Wore exhibit in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, on display until December 12, features costumes worn for Halloween and masquerade parties.
There is something compelling about wearing costumes — they can both reveal and disguise.
Costumes reflect our personality and interests. Show off our creativity. And let us take on another identity — transforming into someone or something else as we step out of our daily routines.
18th-century-style costume made by the Eaves Costume Company for Henry Ford, 1929. / THF154824, THF154830. Gift of the Clara Ford Estate.
18th-Century Style
In early 1929, Henry Ford asked a New York theatrical costume company to create this colonial-era costume for him. He said he wouldn’t need it until fall.
Ford was planning a celebration for October 21 of that year — one commemorating the 50th anniversary of Edison’s invention of the incandescent light. (The museum and village were formally dedicated that same day.) Did Ford intend to greet his guests at the evening banquet wearing 18th-century-style clothing? After all, they would be entering the museum through a replica of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
We’ll never know. Ford’s intentions remain a mystery — he hosted the event wearing contemporary formal dress. Whatever Ford’s plans had been, we do know that he felt the completed garments were too elaborate — even suggesting that some of the embroidery and bead trimmings be removed!
Henry Ford enjoyed wearing costumes from time to time. Dressed in 19th-century clothing, Henry, his wife, Clara, and their guests danced to the quadrilles, schottisches and polkas of Ford’s youth in the ballroom of the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1926. | THF148956. Gift of the Ford Motor Company.
Rabbit costume worn by a member of the Firestone family, 1956. | THF196404. Gift of Mrs. William Clay Ford, Mrs. John F. Ball and Mrs. William Leatherman.
Masquerading as Rabbits
When Harvey and Elizabeth Firestone purchased an oceanfront summer home in Newport, Rhode Island, in the early 1950s, they joined other wealthy, prominent people in Newport’s exclusive social scene. The White Elephant Ball, a masquerade party held at summer’s end, was one of Newport’s most sought-after soirees.
Elizabeth Firestone’s closet was filled with couture garments by prominent designers — her fashions were the talk of society. She was just as discerning — though more playful — when choosing costumes for the White Elephant Ball. In 1956, the Firestone family’s costumes reflected a whimsical fairyland theme — they came dressed as a family of humanlike rabbits.
Harvey and Elizabeth Firestone’s daughter Anne in her rabbit costume at the White Elephant Ball in 1956. | THF711467. Gift of Mrs. William Clay Ford, Mrs. John F. Ball and Mrs. William Leatherman.
Guests, dressed in masquerade costumes, gathered at venues like the Newport Country Club each year at summer’s end for the White Elephant Ball. | THF710383
Children's Costumes
Whether for dress-up play or to celebrate Halloween, homemade or store-bought, kids love donning costumes that reflect their personality or interests — letting them dream and use their imaginations.
Pirate costume made by Halco, 1940-1949. | THF196646
Pirate
Taking on the identity of a pirate is appealing — perhaps because pirates get to behave in ways that non-pirates don’t!
Drum Majorette costume, 1950-1955. | THF196359. Gift of Jeanine Head Miller.
Drum Majorette
Costume trends come and go. In the 1950s, drum majorette costumes were popular — kids could imagine themselves leading a marching band through the town!
Snow White costume, about 1960. | THF196315, THF196339. Gift of Mary Sherman.
Snow White
Since the 1930s, kids have enjoyed imagining themselves as a favorite character from Disney’s popular animated films.
Astronaut costume made by Ben Cooper Inc., 1966-1970. | THF196321, THF196343
Astronaut
Many kids dreamed of being an astronaut during the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1950s and 1960s — a race which effectively culminated in the July 1969 moon landing by American astronauts.
Blue Fairy costume worn by Lisa Korzetz of Southgate, Michigan, about 1966." title="THF196317">
Blue Fairy costume mask worn by Lisa Korzetz of Southgate, Michigan, about 1966." title="THF196332">
Blue Fairy costume worn by Lisa Korzetz of Southgate, Michigan, about 1966. THF196317, THF196332. Gift of Antoinette Nycek Korzetz.
Blue Fairy
The magical abilities of the Blue Fairy — a spirit who changed Pinocchio from a wooden marionette into a real boy — appealed to kids. Their parents appreciated the safety features of this costume, like flame-retardant fabric and bright colors for nighttime trick-or-treating.
Lisa Korzetz in her Blue Fairy costume with her brother Edward, about 1966. THF710392. Gift of Antoinette Nycek Korzetz.
Witch costume worn by Lisa Korzetz of Southgate, Michigan, 1971-1972. | THF196319, THF196350. Gift of Antoinette Nycek Korzetz.
Witch
Witch costumes are a classic Halloween choice, popular with both children and adults.
Barney-inspired costume worn by Eric Nietering of Dearborn, Michigan, 1993. | THF196354. Gift of Emily Nietering.
Barney
When the children’s television series Barney & Friends debuted in 1992, it became a runaway hit with preschool-age kids. Four-year-old Eric Nietering — like countless other children — was a big fan of Barney, a friendly, huggable T. Rex with an optimistic attitude.
Eric Nietering proudly poses in the Barney costume made by his mother, Emily. / THF710386. Gift of Emily Nietering.
Link costume worn by Isaac Morland of Canton, Michigan, 2021." title="THF196415">
Link costume shield worn by Isaac Morland of Canton, Michigan, 2021." title="THF196410">
Link costume sword worn by Isaac Morland of Canton, Michigan, 2021." title="THF196411">
Link costume worn by Isaac Morland of Canton, Michigan, 2021. | THF196415, THF196410, THF196411. Gift of Kate Morland.
Link
Kids love pretending to be characters from their favorite television shows, movies or video games. Isaac Morland chose a disguise as Link, a warrior hero from The Legend of Zelda video game.
Isaac Morland and his brother Simon dressed for Halloween in 2021. / THF710391. Gift of Kate Morland.
Jeanine Head Miller is curator of domestic life.
Daggett Farmhouse in Greenfield Village. / THF175173
Samuel and Anna Daggett and their children, like other farm families living in northeastern Connecticut in the 1760s, made careful preparations to get through the winter. Food was a year-round concern and a top priority, especially in the fall, as the family preserved a supply of meat, harvested crops and took special care to prepare and store fruits and vegetables to last the colder months.
The Daggetts kept pumpkins and other winter squash in their house cellar or attic to prevent freezing. They stored a variety of hardy root vegetables in an outdoor root cellar — essentially a stone-lined pit dug into the earth, preferably into a small hillside, and lined with stones for additional insulation and cleaner storage. A wooden cover or door lined with straw provided access throughout the winter. In addition to turnips, potatoes, beets and similar vegetables, the Daggett family stored cabbages — pulled roots and all — in the root cellar. They left other root vegetables, like parsnips and salsify, in the frozen ground of the garden and dug them out as needed.
Presenter with carrots in Daggett Farmhouse garden, early August 2023. / Photo by Debra A. Reid
The family left beans and peas to fully mature on their vines or stalks in the field. Once completely dry, they pulled and laid the plants on a flat surface, then hit them with a wooden tool called a flail to break the pods apart. The Daggetts gathered the loose beans or peas and cleaned them by a process called winnowing, flipping them up and down in a large shallow basket as the breeze blew away dust and debris. They then packed the beans and peas in sacks and stored them away in cool, dry locations around the house until it was time to wash and cook them. The family also dried green beans, which could be reconstituted and used as a welcome addition to soups and stews in the winter and early spring, when no fresh green vegetables were available.
With careful planning, all sorts of vegetables would meet the family’s needs until produce became available again. It’s no wonder that the first early greens from the garden were so looked forward to after a winter of starchy root vegetables!
Much of the fruits grown and used by the Daggett family — especially apples but also perhaps pears, peaches, cherries, quinces and grapes — could also be carefully preserved for the winter. The Daggetts had very limited technology when it came to “canning” as we know it today, but they did keep fruit jams or preserves in small earthenware crocks sealed with beeswax, spirit-soaked parchment or animal bladders. They also sliced fruit and laid it flat in baskets or wooden racks to dry. Some fresh fruit could be kept whole, carefully packed in barrels and stored in one of the rare cool spots around the house.
Samuel Daggett pressed apples using a large, animal-powered machine. The family fermented the sweet juice of the crushed apples into hard cider, which could be stored in barrels for use throughout the winter, and made cider vinegar and applejack, a kind of apple brandy. The Daggett farm produced enough cider to meet the family’s needs and even some extra to sell to the surrounding community. Other beverages that kept well included perry (fermented pear juice), wine made from grapes and beer brewed with hops from the garden.
Presenter with hops at Daggett Farm, early August 2023. / Photo by Debra A. Reid
Today at Daggett Farm in Greenfield Village, as in 1760s New England, the slower pace of long summer days begins to quicken as the harvest season approaches. If you visit in the fall, you may see the staff harvesting and storing away a variety of garden produce, much like the Daggett family did.
Jim Johnson is The Henry Ford's curator of historic structures and landscapes and director of Greenfield Village. This post was adapted for the blog by associate curator Saige Jedele.
Background shows a sneak peek of the conservation treatment of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s desk. / Image of Grant writing his memoirs in July 1885 courtesy of the Library of Congress.
The Henry Ford has quite a collection of objects used by historical figures on display. There are many more gems safeguarded in storage with equally fascinating stories. One such piece is Army General and 18th U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant’s secretary desk. Henry Ford was interested in collecting items tied to people he admired. That is why he purchased Grant’s desk from renowned antique dealer Israel Sack of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1930. The desk had passed down through the family of Grant’s wife, Julia, before making its way to the former president. Grant used this desk while writing his “Personal Memoirs” in 1884 and 1885. Recently, the desk has made its way to the museum’s conservation lab for a bit of TLC and a taste of the limelight.
Continue Reading
Sally Ann Firestone with her grandchildren at their farmhouse in Columbiana County, Ohio, circa 1876. / THF115221
How should we answer the question, “Did women do farmwork?” In the time periods and regions interpreted at the working farms of Greenfield Village — here we examine the Daggett, Firestone and Mattox family farms — men typically worked in the fields and barnyards, and women worked in and around the farmhouse. (This contrasted markedly with Indigenous American and African cultures that operated with a matrilineal worldview and in which women had authority over farm work. Women in these cultures worked fields and processed, preserved and stored food.) Because of this gendered division, some argue that only men truly did farmwork. However, farmwork ebbed and flowed between fields and barnyards and the farmhouse. In the farmhouse and surrounding yard, women nursed orphaned livestock, started seeds, preserved food, discussed farmwork and market strategies, and prepared meals three times every day to maintain their family’s health. Everyone did farmwork, and no one found relief from it.
Continue Reading
Mattox Family Home in Greenfield Village, 1991. / THF250591
Starting in the Reconstruction Era, multiple generations of the Mattox family would live in the Mattox Family Home, a farmhouse located in Bryan County, Georgia. At a time and place when African American land ownership was rare, the Mattox family was able to farm their own land into the 1930s when the family was led by Amos and Grace Mattox. Grace Mattox’s story gives us a unique glimpse into what labor looks like for an African American woman and her family just one generation removed from slavery.
To be an African American woman working in agriculture, to tend a crop or to look after livestock was not new — the labor of entire African American families was used for generations by plantation owners looking to get wealthy from cash crops. Looking at Grace Mattox’s life, we can see what farming looked like without that layer of economic exploitation. What did farming mean for an African-American family that owned their own land instead of sharecropping? Or who farmed to put food on the table rather than to turn a profit? What changes when the person doing the farming gets to benefit from their own labor?
Continue Reading