Audio
Main Room Furnishings
Transcript
During restoration work of the Birthplace Cottage in the late 1930s, Lou Henry Hoover reached out to the family’s relatives to see if any of the home’s original furnishings still existed. Unfortunately, most had been sold at auction after Hulda Hoover’s death in 1884. The furniture you see today is a combination of reproductions and period pieces. Now think about all the activities that take place in your house. The Hoovers’ first home, because of its compact size, needed to be multi-purpose. Mattie Pemberton, Jesse Hoover’s sister remembered that one end of the main room served as a sitting parlor. Two or three chairs and a straight-backed sofa would hold visiting friends and relatives, while a small table in the corner held a kerosene lamp to read by. A sewing basket filled with needles and thread was always within arm’s reach in case Hulda wanted to darn or sew the family’s clothes. The other end of this room, which contains a drop-leaf table and a tall wooden storage hutch, functioned as both the family dining room and the kitchen. Take a closer look at the small high-chair with the rounded back. It’s a replica of the one used by President Hoover as a child. (sound effects: sounds of talking, dishes and pots being moved ) Now picture trying to cook a holiday meal for your family in this 14 x 20 cottage! You’d not only have to use the table to serve the food on, but to prepare it there as well. In the winter, the woodstove did double-duty as the home’s “central heating.” If you look high on the wall to the right of the bedroom door, you can see where the stovepipe was connected. When the weather got warm, the family would move the stove to the back porch, which became the summer kitchen. With no electricity or indoor plumbing, you can imagine that washing the dishes in the 1870’s was a little more complicated than loading the dishwasher is for modern day families! Hulda no doubt, made sure that when the dish pan was placed on the table and filled with steaming water from the teakettle, that little “Bertie” Hoover was safely out of harm’s way.
Description
During restoration work of the birthplace cottage in the late 1930’s, Lou Henry Hoover reached out to the family’s relatives to see if any of the home’s original furnishings still existed.
Credit
NPS
Date Created
06/22/2010
Copyright and Usage Info