A Gilded Age Christmas

It's that time of year again!  During December, Staatsburgh transforms into a festive wonderland of bows, boughs, holly, poinsettias and Christmas trees.  We prepare for the busiest season of the year by spending the month of November decorating the entire house so that we can welcome visitors to admire the Christmas decor, Gilded Age style.  But what was the experience of Christmas during the Gilded Age?  How did the Mills family celebrate Christmas?

Staatsburgh's library, decorated for the holidays

The Champion Hair Picker in Action!

Continuing the theme of historic mattresses (see previous blog), I recently took a field trip to see a historic piece of equipment called "The Champion Hair Picker" that was essential to the upkeep of historic mattresses.

You may be wondering what a hair picker does and why it is an important tool for mattresses.  How does it operate and what is its purpose?  Does the image below give you any clue?

Keep reading to find out...

A Gathering of Old Cars 2014 Recap

If you are a lover of antique cars and live in the Hudson Valley, it is a good bet that you were at Staatsburgh last Sunday.  The Great Lawn between the mansion and the Hudson River was filled with hundreds of cars and there were thousands of visitors who attended the event.  Inside the mansion we were happy to welcome many new visitors from the car show who stopped by the gift shop and toured the house.

I was able to walk through the lawn and see so many of the great cars on display.  The car show brings back great memories from my childhood because my father restored a 1939 Chevy Coupe and we took it to countless car shows over the years.  I have seen firsthand how owners of antique cars have poured their blood, sweat, and tears (and money) into restoring and maintaining these cars.  After all of that effort, they are especially proud to show them off and converse with other car owners.  It takes a lot of effort to make an 80+ year old car look good and even more to make sure it runs properly!  As I wandered through the rows of car, I took a moment to talk to a few folks who brought a car to the show...

Historic Mattresses at a Glance

Here at the Staatsburgh, we’ve recently developed an interest in the historic mattresses in our collection. Our investigation into the topic has led to surprising discoveries about the ways mattresses have changed over the course of the last century. The modern mattresses we all sleep on today are composed of a foundation (also known as a box spring), which underlies an innerspring unit, which is then surrounded surrounded by many layers of upholstery all contained within a padded, quilted exterior. 

However, mattresses were not always so sophisticated or comfortable. The innerspring mattress that most of us sleep on today was patented by a man named Heinrich Westphal in 1871. Unfortunately, Westphal did not live long enough to see his invention succeed. This type of mattress was very expensive and did not become widely available until the middle of the twentieth century.

This begs the question: what were mattresses like before? Mattress construction has changed greatly over the course of time from stuffing, to woven wire, and finally to the innerspring model. Mattresses may seem quite mundane. To be sure, they don’t flaunt the same glamor as other antique furniture. You would never catch someone boasting about owning a nineteenth century mattress! However, the mattress has seen a great deal of change in its construction during the last century. These changes show us incremental advancements in the technology of the era as well as changing attitudes about health.

Hidden Treasures of the Collections:Footman's Table

One of the reasons we wanted to start a blog was to be able to highlight some of Staatsburgh's collections that are not always noticeable or highlighted on the tour. The house has so many collections items that it is impossible to include everything on a one hour tour! This is the first entry in a series that will explore many of the fascinating pieces in the house.

The upstairs furniture at Staatsburgh often receives the most attention, but the pieces furnishing the servants quarters also have stories to tell. All of the bedrooms in the basement and attic were furnished with tables, chairs, beds, and dressers that were very different from the pieces used by the Mills family and their guests. Where did this furniture originate and what style did the Mills select to furnish their servants quarters?