Early American Life

Small wooden boxes with quaint German designs might have held a bride’keepsakes, and many are a joy to behold—particularly the lovely recreations made by modern crafters. In our June Gregory LeFever shows us some of the best along with their makers and reveals a secret—No brides’ boxes were ever made in America until these reproductions.

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FEATURED ARTIST

We’d like to introduce some of the artists selected for the 2011 Holiday Directory of Traditional American Crafts in the category Holiday.
Lynn Murray and Anne Thornton-Trump When two sisters, Lynn Murray and Anne Thornton-Trump, decided to retire and combine their households, little did they suspect how drastically their lives would change! They bought a 20-year collection of original Santa molds and went into business.
Read more about Lynn Murray & Anne Thornton-Trump.

Cast Iron Chef

Four centuries of culinary traditions came to life in a "Cast Iron Chef" competition held at Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia on Saturday, October 29, 2011. Each chef received a basket of surprise seasonal ingredients and then prepared dishes appropriate to her interpreted time period. The chefs interpreted time periods from early 17th century England to a 20th century American camping trip. Working in the 18th Century period was Mercy Ingraham, who regularly contributes both recipes and culinary history to Early American Life.

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Fire-starter Project Bonus

In our December 2011 issue we feature an article, "Tokens of Thanks," that shows some holiday-spirited hostess gifts you can make. We've put full instructions and a printable sample of ancient-looking paper in our Sources pages. Or you can simply click here to go there directly.

Cider Mills to Visit

Leaves are aflame, a crisp chill is in the air, and you can smell the apple cider fresh from the press—at least is you visit a cider mill. We searched around and found several historic cider mills across the country. Most have stood their place for more than a century and are filled with both old-fashioned machinery and hospitality—and any one is a place where you can sip the world's freshest cider straight from the press. A visit to one of these mills near you will thrill the kids and your taste buds alike. Click here to see our listing of historic cider mills.

READER COMMENTS

On May 4th Rick Hamelin wrote: (Citing page 16) Concerning the drainage pipes, the potters engaged in making these in Massachusetts in the second quarter of the nineteenth century used a large extruder being similar to the tool used to make the die formed handles. Is it recorded that the pipes were thrown by the Shaker potters or are there throwing lines remaining on the artifacts?rn

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Readers' Exchange Returns

Long-time subscrbers probably remember our Readers' Exchange—it was once the most popular feature in the magazine. We've revived it here, on-line for quicker response. If you're looking for restoration help, offering back issues to a good home, need genealogical information, or are trying to find an answer, post a note for the EAL community. We'll keep your address and email private for your security.

Visit the Readers’ Exchange.