Joe, a candle?

Rob, Aesop's Fables was a guess, but I did have some basis for it. I have a biographical novel titled Lincoln's Mothers by Dorothy Clarke Wilson. The author did do a lot of research, and it says a woman named Sarah Hodgen gave Aesop's Fables to Nancy Lincoln to be given to Abe. The book says she gave it to Abe shortly after the move to Indiana. Nothing was said about it being a Christmas present, though, but that was the basis for my guess.

Getting in touch with your inner-Groucho?

No, Roger, it's not a candle. And yes, Bill, I am a huge Groucho fan!

Hint # 1 - If kept more than 6 feet away from the fireplace, this item would freeze. That's how cold them folks got at night.

I've been watching You Bet Your Life episodes-including cut material that was too risque for that day and age-absolutely brilliant stuff!

The ink in an inkwell?

Negative, politest man OTI. I can't believe I'm getting this much traction with this. I spend hours sometimes digging up questions and get shot down with the first reply.

Hint # 2 - sometimes someone may be referred to as a tall drink of........

Water?! A glass of water?

That's it, Betty! A glass of water, if left more than 6 feet away from the fire, would freeze. That's a cold night!

Wow! You tricked us with something that easy? At least a Reb got the answer (after a very explicit hint!).

My mother used to tell the story of growing up in our old house with a fish bowl in the center hall that had to be moved into the parlor when winter came. All of the rooms had coal stoves set into the original fireplaces. Some rooms were without heat during the winter because they were not frequently used. All doors to the hallway were closed, and the fishbowl would freeze if left in the hall.

I remember the fishbowl still being there as a child. It was purely Victorian -- a Majolica ceramic lighthouse that stood about two feet high with a walled basin at the foot that held the glass bowl, which was about a foot in diameter.

Sealing off parts of the house was common in those times. I stayed at Normal Rockwell's former home in Vermont one winter and read the first year he stayed there it was -35 all week. He had to wake up during the night to feed the three woodstoves that were heating his home. We're pretty spoiled when you compare that to how we live.

At Surratt House, we actually have a stone bed warmer sitting on the hearth during the winter months, and we also explain that it was nothing to have to chip a layer of ice off of the pitcher of water by the washbowl in the morning.

Every room except two have fireplaces (no stoves - except in the kitchen). There is an unfinished room over the kitchen wing where the weapons and supplies were hidden as part of the kidnap scheme. Since the Surratts were slave owners and had at least one domestic slave (Aunt Rachel), we restored this room to represent Aunt Rachel's. It is largely unfinished, with fresh air coming in under the eaves of the roof and no source of heat except for what came up through the floor boards from the kitchen below.

In the summer, it can get over 100 degrees in there - which we quickly point out to visitors. In the winter, it is just a little above what the outdoor temperature is -- which we quickly point out to visitors. You get their attention very quickly the minute you open the small door that leads into that room.

(12-27-2012 04:58 PM)L Verge Wrote:  At Surratt House . . . There is an unfinished room over the kitchen wing . . . You get their attention very quickly the minute you open the small door that leads into that room.

Laurie, the docent who did such a wonderful job of showing me through the Surratt House did her best to try to get me to go through that tiny door into that room, but I had to refuse.

It is a tiny doorway and I am not a tiny man . . .

--Jim

I have navigated that door a thousand times in hoop skirts. I have also stood with my hand at the top of the door frame to prevent people from hitting their heads going down and coming up. It hurts like crazy when someone bumps their head on my hand!

Anyone over six feet needs to be careful of the exposed rafters once they are in that room.

(12-27-2012 10:48 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I have navigated that door a thousand times in hoop skirts. I have also stood with my hand at the top of the door frame to prevent people from hitting their heads going down and coming up. It hurts like crazy when someone bumps their head on my hand!

Anyone over six feet needs to be careful of the exposed rafters once they are in that room.

Wow! In a hoop skirt, no less!!! Well, you are more agile than I am; no doubt about it!

Thanks to the panoramic virtual tour view on the Surratt House website, I feel as though I was in the room any how.

--Jim

During breakfast one morning who said the following to his son:

"I want you to take your bicycle to school today. I may send for you this morning..."