Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[L Verge]

Wild guess - Kettle and teapot?

[RJNorton]

Books on how to cook? (you said it was early in the marriage)

[Gene C]

Matches to burn the books on how to cook ?

[Anita]

Roger, you guessed it. Your prize- delicious home-cooked meals in 2017.

"Springfield Purchases
Two books purchased by the Lincolns in Springfield from Irwin and Co. on December 31, 1846, are: Eliza Leslie's Directions for Cookery in Its Various Branches (20th edition, Philadelphia, 1844) and Leslie's The House Book or A Manual of Domestic Economy for Town and Country (8th edition, Philadelphia, 1845)" https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_b...iond-e.htm

Lincoln buys two books ("Miss Leslie's Cookery," 87¢, "Miss Leslie's Housekeeper," 80¢), lamp shades, $1.50, and $3.17 in groceries.Irwin Ledger and Journal. http://www.thelincolnlog.org/Results.asp...1&month=12
Whether Lincoln was told by Mary to purchase them is not really known. Perhaps he suggested they might be useful!

[Eva Elisabeth]

I just realized I misread (tiny smartphone screen...) and was looking for something Mary gave Abraham! Hence I found Mary giving her spouse a cook book quite the emancipated statement...
Can't resist asking - is Roger's prize DIY?

[Anita]

I just realized I misread (tiny smartphone screen...) and was looking for something Mary gave Abraham! Hence I found Mary giving her spouse a cook book quite the emancipated statement...
Can't resist asking - is Roger's prize DIY?

I'll let him work that out with Vicki!!

[Eva Elisabeth]

I honestly take my hat off to anyone skilled to cook delicious meals!

[RJNorton]

Thank you, Anita. When you first asked the question I looked in Pratt's The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln but could not find anything. Does anyone know if the answer is in there?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Nope, I couldn't find either. But on December 24, 1860, the Lincolns purchased "3 1/2 yds. corset, 8 yds. purple mouslin, 4 childs silk handkerchiefs , 4 linen handkerchiefs, 1+ 2 gents silk handkerchiefs".

[RJNorton]

In which decade of American history did more Presidents and ex-Presidents die than in any other?

[Joe Di Cola]

Thank you, Anita. When you first asked the question I looked in Pratt's The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln but could not find anything. Does anyone know if the answer is in there?

The purchases are mentioned in Lincoln Day by Day, vol. 1, p. 281. It is not in Pratt.

[L Verge]

In which decade of American history did more Presidents and ex-Presidents die than in any other?

1860s??

[Anita]

The 1840s?

[RJNorton]

Thanks, Joe.

Thanks for trying, Anita, but Laurie wins. Indeed the decade of the 1860s was the one with the most deaths (5):

1. John Tyler - January 18, 1862
2. Martin Van Buren - July 24, 1862
3. Abraham Lincoln - April 15, 1865
4. James Buchanan - June 1, 1868
5. Franklin Pierce - October 8, 1869

[Anita]

Like Mary Lincoln, name a First Lady who decided, as a young woman, that if she married it would have to be to a man who could become President of the United States.