Museum Tips for Preservation

Framed objects being conserved 

This summer we have spent a lot of time here at the Historical Society cleaning, preserving, documenting and working to maintain the objects in our collection. This is an ongoing project  for the museum and it can vary quite a bit.  The Historical Society has quite an eclectic collection of objects which all need to be cared for  in different ways. Whether it's gently dusting off a passenger pigeon specimen or preserving some travel letters from 1872, different techniques need to be used for specific items.  Many of these techniques apply outside of a formal museum setting as well and we wanted to share some basic tips about caring for family heirlooms or antiques. Using some museum-style techniques for preservation may help you and your family to enjoy important pieces in your personal collection for generations to come. 


One of the easiest tips we suggest for any heirloom or antique owner is to write things down. Whether you plan to one day offer them for donation to a museum or hand them down in your family, take the time to document your objects now.  The stories that surround objects are usually the most interesting part about them. By writing down even small snippets of oral history, object origins or personal memories about a particular piece you can guarantee that people will remember and appreciate the stories and people that surround an individual object. Write in pencil on the back of images to identify them or the people present in images. Tuck notes into drawers of larger pieces or in the same box that individual objects might be stored in. Computers can be very useful for this. Scanning images or keeping digital records can be a great way to preserve object histories. 

Storage is an important part of object conservation. Store precious things in the same kinds of environments in stable, dry and relatively cool environments. Drastic temperature changes can damage or age some objects. The material your items are stored in can also have a big impact. Be sure to take advantage of the archival safe albums and materials widely available at craft stores to ensure that your object storage won't damage the objects it is meant to protect. For storing textiles, clean cotton sheets make great wrappers which you can roll up to store them in, keeping them away from wood or old paper. These outside irritants may damage and discolor them.

We’re happy to offer further advice about good storage and documentation, and hope these tips may be helpful to you. If you have further questions feel free to drop us a line by email or schedule a time to come by the museum. Our archives might even be able to add to your appreciation of your family heirlooms.

Summer Updates!

It’s been a very busy season here at the Natick Historical Society! After the very successful series of school programs that we finished this spring, this summer has been filled with new projects. We’ve been renovating, researching and even getting in a little seasonal cleaning! This post should bring our readers up to date on some of our more recent projects and what you can look forward to seeing the next time you visit our museum.

The Natick Historical Society- Now with More Room! 

One of the biggest changes you might notice when visiting the Natick Historical Society museum is that we have rearranged our gallery space. The large exhibit case that previously dominated the entrance to the galleries has been removed. This gives us significantly more space for public programs, school groups and other functions.  The exhibit
it previously housed, “Project Passenger Pigeon” has temporarily flown the coop, so to speak.  However, a new exhibit, focusing on our passenger pigeon specimen, conservation and the history of birds in America will be opening this fall at the Morse Institute Library in Natick Center.

Our bird specimens, patiently waiting to be cleaned 

An especially exciting change has been the redesign of our Birds of America case. The Natick Historical Society has a rather large collection of taxidermy mounts of birds, dating from our early history as a historical and natural history society. Many of these birds are now over a hundred years old and are just as much historic artifacts as they are scientific specimens. Our newly redone case has been painted, cleaned and had new lights installed to really show of the brilliancy of some of our birds plumage. The birds have been carefully cleaned so that they can show of their bright colors and plumage. The bird specimens were originally preserved using arsenic, which in the late 1800’s was not an uncommon practice. This makes interacting with these pieces for long periods of time somewhat dangerous, so our conservation and cleaning of the birds had to be a very careful process.  The birds have now been thoroughly primped and cleaned and are back in their case looking better than ever. We’ve printed new labels for all of the birds and reorganized them within the case so that this unique part of our collection can be highlighted to the extent it deserves.

Finches, warblers, buntings  and more from out new Birds of the Americas case

A Golden Olive Woodpecker, previously called a Guyana Woodpecker, after being cleaned 

One particularly interesting part of this case re-installation was researching the new labels for each of our specimens. Many of the scientific and common names for our birds have changed since 1880. A number of the birds were labeled using the names found in James Audubon’s The Birds of America, which are no longer in use in the scientific community.  Discovering the exact identities of many of our birds proved to be quite the challenge! But, with a good deal of research and some help from our friends at the Broadmoor Audubon Wildlife sanctuary, we have been able to successfully identify all of our birds. To learn more about the early history of the society and some of our bird specimens you can read previous blog entries here.

The next exhibit change that is already underway is our new hallway exhibit. This exhibit, titled “Our Story” will be making its debut this fall. This exhibit will feature several items from our collection and will tell the history of the Natick Historical society as well our building, the Bacon Free Library. Exhibit construction is already underway and we are excited to be able to share the history of our museum with as many people as possible.

We have a very busy fall planned here at the Historical Society, with events every month and several other new exhibits in the works. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updates as they develop and we hope to see you this fall!

Grandmother's Mincemeat and More

Natick has been the home to a number of businesses over its history. From our early days manufacturing leather shoes to the now growing commercial center, around the Natick Mall, this community has always had an eclectic and strong commercial history. One former Natick business institution was Grandmother’s Mincemeat. This particular brand of mincemeat began being commercially produced here in Natick in 1899. The company would continue operating for over a hundred years, until it was sold in December of 2003. The company’s founder Harrison L. Whipple had been manufacturing mincemeat using his grandmother’s recipe for several years before 1899, when he began to produce it commercially.  In 1899 he formally started the Whipple Company to produce and distribute their already popular product. Due to the recipe’s origin Whipple, marketed his products using actual images of his grandmother, Mrs. Sophia Tuttle, and branded the products as Grandmothers’ Mincemeat in her honor.

 Lewis E. Whipple, Harrison’s son, took over business in 1908 and began expanding their range of products to include other kinds of pie filling as well as preservatives, jams, syrups and more, all under the “Grandmother’s” brand.  Other recipes for different flavors of mincemeat were introduced to keep up with changing demands but the original recipe from Sophia Tuttle remained in use throughout the company’s existence. Grandmother’s products grew in popularity through the 1900s and even absorbed several other local food companies. The Whipple Company purchased A.A. Knights in 1960 and the producers of Bostonia Brand Soda Fountains in 1962. Throughout the company’s existence their central production factory was located here in Natick though it moved several times within the community as the company expanded. Their last location on North Main Street, where they moved in 1947, proved to be their longest lasting location.

Over the company’s long history, the Whipple Company and Grandmother’s Mincemeat found a number of different ways to promote their expanding market of products. Below are a series of promotional materials from our archives that Grandmother’s put out over its long history.

This image is a promotional illustration that was part of a Christmas themed Grandmother’s Mincemeat advertisement. Mincemeat pies are a popular holiday treat and many of the company’s ad campaigns focused on holiday themes. 

This trade card is another Grandmother’s Mincemeat advertisement, this time in the form of a promotional song. The singer’s pilgrim hats are another attempt by the Whipple Company to connect their product to the holidays, when mincemeat would likely be most popular. 

This longer print advertisement for Grandmother’s mincemeat references the classic song “Over the River and Through the Wood.” Grandmother’s branding focused on promoting their product as being connected to the holidays and especially connected to family; which considering the company’s origin was appropriate. 

Unlike the previous advertisements this one could be run at any time of the year. The rectangular  white and black flap was intended to be folded back so that a jar of mincemeat could be placed in the opening allowing the ad to stand up straight as a promotional  piece in a store window. 

Grandmother’s didn’t just make mincemeat. As the Whipple Company expanded, the Grandmother’s brand did too. This advertisement for a variety of fruit based pie fillings shows how the company expanded its reach beyond standard mincemeat. Different fruit flavors like lemon and raspberry could be sold year round and had less of a seasonal association the way mincemeat did.

By expanding into other products beyond mincemeat the Whipple Company also expanded their branding, though they continued to use themes related to Natick. These Strawberry preserves also made by the Whipple Company but were part of their Walnut Hill Brand of jams and preserves, named for Walnut Hill in Natick. Though this is not technically Grandmother’s brand, the image of Grandmother Tuttle is still present on the label. 

The Natick Historical Society is lucky to have an extensive collection of items and archival materials related to this important part of the commercial history of Natick. Our archives relating to the history of the Grandmother’s Mincemeat Company were recently reorganized by an archival intern here at the historical society. Many of these objects are on display in our permanent collection detailing Natick’s commercial history.  

Sleep Tight, Mr. Vice President!

"Sleep tight; don’t let the bedbugs bite!” Everyone has heard this phrase today, but what exactly does it mean?  It’s often just a quaint way of saying goodnight but it was not that long ago that the phrase carried a very different meaning.  While bedbugs are unfortunately a memory that has not quite faded into the past, the idea of keeping one’s bed “tight” isn't something that most of us usually have to worry about.  For much of history however, keeping one’s bed tight was actually quite the concern.  Rope beds, which supported a mattress using a network of interconnected cords, were very common until the 1840s. Instead of being supported by a wire spring frame, as is more common today, the mattress would be supported by the web of cords that were stretched between pegs around the outside of the bed’s frame. The weight of the mattress and sleeper might eventually cause the ropes to slacken and slump. To ensure that the ropes remained taught and secure, a key like this one would need to be periodically be inserted between the ropes and frame and twisted to tighten the network of cords. This would keep the bed flat and the mattress comfortable.

Henry Wilson's Bed Key

This particular bed key happens to be more than just an exemplary artifact of furniture history. This key belonged to one of the most famous former residents of Natick: Vice President Henry Wilson. Originally born in Farmington New Hampshire, Wilson moved to Natick as a young man and became an apprentice to a local shoemaker. He would remain in Natick for most of the rest of his life and eventually set up his own business here, as a cobbler. His traditional “ten footer” shoe shop is still standing.  This was the bed key he used in his home here on West Central Street in Natick.

Vice President Henry Wilson

Wilson was eventually elected to the U.S. Senate in 1855 and would serve representing Massachusetts for eighteen years. Wilson also served in the United States Army and on the Senate Committee for Military Affairs. Throughout his political career Wilson was a staunch reformer, pushing for equal pay for African-Americans enlisted in the Union Military Forces and for the end of slavery in the United States. He led the Massachusetts 22^nd Regiment for a few campaigns early in the Civil War before returning to politics. Wilson’s views and his military accomplishments put him in favor with a number of leading Republicans at the time. He was eventually chosen by President Ulysses S. Grant to run with him for his second term in office as the Vice President in 1873. He would die in office only two years later.

 The bed key was donated to our collection by Margaret Coolidge Sturtevant. It is currently on display in the Natick Historical Society Museum as part of our exhibit on the life of Vice President Wilson, connecting us not only to a very important historical figure but also serving as an excellent example of how daily life has changed so much since the early 1800s. 

Considering Colonial Compasses

We get all kinds of interesting requests for research here at the Natick Historical Society. Following some recent research requests on Colonial surveyors I started looking into the tools that were used to describe, measure and survey land in our early history. The buying and selling of large plots of land was an important business throughout Colonial Massachusetts. Subdividing land and acquiring new property were especially important parts of the early years of Natick’s history, when European settlers parceled off and purchased land from the Native American residents. In the collection of the Natick Historical Society we have a number of different items that would have been used by surveyors:  chains, stakes, and compasses that would be used in different ways to determine the size, shape and characteristics of pieces of land. Two of these pieces, a pair of surveyors compasses manufactured in Boston in the mid-1700s, are especially striking.

John Dupee's  Surveyor's Compass

Thomas Greenough's Compass 

Detail of John Dupee's Compass, notice the specific directions to his shop in Boston

    These compasses or circumferentors to use the technical term, were created by Thomas Greenough and John Dupee respectively and both represent excellent examples of American Colonial craftsmanship. The compasses are generally similar in dimension and style, and both are approximately the same size and design, which was typical for compasses used for surveying. There are a few differences; Dupee’s compass is made of wood, which was more common in surveyor’s equipment. Greenough’s compass is made of brass, though he regularly worked with wood as well. Dupee’s wooden compass also has extensions at either end of the compass face that were useful in surveying to extend the North/South Axis when measuring angles, a feature Greenough’s compass lacks. Both men worked in Boston in the mid-1700s, and while Greenough was younger, they were contemporaries and worked in Boston during overlapping periods.

Deacon Thomas Greenough (born 1710) and his son, incidentally also named Thomas Greenough, produced a number of mechanical devices used for sea travel, navigation and surveying land. Both Greenough men worked making compasses and would label them, as our piece has been, with their name “T. Greenough,” though without a designation for Junior/Senior it is not easy to determine whether our piece was created by the father or son. Thomas Greenough, Senior was a Patriot and served on a Committee of Correspondence in the years leading up to the American Revolution in Boston. He died in 1785 and is buried at Copp’s Hill Burial ground in downtown Boston.

John Dupee’s life is not quite as well-documented. His shop was established in Boston in the early 1700s and only a few of his pieces still survive. Though the exact details of many parts of his life remain unknown a small part of his life’s story has survived. Born in France under the name Jean Dupuis, he fled France as a Huguenot refugee to Boston as many other Protestant Frenchmen were doing at the time, including Paul Revere’s father. Upon arriving in Boston Dupee anglicized his name. He married and had several children before his death in 1743. On his compass the arrow pointing north is marked with a Fleur de Lis, possibly an imported French style and possibly a nod to the maker’s birthplace.Around the face of the compass is also a maker’s mark giving credit to John Dupee along with rather odd instructions on where to find his shop. The Inscription reads “Made & Sold by John Dupee, North Side Swing Bridge Boston NE”. In a time before most businesses had individual addresses, they were instead referred to based on land marks or by an image on a sign that hung outside.

The Dupee compass is currently on display at the Historical Society’s museum. The Greenough compass can be seen by scheduling an appointment with me here at the Historical Society. For more information about Thomas Greenough, John Dupee or any of the other exciting pieces in our collection, feel free to send me an email at curator@natickhistoricalsociety.org

Seasons Greetings from NHS

"Don't let me put you in a fright...I wish your Christmas much delight"

Do you need some inspiration as you prepare to send out your annual Christmas cards? Take a few moments to take a look at some vintage Christmas cards from our own collection complete with cheeky squirrels, talking turkeys, and fringe! You can see more cards from our collection this Saturday, December 6th from 10:00-2:00 at our Gingerbread Festival and Holiday Open House. This event is hosted with the Bacon Free Library and will feature holiday crafts, gingerbread houses, and Santa! 

Wake Up, America! Natick in the First World War

November 6, 2014 - June 5, 2015
Morse Institute Library, 1st Floor

Artist James Montgomery Flagg, 1917. Image courtesy of the
 Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. 

One hundred years ago this November, the longest and bloodiest conflict in history began in Europe. World War I, also known as "the war to end all wars," claimed the lives of millions of soldiers and civilians world wide and left dozens of European cities in ruin. When the U.S. decided to join in the fight against Germany in April of 1917, hundreds of Natick citizens were among the thousands of Americans sent overseas to fight.

Natick Historical Society and the Morse Institute Library commemorate the 100th anniversary of this global conflict with a new exhibition: Wake Up, America! Natick in the First World War located on the 1st floor of the Morse Institute Library.  Wake Up, America! explores the local stories of this conflict through photographs and documents, trench art, a uniform worn in battle, and an American flag that survived two world wars. The exhibition runs from November 6, 2014-June 5, 2015.

The title of the exhibition is derived from a 1917 U.S. Government propaganda poster (image left) created to raise troops, money, and support for the war effort. This poster is one of dozens created during World War I. A collection of these posters is held at the Library of Congress and can be viewed online at http://www.loc.gov/ .


The War to End All Wars

As noted above, World War I is often referred to as "the war to end all wars" but where did that phrase come from? The phrase was a result of a book titled The War That Will End War written by famed British science fiction novelist and social commentator H.G. Wells. The book is a collection of articles written by Wells about World War I. The phrase is often associated with President Woodrow Wilson who famously used the phrase "the war to end all wars" in a speech soon after declaring war on Germany.

The Yankee Division

Natick's 9th Regiment, Company L was mobilized after the declaration of war and merged with other regiments from New England to form the famed 26th “Yankee Division.” At a September 1917 press conference of Boston newspaper reporters, Frank Sibley of The Boston Globe suggested to call the newly formed 26th Division, including Natick’s own Company L, “the ‘Yankee Division’ as all New Englanders are Yankees.” The “Yankee Division” was thus adopted as the nickname of the 26th Division with a “YD” monogram as its insignia.

The Natick Bulletin 

Our local newspaper, the Natick Bulletin, ran advertisements related to national and local war efforts throughout 1917 and 1918. Below are just two examples of the many advertisements a reader could find on any given day. (All images courtesy of the Morse Institute Library)