Nineteeth Century Activities
For Children
**This is a bit long but the information is worth the time**
Have children changed throughout the years? Was the average nineteeth century child different from today? Needs such as food, security, and love remain the same; but children grew up in a different world in the 1800s. Today's society expects children to grow up into adulthood slowly, with time for school and play. Parents during the 1900s had different expectations. Children were taught at an early age that there was no room for mischief, misbehavior or laziness because life was serious business. Children were not supposed to be children; they were expected to behave as responsible "little adults." However, at times even back then, children would make a mistake and "slip up". In other words, they would act like children. During the early 1800s, parents as well as teachers were profoundly concerned with their children's moral dispositions; they were forever expounding on the virtues of good manners and morals. Children were expected to be polite and quiet. I have always thought that children during this time period did not have time to play because of their many household duties and farm chores. In actuality, a normal day for a normal nineteeth century child most likely consisted of family, chores, school, and/or reading lessons at home, religious training and play time.
Children at Home
Girls and boys had certain chores based entirely on gender. Girls were taught to make a fine seam, to do embroidery work, to care for the sick, to prepare meals, etc. By the time a young girl grew to womanhood, she could run the household. The woman was in charge of the kitchen, garden, and the farm. She was expected to instruct the children in reading, religion and sums(arithmetic); keep inventory of all household and farming goods; keep the servants(or slaves) working effectively, haggle with traveling vendors over wares such as tinware, codfish, apples, etc. They were suppose to shop for fabric, kitchen wares, furnishings, window dressings, etc. They were to correspond by letter to family and business'; care for the sick and aged; sew, embroider, crochet and repair clothing. The list is endless. Girls were taught early. By the age of four, most girls could sew an apron, a petticoat, or even a dress. Chores for young girls included cleaning candlesticks and snuffers by scraping out the wax. Other chores for girls consisted of gathering eggs, feeding chickens and other farm animals; gathering kindling for the fire, carrying buckets of water from the well or creek. Some chores were done by both boys and girls. These tasks consisted of picking berries, feeding and caring for the animals, gathering fruit and vegetables, dipping candles and collecting eggs. What did little boys do in the 1800s? They plowed, planted, fed the animals, gathered kindling, brought water and worked with wood to build things. Fathers taught their sone how to tame a wild horese, or to "break-in" a pair of calves or oxen with a yoke around their necks, to cut the hay "straight and clean" with a scythe, to heard cattle, etc.
Not all children had farmers for parents. These parents or tradesmen handed down their skills in the dry goods store, grocery, hatter's shop, malt house, blacksmith shop, the cooper's, the miller's, the sawmill, and the printer's shop. Children of storekeepers helped by serving customers, dusting shelves, and weighing the groceries. The miller's son or daughter helped by weighing the flour, loading and unloading farmers' wagons and sweeping floors. Boys helped in catching fish for their fisherman fathers. All boys were expected to learn their sums quickly in order to help calculate what was needed and how much for fencing, growing crops, building a house or barn, selling crops, or starting a business.
Activity Suggestions:
It would be an excellent activity for children at an event. It would make a wonderful teaching tool for the public and the children would have fun because they would have something to do. Bring lemons. Children love to roll them until they become mealy and then cut them up to put in your lemonade. Bring a handkerchief for your young daughter to embroider a border around or have her start a sampler since this would a girl many different stitches because of the letters of the alphabet or Bible verses. Bring boiled eggs(use your cooler) and hide them in a designated area. Give children small amounts of grain and tell them to feed the (imaginary) chickens and to hunt for the eggs. Remind them that chickens like to nest in straw. The children will love the play-acting and afterwards, they can eat the eggs.
Children at School
What was school like in the mid-1800s? A common rural school or pioneer school was open only in the winter and summer months. Many times older boys skipped school during the summer and winter, too, if there was farm work to do. Students of all ages were in the same room with the same teacher. Aged ranged from 3-4 years old to 19-20 years. Sometimes the students were older than the teacher. A teacher -- usually a young unmarried woman -- would be secured for $13.00 a month plus room and board. She would spend time with each family, and usually share a room with an older girl of the family. The teacher was required to have an eighth grade education.
These one room schools were not divided into grades by age. Instead they are worked on the same subject at the same time, but they used different books. Many times, books were shared, in which one child read from the front to the middle and the second child read from the middle to the back simultaneously. The teacher worked with one or two students at a time. The others were expected to read on their own or help each other. Educational books such as those written by Marcius Willson and William Holmes McGuffey were used in schools. McGuffey's six graded Eclectic Readers(1836-57) influenced half the nation's school children for its moral and cultural values emphasized in the reading lessons. Paper was scarce, so students recited their lessons out loud instead of writing them down. When they needed to write(such as practicing their penmanship or figuring sums), a slate was used with a slate pencil or chalk, which could be erased and used again. If the schoolroom floor was made of dirt instead of floor boards, the students practised in the dirt. Sometimes a "copy book" was used to practise handwriting. A "copy book" could have been made with cheap newsprint paper(no lines) which was bounded or secured together with leather worked through holes poked with an ice pick. Its cover probably consisted of leftover wallpaper.
There were no individual deaks. Students sat on wooden benches that circled the heating stove in the middle of the room. Boys sat on one side and girls on the other. It a student recited poorly, he or she was smacked over the hands with a wooden ruler or willow switch. If a student misbehaved, a boy was reprimanded by wearing a bonnet on the girls' side; and a deviant girl was punished by wearing suspenders on the boys' side of the room. Other embarrassing tactics included standing against a wall with a nose in a circle or wearing a pincher on the nose made from a willow switch.
It is important to note that even though this type of schooling was common, there were educational reformers and "child shapers"(such as Lydia Child and Jacob Abbott) who argued for more progressive schooling and child rearing. Priot to 1830, all children were considered as small adults who were supposed to be submissive and who were "ordered-about" regularly. Child upbringing required lots of force; but other than that requirement, most child rearing was rather informal.
Activity Suggestions:
Portraying a 19th century school would be a fun activity for boys and girls during a reenactment or living history event. Some event sites may have an old school that you could use. If not, have a "field school" by sitting on blankets under a tree or out in an open field. The rural school would make a nice demostration during an event. All that is needed are some slates(found cheap at Virginia Mescher's website. She also sells slate pencils and reprints of textbooks.), some blankets, a wooden ruler and some willing boys and girls. Your subjects could include reading, writing, and arithmetic. Also, good oral communication skills could be taught. (It was important to have the proper inflection and tone of voice.) In addition, the common practice of binding the hand enabled a student to learn the proper position for writing. This hand position would be an interesting aspect to demonstrate.
Children at Play
While the adults worried about their responsibilities as parents and educators, the children themselves had more important things on their minds--getting through their chores and school in order to play. What toys were available to children during this time period? What were their favorite games and leisure activites? Again, it would depend on where the children lived and what they parents did. Region and proximity to water played a major role as to what was available for the children.
The rural pioneer children of the West most commonly had homemade toys. A girl's favorite(and sometimes only)toy was a doll. Dolls were made from wood, stuffed cloth, an old stuffed stocking, corn cobs, cornhusks, pasteboard or rags. Faces were painted on; some had no faces at all. Dolls were made to represent adults until about 1850. England then made wax dolls that resembled children. If a girl in America has a porcelain doll, then most likely she was from a rich family, and it was imported from Europe. In fact, most American stores imported their dolls until World War I. A favorite doll to make was a "topsy-turvy" doll. It was made entirely of stuffed cloth, usually had a painted or drawn-on face, yarn for hair, and a long dress that could be flipped over the head to reveal another doll's head underneath--this time a black cloth doll with black yarn for hair with a different dress.
During the 1850's, the "Frozen Charlotte Doll" was popular. Supposedly there was a true story about a young girl named "Charlotte" who was getting ready for an evening of gaiety at a winter ball. She had decided not to wear her coat (but to carry it in a bag instead) so it would not crush her gown. By the time she arrived at the ball, she had frozen to death. This "folk" story produced other stories,songs and even a doll called the "Frozen Charlotte Doll." This doll was only three inches tall, it could fit in the palm of your hand, and the entire doll was made of procelain bisque making it appear all-white (because it was "frozen"). These dolls were made with a bonnet; some were sold without bonnets. You could almost equate this "Frozen Charlotte Doll" with today's "Barbie Doll." (The Arabia Museum in Kansas City, MO is in possession of one of these dolls, and it is bonneted.)
Other toys for girls included clothes for the dolls which the young girl made themselves, tea sets from pewter or china (acquired from Europe or the East Coast), small tables and chairs, and cloth books. Rural girls often provided for their dolls by making little mud cakes decorated with berries and little stones and by weaving a bed for their doll with long grass, weeds, and sticks.
Another game that was a popular parlour game was "Graces." It was a game for the girls who came from wealthy families. This game consisted of two pair of sticks and one wooden hoop(about the size of an emboidery hoop). The object of the game was to balance the hoop on the tip of the pair of crossed sticks, then uncross the sticks to cause the hoop to fly off towards the opponent, and then the opponent trues to catch the flying hoop with her crossed sticks. Boys did not play this game with each other unless it was for a "lark," but they were pen-nitted to play this game with girls during a party.
Boys and girls had their own toys, games and activites depending on gender. A short incomplete outline follows to serce as a quick reference as to who could play with what. Those marked with an asterisk(*) indicates that both boys and girls enjoyed the activity:
Girls
Dolls - Cornhusk dolls were common.
Graces - A parlour game described above.
*Hoop races or hoop rolling - An outdoor game consisting of a large wooden hoop (about as tall as the child) and a two-inch straight stick or T-stick which was used to help balance the hoop; the hoops came from bands off of a wooden barrel or they were made by the town's cooper.
*Balls, *Stilts made of wood, *Books
Large Wooden Horses on Rockers - With real horse hair for the tail - wealthy family item.
*Ice Skating,*Sleigh riding
These are only a few of the games tha girls can play. There are many more.
Boys
Whittling, Tin Whistle, Fishing, Marbles
Ten-Pins - We call it "bowling," this game was played outdoors on a smooth turf in England; but in America, it was played on long smooth platforms called "alleys."
Cup & Ball - A ball of ivory or hard wood that is attached to a stem of the same substance, having a shallow cup at one end and a point at the other. The player holds the stem in his right hand and cause the ball to revolve by twirling it between the finger and thumb of his left hand. The player then jerks it up and catches it either in the cup or on the spike. This game was a favorite past-time at the Court of Henry III of France.
Parlor or Play-Room Games
Blind Man's Buff(spelled correctly)- The person who is "it" and is blindfolded is called "Buff" or "Buffy."
Twirling the Plate - A wooden or metal plate is given a spin on a covered table which is surrounded by children; the spinner calls out a name and that person must catch it before it drops, or pay a forfeit.
Chess, Card Games
Yes and No - A player thinks of a person or thing; the others must ask questions that requires a "yes" or "no" answer and then try to guess what he/she was thinking. This is a good "cooling down" game after a romp.
Activity Suggestions:
At events, any of these games will work to keep your child or children active and from being bored while everyone else has something to do. One of the events and I have seen this at one event or two during the 125th anniversaries of the American Civil War is to have a "Children's Faire." Most likely, there were no "Children's Faires" during the 1800s; but even so, this activity would be a good way to include and to teach the public. Some suggestions are:
Pie Eating Contest - Bake ready-made pies (sometimes bread stores will donate groceries). You will need a table with neches. Seperate the children by age groups (i.e. 5-6 years, 7-9 years, 10-12 years) for fairness. Have a "counter of the pieces of pir" behind each child. Have a time limit of three minutes. Don;t use plates, use oilcloth. It saves on clean-up time plus you can re-use the oilcloth. Use inexpensive prizes, such as homemade ribbons, popcorn, peppermint sticks, or rock candy.
Stilt Races - Two at a time.
Sack Races - Use brown burlap feed bags.
Tug-of-War - The proper name is "Americans and English." In order to win, your team must pull the entire side past the marker on the ground. Or youcan use a rope with knots at the end, and a flag in the middle.
All of these activites will be great entertainment for the children and for the public. Ask the public to join on the sack races or a game of tug-of-war. Everyone will have a great time and the public will appreciate more of what we do if they are allowed to join in the fun.
References:
Chesnut, Mary Boykin Miller, _Mary Chestnut's Civil War_, ed. C. Vann Woodward(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981)
Garrett, Elisabeth Donaghy, _At Home: The American Family 1750-1870_,(NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1990)
Finkelstein, Barbara and Kathy Vanedll, "The Schooling of American Childhood: The Emergence of Learning Communities, 1820-1920," _A Century of Childhood: 1820-1920, (Rochester, NY: The Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum, 1984)
_Fun and Games of Long Ago_ (Maynard, Mass.: Chandler Press, 1988), (Reprinted from the 1864 edition of 'The American Boy's Book of Sports and Games," designed by White, Herrick, Wier, and Harvey, engraved by Orr, and published by Dick and Fitzgerald in NY).
_Growing up in America: Children in Historical Perspective._ ed. by N. Ray Hiner and Joseph M. Hawes(Chicago: Univ. of Illinois Press), 310 pages.
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