October/November Character Feature
This issue's featured girl: Felicity
From the Fashion Flip Book:
-Felicity's pinner apron was pinned to her the front of her gown with straight pins. Pinners later developed into pinafores, a style girls still wear today. In fact, the word pinafore means "pin to the front"!
-During the Revolution, pins were in short supply. Girls sometimes had to use thorns to fasten their aprons instead!
-Felicity's birthday pompon was made of flowers and ribbons. In the 1700's, fashionable women's elaborate hairstyles were decorated with flowers, glass ornaments and even toy models.
-Women weren't the only ones concerned with high fashion. In England a group of fashionable men formed the Macaroni Club. That's why the feather in Yankee Doodle's cap was called "Macaroni"!
-Felicity's loosely fitted summer gown showed a small change in people's attitudes toward children. Children still wore adult style clothes, but some children's styles gave them a little more room to move.
-Felicity wore light brocade slippers in the summer. Brocade fabrics have fancy raised designs. The first brocade slippers were embroidered with real gold and silver.
-Lace trimmings were very valuable. Before giving away old clothes, people removed the lace so they could reuse it on new clothes. The English king even issued a proclamation ordering the royal court to save its lace!
-Felicity's red cloak was called a cardinal cloak because it looked like the cloaks worn by Roman Catholic church officials called cardinals.
-To keep her feet out of puddles, Felicity tied on wooden platforms called pattens.
Project One: Draw a Self-Portrait
Some colonial painters added attributes to portraits they painted. An attribute is a clue, like a favorite pet or toy, that tells about the person in the picture. Paint a portrait of yourself with an attribute that tells about you.
1) Find a picture of yourself to copy. Now choose your attribute. It could be a flower if you're a nature lover, a map if you like to travel, or an instrument you play. Find a picture of a model of your attribute.
2) Collect your supplies. You will need drawing paper, and a pencil, and colors: tempera paint, watercolors, crayons, colored pencils, or pastels.
3) Use the pencil to sketch the outlines of your portrait. Be sure to include your attribute! When you're happy with your pencil sketch, add color to your portrait.
Did you know?
In Felicity's time, people didn't have photo albums filled with snapshots of family and friends. Cameras weren't invented yet. The only way people could have pictures of people they loved was to hire and artist to paint their portrait. In 1774, family portraits were a new idea. Before that, most portraits showed only one person, usually an adult. Balance was important in colonial portraits, just as it was in the way houses were built and dining tables were set. Sometimes an artist painted the mother and daughters on one canvas and the father and sons on another. Then the two portraits were hung side by side. If an artist painted the whole family on one canvas, men were usually on one side and women were on the other. No matter how they were painted, family portraits were treasured objects, showing the order, grace, and love of family that was so important to colonial Americans.
Project two: Write a Letter of Protest
In 1774 things were beginning to change in the British colonies. Families like Felicity's, who had always been loyal to the King of England, began to want independence. These people called themselves Patriots. Imagine you are a Patriot and write a letter to King George III to let him know what you think!
1) Choose a subject to write about, like the tax on tea or the British raid of the Williamsburg Magazine. Before you start writing, make a list of the points you want to cover in your letter.
2) Write on blank, unlined paper. If you like, make or buy a quill pen and a bottle of ink. Try writing in colonial handwriting. Address the king as "Your Majesty," and don't forget to include the date!
3) As you write, state your opinion clearly and give examples and reasons to support it. When you are finished, fold your letter into thirds and seal it with a sticker or sealing wax. Instead of using envelopes, colonists folded their letters and sealed them with sealing wax.
Did you know?
Abigail Adams: When John Adams and other Patriots were shaping a new government, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband asking him to "remember the ladies." She wanted women to have the right to vote. She was 144 years ahead of her time!
Clementina Rind: When her husband died in 1774, Clementina Rind became the editor of the Virginia Gazette, one of the first newspapers to print news of the Patriot cause. In 1775, she was recognized as the official printer of the Virginia Colony.
Phillis Wheatley: Phillis Wheatley was a slave. She learned to read English and Latin and published her first poem at seventeen. In 1773, she became the first African American to publish a book.
A Woman Patriot: When Robert Shurtleff joined the Continental Army in 1782, the other sholdiers thought he was a shy boy, not old enough yet to grow a beard. What they didn't know was that shy Robert was actually a woman named Deborah Sampson! As a young woman, Deborah Sampson worked as a servant and a teacher. In the 1700's, women were not allowed to be soldiers. This did not stop Deborah. She cut her hair and joined the Revolutionary army anyway! She marched in rain and snow, fought for days without rest, and slept standing up. She was wounded twice. Each time, she cared for the wound herself rather than risk discovery. Finally, a doctor treating Deborah for fever discovered her secret: The young Patriot was a courageous young woman!
Want to know more?
Fiction books set in Felicity's time:
"This Time, Tempe Wick?" by Patricia Lee Gauch
"Phoebe and the General" by Judith Berry Griffin
"Katie's Trunk" by Ann Turner
Nonfiction books about Felicity's time:
"The Thirteen Colonies" by Dennis B. Fradin
"If You Lived in Colonial Times" by Ann McGovern
"An Introduction to Williamsburg" by Valerie Tripp
Movies set in Felicity's time:
"The Ox-Cart Man"
"Paul Revere's Ride"
Music from Felicity's time:
String quartets and symphonies by Franz Joseph Haydn
Revolutionary War songs such as "Yankee Doodle" and "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier"
Special places to visit:
Old Salem, the restoration of an 18th-century Moravian community
600 S. Main St.
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Historic Deerfield, the restoration of a colonial frontier village
The Street Deerfield
Deerfield, MA 01342
