While we promised “now obsolete” occupations in the last post in this series, that doesn’t exactly hold true this time around, although the nomenclature has changed from the exotic “peruke maker” to the more mundane “wig maker.” While wigs date to much earlier times, it was Louis XIII of France who is credited with helping […]
Trade cards were the 18th century’s equivalent to today’s business cards and they provide interesting insight into some of the now obsolete jobs people once held. John Hunt, of Goswell Street in London, for instance, advertised his services as a “Nightman and Rubbish Carter.” What exactly did a nightman do? As the name indicates, […]
The necessary, necessary house, bog, boghouse, boggard, bog-shop, temple, convenience, temple of convenience, little house, house of office, close stool, privy, garderobe—all euphemistic terms for what we would call an outhouse. The privy at Graeme Park is a reconstruction located just off the south side of the house. Given the proximity to the door, the […]
It stood on the corner of Keith Valley and Davis Grove Roads for some 277 years, originally providing shelter for Joseph Kenderdine and his family who built and operated the mill on the opposite corner. The success of the mill meant the opening of Keith Valley and Davis Grove Roads so as to provide the […]
Did your ancestors immigrate through the Port of Philadelphia in the 1700s? If so, they may have crossed paths with Dr. Graeme! As both a Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1731 through at least 1750, and the Port Physician for the Port of Philadelphia from 1727-1741, Dr. Graeme encountered thousands of immigrants. As […]
With the New Year upon us, I thought it appropriate to revisit Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson’s essay on the tall case clock that had been in her family most, if not all, of her life. The clock was meaningful to Elizabeth in that it marked […]