A Day on the Farm: Interpretive Sunday Numero Uno

Interpretive Sundays at the Daniel Boone Homestead are a lot like any other day there, except we put on one or two interpretive programs and all of the staff gets dressed up in period garb. I spent the whole day in the visitor's center ringing up peoples' purchases and giving tours just as always. The only things that were different were that Dave, the intern, and Charlotte, a volunteer, demonstrated flax production and spinning to the visitors. Overall I got positive feedback from the visitors, and I think that the interpretive demonstrations really help people understand what life was like in the past.

When I first put on my costume this Sunday I had one thought: this is ridiculous. I had spent the entire morning pulling weeds in the garden, watering, and picking camomile. (We don't open until noone on Sundays so I always have the morning to do things like that). I thought that putting on a costume in the middle of the day while I wasn't doing anything particularly historical was kind of silly. In fact I spent a good portion of the day on the computer researching "fighting quakers" and institutions that carry eighteenth century quaker documents. It must have looked quite anachronistic. I gave a tour in the garb and I am not even sure if the visitors understood that it was a special occasion for me to be doing this. I think they just thought that it was something gimicky that we did every day. None of them even asked me about my clothing at all when we were on the tour. Maybe they just felt awkward bringing it up.

At the Boone House a loquacious volunteer named Charlotte spun wool in eighteenth century garb all day. She knew a great deal about spinning and told me she had been doing it for about twenty years. She gave me advice about purchasing a spinning wheel and answered my questions about spinning and dyeing wool. The visitors watched her spin as they waited for the tour to begin. In the barn our intern Dave demonstrated linen production. He broke flax up in a flax break, scutched it, and combed it through hackles. He also talked to the visitors about farming, animals, growing hay, food etc.

Overall I think that the people who came to interpretive Sunday and actually engaged in the exhibites had a good time and got a lot out of it. Dave said that he did not get a very good turnout at the barn, probably because his exhibit was around the back and no one could see it. A lot of what I told people at the visitors center about the exhibit seemed lost on them. But the ones who did go seemed to learn a lot. One man told Ryan that he thought our costumes really added something to the presentation, and that we should wear them everyday. People also seemed to reat well to the spinning exhibit. One little boy even asked if Charlotte would show him how to use a drop spindle.