Come down to Main Street on Sunday and enjoy the parade ~ watch for the Woodlawn float!

Ground Control: Things to be aware of around the Woodlawn campus

1. The light show along the horseshoe driveway means that as dusk turns to dark, go even slower - not only for safety but to enjoy the lights and surprises of the holiday decorations. Please remember that most of the lights are solar and if they are dim, it might not have been a bright day - come back - this will be up for the whole month of December.
2. Please watch the signs around the pond - we will post when the ice is thick enough to be safe for skating. And please do not throw sticks or rocks onto the ice - they freeze in place and mar the surface.
3. Until we have consistent freezing temps, the trails are still muddy and can be slippery. Also, the leaves hide the roots - watch your footing.
4. Please avoid walking or playing on the croquet field. Because the grass is kept very short, it damages easily when frozen. It is tempting but please enjoy the big playing fields.
5. Parking is still limited. When we get frozen grounds and snow, we will be able to plow parking up by the shipping containers.
6. In January, we will go back to a shared in and out on the front half of the driveway - it will be posted. Until then, enjoy the lights of the whole driveway.

Barn Update

The roof trusses are on and the walls are getting enclosed. When I wander around inside, they have put down the indications of where the walls will go. The race is on to get the roof complete before snow comes. It has been bittersweet to acknowledge the absence of the Black House - the barn has now grown taller than even the chimneys.

A gift or not? You decide.

Holiday gift giving, now such a dominant part of our culture, came into fashion after 1850. What items in the Woodlawn collection might be evidence of a hand-made gift? There are no archival records of such gifts, and we may never know for sure, but the pen wiper pictured here is a good candidate for such speculation.

In the past, anyone writing with a quill, nib, or dip pen needed a pen wiper to keep the pen tips from getting clogged with paper fibers and dried ink. Wipers were used in schools, businesses, and in the home. Although a simple rag would suffice, decorative pen wipers, purchased or homemade, were used by most writers. Both gentleman and ladies would have one or two of them on their desk. As both a common and consumable part of daily life, the pen wiper was the perfect gift item. It could be crafted from leftover felt, flannel or chamois, then decorated and given away. Many nineteenth century ladies’ journals and girls’ magazines included directions for making pen wipers.

We believe the one pictured is handmade because it has different colored cloth disks carefully cut and sewn together in a layered, circular pattern. The wiper layer is sandwiched between the decorative top and the black felt bottom. The black markings in the picture are evidence of use. A pen wiper along with a new pen and box of nibs would have been a practical gift to give and receive in the Black family. Woodlawn has four pen wipers that are exhibited on the desks in the parlor and in John's office. Be sure to ask the guide to see one when you come to visit next year.

For more information, you might enjoy reading: geriwalton.com/pen-wipers.