Dolls, tea and history: Hampton museum helps make learning fun

Barbie may be ready to turn 65 in 2024, but dolls have been a staple of children’s playthings since the days of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.

As such, miniature versions of people already had been around for the millennia by the time of the United States’ founding in the late 18th century, the general era of re-creation for the Depreciation Lands Museum in Hampton.

To help launch the museum’s 50th-anniversary year, volunteers conducted a Doll Tea on Jan. 22, inviting youngsters to bring their favorite “friends” for an afternoon of fun, fashion and historical enlightenment.

Carol Greiner, president of the museum board, started the formalities with a reminder of how polite people tended to be in days gone by, giving a fairly detailed presentation on how to curtsy.

“You might think it’s just as simple as bending a knee. But it’s not,” she said. “There are actually seven steps to doing this.”

For example:

“Lay your hands across. Do not place them too high, nor let them fall too low. The point of the shape is the right place for them,” Greiner said, admitting: “Not sure what that means.”

As the girls in attendance gave the gesture of greeting a try, she continued:

“Let your fingers be a little open. Bend your wrists a little. Turn with an easy air toward the person you are to compliment.” And eventually, “Rise gently from it and lift up your eyes as you draw up your head.”

The children followed the instructions, as demonstrated by volunteers Tiffany Apan and Elizabeth Divine, to perform admirably, while Greiner asked, “Do you want me to read those again?”

“No!”

After enjoying tea and cookies, the girls — and adults who hung around, too — learned more about life in the 1700s. For example, Greiner noted that although long hair was the norm, it often wasn’t allowed to flow free.

“If you’re cooking over an open fire, that’s kind of a hazard,” she explained. “It would be braided or pinned up on top of your head, and you would put a cap on it basically to try to keep it clean.”

As far as feet, proper podiatry wasn’t exactly a priority.

“Shoes were not made left and right. Shoes were made for one foot, so they actually broke in as you wore them,” Greiner said. “They were what we would consider very uncomfortable. It would be like wearing a piece of wood on the bottom of your foot with some leather over it.”

Guests also learned that once upon a time, buttons pretty much were for men only.

“There actually was at one time was a tax on buttons, so the women didn’t get buttons,” Greiner explained. “So all of our clothing is put together and held together with pins.”

And regarding a certain essential in many of today’s households, she had this to say about the days of yore:

“Washing machines? We actually have a wooden tub of water and a wooden paddle and a bar of soap.”

Coming attractions at the Depreciation Lands Museum, 4743 S. Pioneer Road, include a history lecture from 7 to 8 p.m. Feb. 22. The topic is “18th Century Medicine: Disease, Diagnosis and Treatment.”

The museum opens for the season from 1 to 4 p.m. May 7, and is in operation during those hours each Sunday through the end of October.

For more information, visit dlmuseum.org, email DLM@DLMuseum.org or leave a message at 412-486-0563.