Monday, May 10, 2010
Cider Mill students go back in time to barter at the Wilton Historical Society.
Forget Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, or even baseball cards. When it comes to trading, rabbit skins and a yoke of oxen rule. To cap off a year of learning about colonial America, fourth grade students from Cider Mill School learned the intricacies of bartering. The new interactive lesson at the Wilton Historical Society was added as a way to tie the curriculum to the community. "We provided them with things that actually occurred in Wilton," said Kate Gluckin of the Wilton Historical Society. "The only thing that has changed is the exchange. We've turned into a cash economy. But we still face the same choices – to go into debt." More than 300 ten-year-olds marched through the historical society last week. They learned how Wilton's economy once …
41.188046
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Wilton Historical Society
224 Danbury Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/back-in-time-to-barter
17936
/locations/365386
41.20533
-73.431752
Cider Mill School
240 School Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/back-in-time-to-barter
47861
/locations/365387
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Kate Gluckin leads a crafts class at the Wilton Historical Society.
Beginning with early colonists and especially between the years of 1800 and 1840, grain painting had its heyday. During this time, many Americans could not afford the fine wood crafts that the wealthy had, so they painted cheaper woods like pine to look more expensive. "During that time period, everything was grain-painted," said Kate Gluckin. Gluckng hosted a grain painting class Sunday at the Wilton Historical Society, where she demonstrated how grain painting has retained its popularity and is a favorite among crafters. It is an inexpensive way to add decoration and finesse to picture frames, furniture and even, in its advanced techniques, walls. Before subjecting prized possessions and antiques to novice grain painting, however, …
41.188046
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Wilton Historical Society
224 Danbury Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/gussying-up-the-grain
17936
/locations/327582
Saturday, March 27, 2010
A new exhibit at the Wilton Historical Society explores the public's love for Currier & Ives and their rival printers.
Currier & Ives prints continue to charm Americans. As American as apple pie and baseball, these richly colored lithographs portray rural life to clipper ships. Now the public can enjoy several prints at The Wilton Historical Society's new exhibit: "Currier & Ives and their Rivals." Several educational programs will accompany the show. "It's very much Americana," James Reed, a master printer and owner of Milestone Graphics, said. This Sunday, Reed will speak and demonstrate printmaking at the society. Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives helmed the New York City-based printmaking firm from 1834 to 1907. The firm made the prints from paintings by fine artists and black and white lithographs that were hand colored. The firm proudly …
41.188046
-73.425027
Wilton Historical Society
224 Danbury Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/lovable-lithographs
17936
/locations/323846
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Wilton Library and the Historical Society host William E. Nelson as he presents the final lecture in their Bill of Rights series on Sunday.
For someone who spends so much time analyzing legal cases and who is so well versed in history, William Nelson is all too willing to admit he'd be a terrible judge. "If Obama came to me today and asked me to be a judge, my answer would be: 'President Obama, I don't know how to do it.'" he said. Nelson is one of the nation's foremost legal historians and the Judge Edward Weinfield Professor of Law at New York University School of Law. He came to the Wilton Historical Society on Sunday afternoon to lead the last in a series of lectures on the Bill of Rights and discussed, in particular, how it relates to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. It bears mentioning that it is not always easy to keep up with such a learned professor of law when…
41.188046
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Wilton Historical Society
224 Danbury Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/you-be-the-judge-the-bill-of-rights-and-the-states
17936
/locations/265664
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Wilton Historical Society's train exhibit brings holiday spirit to life in miniature.
The train chugs past Orem's Diner and the original Keeler's General Store. Nearby, a mountain village rises from a table, its resident hikers climbing past a gas station, store, church and even a mill house where real water turns the wheel. The Wilton Historical Society is hosting the 11th Annual Model Train Show, its largest to date. It also has the most volunteers in history, with more than ten volunteers operating the trains. "I got into this four years ago," said Jeff Headden, one of the trainmen. "It's been a lot of fun." Nine layouts occupy the room. The largest has three trains, and a streetcar that travels from a town to a circus. Several small figures dot the landscape, whether leaning on a rail or sitting in a car. The show …
41.188046
-73.425027
Wilton Historical Society
224 Danbury Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/the-holiday-express
17936
/locations/189818
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Wilton Historical Society's "Cooking Up the Past" series brings history's delectables to life.
Betty Fralinger stuck her bare arm just inside the beehive oven. “One, one thousand, two one thousand…if I can’t get to three it’s warm enough,” she said, swiftly pulling her arm back. “If you were a Colonial woman you would know how long it takes to heat up your stove.” The stove had been heating for two hours, offering warmth against the growing damp chill. Fralinger stoked the stove while Arlene Parkhurst readied several ingredients for the eight children that would soon gather around the table inside the Wilton Historical Society. The children spent the afternoon learning the art of Colonial-era cooking as part of a three-part series, “Cooking Up the Past.” Parkhurst, who led the series, not only taught children how colonial …
41.188046
-73.425027
Wilton Historical Society
224 Danbury Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/switchel-sipping-colonial-cooks
17936
/locations/91478
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Wilton Militia help bring the historical society to life.
Welcome to the world of the Wilton Militia, where spatter dashes and jerkins are as common as rocks in New England soil. Since 2003 the Wilton Militia, a band of 15 re-enactors, has taught local residents about a time when farmers and millers defended the town. Today, these modern militiamen drill in their spare time, much like their ancestors. And in doing so, they have transformed the historical society. “It got men in the historical society to have something to do. It has enabled young men and older men to get involved,” said Bob Russell, author of “Wilton, Connecticut: Three Centuries of People, Places, and Progress.” Lee Wilson, of Wilson Commercial Properties, founded the militia largely because of his interest in eighteenth century…
41.188046
-73.425027
Wilton Historical Society
224 Danbury Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/citizens-called-to-arms
17936
/locations/90401
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Wilton Historical Society and Millstone Farm hosted an evening to look at the town's agricultural past and plot a return to it.
Stone walls, Route 7, organic gardens... past, present, and future. The Wilton Historical Society partnered with Millstone Farm to host a discussion of the town's agrarian roots and agricultural aspirations on Wednesday. The evening included presentations from Susan Allport, a published expert on New England's stone walls, and Jim Hunter, an AP Science teacher at Wilton High School, to just under 50 attendees in the Society's main Route 7 History Exhibit showroom. "This is a bit of a departure from our previous lecture series," said Board of Trustees President Greg Chan in his introduction. "We are here tonight to show how the lessons of the past can guide us in the present and on into the future." Allport began the evening with a …
41.188046
-73.425027
Wilton Historical Society
224 Danbury Rd, Wilton, CT
/articles/wilton-rocks-and-rolling-out-a-garden
17936
/locations/87406
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Wilton Historical Society's Route 7 History Project opened on Sunday and gives visitors a visual tour of the road and the town's past.
Believe it or not, Route 7 has always been a busy, well-trafficked work in progress; so when you're late for work, stuck for an eternity at a congested stoplight, shaking your fist in a rage? Well, know that the Siwanog Indians did the same thing some 200 years ago. Okay, not exactly. But with the opening of the Route 7 History Project at the Wilton Historical Society, you can see tangible proof of the road's hectic, humming history. "We wanted to show the story of change of Route 7," said Curator Andrea Wulffleff. "We wanted to convey that the change goes back much further than people think... in some ways, it's always been crowded." Through three rooms of maps and historical snippets and a gallery of well over 100 pictures that document …
Stacy Gordon
10:00 am on Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Actually bartering came in fact back to the present. I am personally using the internet (e.g. barterquest.com) to exchange things, instead of selling it. Tried it a few times, and i was very satisfied. As a matter of fact, this school after all teaches children something useful for their future. Bartering IS coming back! We maybe need just a little bit more patience for people to realize all its … more ›