The Girls Go Shopping

How nice to be back in London and shopping at Ackermann's! Dolly and Minerva have purchased a most ingenious combination table; just the kind of thing Rudolph Ackermann specializes in. It has a board on top for a game of chess or draughts which slides out to reveal a backgammon board and convenient compartments for holding game pieces. Underneath all is a silk-lined sewing basket. Something for everyone! Mr. Ackermann smiles approvingly.

A Visit With Geneviève.

Back at home from her honeymoon with Louis, Cousin Geneviève pays a call to Dolly and Minerva. After describing all the interesting details of their travels, the conversation turns to (ahem!) information the girls have not found in Ackermann's Repository. Goodness! This puts their social lives in a whole new light.

Old friends and new.

Mother has arranged an afternoon party for Dolly and Minerva to welcome them back from their travels. Cousin Geneviève is back from her honeymoon and looking very stylish in her gowns from the Continent. Delphine is so taken by the music of a string trio that she simply must float about on the terrace. Two new young ladies have been invited. One, a pretty girl from the almost unknown publication The Reflector, tends to stare aimlessly. Minerva feels that their acquaintance will be short-lived. Miss Eustacia Bee, of the literary magazine of the same name, seems a bright and adept conversationalist. 

I leave for a 10-day trip to England tomorrow, certain that, in the meanwhile, Dolly and Minerva will be occupied with many interesting diversions.

The Old Familiar Routine

Dolly and Minerva soon fall back into the familiar pattern of daily life. Today, there is trouble with Mr. Bumble, the new butler. Bumble seems to have little patience with the demands of small children, especially when it comes to wasting food. He and little Horatio have come to loggerheads over Kitty's love of cream in vast quantities.

Ackermann's, Sweet Ackermann's.

The girls are home again, and oh, how sweet it is! Father is padding about in his slippers and old banyan, savoring a cup of tea, Mother is perched on the alcove sofa with an instructive book, and Cousin Delphine has dropped in with Duchess to hear all the details of their adventure. Where to start describing the very odd events while visiting the Curriers? Perhaps it's just better to relax in the tasteful comfort of Ackermann's Respository and share profitable memories as they come up. At any rate, this has been an insight into some of Mother's quirks. It's a revelation to Minerva that she will now have quirks of her own.

The Age of Steam

The early 19th century saw the practical applications of the steam engine to transportation. Steam-powered locomotives pulled lines of rail cars from factories to ports where goods were loaded onto ships bound for other ports. Boats that had been pulled up canals by horse or mule were now steam-driven. Despite the immense benefits steam engines provided, they contributed greatly to air and noise pollution. Just a look at the picture below will give you an idea how filthy passengers in the coach car could become.

Farewell Party at John I's.

In the mid-1800's, Snedecker's Roadhouse in Brooklyn, NY was the place to go. Next to the Union Race Track, it attracted the lively racing crowd. The big draw to Snedecker's, or John I's, as its devotees called it, was during the winter sleighing season. According to this article, fresh snowfall was a signal to the sleighing crowd to make the 8-mile trip from the city to enjoy the winter ride and a fun party at Snedecker's. It's hard to imagine the landscape at that time -- open fields and scattered farms. This article chronicles the downward slide of the site, ending with a photo of a 1770 farmhouse that was demolished in the 1920s.