We became acquainted with downtown Mobile by driving around a lot looking for old southern homes. We wandered in to a section where people are restoring and living in the old homes (like Seattle does). It was on the edge of a sketchy neighborhood. We stopped and talked with a man who was outside with his wife and kid and asked him how to get to the mansion Ernie mentioned. We must have talked with this guy for 15 minutes - chatty and friendly - coincidentally he is going to Seattle with his family next week to take an Alaska cruise - it's a small world.
Going thru that mansion we toured was like stepping back in tme - it was located in the same neighborhood I mentioned above in a real quiet area with huge very old oak trees that had twisted branches going every way. I realized that even people with money in the 1800's spent most of their time tending to daily necessities of their life. They just made it seem more refined. Learned some interesting tidbits about life in the 1830's - for instance, when a man came to 'call' on a woman her father would sit in a chair and watch them. Since they didn't have much to talk about, the woman used her hand fan to send 'signals' to the suitor...hmmm. Also, men only took a bath 1x a week, so they smelled so bad that the woman had to hold flowers in a bouquet to smother the smell. Everyone in a family took a bath in the same bathwater, with the baby in last, thus the saying 'don't throw the baby out with the bath water'. Joyce
Going thru that mansion we toured was like stepping back in tme - it was located in the same neighborhood I mentioned above in a real quiet area with huge very old oak trees that had twisted branches going every way. I realized that even people with money in the 1800's spent most of their time tending to daily necessities of their life. They just made it seem more refined. Learned some interesting tidbits about life in the 1830's - for instance, when a man came to 'call' on a woman her father would sit in a chair and watch them. Since they didn't have much to talk about, the woman used her hand fan to send 'signals' to the suitor...hmmm. Also, men only took a bath 1x a week, so they smelled so bad that the woman had to hold flowers in a bouquet to smother the smell. Everyone in a family took a bath in the same bathwater, with the baby in last, thus the saying 'don't throw the baby out with the bath water'. Joyce
2 comments:
wonderful pictures!!!! And I loved the story about bath water and the baby... I cant belive they really did that. Glad you guys are having a great time!!! Sheila, Keith and the kids
Just checking in on you guys, the winds to the east of gustav look pretty nasty, hope you all made it to panama city ok... Ill give ya a call tomorrow. Sheila
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