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EAIA, Historic Places

EAIA 2013 Cape Cod — Day 2 Heritage Museum, Sandwich Glass Museum and Tool Auction

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Day 2 of the EAIA 2013 Cape Cod conference turned out to be as jam packed as the first day. The weather was perfect and we got to explore some new museums.  First stop was the ‘Heritage Museum and Gardens’ which I had never been to before.

The Heritage Museum's trough that leads seemingly uphill to a waterfall. Very Neat.
The Heritage Museum’s trough that leads seemingly uphill to a waterfall. Very Neat.

The entrance had this trough which looks like it just just out into space and almost looks like it is flowing uphill…

The beautiful gardens and waterfall at the Heritage Museum.
The beautiful gardens and waterfall at the Heritage Museum.

From the side you can see how it ends with a waterfall surrounded by one of the MANY beautiful gardens on site.

Circular Shaker barn -- a very good copy of the barn at Hancock. It was home to the automobile collection and related exhibits.
Circular Shaker barn — a very good copy of the barn at Hancock. It was home to the automobile collection and related exhibits.

There is also a very good replica of the Hancock Shaker Village round barn which is home to the automobile collection and related exhibits.

Motorama signage and the largest collection of Corvette Prototypes I've ever seen in one location
Motorama signage and the largest collection of Corvette Prototypes I’ve ever seen in one location

Inside the barn was an exhibition on automotive design, GM’s motorama exhibitions and the largest collection of Corvette prototypes I’ve ever seen under one roof.

Harley Earl's retirement gift from GM -- a 1963 Stingray Vette that matched his shark.
Harley Earl’s retirement gift from GM — a 1963 Stingray Vette that matched his shark.

Harley Earl’s 1963 Stingray Corvette convertible that was designed to be painted like the mako shark that hung on the wall of his office. After several attempts to match the color of the shark, the engineering staff stole the shark at night, painted it to match the car, and then said ‘Look the car matches the shark now’

Corvette CERV III Prototype from 1990 stuffed full of technology that was ahead of its time. Looks a lot like the much later 1997 C5 generation
Corvette CERV III Prototype from 1990 stuffed full of technology that was ahead of its time. Looks a lot like the much later 1997 C5 generation

This 1990 prototype corvette was one of the HEAVIEST corvettes ever made and was jam packed with so much new technology it was not feasible as a production vehicle. But its absolutely amazing to me how many of the design cues eventually made it into the car during the much later C5 generation.

Tour of the gun collection
Tour of the gun collection

Next up was a tour of all the long guns and interesting pistols the museum had in their archives.

Alyssa riding the carousel with me.
Alyssa riding the carousel with me.

There was also a restored carousel that we all got to ride on. It was probably 10+ years since my wife and I last rode a carousel — but even as an adult it was still a lot of fun.

One of many interesting trade signs...
One of many interesting trade signs…

Near the carousel there was a section full of interesting weather vanes and trade signs.

Trade signs for a butcher shop were about as literal as you can get.
Trade signs for a butcher shop were about as literal as you can get.

Next up was a visit to the Sandwich Glass Museum which recounts the history of the Sandwich Glass Works.

Working kiln inside of the Sandwich Glass Museum
Working kiln inside of the Sandwich Glass Museum

Inside the visitor center is a nice new and working kiln.

Glass blowing demonstration
Glass blowing demonstration

After a video history and lecture on the women of the Sandwich Glass Works we were treated to a glass blowing demonstration.

Re-heating the glass
Re-heating the glass

In the evening we returned to the hotel for the Great Planes tool auction. In a room full of tool collectors and experts the prices for a lot of items seemed to go higher that I would have expected — or at least higher than I was willing to pay, but I got a couple of small items near the end after all the big spenders got a little tired out. I got a nice pair of old Disston hand saws and a 4′ carriage maker’s boxwood folding rule which I can put to good use.

Great Planes tool auction at night
Great Planes tool auction at night

It was another busy day down on the Cape. Up next, Day 3 Demonstrations, Lectures, Silent Auction and Banquet….

EAIA, Historic Places

EAIA 2013 Cape Cod — Day 1

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This past weekend Alyssa and I attended our first EAIA annual meeting which was held in Hyannis on Cape Cod. For those not familiar with the EAIA, it is the Early American Industries Association which is an organization that celebrates the trades, crafts, and tools that were a part of American history and have made an impact in all our lives.  We were members for a few years, but this was the first event we attended…and now we can’t wait for next year’s events! Below and in some upcoming posts I’ll try to recap some highlights from this years events which kept us busy.

Obligatory tourist picture of me in front of the sign where we are...
Obligatory tourist picture of me in front of the sign where we are…

You can learn more about the EAIA here

View of Plimoth Plantation from the Fort
View of Plimoth Plantation from the Fort

We started out our day with the introductory/orientation film and then an interesting talk by Peter Follansbee who is an expert on 17th century woodworking and quite the interesting character. He talked about his own background, interesting changes at the plantation over the years and research into traditional woodworking of that era.

Beautifully stacked firewood getting ready for the long winter ahead
Beautifully stacked firewood getting ready for the long winter ahead

After that program we were free to explore the plantation and/or take part in some other behind the scenes tours.

Justin Keegan (NBSS CFM + Plimoth Interpretter) hewing a log
Justin Keegan (NBSS CFM + Plimoth Interpreter) hewing a log

My wife and I had been to Plimoth many times over the years, and some of my classmates from NBSS worked at the museum so I did not have high hopes for this part of the event, but I was happy to see some programs and behind the scenes events where I learned some interesting new information. We also got to have lunch ‘Like a Pilgrim’ eating some food prepared as it would have been back in the 17th century — so some traditional turkey, vegetables, desert, condiments, utensils (or lack thereof — I missed my spork), and table manners.

New building in the village
New building in the village

In the Plimoth Maritime Workshop we took part in a lecture on 17th century Shallop boats, how they were used in the colony and how the plantation recreated some of these vessels, issues that came up during construction and how they fared on the open sea.

Lecture about the 17th century Shallop (boat), its use in early Plimoth, and the recreation of some of these vessels
Lecture about the 17th century Shallop (boat), its use in early Plimoth, and the recreation of some of these vessels

I love to see this sort of behind the scenes workshop — to see how they setup, how they work, what tools they use etc.

In the Plimouth Maritime Workshop -- I love to see the behind the scenes workshops at this sort of living history museum
In the Plimoth Maritime Workshop — I love to see the behind the scenes workshops at this sort of living history museum

The pungent smell of pine tar on the rigging from the Mayflower II which was in drydock was quite strong, but added to the ambiance — though folks with asthma did not agree with me on that.

Even if you were great with knots as a scout, I bet you'd have trouble with the massive rigging covered in pine tar that belong to the Mayflower II
Even if you were great with knots as a scout, I bet you’d have trouble with the massive rigging covered in pine tar that belong to the Mayflower II

We had great weather all weekend. We also took part in a private tour event where one of the curators explained how the plantation uses experimental archaeology and character interpretation to explore the mindset and problems of the time period and also to try and answer some of the questions we have about the times given the incomplete records that survive.  Who would have thought that thread + textiles specifically spun to recreate a 17th century coat would help improve sutures used in open heart surgery?

Annual session of 'Whatsit' where members try to guess what some particularly odd tools were used for
Why did these chickens cross the road? …. to get to Peter Follansbee’s talk of course.

The livestock on the plantation were quite used to humans and friendly; no animatronic squirrels like at Williamsburg (*wink* to my friends at CW with that old joke)

Peter Follansbee in his natural habitat -- the Joiner's shop
Peter Follansbee in his natural habitat — the Joiner’s shop

There were also numerous demonstrations from folks working in the historic trades — blacksmithing, woodworking, pottery, textiles, cooking etc.

Carved Book-stand by Peter Follansbee
Carved Book-stand by Peter Follansbee

If you’d like to learn more about Plimoth Plantation or plan a visit of your own, check out their website here.

Annual session of 'Whatsit' where members try to guess what some particularly odd tools were used for
Annual session of ‘Whatsit’ where members try to guess what some particularly odd tools were used for

After dinner and an ice cream social for first time attendees we took part in the annual ‘Whatsit’ session. Folks try and stump the other tool enthusiasts with their recent finds — or figure out what that oddball tool your late relative left you in his will was actually used for. Not surprisingly there is not as much demand for a brass button polisher or ox training yolk as you might think.

It was a beautiful day filled with back to back events. Stay tuned for a bit more on woodworking at the Plimoth Plantation and Day 2 and 3…