Letter 33 Vermont II—Shelburne Museum
Monday, October 5 we moved to western Vermont near Burlington and the town of Shelburne. This area is known for the Shelburne Museum, Farm, Vineyard and the Teddy Bear Factory. We started with the Museum for a two day visit.
The Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne Vermont. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds.
Impressionist paintings, folk art, quilts and textiles, decorative art, furniture, American paintings, and an array of 17th-to 20th-century artifacts are on view. Shelburne is home to collections of 19th-century American folk art, quilts, 19th- and 20th-century decoys, and carriages.Electra Havemeyer Webb (1888-1960) was a pioneering collector of American folk art and founded Shelburne Museum in 1947. The daughter of Henry Osborne Havemeyer and Louisine Elder Havemeyer, important collectors of European and Asian art, she exercised an independent eye and passion for art, artifacts, and architecture celebrating a distinctly American aesthetic.
When creating the Museum she took the step of collecting 18th- and 19th-century buildings from New Endland and New York in which to display the Museum's holdings, relocating 20 historic structures to Shelburne.
In Shelburne Mrs. Webb sought to create "an educational project, varied and alive." Shelburne's collections are exhibited in a village-like setting of historic New England architecture, accented by a landscape that includes over 400 lilacs, a circular formal garden, herb and heirloom vegetable gardens, and perennial gardens.
The big red round barn is the entrance and we were amazed at the
structure and basement ceiling braces. Enclosed on three levels was a motorcycle exhibit (not permanent) of speed. This Ducati
has been clocked at 180 mph. We were told the riders head had to be below the wind break. Any body part above or beside the wind break and the rider was off of there!The next area was dedicated to the Circus where we rode the
Carousel. The building for the circus was a big horseshoe and all around the outside wall was Roy Arnold’s Miniature Parade. Carved on a scale of one-inch to one-foot this parade recreates the pomp and
pageantry of the procession that once
heralded the show’s arrival. Measuring 525 linear feet,
this parade is equivalent of a two mile long procession similar to those that
traveled routes up to ten miles long. It took Roy Arnold 25 years to carve this miniature. Details included fully functioning breaks and beautiful sunburst wheels, which consisted of more than sixty separate parts. WOW!At the end of the parade was the
Kirk Bros. Circus. Mr Kirk of Harrisburg, PA carved each of the 3,500 pieces using a simple penknife and a foot-powered jigsaw. A brakeman for the Pennsylvania Railroad he worked on the circus during his breaks.This whole museum was the brain child of Electra Havemeyer Webb. Her money came from sugar. Her father started what later became the Domino sugar company.
She and her husband met businessman William Beach and they became big-game hunters. Their hunting lodge has been replicated in the museum displaying many of their
trophies.Next was the train station including the
Rail Car Grand Isle lavishly decorated beside the Railroad Freight Shed with side cars, steam engines, maintenance equipment and lanterns.The Ticonderoga was the last side wheeler on
Lake Champlain and was rescued by Electra with a one million dollar grant, and other large contributions have added to it’s care. We walked the decks and visited the captains wheelhouse on top. This ship was also lavishly decorated with a formal dining room and plush carpeting throughout.Next was a lighthouse from
Lake Champlain full of Warren Kimble’s American art.The Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial
house was next and inside was a replica of their New York City home including Impressionist and pre-Impressionst Art, Monets and bronzes of the American West.On the way up the hill was the
Kalkin House of cutting edge architecture and we thought of the new barn/homes in Texas.Our last stop for the day was a 1950’s home depicting life in post WWII Vermont.
Out around the town of Shelburne we saw
scarecrows dress to the hilt at all the schools, businesses, and municipal parks.Tuesday Oct 6, we headed back to the Museum, this time a little earlier and with more pep. We entered into the
round barn entrance again, this time to learn about it. This style barn started as a Shaker idea, but soon spread to others as it was a good idea. They were cheaper to build and operate than square or long barns. This is one of about two dozen built in northern Vermont and was constructed in 1899 in Barnet. The 80’ diameter structure has a central silo, round louvered cupola and wood shingle roof. The silo is double planked, inside and out and serves the structure core of the building. The middle or dairy floor had ties for 60 cows, facing in toward the circular feed trough. Cattle were fed with hay from the floor above, allowing one person to feed the herd in less than 30 minutes. Manure fell through the trapdoors on the middle floor to the basement, where the farmer could drive his horse team and spreader for loading. When moving this barn to the museum the 9,000 pound center silo was airlifted across the state by sky crane and positioned in the building.Olivia decided to skip the shuttle to the remaining buildings and tried a
motorcycle out for size.Two “Salt Box” houses were next. The Prentis House was
decorated from a donation of a friend’s house and goods. Notice the floor board planks of about two foot width. Downstairs in the
Stencil House we could see two of the
four central chimney fireplaces in the home. This is standard in the “Salt Box” design. A one of a kind chair was in the downstairs bedroom.The
General Store and
Apothecary came next with not an inch of spare room in either.Around the corner was the
Blacksmith and Wheelwright with two blacksmiths working hard.The meeting
house hid the
“Horseshoe” barn named because it was actually “U” shaped and it held all kinds of horse drawn vehicles. One was a
Toleman Hearse! Diana, you didn’t tell us Ted’s family made these! The Maple Grove Cemetery Association of Bakersville VT purchased this in 1849 for $100. The exterior is black painted wood with decorative cast iron scrollwork. Four elliptical springs provide suspension. Eight panes of glass allow the coffin to be seen. It has velvet mourning curtains trimmed with gold fringe and tassels. It could also be fitted with bob runners for winter travel! Fancy Huh!We also saw many
Sleighs of all sizes and color as every type used in America in the 1800’s is represented. As progress happened even some were ordered from Sears for $24.95.We watched children being able to participate in
printing and
weaving.Another Shaker barn was this
Shaker Shed holding Boats of the Adirondacks. “Guideboats, canoes, and rowboats are the passion of their builders and owners. In a region dotted with more than 2000 lakes and 31,000 miles of streams and rivers, boats were an essential means of transportation in the early 19th century. They hauled freight and provided swift and stable transportation for hunters and fishermen. The guideboats became the preferred means of late 19th century recreational travel. The narrow wooden boat with pointed ends had sawn ribs and the smooth skin inside and out, is portable with a removable middle seat and is usually propelled with oars, making it an ideal vessel for extended excursions.We were enamored with the
Castelon Jail, constructed in 1890 of Vermont slate.Miniatures showed up again in the Variety Unit. The maker lovingly crafted
most of the many glass-encased diorama exhibited in this gallery for her friend and Museum founder, Electra Havemeyer Webb.
Another variety item were many
sampler’s made by teenage girls. Each room in these buildings had another collection.Such as
hooked rugs, and
Bandboxes, that functioned as both lightweight luggage and stackable multipurpose storage containers. Made to store and protect the delicate linen and lace collar bands, after which they were named, worn by gentlemen. Over the next two centuries, bandboxes evolved into fashionable carryalls used by both women and men.Fifty of the
quilt collection came from Florence Peto. They are housed beautifully and displayed under glass in a large room. There are about 100 of them. They include whitework, stenciling, piecing, appliqué and embroidery.Who ever heard of
glass canes???? Well we saw them. Five cases like this one. Imagine using one!Next came a room of
crystal glasses. Again many cases all around and in the middle of the room.Trivets
anyone? Or
Dolls, Or
pots???? Everywhere we looked was another collection.Did someone say, “Humans are the only animal that collects stuff!” Well, Electra Havemeyer Webb sure did.
The little red brick
schoolhouse was next and it made Olivia think of Ferris Ward, now the administration building for WISD, except it was bigger than this one.The stagecoach inn
housed lots of folk art in all mediums.There was even a
covered bridge. We have seen lots of them in New Hampshire and Vermont and they are even numbered so they can keep up with which is which.The Dorset house
held several rooms of
Decoys which were used by hunters to lure wild game birds within shooting range. They were first made and used by American Indians to take advantage of the abundance of wildfowl on the North American continent. Canvasback decoys made from reeds, dating from as early as 1000 have been discovered in Colorado’s Lovelock Cave. White man borrowed the idea and made their own versions in wood by 1770. Also a
10 foot Punt Gun was displayed as used by market hunters in the Chesapeake Bay. They silently paddled up in the dark to huge rafts of feeding wild fowl. The guns were muzzle loaded with 1/2 to 2 pounds of bird shot rammed over an equal measure of black powder and then wadded. A single shot could kill up to 100 birds. The guns were noisy, unpredictable and dangerous.The remainder of this house held carved
fish of all species. These too were decoys! First New England settlers were taught by the natives how to use these fashioned hookless lures. First you cut a hole on the ice, then you dangle the “bait” in the hole with one hand. With the other hand you grasp a spear. When a larger “real” fish comes for the decoy, you spear the fish through the hole in the ice. And we thought ice fishing was our invention.A settlers
barn, house, and saw mill were next. Two ladies were in the house demonstrating how to make “journey” or “Johnny” cakes. The saw mill is an up and down saw with the board being pushed through it.Save the best for last and the museum had done that in the
Webb Gallery. Louis Comfort Tiffany’s most significant private commission was the decoration of the Havemeyer’s New York City house in 1892. This is the home in which the Shelburne Museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb grew up. They gave Tiffany freedom in the design of the main public rooms as well as private spaces. This gallery featured some of the furnishings Tiffany created. We saw many elaborate
jewelry pieces and the glass lamps were exquisite. Tiffany was inspired by gardens with his depiction of flowers. In the late 1890’s he started making his first colorful leaded-glass lampshades. Choice of palette and the individual selection of the piece of glass gave each shade it’s own distinctive character.Since we have made some stain glass we were both enamored at the
elaborate designs and how they were made. Tiffany worked hard to place the pieces of glass to make the shading for the designs and make them look lifelike.Well, we covered the highlights, but you must come to see for yourselves all the items we could not cover here. As we had been told, plan two days to see this museum and we believe it.
We left about 3 pm on our second day and went to see what the Shelburne Farm was about, since rain was forecast for the next day.
Sure enough the tour only lasted 2 hours, so we caught the last one of the day.
The “Farm” was owned and built by Mrs. Webb’s father and mother in law. Originally designed as a model agricultural estate in 1886 by Dr. William Seward Webb and Lila Vanderbilt Webb, Shelburne Farms today is a nonprofit environmental educational organization, 1,400 acre working farm and National Historic Landmark.
The mission of the farm is to cultivate a conservation ethic in students, educators and the general public by teaching and demonstrating the stewardship of natural and agricultural resources.
The Farm barn (YES, that is a BARN!) was constructed as headquarters for the model estate. This farm is on the Shelburne peninsula into 
Lake Champlain with a view of the New York Adirondacks on the opposite side.The Inn at Shelburne Farms was the Webbs’
year-round home. It is now a 24 room inn, open for breakfast and dinner. We visited the
library and 
living room.Two more stops in the Shelburne area were to
Harrington’s, and the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. We wondered if the Harrington’s were still running the store, and were told no, but we did enjoy the store.At the Teddy Bear factory tour, the guide and Olivia loaded Fred up with the
fuzzy characters. Does he look like a proud Daddy? We were able to see behind the scenes view of the working Factory and saw firsthand how they create the Bears, from cutting and stitching to stuffing and sewing... To learn more about these bears go to www.VermontTeddyBear.comFred wants you to know which roads we traveled in Vermont so here is a highlighted map.
If you right click and “save as” to your file, you can increase the size to read all the road numbers.Despite the wet conditions (rain almost every day since we left Maine) which caused the dead leaves to fall early, we were in awe of the show of colors. It was marvelous. It’s a site to see.
We hope there is only one more letter to go and that will be our Homeward Bound Letter.
We love to hear if you have been to any of these spots or wish to see. For comments on our rambling or just to say hello, contact us at:
Olivia@bobheck.com or fredharrington@yahoo.com
Or if you want to opt out let us know that also.
