Our Top 6 Places To Visit At Colonial Williamsburg (and One To Skip)
Posted: Tuesday, May 20, 2008
by Elizabeth Pellicane
Virginia Beach Family Fun
Planning a tour to Colonial Williamsburg?
Run, don't walk, to the Wigmaker Shop. For me and my kids, it's the highlight of the tour.
Last time we were there, the guy playing the "wigmaker" (who stays completely in character as a Revolutionary-era shopkeeper) was funny as all get out. He kept offering to buy the hair of the red-haired, 8-year-old girl in front of us (apparently, red hair was highly prized back in colonial times).
Among the hoi polloi (the upper classes), wigs were a status symbol-- even women shaved their heads (hmmm, maybe Britney Spears took this tour too...) Apparently, the trend was started by the French king Louis XIII, who was bald (I guess you could consider him the father of the toupee).
You wouldn't have found a wig at ol' George Washington's house. Why? Believe it or not, he didn't use one! (Could've fooled me from his portraits.) Guess he thought they were ridiculous (gee, that makes two of us)...he just had someone style his own hair.
Poor people couldn't afford wigs; in fact, they often made money by selling their hair to wigmakers. The middle class? If they could afford wigs, they usually bought cheaper ones made of goat hair (oooh, itchy!). Only the very wealthy could afford wigs made of human hair. One wig could cost as much as one acre of land or an oxen.
For dressy occasions, the rich would powder the wigs with flour or white powder. As the evening went on, the powder would shed (all over their clothes and the floor), so they would retire to the Powder Room (get it?).
Other highlights of our tour of Historic Williamsburg:
Benjamin Powell House - When we were there, the costumed interpreters were making cornbread. Like everything they make at Colonial Williamsburg, it was made from scratch, using ingredients and methods used in colonial times...all the way down to the murky, doughy water we got to "wash" our hands in when we were done mixing. Yuck. Sure makes you appreciate running water!
That's what it's like at historic Williamsburg: you're alternately intrigued by how things were done in colonial days, and stupefied that they got along without our modern stuff.
After trying on some colonial garb, trying out their spinet (an early version of the piano), and playing some colonial games, we we went outside where our kids "attempted" to play hoops. You've probably seen pictures of kids keeping big wooden hoops rolling along with a stick? Much harder than it looks, trust me. We never did figure out how to do it well.
Capitol Building - Don't miss the tour of the Capitol building, the home of the colony's House of Burgesses (the first elected body in the New World). It's excellent, although a bit slow for our 5-year-old. As a teacher, I loved listening to little bits and pieces of juicy history. On the second floor, pay attention to the colonial maps of Virginia, which show the colony's original boundaries...as far north as Michigan and west all the way out to the Pacific!
Governor's Palace - Kids will LOVE the entrance hall, which has hundreds of swords on the walls. Decorative AND useful, since during the revolution they actually pulled them off the wall to go fight the British.
The 30-minute tour takes you both downstairs and up, and the costumed guides share lots of historical tidbits. For example, in the long ballroom (which was a disgusting, but authentic shade of green), our guide described how people invited to balls here would dance from 6 pm until midnight, fortify themselves with a high protein dinner (meat, meat, and more meat) and loads of high-sugar desserts, then resume dancing until dawn.
Pewter Shop - This was another highlight of historic Williamsburg. The helpful interpreter explained the pewter-making process, all the while making spoon after spoon. If they weren't perfect, he just dipped them in the molten pewter, where they immediately melted. Fascinating.
Print Shops - The Newspaper Print Shop and the Book Bindery are immediately across from each other in a small courtyard behind the main street in historic Williamsburg. We prefer the Newspaper Print Shop (the interpreter was more interesting). He even explained why "s's" used to look like "f's" in colonial newspapers.
What to skip? The Gunsmith Shop. The guy's been very unfriendly each time we visit, and treats all questions as if they're interrupting his day. Don't bother.
One final tip: before you begin your tour, stop by the Welcome Center and play dress up. That's right. Colonial Williamsburg allows visitors to borrow authentic colonial clothes (gowns, aprons, mob caps, and more) to wear while they tour the Historic Area. Aside from really getting you in the mood for your tour, it makes for fantastic photo ops!
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)hi elizabeth, thank you for taking me on a nice little trip in my mind. i also learned where "powder room" came from. thank you. this was a well written article, and i enjoyed it, thanks for sharing, best regards, sue thomSue-- So glad you liked it! It really is a wonderful place to visit, especially with kids. I hope you get to visit it someday, if you haven't already done so! FYI: When we toured a colonial apothecary shop in Fredericksburg, the building's upstairs included a little alcove where they did the powdering. The gentleman would actually stick his head through a round hole, just big enough for the head. A servant on the other side would then put a cone over the gentleman's face and fluff powder over the wig. The gentleman would pull his head back out through the hole, and voila-- he had fresh powder on his head, but none on his face and clothes. Very ingenious, but I'm so glad we don't have to live that way! Regards, Elizabeth (vbfamilyfun)
It was a very interesting story. would you know any prices to like a mob cap or whatever?Sorry-- I don't. I just saw one the other day at the gift store at Michie Tavern in Charlottesville (they have a fantastic tour-- combined with Monticello just up the hill, it makes for a wonderful day excursion), but I didn't look to see how much they cost.
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