A Trip Back In Time Part 2

We were at the Chase Mansion last. Now we go next door to the Aldrich House. The Aldrich House was the home to Thomas Bailey Aldrich,a Victorian novelist,poet,and editor.He is most famous for his book "The Story of A Bad Boy." He was born in Portsmouth on Nov 11,1836. He lived with his grandparents,who had friends in various literary  and acting circles. His "grandmother", Mrs Aldrich,was sitting outside the house and told us of how she  met her husband at a party held by the famous actor Edwin Booth (brother to John Wilkes) and informed us that she didn't like Mark Twain,because he was always inebriated and spoke very unkindly about her. The house was built in  1797. 

Coming into the kitchen,the "Good Morning"staircase was to the left. A "Good Morning" staircase is a set of stairs that connect an upstairs bedroom right to the kitchen. They reminded me of my Memere's old house when I was little. The stairs were very steep,and she forbade me to go up them without her (they weren't Good Morning stairs,though).

                              

 This is a fabulous fireplace to cook some food!

                                   Lovely bright sitting room

                                   I loved the pendant chandelier

                                   

                                      The parlor

     

                              I absolutely adore Mrs Aldrich's dress

                                    Such a pretty bedroom!

                           View out the window on the second landing

                          Another bedroom. I loved the various canopy styles

                            A more masculine looking bedroom

The next stop was at the Shapiro House. The Shapiro's a Russian-Jewish immigrant family,lived here in the early 1900's. It was built in  1795. The best room in the house was the kitchen.

                                      Love that old wood cooking stove!

We had just missed "Mrs Shapiro"demonstrating how to bake bread.She had stepped out for a moment. The bread smelled wonderful baking in the oven.

The Pitt Tavern was next. It was built in 1766 . There were several rooms with fireplaces and tables set up.

Some of the distinguished visitors to the Pitt Tavern include George Washington,John Hancock,and the Marquis de Lafayette.

                   A bit of the history of the tavern.

  This house is the Yeaton House. It's in the process of renovation. It was built in 1795. Thales Yeaton,a shopkeeper and tobacconist,lived here in the late 18th century.

This is the Marden-Abbott house and store. It was a neighborhood store during WWII. The building itself was built in 1720.

                                The store was exactly as it was kept during the war

  t was interesting to see how many old labels we could recognize that were still around when we were kids,but are now no longer available.

Behind the store and house there as the Marden-Abbott Garage,which had been converted into a small WWII museum. I loved the various posters.

 Back then,everyone chipped in to help the war effort. They grew victory gardens,had ration stamps,and recycled cans to be made into bullets.

                            I bet most kept the pledge!

By the entrance there was book with the names of civilian defense volunteers. We discovered that Rick's grandfather,Ray Shaw,was an Air Raid Warden. How cool is that? It was so random...there his name was. We poured through the other pages to see if any other family members were listed. I am not sure if Edwin or Oren are related :)

This was my favorite poster. It promoted working for the war effort,saving rubber by walking and not driving,conserving what you have,and buying war bonds.

Our last installment will show one of the oldest homes left in NH-built in 1695.

Have a fabulous day on this Fabulous Planet!