Cape May MAC

Victorian laundry day called for muscles

2012-02-21T12:08:00.001-08:00

Before the 20th century, washing clothes called for strength and stamina. In large households, like the Physick House, laundry took an entire day to do. Monday was the most common laundry day because it came after Sunday, which was the day when the largest meal of the week was prepared and there was plenty of food leftover for meals on Monday. Without the chore of cooking three meals that day, time was available for laundry.

Washing wasn’t merely a matter of shoving everything into a washing machine like we do today. Garments were carefully sorted, the heavier and dirtier things put to soak for a long time in lye or soda and then well-boiled in a large pot known as a copper. The lighter and more delicate articles were put aside to be washed in a tub of cold or lukewarm water by hand.

Stubborn dirt and stains were rubbed away on a washboard or removed by agitating the items in a large tub with a washing dolly. Stain removal was an exercise in chemistry. Recipe books often contained a small section of recipes for stain removers. Fuller’s earth was very useful in removing grease and oil, as were chalk and pipe clay. Lemon juice, onion juice or even urine would all lift ink, and if the housewife applied a hot coal wrapped in linen to a wax stain, the wax could be removed. And last but not least, milk was used to combat urine, vinegar, and fruit stains. Commercially produced stain removers were also available but many did not do the job they promised and were often expensive.

In the late 19th century there were many attempts to design an effective washing machine. Most were based on traditional methods of washing – that of pounding the clothes in water to loosen the dirt. Even with the washing machine, a lot of manual labor was still required: the washing machine had to be filled with water and then emptied afterwards, and often a crank or lever had to be turned or pushed continually to operate the agitator. In addition, machines often tore clothing, left rust spots, and leaked. Nevertheless, washing machines were coveted by many housewives. The Sears Roebuck Company offered several models of washing machines, priced from $2.72 to $5.62, that were guaranteed not to damage clothing.

At the end of the 19th century the first steam washing machine was invented. Water was heated in the washing tank by gas jets, and dirty wash was cleaned by the combined forces of water and steam, which proved more effective.

Once the clothes had been cleaned, they still had to be wrung and dried. Clothing was first hand-wrung to remove some water and then passed through a wringing machine, or a mangle. Running clothing through a mangle removed most of the water so items did not take as long to dry. Clothing was then hung on lines or over hedges and bushes to dry. Clothes drying racks, like the one hung between the windows in the Back Kitchen, were used to dry articles indoors when the weather was poor.

Permanent press, you ask? Virtually all garments had to be ironed after they dried. Several flat irons were heated on the range and used in turn.

With all the toting and heating of water, manually agitating the clothing, wringing, mangling, hanging, and ironing, it is little wonder that those who could afford it sent their laundry out to be done by a laundress. A family’s load of washing cost between $2 to $2.50 in the Victorian era. For those who couldn’t afford to send out the laundry, advice books were full of suggestions on how to ease the burden of “the weekly affliction.” One suggestion was that the family invest heavily in undergarments so that each member of the family could go for longer periods in-between wash days before needing clean underthings.

Electric washers finally put an end to the backbreaking labor employed by our Victorian predecessors.

-- Elan Zingman-Leith, Curator

The ice harvest: A little local history for a cold month

2012-02-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Despite this year enjoying one of the mildest winters (so far) in memory, it wasn’t always so. And it’s a good thing, too, because back in the Victorian days of Cape May, residents counted on that cold weather to deliver something we take very much for granted today: Ice.

In the days before refrigeration, perishable foods were stored in iceboxes. The Physick family had iceboxes in the basement and in the refrigerator room at the back of the house and, next time you visit, you can see one of these iceboxes just off the hallway past the kitchen. I’m also sure that many of you have wondered where the ice came from and how they kept it solid throughout the year.

Ice was gathered during the annual ice harvest, which usually took place in January or February, after the ice was about 18-20 inches thick. The harvest was quite an event and was much anticipated by young and old alike. John Brandow, from upstate New York, worked many years during the ice harvest. National Geographic once recorded his remembrances of the ice harvest.

“The winters were long. You could count on six months of winter, usually. Coming right in the middle of the winter, ice harvesting season was anticipated with enthusiasm, really. And it was a get-together – a place where friends met and talked and lunched together. We put in nine-hour days and it was pretty much constant work. And nobody seemed to shirk it; they rather enjoyed it… the ice harvest was a week or 10 days of constant involvement and camaraderie.”

Although, Mr. Brandow’s experiences come from the 1930s, the anticipation and process of the ice harvest were the same as the Victorians experienced decades earlier.

Most of the ice harvested in the Northeast came from upstate New York, and the New England States. The ice was commercially harvested from ponds and rivers, stored in icehouses, and shipped via railroad to urban areas. The first step of the process was cutting the thick ice into cakes with the help of a saw plow harnessed to a horse. Of course, the ice had to be thick enough to hold the weight of a horse, the saw, and a team of men. Later the horse was replaced by the automobile. Once deep grooves were cut into the ice by the saw plow, men with large coarse-toothed cross-cut saws would cut the rest of the way through the ice and set it free in large cakes. Each cake measured about 12 by 18 by 18 inches, and weighed about 150 pounds.

The cut cakes of ice were floated across the water to a conveyor belt, which moved them up to the top of the icehouse to a chute. Gravity propelled the large cakes down the chute and into the icehouse. Men stationed at the base of the chute would harpoon the ice with a long pike and swing it into position in the icehouse. The icehouse would fill up in seven or eight days of steady work. Thick layers of sawdust were packed under, around, and over the blocks of ice, so that each block had its own insulating blanket. The trick to keeping the ice from melting was dry sawdust. Once the sawdust got wet, the ice would begin to melt very quickly. Therefore, sawdust was replaced as it became damp, thus slowing the melting process. This thick sawdust layer meant that commercial icehouses could keep the ice from winter well into the summer months. Once the icehouse was filled, the doors were shut and not reopened until warmer weather when the ice was needed.

Ice was transported from these large icehouses by train to urban areas, like Philadelphia. From the icehouses in these urban areas, the ice was moved again to the rural parts of the country and stored in local icehouses. The Physick family probably got its ice from the local ice house.

When the winter was cold enough, ice would be harvested locally (from Lily Lake). When the weather didn’t cooperate, ice was shipped down from the North and was stored in the local ice house. As Dr. Physick and his family desired ice, they would simply get a block or two from the local icehouse. In 1901, there was an icehouse located at 624 Washington St. called the Knickerbocker Ice and Coal Company..

Ice was really only needed when the weather was warm (maybe May to September or October). During the rest of the year, items that the Physick family stored in the basement would stay cold enough to prevent them from spoiling.

So, next time you go to the refrigerator and take advantage of your automatic ice maker, remember how precious and valuable that ice was during Victorian times, and how much work went into getting it to your glass.

-- Elan Zingman-Leith, Curator

Support your local history

2012-02-08T03:36:00.001-08:00

If I had a quarter for every person who, in the past 10 years, said to me “You work where?” I’d probably be retired. It has become a mission in my working life to inform as many people in Cape May County as I can about the good things done by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities. Too many words…let’s just use MAC.

Having worked in the newspaper business in the county for a lot of years and being on the receiving end of press releases on MAC’s activities, I knew what it was, but I was surprised at how many people did not. Now, the Physick Estate, the Lighthouse or even the recently restored World War II Tower, will resonate with most people. They are places we have been to, or taken our kids to see, and places we can point out with pride to visiting friends. What’s MAC got to do with it?

MAC gave these landmarks a prominent place of honor in our local landscape. Before MAC’s restoration efforts, the Physick mansion was a dilapidated haunted house waiting for the wrecking ball. The Cape May Lighthouse, while always a landmark, was a lonely, peeling one that couldn’t be fully enjoyed by residents or visitors, and the World War II Tower was a chunk of concrete sitting in the weeds on Sunset Boulevard, and all those things are much easier to identify with than this entity called MAC.

Such was the thinking behind the creation of three affinity groups here at MAC: the Friends of the Physick Estate, the Friends of the Cape May Lighthouse, and the Friends of the World War II Lookout Tower. After all, everyone has their favorite. Those who befriend the Physick Estate cherish its historic significance as an example of a unique architectural period, as well as an equally unique lifestyle; lighthouse lovers are a breed apart, traveling all over the country to visit these essential beacons; and local veterans have championed the World War II Tower’s role in homeland defense during the war years. Even here at MAC, where we have a vested interest in all of these historic sites, people have their favorites, and the Friends groups allow them to focus their interests.

Each group has come up with its own agenda and programming. They have sponsored events that raised funds for special projects that might otherwise have had to stay on a back burner. They have developed themed lectures and programs of particular interest to their groups, and everyone benefits by this sharp focus.

I have to tell you, sometimes the competition gets pretty fierce: who can get the most members, or who can win a miniature golf tournament. But isn’t that what happens when people champion a cause? There’s an intense pride that goes along with it.

Who benefits? Everything and everyone. The historic sites benefit from this enhanced level of support. Local residents benefit by having these landmarks in their backyard; visitors have a great experience to tell about back home. And MAC benefits because people learn what we do.

And you can be a part of it, too. Visit www.capemaymac.org and learn about joining MAC. Become a Friend of your favorite historic site (or all three of them!) and give them support, encouragement or a helping hand. After all, that’s what friends do.

-- Jean Barraclough is director of marketing and communications at the MAC

A short winter's nap

2012-01-06T05:05:00.001-08:00

Unlike Ma and Pa having a visit from St. Nick disturb their long winter’s nap, ours here in Cape May is relatively short. As a matter of fact, I can still remember my job interview here at the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC), and some mention made of a slow time of year…for which I am still waiting.

Cape May, in general, enjoy an almost-year round atmosphere. It’s only fitting that, after a busy holiday season, we all get to take a deep breath and relax in January. Hopefully near a fireplace.

I fully expect my “short winter’s nap” to last no more than 10 days or so, because then we start winding up the mechanism for the 2012 season. The travel show schedule begins mid-January, where we fan out in a four to five hour radius to talk to people about the pleasures of vacationing in Cape May County. It’s always so gratifying to hear the comments from people about how much they love to visit here; it makes me feel very lucky to live here. Having been one of those who visited here repeatedly and finally made it permanent, I know how many others feel the same about this great place we call home.

We also open a new exhibit here on Jan. 14 at the Carriage House Gallery at the Physick Estate, one that highlights the area’s African-American heritage that we co-sponsor with our friends at the Center for Community Arts. This one brings back photographer Wendel White with his photos of historically segregated schools, with a focus on Cape May’s Franklin Street School.

We’re trying something new this winter with our Kids Winter Workshops, Saturday mornings on Feb. 11, March 3 and 24, and April 14. I can recall from my parenting days the dread of this time of year when boredom reigned at home. The holidays were over and the end of school much too far in the distance, so I know I would have welcomed programs like this. One of our missions here at MAC is to prove to youngsters that history is not just something you have to learn in school, but can be really cool and interesting. It’s a good lesson, too, in our lives driven by technology and instant communication to see the building blocks that brought us to this point.

Before we know it, spring will be here. I know that’s an optimistic thought (bordering on unrealistic) in the first month of winter, but I have not forgotten winters in New England when April saw snow still drifted against the front of our house. Still huddled near the fireplace, I didn’t imagine then that some day April, for me, would mean Spring Festival here on the beautiful green lawns of the Physick Estate.

The only sad thing about January was having to take down our great Christmas exhibit. The boughs of the giant Christmas tree came tumbling down much quicker than they went up! Don’t worry, though; it, too, is taking a winter’s nap and will return next November, this time with more trains for locomotive lovers.

-- Jean Barraclough is director of marketing and communications at the MAC

A Message from MAC's President

2011-12-23T03:20:00.000-08:00

A year ago, I was honored to become the President of MAC. As the first term of my presidency comes to a close, I am pleased to report to you that despite continued challenges on several fronts, MAC successfully accomplished its mission of promoting preservation, education and the arts and humanities in Cape May. Those efforts also achieved the unstated, but critical mission of promoting Cape May and bringing continued economic vitality and stability to Cape May and the surrounding region.

The past year has been interesting, to say the least, filled with several challenging unplanned events. We started the year with an invitation from the Cape May Carriage Company to purchase their operation. About that same time, our Chief Operating Officer Bill Ten Eyck, gave us notice of his intention to retire in September. After losing our initial 2011 Designer Show House, the program was successfully resurrected this year with the switch to a magnificent property at Osprey Landing. Of course, no discussion of 2011 would be complete without mention of Hurricane Irene.

Many of you have probably heard of MAC’s negotiations to purchase the Cape May Carriage Company. After several months of careful evaluation of the Cape May Carriage Company, MAC’s Board of Trustees submitted a formal offer to purchase the assets of that business. It seemed like a natural extension of MAC’s operations, which would dove tail perfectly into our mission. Unfortunately, despite extensive conversations and negotiations with the owners of the business, our offer was ultimately rejected in favor of another. Even though this effort was for naught in the end, I would like to extend my thanks to all the individuals involved, including employees, Board Members and friends of MAC for all their efforts and time on this project.

One of the biggest challenges of the year, perhaps the decade, was the resignation of our Chief Operating Officer Bill Ten Eyck. It is hard to overstate just how difficult it is to replace someone who was one of MAC’s key leaders for over 16 years. I have to say, however, how impressed I am with our new COO, Melissa Zeides. Melissa brings many years of exceptional management experience from the Macy’s organization to MAC. Melissa is working hard to come up to speed in all the diverse aspects of MAC, which is already benefiting from her valuable insights.

The biggest news story in Cape May this year was the advent of Hurricane Irene. Though the storm itself proved to be far less damaging than forecasted, the economic impact on the town in general and MAC in particular was significant. The loss of revenue from that critical summer weekend was tremendously damaging to MAC’s financial position. The weeks immediately following the hurricane were far from normal as well, perhaps due to the storm’s impact upon our visitors in their own homes and communities. The result, of course, was a significant budgetary gap that had to be filled. I’m pleased to report that MAC’s management team quickly assessed the situation and developed a multifaceted recovery strategy, incorporating restructuring and consolidation in addition to ongoing cost-cutting. I’m confident that their plan is realistic and will navigate MAC through this financial challenge.
One of the things that mark exceptional people and organizations is their ability to succeed in the face of great challenges. I’m proud to say that MAC has proven itself to be an exceptional organization filled with exceptional individuals who overcame every single obstacle in 2011. While I’m expecting 2012 to have its share of challenges, I’m confident that MAC will rise to the occasion in the coming 12 months. I’m looking forward to writing this article again next year and sharing all the good news that I’m expecting MAC will have for us.

-- Doug McMain is the President of MAC's board.

He and his wife, Anna Marie, own the Queen Victoria B&B Inn in Cape May

We Need a Little (More) Christmas

2011-12-19T04:19:00.000-08:00

I know that those among you who more resemble Ebenezer Scrooge than Bob Cratchit (I know you’re out there) are muttering “enough already!” about me and my excess of holiday spirit. Too bad. Get over yourself and join me.

Sure, I start celebrating Christmas early. It used to be the Friday after Thanksgiving but now, thanks to my association with Cape May’s Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC), it starts the week before that, with Holiday Preview Weekend. So, depending on the calendar, I have six or seven weeks to celebrate Christmas. I love it.

Through all my years, from the toddler times to grown-up days, my one lament was the day after Christmas. I’m one of those who enjoy the journey as much as the destination. So, once I close my eyes on Christmas night, I know I am going to wake up to this “who let the air out of my balloon” feeling the next morning. Sure, the decorations are still up, but Christmas is over and I have to wait 364 days before it rolls around again.

Too bad, Scrooges of the world: I’m not alone out here. There are plenty of people for whom that week after Christmas is as empty as the weeks leading up to it are full. The shopping is done, the cards are sent, the big dinner is over, and the kids are off from school. There’s some time to relax and absorb the holiday more fully, without hyperventilating. But now what do we do? After Christmas exchanges? No thank you.

Remember what I said about the decorations still being up? Well, there’s no place better to see them than in Cape May. Sorry, you won’t find the strobe lights and spastic elves dancing to a futuristic version of “Deck the Halls” when you visit Cape May. What you will find are perfectly delightful Victorian homes and B&B inns and hotels taking that same deep, relaxing breath that you are. MAC still has plenty of tours: Lamplighter Tours of B&B inns, Physick Family Christmas Tours where you’ll meet the Physick family of the 1890s enjoying their after-Christmas holiday, Spirit of Christmas trolleys topped off with hot chocolate and cookies at the Carriage House at the Physick Estate, Holiday Lights Trolley Rides to see it all while you stay nice and toasty. And a last chance to see the delightful exhibit at the Carriage House Gallery. We have a wonderful collection of Dept. 56 Dickens Village, donated to us by Ernie and Betsy Heegard, beneath the boughs of a giant Christmas tree. It’s big enough to shrink all of us back to kid size and help us remember the days when we would lie beneath the Christmas tree and gaze up into its branches with wonder and the hope that Christmas would never end.

This is a nice present to give yourself and your family and make the Christmas season last a little bit longer. And shorten the year-long wait for next Christmas.

-- Jean Barraclough is director of marketing and communications at the MAC

Deck the Halls

2011-12-17T03:45:00.000-08:00

A lot of people I know tell me that by the time Christmas actually gets here, they are sick of it…sick of the Christmas music, the decorations, the crowds (and probably sick of me saying how much I love it!). Obviously, I’m not one of them. I gear up the Friday after Thanksgiving and it’s all about Christmas from there to Dec. 25. I can’t even count how many sappy Hallmark movies I’ve already watched…even the ones I watched umpteen times before.

Here in Cape May, one of my favorite Christmas events are the Christmas Candlelight House Tours. We do these on three Saturday nights; this year it’s Dec. 3, 10 and 17, so you still have time to get in on the fun.

The first year I was here, I was on one of the trolleys. We run all five of our trolleys on a continuous shuttle all night, and a MAC staff person goes along to help people find the houses they want to see, and let them know what to expect at each stop.

Naturally, my first year, I had only the slightest idea what houses were at each stop. I tried to blame it on the fact that I was riding backwards, facing the passengers, when I would blithely point out a particular inn to the right, only to have the driver whisper, “No, it’s to the left!” Thank goodness I had a driver who knew where he was going or those passengers might still be looking for the inns.

In other years, I was stationed at some of the inns participating in the tours. This is the best part of these tours: Not only do you get to see all the beautiful outdoor decorations that I just can’t get enough of, but you get to go inside these inns, too, something you normally wouldn’t get to do unless you were a guest there.

Cape May’s innkeepers are a breed apart when it comes to making people feel welcome. I don’t know how cheerful I could be as hundreds of people trooped through my house, but these folks are accommodating and pleased to show off their beautiful properties.

For the past few years, I’ve taken a turn here at the Physick Estate, where the Carriage House is open as a hospitality area and for people to see the Christmas exhibit. I’m telling you, if you haven’t seen it this year, don’t miss it!

We make coffee and hot chocolate, offer cookies, directions and suggestions on which houses to visit next. Remember, some of those on the tour are newcomers to town and they’re trying to find their way around in the dark.

What’s most special about it, no matter where I’ve been stationed, is the people on the tour who are infused with the spirit of the season. One Candlelight Tour a few years ago, we had a rainy night and people were coming in covered with plastic bags and anything else they could find to keep dry. But they were still having a good time.

It’s hard not to. With the beautiful lights and decorations, the music, the warmth and welcome of the innkeepers and property owners, how can you not have a good time? This is the answer to the Christmas spirit that is jaded or just buried beneath mountains of life’s problems. Come to Cape May and come back to Christmas.

Jean Barraclough is director of marketing and communications at Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC)

My time of year

2011-11-20T05:52:00.000-08:00

I may not be a really big fan of Halloween, but I am head over heels for Christmas. In my childhood years, Christmas was not the happiest of times. It usually meant unemployment for my father, a carpenter by trade in New England where outdoor work came to a halt in late November, resulting in lean times until spring came around. In spite of that, I never lost my optimism that Santa Claus was out there somewhere trying to find me.

In later years, raising my own family, I threw myself into Christmas wholeheartedly, maybe trying to make up for the first two and a half decades of my life. As long as carols were playing in stores and Christmas displays were up, there was no such thing as too early. It became our family tradition to go in search of the perfect Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. To this day, I watch every sappy Christmas movie on television, no matter that I’ve probably seen them before, and watch the Alistair Sim version of Scrooge every time it’s on.

So, I fit right into the holiday spirit here at MAC. We no sooner strip the Physick House and surrounding grounds of Halloween decorations than we start decking the halls for Christmas. We stretch the season to seven weeks, beginning the week before Thanksgiving on what we call Holiday Preview Weekend.

There’s something about Christmas in Cape May, in general, that just resonates with that elf inside of me. What better place for a Christmas fanatic than a Victorian village? It suits my holiday style, as well: You won’t find cutouts of Mickey in a Santa hat or blow-up snowmen gracing the lawns of a B&B along

Columbia Avenue

. Instead, these wonderful old properties are decked with miles of evergreen garland, twinkling white lights, and brilliant red bows. The town looks like it belongs in a snow globe, waiting for a giant hand to set the flakes whirling.

Holiday Preview Weekend was a wonderful start to the season, with over a thousand visitors, mostly local residents, visiting the Physick House, watching Santa light the tree, and enjoying our “Old-Fashioned Christmas” exhibit in the Carriage House Gallery.

This was especially gratifying to me this year, as it reflected my inspiration (OK, I stole the idea from a similar one I saw somewhere else) of a huge Christmas tree, as seen from below. Beneath the tree, we have two levels of houses, shops, people, and dozens of other accessories from a Dept. 56 Dickens Village collection, graciously donated to MAC two years ago by Ernie and Betsy Heegard.

It started with a cedar log I dragged out of the woods behind my house and grew from there. We draped evergreen garland until it looked like a tree, added plenty of colorful LED lights and giant ornaments and the result -- with well over 100 pieces below it…houses, churches, train stations and so much more – is simply breathtaking. Sort of like a Cape May in miniature. Please come see it. I’ll be the one hovering over it like a mother hen.

So, now the holidays begin in earnest. House tours and trolley tours, a chance to eat cookies and drink hot chocolate and wassail, not to mention other fun and tasty food and wine events. All this designed to remind you that Christmas is still an old-fashioned wonderland, without overcrowded malls of grumpy people, right here in Cape May. Shop for one-of-a-kind gifts, not “as seen on TV,” take a trolley tour, relax and come back to the Christmas you remember.

-- Jean Barraclough, MAC's director of marketing & communications

A spooky time of year

2011-11-20T05:51:00.000-08:00

At last! My favorite time of year. For as long as I can remember, first as a New Englander and then as a Cape May County resident, autumn has been my favorite. I like winter, I barely tolerate summer, and could do without spring entirely. Maybe that’s the lingering trauma of spring in New England, where it’s not really called spring, but “mud season.”

Nothing is more glorious than autumn at the shore, especially in Cape May. These are the best beach days, in my book, with the water still warm but the humidity gone for another year.

And then there’s the spooky side of the season. I have to admit it: I was never a fan of Halloween. So, it was with some skepticism that I initially viewed Halloween Happenings here at the Physick Estate. I wasn’t alone at the beginning either, but luckily – on the other side of the equation – was Barbara Oberholtzer. In real life, the other 11 months of the year, Barbara is our manager of tour systems here at MAC, something she’s been doing for 24 years. And while creativity is certainly called for in juggling umpteen trolley tours, house tours and special events to make them all fit into a workable calendar, it’s nothing compared to what she’s done to the Physick House over the past few years.

Come early fall, she emerges from her cocoon of organized and meticulous detail work and throws herself wholeheartedly into transforming this 1879 Victorian mansion into a haunted house.

We often refer to the Physick House as Cape May’s original haunted house, and I know there are lots of local grown-ups who can attest to playing in and around the estate in the days when it was just that. Since those days, however, the cobwebs have been swept away and the dark corners brought to light and it’s just a beautiful home to visit and imagine its glorious heyday.

Come Halloween season, however, Barbara and her crew of like-minded ghouls send the house back in time. The cobwebs come back, albeit man-made. Cackling creatures and crawling spiders lurk in the corners. Members of our guide staff who normally are the very models of decorum in floor length skirts and lacy blouses with high collars and leg-of-mutton sleeves now wear tattered shrouds and greet visitors with leering and bloody grins. Although I doubt any spooky specters are too much for Barbara, she wanted to make sure our visitors were able to sleep at night after leaving the tour, so we now even have two versions of our Phantoms of the Physick Estate house tour, with an afternoon tour more suited to youngsters and those who don’t want to have nightmares (like me) and a little scarier night version, when the real Halloween addicts on staff haunt the house.

In recent years, Anna Leeper has been the driving force behind Scarecrow Alley, so even before you get to the house itself, you have to walk the gauntlet of scarecrows contributed by area businesses, schools and organizations.

I have to admit, it’s contagious. The past few years, I’ve joined the ghoulish ranks and added some ghostly face paint and a rat or two to my Victorian costume, greeting trick or treaters on Halloween night on the porch at the Physick Estate.

Come November, after the Halloween decorations are dismantled and put away to gather usable dust and cobwebs for next year, Barbara retreats to her desk and her orderly, organized role here at MAC. But you just know, in the dark shadows in the recesses of her mind, lurk the ideas for next year’s Phantoms of the Physick Estate. Boo!

-- Barraclough is director of marketing and communications at Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC)

The right thing to do

2011-09-09T07:56:00.001-07:00

The right thing to do

Last week one day, my routine took me out to the World War II Tower on Sunset Boulevard. I’m a morning person, so most of these side trips I need to take happen shortly after sunrise, before I get settled in front of my computer for the day.

As I approached the tower basking in the sunrise, I couldn’t help but remember all the vacation trips when we’d always visit Sunset Beach to look for Cape May Diamonds, especially when my son was small and knew the next stone would be better than the one in hand; we’d wind up packing a pound or so of pebbles when we headed for home. I remembered seeing the tower but, at that time, it was pretty well camouflaged by weeds and sumac, and it looked pretty woebegone. The difference now is pretty dramatic, with the nice boardwalk across the sand, the interpretive panels, and an overall sprucing up of this little cement cylinder. I know it will never be as regal as the lighthouse, but it looked pretty self-important sitting there.

As I was putting up some posters, I thought about the responsibility involved – including my role in it – in restoring and maintaining these historic sites. I guess, being so close to it. I just thought about it as “what MAC does” and hadn’t given a lot of thought to that sense of responsibility. You have to wonder, though, if we didn’t do it, how long would it be before the tower went the way of the concrete ship? I remember that, too, when it was still recognizably a ship, but look at it now. Chances are, even in my lifetime, the World War II Lookout Tower would have gone the same way.

The same could be said for our other historic preservation efforts. The lighthouse, back in my tourist days, was not open to visitors and looked pretty shabby. I guess it would have been maintained enough to keep the light shining, but I have a feeling that once that spiral staircase was eaten away by rust and neglect, the lighthouse might have joined the cement ship.

I am always amazed that the Physick house was never gutted and divided up into apartments or something similar. When you walk through the house today and see the original woodwork, banisters, fireplaces, and such, it’s truly a miracle that it could be saved and restored to its former glory.

And why do we do this? Because, as Wilfred Brimley says about eating oatmeal, “it’s the right thing to do.” These three sites are not just about history; they’re about OUR history. One represents a way of life in Cape May’s Victorian times, while another is a proud chapter on the area’s involvement in homeland defense during World War II. And the lighthouse has been guiding ships and sailors safely ashore long before I even existed, and hopefully will be long after I’m gone.

There’s no telling how long that will be, for all three historic sites, but it’s nice to know that we’ve given them a new lease on life, and kept them around for another generation or two or more. That’s a responsibility we’ve gladly taken on, and one I’m happy to be a part of. I never imagined on those summertime trips to Sunset Beach that a part of my time and energy would one day be devoted to that cement cylinder. I guess you just never know where the journey is taking you.

Jean Barraclough is director of marketing and communications at MAC

Sentinel of the shore

2011-08-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

Where has the summer gone? Doesn’t it seem like Memorial Weekend was just yesterday and here we are in August already? There are still plenty of people enjoying their summer vacations here in Cape May, however, and that makes me reminisce about those days when I, too, was a tourist.

I feel badly for some of our visitors and wish I could tell them to slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy the view: those who arrive cranky because they were stuck in traffic and then spend a hectic span of days trying to cram everything in and have a good time, even if it kills them, or they kill each other. Our days here were much more laid back, most of them centered on the beach. Like most visitors, however, we made side trips, saved for days when Mother Nature decided the flowers needed watering.

One was always to Cape May Point to see the landmarks: the sunken ship (when you could still tell it really was a ship), the bunker on the beach and, of course, the Cape May Lighthouse.

Back then, the Lighthouse was a forlorn-looking sentinel… a classy lady a little down on her luck. This was in the days before MAC undertook restoration of the lighthouse, and it was not open to visitors. It really didn’t look like anything you’d want to go into. Even then, however, despite its peeling paint and air of neglect, the Lighthouse inspired a sense of awe. It stood proud, albeit shabby, and did its job as a beacon to mariners.

By the time MAC began restoration, I had left my tourist status behind and become a local and, like so many others, kind of took the Lighthouse for granted. Our annual trips to the Point dwindled as we acclimated to our new South Jersey lifestyle. It was not until I began working here at MAC that the Lighthouse once again became a part of my life. Now it was open to the public, polished and primped and looking like a grand lady again. Well it should, since the restoration took more than 15 years, and today the Lighthouse entertains lots and lots of visitors every year, for whom it has become a vacation tradition, just as it was ours.

The Lighthouse also shines in a special way each year with National Lighthouse Day, Aug. 7. This is one of those celebrations that has not fallen victim to the Monday holiday routine, so it’s always on Aug. 7. This year it’s a Sunday, so it’s convenient for those of us who live and work in Cape May County, as well as those lucky enough to be vacationing here. Since it’s at the shore, it’s subject to invasion by pirates and there will be some swashbucklers on the grounds that day. Kids will get to make pirate hats, watch swordfights and play some silly games, and there will be music and craft vendors, too. All the activities on the grounds are free. So, bring the family and renew your acquaintance with this majestic landmark.

Also mark your calendar for Oct. 15-16, for the annual Lighthouse Challenge of New Jersey. This is a chance to see 11 lighthouses, as well as museums and life-saving stations, from Cape May to Sandy Hook and up the Delaware River side, too.

The Cape May Lighthouse is everywhere you look: on signs, on trucks, on buses, on banks. It’s a popular Cape May County trademark, one that symbolizes strength and integrity. For good reason: it’s been around since 1859 and still working. Not many of us can claim that.

-- Jean Barraclough, MAC's director of marketing & communications

What goes around, comes around

2011-08-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

We’ve all heard that expression of how cyclical life is, so it should come as no surprise to me that what I hope is the final rung of my career ladder has such similarities to the first one.

I began my newspaper career in Connecticut more years ago than I like to think about, and this was the time of year we always took our vacation….in Cape May County, of course. In the newspaper business in New England, high summer – July and August – were our slowest months. Next to January, of course. That was mostly because summertime, once school was out, was vacation time for many New Englanders, except those in the more touristy areas along the shore.

Remembering fondly those days of a summer vacation at the beach made me realize that, for some of us here at MAC, summer also has a different sort of pace than, say, the spring, fall and holiday months. Let’s face it: just as I did with my family all those years ago, the majority of people coming to Cape May want to go to the beach. And who can blame them? Naturally, we have more scheduled tours of the Physick House. The Lighthouse and the World War II Tower are open longer hours, and there are more trolley tours, but we use a lot of our creative energy for those “shoulder” season events and festivals that span a weekend or more during times of the year when we need to give people another reason to come to town other than that big, beautiful beach.

Not that we don’t come up with new summertime tours, such as some of the Actors Offstage trolley rides new this year. And we certainly don’t work any fewer hours. On the contrary, the extra tours and attraction hours designed to offer an alternative to sand and sea fill our days to the brim. But, for some of us, it’s a more consistent pattern than that demanded by creating and implementing those special events and tours for the shoulder seasons. All the summertime planning and blood, sweat and tears of scheduling was done weeks ago and now it has to run like the proverbial well-oiled machine.

We know that no one can compete with the glory of a day on the beach but everyone has to (or should) get out of the sun for awhile for the sake of a healthy, burn-free vacation. That’s where we try to fill the breach with trolley tours and other activities that are not only fun, but showcase the wonderful history of the town and help make for a memorable vacation. But, for the sake of our planning, we know we can count on midweek days being busier than weekends and our tour schedule does not always look like something only a rocket scientist could figure out: I have been here for most of a decade, and my respect for those who juggle these schedules continues to grow. For me, there is just a marked comfort level in knowing that a certain trolley or house tour will be offered every day at a specific time, and that knowledge usually allows for enough relaxation to let the memories of shore vacations bubble to the surface.

This is obviously not a pattern shared by our local business partners who must prepare more meals, serve more drinks or change more sheets and towels. I now appreciate them from a perspective I didn’t have all those long years ago as a tourist.

And so, life having come full circle, I find myself once again thinking about a summer vacation. Now if only I were not so busy!

-- Jean Barraclough, MAC's director of marketing & communications

It's all about the history

2011-08-30T10:31:00.001-07:00

Remember how your mother always gave you things and told you they were good for you? That rule applied to everything from Brussels sprouts to broccoli, and most often mom knew it was something unpalatable and the only justification for it was “it’s good for you.”

The same thing, I’ve learned, applies to history. I will be the first to admit that I was a lackluster history student, and that’s being kind. All those dates! And they’re all dead! Who cares? Unfortunately, in my school days much of history was taught by rote; we memorized dates rather than examining cause and effect and the nature of the people involved.

History has changed only insofar as the book has gotten thicker: It’s one of those comforting things that you know can’t actually change. But the way it’s learned about certainly has changed and, once again, my job here at MAC in Cape May has taught me a few lessons.

It’s all about the history here at MAC, with three historic sites: the Lighthouse, the World War II Lookout Tower, and the Emlen Physick Estate. All three are big attractions for the lower part of the county, and bring plenty of visitors to town every year. But, let’s face it: How many of us want to study when we’re on vacation? I see only a few hands raised and one belongs to our director, so that doesn’t count.

There is our dilemma. Our very purpose for being grew from the need to preserve and interpret these historic sites for future generations, but we can no longer just say “Listen to this…it’s good for you.” We have to find ways to make it more interesting, more palatable, and worth spending some of your vacation time on.

We’re not alone in this dilemma. Other historic sites around the country face the same challenge and we’ve collectively given birth to the concept of “edutainment.” Is it entertaining? Sure, it is. Is it good for you? You bet!

One twist on this began here last summer with a program called Murder at the Physick Estate. We figured if a little blood was being spilled, the programming would have appeal, and people would come in and see what a great old house the Physick mansion is. Everybody loves involvement in a good murder mystery, so that was the springboard. Since then, under the direction of our creative interpretation manager Ray Crew, Murder at the Physick Estate has continued to grow in popularity. It took seasonal twists for Halloween and Christmas, and this summer is moving toward steam punk, as well as a south of the boardwalk look at bootleggers.

The performances are the work of a small cast, moving from room to room within the house, and the stories literally unfold around you. Is it good for you? You bet! Because the foundation is still history. As you become involved in the plot, you absorb the history.

This summer, the cast – collectively called Actors Offstage – take their shows to the road, as well, with trolley rides. The stories they tell on these rides are about history: the Civil War, rumrunners, the perils of the sea, all told in a captivating performance style.

And, you know what? It’s good for you. These are stories we all need to hear, including us locals, about the history of our part of the Jersey Cape. They are an enduring legacy and one to which we’re committed. We just needed to find a way to do it that would entice people to leave the beach for the classroom, and then leave that classroom – either the rooms of the Physick mansion or a bench seat on a trolley – feeling entertained and enlightened.

I sure wish they had taught history like this when I was a youngster. I would have been an “A” student.

-- Jean Barraclough, MAC's director of marketing & communications

Something for everyone

2011-08-30T10:29:00.001-07:00

Almost three decades ago when I relocated from New England to South Jersey, I worked for a weekly newspaper, including a summertime publication. There, I became acquainted with that all-encompassing expression “Something for everyone.”

It was touted by just about every business and every circumstance: A restaurant’s menu had “something for everyone” and a boardwalk amusement pier had “something for everyone.” It applied equally to the offerings of a deli or a candy shop, a rug store or a garden shop.

It wasn’t long before I would cringe every time I had to make it a part of an ad for the paper. Each business owner claimed they had “something for everyone” even if the store down the block selling the same products made the same assurance. How could they do that? I’d awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat fearing I had placed two ads side by side, both claiming “something for everyone” and that someone would call the publisher, complaining they had responded to the ad and the store did not have “something” they wanted. Good thing there were plenty of summertime tourists, since we had all this “something” to go around.

And so I have to smile each time I come to work now at MAC here in Cape May because that “something for everyone” seems to be following me through life.

Over the years, I figured out that “something for everyone” must be a necessity in a tourist area if you want to grow and prosper and satisfy both visitors and year-round residents. Of course, it’s sometimes a monumental guessing game -- and always a lot of work -- to pinpoint that “something” that spells success.

Take the Cape May Music Festival, going into its 22^nd year and kicking off later this month. We invariably start with Irish music because everyone becomes a little Irish under the spell of banjo and fiddle, bodhran and bass. And it wouldn’t be a Music Festival without classical music, so the Bay-Atlantic Symphony follows the baton of Jed Gaylin to bring Mozart, Bach, Haydn and all those gone but not forgotten composers to life. If you think all classical music and music lovers, and orchestra directors in particular, are snooty and patronizing, you need to come and meet Jed, who is as warm and friendly as a teddy bear and absolutely passionate about music and takes “something for everyone” seriously.

That’s still not enough “something for everyone” so we also mix in Afro-Cuban jazz, chamber music, a brass band, and a favorite local pianist tickling the ivories. Now we’re getting there.

Of course, it’s true of a lot of things we do at MAC, both in our own programming and the events we co-sponsor with other groups and businesses in town. We don’t know how much of a boater Dr. Physick was, but we offer visitors and locals boat tours with the Cape May Whale Watcher. Surely Victorians were interested in the coastal ecology of the area (even if ecology was not a Victorian buzzword), so we partner with the Nature Center and the Bird Observatory to reveal the secrets of our beaches and birds.

What I’ve learned over my almost-30 years here in Cape May County is that offering “something for everyone” is really what we do best. The phrase may sound trite but it’s true and it’s why this is such a great place to visit, or eventually come to live, as so many of us have. It is not, as I thought in my early years here, a claim without substance.

Look around you and what do you see? Well, “something for everyone,” of course.

-- Jean Barraclough, MAC's director of marketing & communications

How things change

2011-08-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

March 2011 -- How times change. I still remember a quote from Vic DiSylvester, the then-county tourism director back in the late ‘80s, who said “It used to be all you had to do was throw on a fresh coat of paint and turn on the lights and they would come,” referring to the annual influx of summer visitors. Times certainly have changed, with a struggling economy and vastly different patterns in travel than those Vic was used to.

Here in Cape May at the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities, we’ve had to change, too. I admit it: One of the attractions of MAC, for me, was the concept of working somewhere that was perhaps a little removed from the frantic pace of the rest of the world, and maybe a little exempt from constant change. Ha! Maybe our cloak of history gives an outward appearance of a pond without ripples, but we’re as subject to the pressures to constantly change and evolve as any business or organization in a town that serves the tourism industry. Maybe even more so, because – as we look forward – we must also keep an eye on the history that’s behind us.

For many years, history purists at MAC were adamant that we would never augment our tours of the Physick Estate with talk of ghosts and hauntings. Interest in the supernatural has evolved over the past few decades until you can’t turn on TV most nights without catching a series whose leading character communes with the spirit world. Naturally, this interest doesn’t stay home when those loyal viewers go on vacation, hence the interest in Cape May’s otherworldly residents. And as much as we at MAC are dedicated to our mission of preserving and celebrating our history, we also have an obligation to visitors and residents to change with the times and to present new stories of the past. After all, if we go on vacation, we don’t want someone telling us what we should hear, see and do… we want to escape from our everyday world of strict boundaries.

When you stop and think about it, there are plenty of reasons why Cape May should be home to spirits. The town, and the Physick Estate itself, have such a rich history as a retreat. This was the home away from home for those from the cities who sought the physically and spiritually uplifting and healing natural elements of the seashore. And if you had your choice for an afterlife, would you rather spend it in the stinky stuffy city or here at the shore? No contest!

The believers, here in Cape May as in other cities and towns around the country that seek to satisfy their visitors’ interest in spirits, tend to outweigh the disbelievers. As in everything else our mission dictates, we have proceeded with great deliberation, seeking to work only with those individuals with a reputation for credibility, even in this subjective area. A Historic Haunts tour will not be filled with knocking, moaning, or bone-chilling wails, but it will present the findings and ask “Why not?”

So what we have, with ghost tours and paranormal investigations at the Physick Estate and elsewhere around Cape May, is not a deviation from or corruption of its history, but rather a new chapter. Visitors to the Estate get the best of both worlds, so to speak. They get to learn what life was like more than 150 years ago and they get to see that for some, 1879 was just yesterday.

Who said history is dull?

-- Jean Barraclough, MAC's director of marketing & communications

Blending old and new

2011-08-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

February 2011 -- Old and new don’t always blend well. If you’re still storing a box of floppy disks in the bottom desk drawer, your new computer doesn’t even know what they are. Older people don’t understand the music that young people like, and young people don’t understand why old people don’t drive faster. Blending old and new is a delicate task, and something we have lots of practice at doing here at the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC).

Take the Emlen Physick Estate, for instance. Here we have an 18-room 1879 house museum, complete with period furnishings – many of them original to the home and its inhabitants – that is visited by thousands each year who marvel at the way people lived in the “good old days.” At the same time, however, the home must make concession to some modern conveniences, including those that ensure the safety of our guests and staff, and modern maintenance methods (we’re sure Dr. Physick never had a leaf blower…it would have spooked the horses). Most of these necessary concessions are not obvious, and the ambiance of the old mansion can still transport you back in time. Last summer, however, the old era had to concede to the new, and we began to air condition the house.

If you’ve ever toured a period house like this one, you know that “air conditioning” in those “good old days” referred to how many windows could be opened. The Physick Estate certainly has an abundance of those, with the pocket windows in the parlor and music room adjacent to the porch, which could be raised to let in the cool breezes. Much has happened in our world since the days when Dr. Physick would sit there and chat with his mother and Aunt Emily. The Physicks had servants, so most of the work that would raise internal thermometers was done by someone else, allowing the genteel ladies to relax and enjoy those breezes.

Today, it’s different. Maybe it’s global warming that has raised our thermometers, or maybe it’s the pace and pressure of life today, but we want our air conditioning! We want to keep our history intact, but we want it to be cool and comfortable. I can still remember the first car I had with air conditioning (yes, I am that old), and I have never had the desire to revert to those “good old (and hot driving) days.”

So, here’s where the blending comes in. We shopped around for window units that were energy-efficient and big enough to make a difference, but small enough so they didn’t drown out the guide and shout “Look at me! I’m an air conditioner!” We put them in several rooms where their outside appearance was not obvious and our maintenance staff did a masterful job of camouflage with paint matching the house trim colors. What a difference! It was also a testimonial to the home’s architect, Frank Furness, that even a few small units made such a big impact on temperature and humidity.

Our visitors were happy and our staff was ecstatic. We think learning about this period in our local history is important, but it’s hard to do when you’re feeling more like a lobster in a pot. We want our visitors to experience the history that fills the Physick house, not suffer through it. And we certainly don’t want anyone illustrating the use of “fainting couches.”

Why am I thinking about air conditioning while we’re still in the grips of winter? Because I’m so looking forward to the time – not that far away – when I can start complaining about the heat…and turn up the air conditioning.

-- Jean Barraclough, MAC's director of marketing & communications