Good Afternoon Sharon,

Please give me a telephone call about this.  As a young boy in the 1950s -- one of my elderly relations (she was born in the 1870s) on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, would seasonally “dress” her antebellum home.  Her home was not air-conditioned, had very high ceilings with huge windows you could walk through to get to the porch, which surrounded the house; had a separate (connected the main house via a covered walkway) kitchen building with a wood stove for cooking and the interior furnishings from the 1800s.   I have vivid memories of the servants dressing the house for winter: removing the cotton covers off the furniture; rolling up the sisal mats on the floor, replacing them with heavy rugs; taking down the light, sheer curtains from the windows and replacing them with dark, heavy curtains.  This was done in the late fall, since the “dressing” was done during the same week as I would make my annual visit to pick pecans from her pecan (pronounced pik-awhnns) grove.  My parents in New Orleans, having an air-conditioned house only had the cotton covers on the furniture for the summer – this was done for cultural/fashion reasons rather than practical purposes.  In New Orleans, by the early 1960s my parents stopped “dressing” our furniture for the summer……I am sure air-conditioning was the cause of its demise…….

I hope this helps,

Wesley

Wesley S. Creel

Administrator of Programs

Pink Palace Family of Museums

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

www.memphismuseums.org

901.320.6370

 

 

Would anyone know where I can get historical information on dressing a home for summer?  We have done this in previous years covering the large mirrors, gilded frames (excluding plain wooden frames), furniture, etc. However, I would like to see some documentation on exactly what would have been covered.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Sharon Maguire

Belle Meade Plantation