Virtual Tour: Green Gables Heritage Place

Horsehair fabric, like that on this settee, was commonly used to cover Victorian furniture because it was durable and inexpensive. Anne wanted to have tea with Diana in the Parlour, but Marilla declared “the sitting room will do”  for the girls that afternoon.

Hanging prints of children praying, like this one from the Family Herald and Weekly Star (Montreal, Canada), was common in the 1800s. Anne’s first night at Green Gables, she makes up her first prayer, ending it with “yours respectfully” and not “Amen”, much to Marilla’s surprise.

Pump organs were common in smaller churches and private homes in the late 1800s. Families usually kept them in the “Parlour”. Montgomery played the pump organ at the Cavendish Presbyterian Church where she met her future husband, the Reverend Ewen Macdonald.

In the 1800s, angled ceramic cheese dishes or cheese bells were one of the most common ways to keep the cheese from spoiling until the introduction of the home refrigerator in 1913. Perhaps Mrs. Lynde kept her prized cheese in a cheese bell when not taking it to the exhibition!

Invented in the early 1830s, the stereoscope was the world’s first 3D viewing system. This device brought images to life by presenting slightly different views of the same scene to the right eye and left eye at the same time. It was very popular  with both adults and children!

Hardworking Matthew may have used a “walking stick” like this simple cane for support from time to time. Once a fashion accessory, the walking stick evolved from being a symbol of stature into a standard walking aid for the elderly, injured or infirm for help in getting around.

In the 1800s, people of modest means had very few clothes. Most had a “Sunday Best” dress or suit, clothing for work or chores and sleepwear. Matthew wore his “white collar” on special occasions such as when he met Anne at the train station or when the minister came to call.     

Marilla’s “old-fashioned Waterloo stove” was rather luxurious for the late 1800s. This New Waterloo No. 2 was manufactured in Sackville, New Brunswick. Wood burned in the bottom compartment heated the cooking surfaces and baking oven (top) and provided heat for the home.

During the mid-1800s, the fainting couch or daybed became popular. One theory is that this curvier sofa evolved because tightly-corseted ladies would collapse onto them to catch their breath.  Couches in kitchens were good places for anyone ill and very tempting spots for naps!

The woodbox stored wood to fuel the stove. Since wood stoves in Victorian houses needed to be kept going all the time (even in summer), having some wood stored conveniently indoors made the job a bit easier. Families refilled their woodboxes from a woodpile outside or a woodshed.

A butter churn is used to make butter from cream. This plunge churn was the most common style but there were also paddle, barrel and even rocking-chair churns! Butter forms when the staff (plunger), inserted into the top of the churn, is moved up and down repeatedly in the cream.

Multi-mouse traps like these from the 1800s were placed in homes to catch many pests at a time. The pantry is particularly tempting for rodents with all of the sugar, flour, molasses and other baking and cooking supplies.

Ironing was hard work! The "sad irons" were made of solid metal, weighed up to nine pounds and had to be heated over a fire or stovetop. This lighter rod model, known as a goffering iron, was designed for use on collars on dresses and shirts.

In the 1800s, companies began making more affordable carpets which made them a more common find in regular homes. It is not surprising that carpet sweepers or mechanical brooms also became popular household tools - they made the cleaning of carpets so much easier!

Many simple kitchen tools were designed and perfected in the late 1800s. Cast iron cherry pitters like this one removed cherry stones without squashing the fruit. They were popular at first but likely didn’t really save that much time when making preserves and pies!

The first apple peelers were patented in the early 1800s. Apple peelers were often used to peel potatoes too since peeling either with a knife was a tedious process. No wonder simple crab-apple preserves like Marilla’s were popular - the peels are left on!    

Non-alcoholic berry drinks like cordials were common in the 1800s and usually kept for special occasions and guests. Anne was supposed to serve Diana raspberry cordial when she came to tea.  Unfortunately, the currant wine she served by mistake was a very different drink!

Anne did all but beg Marilla for a puffed-sleeve dress with no success. Matthew noticed Anne’s dresses were different from the other girls’ and approached Mrs Rachel for her help in making Anne her very own “fashionable” dress for Christmas complete with puffed-sleeves!

The carpet bag was invented for practical and necessary use, not style, during the 1800s. Similar to a suitcase of today, it was used as a reliable way of carrying one’s things. In Anne’s case,  even if it was shabby and old-fashioned, her carpet bag held “all her worldly goods”.

In the 1800s, children used mini chalkboards made of slate to practice writing because paper was too expensive. One day at school, Gilbert teased Anne, calling her “Carrots!”. Enraged, she reacted by hitting him over the head with her slate, breaking it. Isn’t it funny that she saved it?

Anne’s love of apple blossoms was apparent from her first drive down the “White Way of Delight”. When she first arrived at Green Gables, the walls of the east gable room were bare so she imagined them “hung with gold and silver brocade tapestry.” Later, she covered them with a “dainty apple-blossom paper”.

While shawls served in keeping warm, they were also quite fashionable and perfect for when the temperature was warm but wearing a coat was too much.  Marilla wore dressier shawls to church and afternoon meetings of the Ladies’ Aid Society, and basic ones were worn at home.

Marilla often mentioned having tired eyes and headaches. A specialist examined her and told her to quit work that strained them. She was also to be careful not to cry and should wear special glasses to ease her headaches and prevent possible blindness.

Marilla’s most treasured possession was her amethyst brooch. When it went missing, she insisted Anne had misplaced it. In an effort to get to the Sunday School picnic, Anne made up a lie about losing it in the Lake of Shining Waters. In the end, it was found on Marilla’s shawl.

While hairpins were fashionable, Marilla used more practical wire pins to hold her dark hair (with grey streaks) in place. She wore it “twisted up in a hard little knot”. Women sometimes had different hairpins for different occasions.

Victorian-era spool-turned furniture was commonly made in the late 1800s and is still popular style today. Families often made sure the spare room beds were comfortable and pretty but not too comfortable that guests overstayed their welcome.

Before indoor plumbing, chamber pots were often kept under the bed or in a nightstand commode as an alternative to a cold nighttime walk to the outhouse. Flush toilets started to appear in the 1800s but chamber pots remained common until the mid-1900s.

Anne arrived at Green Gables “garbed in a very short, very tight, very ugly dress of yellowish-gray wincey.” Marilla provided three new “good, sensible, serviceable dresses” - including one that was “a stiff print of an ugly blue shade” - none of which Anne found to be “pretty".

A treadle sewing machine is powered by the user's foot which pushes the treadle up and down. Sewing machines were often placed by large windows to make use of natural light. Women made most of their family’s clothing at home.

This umbrella swift design has been around since the 1600s and is used to hold a skein of yarn or wool to wind it into a ball. It was named because of its appearance resembling the ribs of an umbrella. No need to have someone with outstretched hands when you have this tool!

Rope beds create support by criss-crossing under hay and straw mattresses, and need to be pulled taut nightly for comfort, to keep the mattress from sagging to the floor. Straw mattresses also tend to attract bugs, hence the saying "Sleep tight, and don't let the bed bugs bite".

Cheese became popular in the 1800s, so it’s not surprising that wooden cheese boxes were created about the same time, allowing cheeses to be shipped near and far. While primarily used for transporting cheese, wooden boxes like these were excellent as storage spaces.