Sights, Sounds and Tastes 0f 1835–Aiken, SC
Saturday, January 9th dawned clear, but cold. Despite the sunshine, by the time the 1pm church bells tolled the start of the opening ceremonies in downtown Aiken, the temperature had only climbed to a frosty thirty degrees. In spite of the chill, quite a crowd assembled to hear a brief history of the founding of the town and a lively rendition of an 1835 hymn.
I had carried my sketchbook along in hopes of a great drawing opportunity. Unfortunately, since the bulk of the exhibits had been moved indoors, each demonstration area was quite crowded. At the Arts Center there was barely any elbow room, much less “sketching room”…and so I did not have the opportunity to create the drawings I had planned.
I did learn a few things…
There were no lead pencils in 1835. Children used a type of stone stylus to write their letters.
Broom corn was first imported to this country by Benjamin Franklin. The United States soon became the largest grower of broom corn and manufacturer of brooms in the world.
I learned that straw was also used to test a cake for “doneness”.
All in all, a very interesting day. The next event in this 175th Anniversary Series will take place on January 23 at the Aiken County Historical Museum.
