Unwrapping the Mummy: Egyptomania During the Victorian Era

Drew Cruikshank, Intern

Egyptomania was a period of intense interest in ancient Egypt during the nineteenth century. This surge began in 1798 with the launch of Napoleon’s campaigns in Egypt and Syria, which aimed to increase trade, develop new alliances, and further scientific innovation (unfortunately, a fitting example of imperialism). It was on this expedition that they discovered the Rosetta Stone. Not long after, Europe began to see a proliferation of Egyptian aesthetics in its culture and design. The ‘exotic’ nature of Egypt consumed Western thought, revealing itself through literature, art, and culture. This included mummy unwrapping parties, stories such as Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Lot No. 249,” and in décor, including a few pieces that you can find at Dalnavert!

The Victorians let their intrigue cloud their judgement when it came to mummy unwrapping. A temporary form of entertainment for the Victorians was a complete desecration of Egypt, its people, and their ancestors. Anyone who could afford to travel to Egypt could afford to buy a mummy, although it took a trained individual to unwrap it. Thomas Pettigrew, who was a surgeon, antiquary, and author, was a well-known ‘unroller.’ Conflating science with spectacle, Pettigrew would host private parties where he would unwrap and perform autopsies on the mummies. The process was not very elaborate:

Following a lecture of Egyptian history and religion the lecturer and his assistants would gradually remove the textiles and other materials that encased the mummy. Fragments of the wrappings, pungent with resins and spices, were often passed around the audience along with the amulets and other artefacts encountered within them.[i]

These gatherings lasted for quite a while, thankfully dying out in the latter years of the century. While one can hope this is because the Victorians recognized their inhumanity, it is more likely, as Egyptologist John J. Johnston notes, to be a result of boredom.[ii] The process itself lacked lustre and many were disappointed when they discovered that the mummy was not going to suddenly come to life and walk around the room.

"A Mummy" (1906)

It was only in fiction that this fantasy of reanimation could be actualized. Several authors incorporated the motif of the mummy into their works, including Edgar Allan Poe in “Some Words with a Mummy” (1845), Louisa May Alcott in “Lost in a Pyramid; or, The Mummy’s Curse” (1869), and, notably, Arthur Conan Doyle in “The Ring of Thoth” (1890) and “Lot No. 249” (1892). In “Lot No. 249,” Abercrombie Smith learns that his neighbour, Edward Bellingham has been keeping an Egyptian mummy in his dormitory. After learning this, Smith makes several discoveries, suggesting that there is an evil within either the mummy or Bellingham. Being one of the first stories to surface which depicts the mummy as an actual threat, “Lot No. 249” calls imperialism into question and comments on the Victorians’ obsession with, and simultaneously their fear of, the foreign.

Illustration by Martin Van Maële for Arthur Conan Doyle's "Lot No. 249" (1906)

If you visit Dalnavert, you will notice that there are several pieces which share this Egyptian aesthetic. In the parlour, for example, there are two small fire screens, which prevented a lady from becoming flushed while sitting in front of the fire. These two screens display Egyptian iconography. As well, the Singer sewing machine’s upper black body, found in the sewing room, is decorated with Egyptian motifs.

Fire Screen with Egyptian Decoration

Singer Sewing Machine with Egyptian Motifs (c. 1891)

The Europeans’ fascination with Egypt did make its way to North America around the same time; however, it was not nearly as immense. Aesthetics change and the Victorians’ enthusiasm did falter as time progressed. However, to this day, the spirit of ancient Egypt is still prevalent in the West. Opposed to the Victorians though, we try to celebrate ancient Egypt in a way that does not disrespect or appropriate its rich history and culture.

Bibliography

DHWTY. “Disrespect and Desecration at Victorian Mummy Unwrapping Parties.” Ancient Origins. 30 May 2018. https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/disrespect-desecration-victorian-mummy-unwrapping-0010129.

Moshenska, Gabriel. “Unrolling Egyptian mummies in nineteenth-century Britain.” BJHS 47, no. 3 (September 2014): 451-477. https://www-cambridge-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/56BF3B3408D2E13EB839FFD58CF738B4/S0007087413000423a.pdf/unrolling_egyptian_mummies_in_nineteenthcentury_britain.pdf

[i] Gabriel Moshenska, “Unrolling Egyptian mummies in nineteenth-century Britain,” BJHS 47, no. 3 (September 2014): 452. https://www-cambridge-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/56BF3B3408D2E13EB839FFD58CF738B4/S0007087413000423a.pdf/unrolling_egyptian_mummies_in_nineteenthcentury_britain.pdf

[ii] DHWTY, “Disrespect and Desecration at Victorian Mummy Unwrapping Parties,” Ancient Origins, 30 May 2018, https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/disrespect-desecration-victorian-mummy-unwrapping-0010129.

Authorship and Anonymity: Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century

By Drew Cruikshank, Intern

At the present time, most authors take immense pride in their work and have no issue with receiving credit for it. However, it was quite common for authors during the nineteenth century and prior to use pseudonyms. Authors would take on a nom de plume for a multitude of reasons, one of them being to avoid stigmatization from their society. Though, it was much easier for men to excel as authors for, as Charlotte Brontë wrote herself, authoresses were “liable to be looked on with prejudice.”[i] In spite of this bias, much of the nineteenth century’s most brilliant writing came from the pen of a woman. With this, we will be discussing seven leading authoresses of the nineteenth century who chose to remain anonymous, including Jane Austen, Amantine Lucille Aurore Dupin, the Brontë sisters, Mary Ann Evans, and Louisa May Alcott.

Jane Austen, or A Lady (1775-1817)

Portrait of Jane Austen by Cassandra Austen, c. 1810

Regardless of whether you have actually read anything by Jane Austen, you have probably been assigned one of her novels at some point in your academic career and / or have seen one of the numerous adaptations that have been made. Austen is a household name, best known for novels like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Despite being an esteemed author today, in her lifetime, Austen chose to remain anonymous, receiving a modest living from her novels. For her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility (1811), Austen decided to sign her work with ‘By a Lady.’ Unlike other writers of her time, she did not take on a male name. While she did not wish to reveal her own identity, she did want the general public to realize and understand that a woman, and more importantly a woman of high standing, was just as capable of writing a great novel than any man was. After the success of her first novel, Austen went on to publish Pride and Prejudice (1813), attributing it to ‘the author of Sense and Sensibility.’ She also published Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815) anonymously. After she passed away in 1817, her brother published Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, revealing in the biographical note the truth about Austen’s identity.

Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, or George Sand (1804-1876)

Portrait of George Sand, 1864

Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin was a French Romantic novelist—one of the best, surpassing her male counterparts. Finding married life too repressive, Dupin left her husband but soon realized that she would not be able to sustain herself on her measly monthly allowance and took to writing. After authoring a few collaborative novels, she wrote and then published Indiana (1832), which was the first novel she signed with the pseudonym George Sand. Unlike other authoresses, Dupin’s pseudonym quickly consumed her identity. For Dupin, her writing was an extension of herself, intended to raise women up from their “abject position.” In a letter to Frederic Girerd from 1837 she expands on this idea:

People think it very natural and pardonable to trifle with what is most sacred when dealing with women: women do not count in the social or moral order. I solemnly vow—and this is the first glimmer of courage and ambition in my life! —that I shall raise woman from her abject position, both through myself and my writing.[ii]

Taking her activism one step further, Dupin took to the streets, wearing menswear at a time when a woman wearing pants called for a hefty fine. In taking on a pseudonym and wearing whatever she pleased, Dupin actively subverted traditional gender roles.

Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, or Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1816-1855; 1818-1848; 1820-1849)

Portrait of the Brontë Sisters (Anne; Emily; Charlotte) by Branwell Brontë, c. 1834

Trying to succeed as an authoress during this time was incredibly difficult, since the expectation was that women would spend all of their time tending to their family. Further, the Brontës wished to delve into themes of class, sexuality, religion, and feminism in their novels—topics which the public considered taboo for women to write about. At times drawing from their own life experiences, Kristen Pond states that their novels focus on “the ways women’s lives do not fit within the strictures of the realist Bildungsroman plot.”[iii] After Charlotte had published her second novel, Shirley (1849), prominent critic George Henry Lewes (who would later form a relationship with Mary Ann Evans, better known as George Eliot) discovered that ‘Currer Bell’, the pseudonym that Charlotte had successfully been writing under for several years, was in fact Charlotte. Though, there has been discussion that Lewes’ did suspect that ‘Currer’ was in fact a woman, mentioning in his review that “the authoress is unquestionably setting forth her own experience.”[iv] Obviously disgruntled about Lewes’ discovery, Charlotte wrote in a letter to him in 1849 that she did not want the public to view her as a woman:

I wish all reviewers believed ‘Currer Bell’ to be a man; they would be more just to him. You will, I know, keep measuring me by some standard of what you deem becoming to my sex; where I am not what you consider graceful you will condemn me.[v]

Mary Ann Evans, or George Eliot (1819-1880)

Portrait of George Eliot by François D’Albert Durade, 1849

Mary Ann Evans was one of the most dominant writers during the Victorian era, known widely for her novel Middlemarch (1871). Evans chose to write under a pseudonym because she wished to write more expansively, beyond just romances. Like other leading authoresses, she challenged the expectations that critics had for women’s writing. Eventually, though, the literary community accepted Evans as a writer, partially a result of her relationship with George Henry Lewes. While her relationship gave her more freedom to write as she pleased, she still felt criticism from those around her, specifically because Lewes was already a married man. Evans, like Dupin, was known by her pseudonym and chose to keep her alias.

Louisa May Alcott, or A. M. Barnard (1832-1888)

Portrait of Louisa May Alcott, 1870

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, best known for her novel Little Women (1868-69). Prior to Little Women’s success, though, Alcott used several pseudonyms. As an up and coming writer, Alcott used the name Flora Fairfield, as she was not confident enough in her writing just yet to include her real name. Then, depending on what she wished to write about, Alcott would either use her real name or the pseudonym A.M. Barnard. She specifically used this pen name when she wrote thrillers—focusing on spies and revenge—like Behind a Mask, or, A Woman’s Power (1866) and The Abbot’s Ghost: A Christmas Story (1867). The name A.M. Barnard made it possible for Alcott to support herself financially and gave her the freedom to write without stigmatization. After publishing Little Women, Alcott tended to avoid discussing the novels she wrote under her pseudonym.

During the nineteenth century, authoresses would take on pseudonyms for several reasons; however, as we have seen with these seven women, more often than not it was because, as women, they were not regarded as ‘real’ writers by society’s standards. Nonetheless, they found power in anonymity and it is due to these women that we have some of the most well-known and praised classic books.

Bibliography

Gary, Franklin. “Charlotte Brontë and George Henry Lewes.” PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 51, no. 2 (June 1, 1936): 518-542. https://www-jstor-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/stable/458068.

Pond K. (2019) Brontë, Charlotte. In: Scholl L. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Victorian Women’s Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02721-6_31-1.

Winegarten, Renee. The Double Life of George Sand, Woman and Writer: A Critical Biography. New York: Basic Books Inc., 1978.

[i] Pond K. (2019) Brontë, Charlotte. In: Scholl L. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Victorian Women’s Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02721-6_31-1, qtd. From Wuthering Heights, Norton Edition, p.4

[ii] Renee Winegarten, The Double Life of George Sand: woman and writer (New York: Basic Books Inc., 1978), 161.

[iii] Pond K. (2019) Brontë, Charlotte. In: Scholl L. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Victorian Women's Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi-org.uml.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02721-6_31-1

[iv] Franklin Gary, “Charlotte Brontë and George Henry Lewes,” PMLA 51, no. 2 (June 1, 1936): 527

[v] Ibid.

Victorian Taxidermy and the Peculiar Life of Walter Potter

By Drew Cruikshank, Intern

One of the things that many people cannot wrap their heads around is the Victorians odd obsession with death and mourning—what made mummies, death photography, and our topic of today, taxidermy so fascinating. Well, first, we will need to understand how the Victorians viewed death. There was a definite shift in ideology from the Georgian era into the Victorian era. While rationalism marked the Georgian era, the Victorians’ views aligned more-so with the Romantics, who were intrigued by mysticism. Meaning that, although the Victorian era was a time of technological advancement and progress, culturally, the Victorians were prone to believe in the supernatural.

Taxidermy is the practice of preserving, sometimes stuffing, and mounting deceased animals. When a human family member passed away, they would receive quite an extensive mourning ceremony. When a family pet passed away, however, it was common to hire a taxidermist to preserve the animal, giving them a ‘second life.’ As Sarah Amato mentions in her chapter, “Dead Things: The Afterlives of Animals,” this “reflected the Victorian and Edwardian belief that animals should be useful to humans, even in death.”[1] Although the animal could no longer offer companionship, at least the family could use the taxidermized pet to swank-up their parlour. In an odd way, taxidermy was a tender attempt by the family to immortalize their pet.

For an example closer to home, quite literally, when Lady Macdonald’s pug passed away, she hired a taxidermist to have him stuffed. He then sat in a small wooden cage in the parlour until she sold him at an auction for 50 cents (so, if anyone has a dusty stuffed pug hidden away in their attic or basement, we are on the hunt for one).

While taxidermy was, on one hand, a way to memorialize, or immortalize, your beloved, deceased pets, the Victorians also viewed it as an artform. There were many amateur taxidermists (from the above newspaper clipping, Lady Macdonald’s pug clearly deserved someone with a little bit more expertise), but only a few were able to make a career out of it.

One of the few was Walter Potter. Born in 1835, Potter was an English taxidermist known for his anthropomorphic dioramas of animals mimicking real-life situations. Transfixed by Hermann Ploucquet’s tableaux, a German taxidermist with a similar style, after visiting the Great Exhibition of 1851, a young Potter began creating his own pieces.

Potter accumulated quite the collection over his lifetime. One of his earlier pieces, which he started at the age of 19 and spent several years working on is “The Original Death & Burial of Cock Robin” (c. 1861). Inspired by the nursery rhyme “Who Killed Cock Robin,” this piece includes next to 98 specimens of British birds! In the same year, Potter opened his own museum to showcase his creations.

While Potter was clearly passionate, his taxidermy skills paled in comparison to say Ploucquet’s. However, where he lacked in precision, he made up for in his artistry, specifically in the minor details. One of his most famous pieces, which happens to be his last, is the “Kittens’ Wedding,” created in 1890.

This is one of my personal favourites – the whimsy of it all is truly engrossing. Your first reaction is probably either one of disgust or awe; however, you will be happy to know that Potter was not out murdering kittens for his pieces. On to the contrary, Potter only used previously deceased animals, which he received from a local farm.[2]

By the time Potter had died in 1914, his museum was coming to a stand-still. By the beginning of the twentieth century, people were no longer as interested in taxidermy and were beginning to raise questions about just how ethical taxidermy was. Nonetheless, to this day, Potter’s works are still discussed by those fascinated with this Victorian oddity.

Works Consulted

Amato, Sarah. “Dead Things: The Afterlives of Animals.” in Beastly Possessions: Animals in Victorian Consumer Culture, 182-223. University of Toronto Press, 2015, doi:10.3138/j.ctt18dzs2z.

Burgan, Rebecca. ““Anthropomorphic Taxidermy: How Dead Rodents Became the Darlings of the Victorian Elite.” Atlas Obscura. 5 December 2014. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/anthropomorphic-taxidermy-how-dead-rodents-became-the-darlings-of-the-victorian-elite.

Henning, Michelle. “Anthropomorphic Taxidermy and the Death of Nature: The Curious Art of Hermann Ploucquet, Walter Potter, and Charles Waterton.” Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 35, no. 2, Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 663-78, doi:10.1017/S1060150307051704.

Youdelman, Rachel. “Iconic Eccentricity: The Meaning of Victorian Novelty Taxidermy.” PSYART, vol. 21, University of Florida, 2017, pp. 38-68.

[1] Sarah Amato, “Dead Things: The Afterlives of Animals,” in Beastly Possessions: Animals in Victorian Consumer Culture (University of Toronto Press, 2015), 183.

[2] Rebecca Burgan, “Anthropomorphic Taxidermy: How Dead Rodents Became the Darlings of the Victorian Elite,” Atlas Obscura, 5 December 2014, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/anthropomorphic-taxidermy-how-dead-rodents-became-the-darlings-of-the-victorian-elite.

How to Mix Drinks: Victorian Style

By Sharee Hochman, Intern

            Jerry Thomas’s book “How to Mix Drinks: Or, The Bon-vivant's Companion, containing Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States, Together with the Most Popular British, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish Recipes” dates back all the way to 1862, and contains an array of Victorian style cocktails. At Dalnavert in 2020, we picked out a handful of cocktail recipes that we thought would be well suited to drink in each room.

Kitchen- A Staff Drink

Mulled Wine

Mulled wine is a simple and fast cocktail to make, it requires simple ingredients that are typically found in any kitchen. This means the servants/staff would have had full access to the ingredients needed to make the recipe. Mulled wine can be drunk hot or cold and takes a long time to go bad. This would be perfect for the servants to sip on while continuing their daily tasks. They could even be discrete by pouring it into a tea cup as it could be mistaken for a black or herbal tea.

Ingredients:

To every pint of wine allow:

·         1 Small tumblerful of water

·         Sugar and spice for taste

Directions:

            “In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavor is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling point, then serve with dry toast or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port or claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately clean”.

 Dining Room- A Guest Drink

Porter Cup



            The Porter Cup is composed of a variety of tasteful ingredients that will clean your tongue palate. This refreshing cocktail would be perfect for dinner guests to drink in-between meals, to cleanse their palates for the next entrée.

Ingredients:

·         Porter beer

·         Table-ale

·         Brandy

·         Ginger Syrup

·         Sugar

·         Nutmeg

·         Carbonated Soda

Directions:

            “Mix in a tankard or covered jug of bottle of porter, and an equal quantity of table-ale; pour in a glass of brandy, a dessert spoonful of syrup of ginger, add three or four lumps of sugar, and half a nutmeg grated; cover it down, and expose it to the cold for half an hour; just before sending it to the table, stir in a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda. Add the fresh-cut rind of a cucumber”.

Parlor- A Party Drink

Tip-Top Punch



            The Tip-Top Punch is a fruitful party drink mixed with Champagne. This punch would be a great cocktail to serve in the Parlor where Lady Macdonald would entertain her guests. Because this cocktail has the perfect mix of fruity and bubbly, the notes and delicate aromas can be irresistible to guests, making them to want to visit more often.

Ingredients:

·         1 Bottle of Champagne

·         Soda water

·         1 Liquor glass of Curaçao

·         2 Tablespoonful of powdered sugar

·         1 Sliced pineapple

Directions:

            “Put all the ingredients together in a small punch-bowl, mix well, and serve in champagne goblets”.

 Solarium- A Ladies’ Meeting

Peach and Honey



            This smooth mix is a sweet and fruity drink that could be served at room temperature, hot, or cold. The Peach and Honey cocktail would be a perfect substitute for actual tea during an afternoon tea while planning social events. Similar to the servant’s cocktail of Mulled Wine, the Peach and Honey mix could be served in a tea cup and be disguised as orange pekoe tea.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tablespoonful of honey

·         1Wine glass of peach brandy

Directions:

            “Serve one tablespoonful of honey into a glass, and fill it with peach brandy. Stir with spoon”.

 Study- A Men’s Meeting

 Whiskey Cobbler



          This Victorian styled Old Fashion is simple yet heavy-duty. The Whiskey Cobbler has a mix of zest from the sliced oranges and vanilla oak from the whiskey. It is a cocktail that one could sip on during legal and political meetings, perhaps like those between Sir Hugh Macdonald and his associates.

Ingredients:

·         2 Wine glassfuls of whiskey

·         1 Tablespoonful of sugar

·         2 or 3 slices of orange

Directions:

“Combine all ingredients, then fill a tumbler with ice and shake well. You can imbibe through a straw”.

 Veranda- A Summer Drink

Mint Julip



            The Mint Julip is similar to a mojito cocktail, a cool and refreshing beverage to drink on a hot summers day. This fresh cocktail would be perfect to cool off from the sun while on the veranda with some guests, or to enjoy alone.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tablespoonful of sugar

·         2 ½ cups of water

·         3 or 4 sprigs of fresh mint

·         1 ½ wine glass of Cognac brandy

·         Shaved ice

·         Berries

·         Jamaica Rum

·         Orange slices

Directions:

“Take three or four sprigs of fresh mint, and press them well in the sugar and water, until the flavor of the mint is extracted; add one and a half wine-glass of Cognac brandy, and fill the glass with shaved ice, then draw out the sprigs of mint and insert them in the ice with the stems downward, so that the leaves will be above, in the shape of a bouquet; arrange berries, and small pieces of sliced orange on top in a tasty manner, dash with Jamaica rum, and spring white sugar on top. Place in a straw, and you have a julep that is fit for an emperor”.

 Master Bedroom- A Cozy Drink

Apple Toddy



          The Apple Toddy mimics the coziness of a warm apple caramel pie with its cider brandy and baked apple slice. This drink would be perfect to warm up next to in bed on a cold night.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tablespoonful of fine white sugar

·         1 Wine glass full of cider brandy

·         ½ of a baked apple

Directions:

“Fill the glass two thirds full of boiling water, and grate a little nutmeg on top”.

 Daisy’s Room- A ‘Something with a Bit of Spice’ Drink

A Jerry Thomas



          This drink if full of surprises, just like Daisy. It contains a handful of raisins, cloves, allspice, and snakeroot! Once you get to know this spicy cocktail, it’s as much of a surprise as our fencing, pant-wearing Daisy being the daughter of a politician in the 19th Century.

Ingredients:

·         ¼ lb. of raisins

·         2 Ounces of cinnamon

·         1 Sprinkle of snake-root

·         1 Lemon sliced

·         1 Orange sliced

·         1 Ounce of cloves

·         1 Sprinkle of allspice

·         Santa Cruz Rum

Directions:

“Fill decanter with Santa Cruz Rum. Bottle and serve out in pony glasses. As fast as the bitters is used fill up again with rum”.

 Jack’s Room- A ‘Something Light’ Drink

Hot Milk Punch



            This simple and warm drink is very suiting for Jack’s room. Not only is it because he was the youngest member of the family, but because he spent most of his time resting in bed due to battling Juvenile Diabetes. This drink is not too sweet and sugary which will help keep his blood sugar on the level.

Ingredients:

·         1 Tablespoonful of fine white sugar

·         2 Cups of water

·         1 Wine glass of Cognac brandy

·         ½ Cup of Santa Cruz rum

·         Milk

Directions:

“Fill with boiling milk, shake the ingredients well together, and grate a little nutmeg on top”.

 Bathroom- A ‘Something Refreshing’ Drink

Bottled Velvet



          The Bottled Velvet cocktail is just as smooth as it sounds. Its citrus and dry taste from the lemons, verbena leaves, and sherry create the perfect drink to sip in the tub. Verbena leaves were commonly used in foods, teas, and cocktails as it helped with respiratory sicknesses. What could be better than getting over a common cold in a hot bath with a Bottled Velvet in your hand? Speaking of which, Lady MacDonald has a speaking tube in her bathroom which leads to the Kitchen. This way she can ask the Chef or Maid to bring her a Bottled Velvet while she is in the tub.

Ingredients:

·         1 Bottle of Moselle

·         ½ pint of Sherry

·         Lemon peel

·         2 Tablespoonful’s of sugar

·         1 Sprig of verbena

Directions:

“All must be well mixed, and then strained and iced”.

 Attic- A Men’s Night in Drink

Canadian Punch



            It is unknown what the attic in the house was exactly used for, but it is likely Hugh Macdonald wished to turn it into a billiards room. Because the Manitoba Club is just down the street from the house, it is possible the attic billiards room was never realized. If Hugh Macdonald’s wish was granted, a glass of Canadian Punch would pair perfectly while playing pool with friends.

Ingredients:

·         2 Quarts of rye whiskey

·         1 Pint of Jamaica rum

·         6 Lemons sliced

·         1 Pineapple sliced

·         4 Quarts of Water

·         Sugar

Directions:

“Mix well and sweeten to taste, pour over ice”.

Works Cited

Thomas, Jerry. “How to Mix Drinks.” Google Books, Google, 1862.

Reopening Update

The Province of Manitoba has recently announced that museums, including Dalnavert Museum, will soon be able to reopen to the public. We have not yet set a reopening date, but we are working to ensure that we have the procedures and equipment in place to ensure a safe and positive experience for visitors, volunteers, and staff.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding. We hope to see you soon! (Of course, as long as it’s safe to do so.)

A Message to Our Community

Dalnavert Museum is committed to the safety and well-being of our visitors, volunteers and staff. As we assess the implications of COVID-19 on our operations, Dalnavert Museum has cancelled its public programming starting March 18th, 2020. This includes on-site lectures and tours of the heritage house museum.

Out of an abundance of caution, most of the private functions scheduled in our Visitors’ Centre have been cancelled in favour of the current need for social distancing at this time. Dalnavert Museum staff are working with our community members to reschedule planned events as necessary.

Current updates on this information can be found through our website and social media as the situation continues to unfold.

Thank you for your patience and support in this time.

23% of our operating budget is from earned revenue generated each year from visitors to our museum. We look forward to reopening as soon as possible, but until then we will endeavour to engage audiences via our website and social media.

If you wish to renew your membership, we would be happy to speak with you over the phone while we are closed to the public. It is also our pleasure to accept your generosity through donations.

You can always go to our website for more details. If you don't find what you're looking for, call us at 204-943-2835, we would love to speak with you!