Demon Hunters - The Truck the Witch and the Blacksmith

Chapter Six - The Boardinghouse

Chapter Six – The Boardinghouse

There next stop was the Museum.

The curator was setting at a little table just inside the door. Standing up she announced, "Welcome to Miss Tomson's Boardinghouse. The admission is $5 each."

Jim handed her a twenty, and she gave Jim his change. Then she instructed, "You need to sign the guest book."

Miss Tomson's Boardinghouse museum

After that the tour began. The curator announced, "I'm Isabella and I'll be your guide on this journey back through time. Miss Tomson's father purchased this property about 1860. His daughter being 19 and not married made her father fear for her wellbeing. To solve this he commissioned the building of the Boardinghouse for his daughter. He had hoped it would get her a husband, but she never married. The first boarders could rent a room for about $5 per month with meals. She ran the Boardinghouse from its completion in 1864 until her death in 1902.

$30 was a lot of money back then! The average person made about a dollar a day, and that might have been a ten or twelve hour day. At that time, milk would have been about 8¢ a quart, which was also fairly expensive because dairy operations had not been modernized to optimize production. You could rent a room for about $5 per month, coffee was 12¢ a pound, sugar was 7 to 10¢ a pound, and flour was $3 per barrel or 4¢ a pound.

This first room is the Parlour what we would call the living room today. It was rarely used back in its day. This room was for birthday parties, Sunday guests, and Special Occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas. This is where they would put the Christmas tree.

Now we continue down the hall to the Great Room. This is where they would spend most of their time in the cold months. As you can see the kitchen and dining room was all one big room. The heat from the wood cook stove kept the room warm all winter long. We've restored the kitchen to the 1800's, but the dining room wallpaper is from the 1920's.

Suzy asked, "What's this picture here on the wall.

The curator replied, "It's a picture of the bed from Miss Tomson's Boardinghouse. They knew it had been there since the 1870's, but there have been some dating problems. It has some signs of modern machinery being used on it. Some say it could have been from a repair, and others say it's a fake,

About the bed itself it's an Empire style and takes its name from the rule of the Emperor Napoleon I in the First French Empire. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 during the Consulate and the First French Empire periods, although its life span lasted until the late-1820s. It's from France and it spread into much of Europe and the United States. How one got into Miss Tomson's Boardinghouse no one knows, but there is pictures of it there in the 1920's. If we just step down the hall you can see it in Miss Tomson's room."

Looking at the bed Suzy questioned, "What about how they lived, and the clothing they wore?"

The curator replied, "You might want to talk to Roy. He's around here somewhere, and knows all about how people lived back then. You can look through the rooms. Each room has things from that time period. Everything is marked with a card or plaque identifying its name and date. That's about it for my part. Feel free to wander around and enjoy yourself."

At the end of the hall a man came walking up and announced, "I'm Roy Isabella said you had some questions."

Suzy spoke first, "I see all the women's clothes are dresses that are long heavy and bulky. Did women ever ware pants?"

Roy informed, "Most women usually wore long skirts that felt heavy, looked bulky, and limited their range of motion. Some women, embracing the concept of "rational dress," wanted the option to wear pants in public. Some wanted it for purely practical reasons, such as for comfort and ease of movement. For others, the freedom to wear pants was tied to the women's rights movement, a radical and controversial crusade at the time.

Most women that wore pants worked in mining camps, logging camps, horse or cattle ranches, and as a Pony Express rider carrying the U.S. mail. They would be seen riding horses, and had a habit of dressing like a man. They had the reputation for being able to handle a horse better than most men and shoot like a cowboy. Most of these women carried a rifle or wore a hand gun.

Jim questioned, "What kind of gun was used at the time?"

Roy responded, "The revolver of the day was the Colt Peacemaker. It was popular with ranchers, lawmen, and outlaws alike. As for the rifle of the time the Model 1873 Winchester was one of the most successful rifles of its day."

Then Roy questioned, "Anything else?"

Suze questioned, "How hard was it to get thigs like a wagon and horses."

For a person to get a wagon in this part of the country, you would need to hire a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a wheelwright. Then it would take about two to two and half months to get it built, at a cost of around $250.

People around here most likely traveled in a single farm style four-wheeled wagon capable of carrying at least 2,500 pounds. This wagon would have been covered with water-proofed canvas (likely not pristine white as in the movies) and pulled by two horses. The farm wagons were light and had good clearance, practical considerations when fording rivers and traversing mountain passes."

Suzy asked, "Is there a place I can get a list of what things cost in the 1870's."

Roy replied, "I have a list like that done by decade. I'll make a copy of the list for the 1870's and leave it with Isabella. You can pick it up on your way out."

Suzy commented, "Thanks Roy."

Roy smiled and walked down the hall.

Suzy looked out the back window and commented, "Look Jim. There's a little building out back."

Jim responded, "It's the bath house. I've been out there before. It's like a wash room with a tub. You can wash your clothes and take a bath out there."

Suzy responded, "Oh, bet it was cold in the winter."

Jim replied, "No. it has a little wood cook stove on the back wall."

Then they noticed one room on the back of the house had been split into two bathrooms. They both had a claw-foot tub, sink, and toilet with the tank mounted up high on the wall.

Jim commented, "They must have added this in the early 1900's"

Then they finished their tour, and picked up the list from Isabella on their way out.

At the car Suzy confessed, "Boy do I have my work set out for me."

Jim questioned. "What do you mean?"

Suzy replied, "We just can't drive that beast of a truck down Main Street. Then jump out run in the Saloon, and drag our great grandpa out to the truck. What then, we drive out of town like a bat out of hell. You have any idea what that will do to the Time Passages?"

Jim slapped his hand to his head and gasped, "Oh hell, I haven't even thought about what to do once we get there."

Suzy assured, "Don't worry about it Jim that's not your job. I'll take care of getting us clothes, money, guns, and whatever else we need. You just do the truck. That's all you have to worry about is the truck. I'll do the rest whatever it takes. You need parts, tell me, you need a tool, tell me, you need food, or anything else just tell me. That's my job. You got that?"

Jim laughed, "I understand, I'm the slave doing all the work, and you runaround spending money. Sounds like you get the dream job, and I get to put the bolt in the hole and turn the wrench. I need something right away.

Suzy whined, "What now Jim."

Jim replied, "Food! It's past lunch time."