John Jay Jr and David's Bedroom
This was John Jr. and David's bedroom. They shared a room until David was married. David and his wife, Amelia, lived upstairs until his home was built across the street in 1850.
This was John Jr. and David's bedroom. They shared a room until David was married. David and his wife, Amelia, lived upstairs until his home was built across the street in 1850.
John Jay French Museum Tour
John Jay Jr and David's BedroomThis was John Jr. and David's bedroom. They shared a room until David was married. David and his wife, Amelia, lived upstairs until his home was built across the street in 1850.
David and John Jr.'s room was the only room that was painted a different color. 200 years ago, pink was actually a masculine color and blue was considered dainty and feminine for girls. Around the 1940s, magazines started advertising light pink and frilly things for girls and darker blue colors for boys.
Archaeological digs conducted on the property during restoration unearthed several interesting items!
The bottle, labeled Syrup Pepsin, was a stomach medicine similar to Pepto-Bismol and used to treat upset stomachs. It still contains the original medicine inside! Several broken bottles of Syrup Pepsin were found on the property, which could have been used by the family or sold at the French Trading Post.
This small horn is called a bleeding horn. Prior to modern medicine, doctors believed any sickness was in your blood, and that the cure was cutting you to rid you of the sickness. The bleeding horn and cup were used to measure how much blood was let out. Advancements in medicine and technology have proven bloodletting was actually more harmful than helpful and in fact caused many unnecessary deaths.
Ledgers left behind by John French tell us that his son David had this performed on him twice - by a neighbor! - due to a bad fever. Doctors traveled, and it was never known when they'd be in your town next. So who did you see when you had an ailment? Often, you'd visit the town barber because they had sharp blades that could make precise cuts! The red and white pole outside of barbershops helped people identify which barbers could perform medical and dental procedures. The red stripes on the pole represented blood, while the white represented bandages.
This mirror may look unusual, because it's actually lined with silver! Mirrors were made with silver backing starting in the 16th century, and by the 19th century, they grew in popularity (and size) and became more common in households.
Have you ever heard the myth that vampires can't see their reflections in mirrors? This was because of vampires' aversion to the silver backing of the mirrors!