Guides in front of the Governor’s Palace, Williamsburg
My very short visit to Colonial Williamsburg this week provided me with an immersion in 18th century Colonial life. The time frame captured by this historic city is 1760-1776. The costumes worn by the guides would have been similar to the dress worn by Jane Austen’s parents around the time of her birth. The Capitol building (rebuilt 1934) is a site of historic events, including Thomas Jefferson’s first attempt at a bill for religious freedom. Today, immigrants are naturalized here in a ceremony held once a year.
Walking towards the Capitol building in Williamsburg, I met four guides, three women and a man, dressed in Colonial costume. All graciously posed for my camera (see 21-second video above), turning and posing to show their mob caps, bonnets, and aprons, and the construction details of their dress. The young lady who wore her apron up explained that she had not been taught to tuck it up, and that she did it naturally. This made sense, as there are many images from the past that show women wearing their aprons in this way, which allowed them to carry items inside the tucked section.
This 6-second video is of the Capitol.
Loved your video and everything about this site. Your pics and commentaries are always so imformative and enhance my own reading with images. Thank you so much for all of your efforts and wonderful contributions to the JAFF community. Jen Red
I enjoyed your vidoes. Colonial Williamsburg is one of my favorite places to visit. I have been going there since I was a young girl and it is a tradition I am now experiencing with my little girls. It may be why I have such a love for American history! Thank you for sharing a little bit of your trip!!:)
I lived in Williamsburg until I was 7 as my father’s parents lived there and Dad found work there after the Army. My grandparents were originally from NY but Mr. Rockefeller, who employed my grandfather as an architect in NY, sent him to Williamsburg because he didn’t have work for him up there and he knew of my grandfather’s interest in colonial architecture, in particular, so he sent Grampa to Williamsburg to work for him there. So my grandfather was one of those people who helped bring Colonial Williamsburg back to life! I grew up as a little girl walking those brick sidewalks and cobbled streets. Actually, back then the streets of CW were open to car traffic at night so you could actually drive by the homes and shops in the evening. I believe all of this has been the reason for my love of history, too. I forgot, my father worked as the manager of Chowning’s Tavern for several years. So Jane Austen has been a natural extension, historically, for me, not to mention that she was England’s preeminent writer of all time! I was fully enmeshed in that time period in her first 25 years of life before I found Jane!
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One of your guides had been a student in my Jane Austen seminar!