History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 21

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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Another curious character was Henry Noble, a col- ored man, who went by the nickname of " Whistling Harry." Whether he was totally insane does not ap- pear, but his peculiarity was a strange one. "Lang Syne," of Germantown, informs us that-

" he always curied n stick, with a tin kettle on his arm. For a cent he would spell ' Constantinople' and give a prolonged whistle that could he heard for a square. When the cent was produced he would com- mener, Con, that's Con, & t a-n, that's stan, t-i, that's ti, x-o-bele Iring his name , that's Constantinople,'g ving a smack with his hips like the report of a Isto] between ach syllatde, and winding up with his pro- longe i whistle, his eyes nearly starting from their si kets. He was general enrolled by a crowd of boys from the stres along Market Stort, between Fourth and Fitth. Cent after cont was pr luced, and ofttim " he was called upon terep at huis performances."

" The Man with the Whip" was an eccentric fellow, well known at that time. He had manufactured an enormous whip made from hickory withes with a long handle. It was his delight to swing this immense whip, which extended half-way across the street, and to crack n, to the great annoyance and possible dan- ger of passers-by. What was his particular object in indulging in this amusement no one knew, but the · ity fathers put a stop to it. He was declared a nui- sunce, and he and his whip disappeared from the crene. " Lang Syne," of Germantown, gives this récollection of lus performance :

" I saw him once stands_ to the middle of the crossing betwist the Third and Fourth Streets markets, swinging the whip over his head in circles and outil it had sufficient impetus, when he let it out with a report like the explosion of a rifle."

There was another well-known character,-not a madman, nor yet an idiot, but, on the contrary, a man of uncommon intelligence, who was often exposed to the jeers of the thoughtless populace becanse nature had denied him the fair proportions usually allotted to man. Richard Folwell, alias "Dicky" Folwell, was a dwarf and a cripple. He was witty and eccen- tric, as is commonly the case with dwarfs and hunch- backs, and, thanks to his tormentors, often mingled in some comic adventure. One day as he was cross- ing Walnut Street, a pig, scared probably by some wag, ran between the legs of the little man, who found himself suddenly astride the animal's back, and was carried some distance up the street before he could alight. The wags circulated the story that he had been seen riding a pig through Second Street from Walnut Street past the Coffee-House to Chestnut Street, and poor " Dieky" knew peace no more. This deformed creature was a printer, and managed with considerable ability a paper called The Spirit of the Age. Free in its comments on men and measures, Folwell's paper was no more personal than the jour- nals of the time. That Folwell was familiar with other subjects than those which form the especial province of the journalist, that he was a thinker in- terested in the well-being of his fellow-man, whom he so little resembled, is shown by the plan he wrote and published for the extinction of yellow fever by the use of ice-cold air and refrigeration, " thus anticipating by more than half a century," says a writer, "the proposition of Gamgee, to whom Congress lately voted a balf-million of dollars to experiment upon that theory."1

In the carly part of the century some very odd per- formances could be seen on the streets on Christmas- eve and during Christmas week. Parties of "Mum- mers" went round from house to house, reciting rhymes explanatory of their fantastical disgnises, and demanding " dole." This custom, which came from England, prevailed in the early part of the present century, and is well remembered by the old inhabitants of Philadelphia. The " Mummers" were but a popu- lar reminiscence of the English saturnalia celebrated of old under the direction of "the Lord of Misrule," -a fantastic personage, known to the Scotch as the " Abbot of Unreason" and to the French as "Le Pape des Fous." The English " Lord of Misrule," or Christmas prince, was originally created for the pur- pose of regulating "misrule" and keeping it within bounds wherever the king resided; but the institu- tion became popular, and every town or parish had its manager of Christmas festivities, invested with plenary power. None delighted more in these whim- sical exhibitions than the students in the inns of

I Westcott's " History of Philadelphia."

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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, 1700-1800.

court. Gradually this moderator of fun took such delight in the antics of his subjects that he deserved the title of "a grand captaine of mischiefe," given him by the Puritan Stubbes in the reign of Eliza- beth. The "dole" was a tax levied upon the citizens by the temporary ruler, and was generally paid with promptness, to avoid further annoyance. It was not always so, however. Disraeli, the elder, quotes from a manuscript letter of the learned Mede to Sir Martin Stuteville, an account of what seems to have been the last memorable act of a "Lord of Misrule" of the inns of court, and which occurred in 1627, when the Christmas game became serions. "The Templars chose one Mr. Palmer their 'Lord of Misrule,' who, on Twelfth-eve, late in the night, sent out to gather up his rents at five shillings a house, in Ram Alley and Fleet Street. At every door they came they winded the Temple horn, and if at the second blast| or summons they within opened not the door, then the ' Lord of Misrule' cried out, 'Give fire, gunner.' His gunner was a robustious Vulcan, and the gun or petard itself was a huge overgrown smith's hammer." The letter goes ou to relate how complaint was made to the lord mayor, who summoned the " Lord of Mis- rule" to appear before him, but the latter refused. They finally agreed to meet half-way. The inter- view ended in a general row, the "Mummers" were worsted, and the " Lord of Misrule" was captured by his lordship the mayor himself, who, taking him by the shoulder, "led him to the compter, and thrust him in at the prison-gate with a kind of indignation ; and so, notwithstanding his hurts, he was forced to lie among the common prisoners for two nights." The prisoners obtained their liberty, at the solicita- tion of the attorney-general, upon condition they should repay the gathered rents, and " do reparations upon broken doors." The attorney-general fetched them in his own coach, and carried them to the court, where the king himself reconciled my lord mayor and them together with joining all hands." Notwithstand- ing this mark of royal favor, the "Lord of Misrule" and his mock court lost much of their importance after this. They disappeared finally after the death of Charles I. But the spirit of tomfoolery which had inspired them continued to display itself feebly in annual mummeries, the performers reciting some rhymed speeches in connection with a semblance of a plot,-crude attempts to imitate the celebrated " masques" contrived for the amusement of royalty, without the wit and splendor of their models.

One of the oldest of these second-rate masques, "St. George and the Dragon," had crossed the ocean, but the Philadelphia " Mummers" took many liber- ties with the dramatis personc, and modified some of their speeches to suit the time and the public. Thus St. George became George Washington, and " Cooney Cracker," an American creation, took the place of " Little Devil Doubt." Beelzebub's speech suffered but trifling changes. It was originally,-

"In comes I, old Father Beelzebub, And on my shoulder I carry a club, And in my hand I carry a can-

Don't you think I'm a jolly old man ?

As jolly as I am, Christmas comes but once a year ; Now's the time for roast beef, plum-pudding, mince-pie, and strong beer."

In the Philadelphia version, according to an old citizen's recollection, it began as follows :

" Here comes I, old Beelzebub, On my shoulder I carry a club, In my hand a dripping-pan- Don't yon think I'm a jolly old man ?".

Another correspondent substitutes "a frying-pan" for " a dripping-pan."

Little Devil Doubt's speech was this :

"In comes I, Little Devil Doubt; If you don't give me money I'll sweep you out ! Money I want, and money I crave ; If you don't give me money I'll sweep you to your grave !"

But the American Cooney Cracker spoke differently. One version of his speech is this :

" Here comes I, old Cooney Cracker ! I swear to God my wife chews terbacker ! A pipe is good ; cigars are better ; When I get married I'll send you a letter."

Another version differs in the three last lines :

" I want some money to buy tobacco ; Tobacco's good ; cigare are better ; Give me some money, or I'll marry your daughter."

Of the speech attributed to George Washington, only the first two lines are remembered. They were :

" Here am I, great Washington ! On my shoulders I carry a gun."

The patriotism of the American mummers had re- versed the position of the two leading characters, and St. George, the patron saint and mythical hero of England, defending her against the dragon, became George Washington, the destroyer of that dragon- British rule in America.

A correspondent, speaking of these representations, said,-

" It was considered the proper thing in those days to give the leading mummer a few pence as dole, which, io the language of the present time, they would ' pool,' and buy cakes and beer. It was also regarded as the right thing to do to invite them into the house, and regale them with mulled cider, or small beer, and home-made cakes. It was considered a great breach of decorum, or of etiquette, to address or otherwise rec- ognize the mummers by any other than the name of the character he was assuming. I remember a little girl who, with all the curiosity of her sex, had discovered a neighbor's boy in the party ; and with childish impetnosity she broke ont with, 'Oh, I know thee, Isaac Simmons! Thee is not George Washington !' etc. This departure from the pro- prieties of the occasion was made the subject of comment on many re- turning holidays. Such were the simple and gentle ways of those whose footsteps we are steadily and surely following, and still toward the setting sun."

One of these bands of mummers, which was re- cruited in the neighborhood of Sixth and South Streets, was led by Eph Horn, afterward noted as an Ethiopian minstrel singer. Horn brought out Beel- zebub and Cooney Cracker, also the Prince of Egypt, who announced,-

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

" flere I am, the Prince of Egypt ! I am Pharaoh's ouly son."

These " mummeries," however, did not find favor with all the people. In fact, Christmas itself was not generally observed. The Quakers did not incline to the commemoration of holidays, nor did the more rigid of the Protestant sects, especially the Presby- terians. To the Episcopalians, the Catholics, and the Germans of the Reformed or Lutheran Churches, it was a day for family reunions and social gathering as well as a religions festival. The Germans introduced the Christmas-tree, with toys, trinkets, figures of angels, and numerous little lighted tapers,-a pretty custom with which many American families have since become familiar. In the homes of Americans of English descent the traditional row of children's stockings could be seen on Christmas-eve hanging in the chimney-corner, and the little ones, tripping up to them in their bare feet on Christmas-day, were sure to find them well filled with " goodies" and pretty things. The Christmas-dinner, so often described, with its three great features of turkey, plum-pudding, and mince pie, and its company of merry faces, assem- bled in friendship and kindly feelings, was an old Eng- lish custom, too good to be rejected by the Americans.

As a closing scene to the Christmas festivities, there was an ancient custom, of German origin, it is said, which was the cause of some useless legislation. This was the "shooting away the okl year," firing guns, pistols, and fire-crackers at midnight on the 31st of December. As early as the year 1774 an act was passed prohibiting these noisy demonstrations, as greatly disturbing the public peace, under penalty of a fine, and in after-years the mayor of the city fre- quently made proclamation calling attention to this act ; but all these prohibitory measures were diste- garded by many, and the new year continued to be ushered in by the discharge of fire-arms and pyro- technic displays.

There was another festival, celebrated only by a cerain class of the population, viz., the Irish Cath- olies, which often brought trouble and ended in a regular riot. This was the celebration of St. Patrick's day. Early in the morning the frish pipers and drummers went around playing their national airs, as every Irishman, woman, and child displayed the Cherished shingrock. The Hibernia Greens paraded, od the procession after marching down Chestnut Street wonld pass through such portions of the city Blon Their es antrymen masky resided. The Protest- ant Ordr Jeden woudlotten make a founder lemonstra- tion, god it the two parties met a fight always followed. A conto y de effeffited to rouse the ire of The Irish Catholies wos the 'stuffed Paddy, "an effigy made of old elodhi - slof straw with a string of potatoes harring to its necky a pose i ils mouth, or where its mouth Should have been, and holding a bottle in one hand and a glas In the other. This scarecrow figure was Taken to some conrecent place in the Irish quarters,

before daylight on St. Patrick's day, and hung by the neck to some awning-post or to a tree. Woe to the perpetrators of this joke if they were caught in the act; they seldom escaped without broken bones. Foolish young Americans sometimes thought it good fun to annoy the "Paddies" by getting up these figures. This continual antagonism engendered much bad feeling, and a serious riot that happened in after- years led to a strong expression of public opinion against these celebrations, and caused their abandon- ment.

For some years after the Revolution, in fact, as late as the war of 1812, the old English festival of May- day was kept by certain classes of people. The Maying parties, composed principally of young men and young women, left the city in the early morning to spend the day in the fields and woods. They had a feast and dances on the grass, for they went with well-provided hampers, and the fiddler was an indis- pensable guest. After a day's enjoyment in the cool shade and sweet-seented fields, they returned laden with fragrant spoils, tired but happy. Lovers fully appreciated the innocent pleasures of Maying ; hands met in breaking the lilae bough ; cheeks met in elose contact as two young heads bent over the same tiny field-flower, and the gay carol of the feathered song- ster overhead was a fit accompaniment to the softly- whispered vows of youthful love.

Although spring flowers are not suggestive of fish, May-day was the special holiday of the fish huck- sters and shad fishermen. They met in the Water Street taverns, where they indulged in much jollifi- cation and dancing. May-poles were erected in front of these taverns or upon the Market Street hill, around which there was also much dancing. These good people went in for a day of fun and frolic, and they made the most of it while it lasted. For many years after the May-pole ceased to be seen, and Maying-parties went out of fashion, the fishermen and fishwomen kept up their May-day dancing and feasting in the taverns.

Two other anniversaries, dear to every American heart, were celebrated with fitting enthusiasm. Washington's birthday was an occasion for proces- sions, orations, and banquets, and it should have been a national holiday, in which all the people would have participated, were it not that the societies most prominently engaged in the celebration being entirely composed of Federalists, the Democrats came to consider the 22d of February as a pohtical anni- versary, and they abstained from participating in ceremonies directed by their political opponents. This abstention extended even to the volunteer com- panies not in sympathy with the Federalists.

Bat the glorious Fourth of July was an occasion on which party feeling was ignored. The enthusiasm } of the people manifested itself individually by the firing of guns, rockets, and fire-crackers, without prejudice to the organized programme, embracing

FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION IN CENTRE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA, IN 1819.

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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, 1700-1800.

generally a military procession, patriotic orations, banquets, and displays of fire-works. We burn less powder now, and we object to noisy demonstrations. It may be all for the best, but there is danger, as the celebration becomes more restricted every year, that the anniversary of our national independence will gradually and quietly sink into oblivion. It would be well that the rising generation should be taught to reverence the day, and to kindle in their young hearts a spark of the spirit of '76, which made heroes of their fathers,-the spirit of endurance, of self-sacrifice and love of country, without which all the boasted progress of the age cannot save a people from decline,

An occasion for considerable excitement and some lively scenes, especially in the " old city," was "elec- tion-day." The general election for the city was held at the State-House, the windows of the east and west rooms, first floor, upon Chestnut Street and upon the State-House yard being appropriated to that pur- pose. For the Northern Liberties the elections were held at the Commissioners' Hall, which, in the early part of the period, was at the southi end of the mar- ket at Second and Coates Streets. It was afterward transferred to the quarters originally belonging to the British barracks, on Third Street, above Tam- many (or Buttonwood), which was thenceforth called Commissioners' Hall. The Southwark elections were held at the Commissioners' Hall, on the east side of Second Street, north of Christian, and those of Spring Garden at the hall on the northeast corner of Eighth and Buttonwood Streets. Each of these places was the focus of interest and activity for its district.

Platforms of wood were erected in front of each polling-window, so that the voter might be elevated to a level with the election officers within. Where the population of the ward was large and the election an important one, there was often great struggling among the voters to reach the polling-window, espe- cially during the last hours of voting; pushing and jostling led to angry recriminations and finally to blows, and the strife would soon spread out among the mass of the people in the street, during which ex- citement fists, eanes, umbrellas, or whatever instru- ments of offense were handy were used, while hats, coats, and apparel were torn to rags; and when the mêlée was over, the combatants, bloody, with black- ened eyes and torn and disheveled hair, would man- age to get out of the throng and sneak homeward. Nothing more serious than bruises were the results of these encounters. The carrying of deadly weapons, such as the pistol, the blackjack, and the knife, was unknown.

There was no recorded instance of any person having been killed in an election fight in Philadel- phia between 1800 and 1825, nor for many years afterward.

But if political questions could be settled by the ballot with an occasional accompaniment of fistieuff's, there was a domestic problem, hard to solve then, as

it still is now, and housekeepers discussed to no avail the "servant question." It seems that they were even worse off at that time, judging from the char- acter of the servants described by Samuel Breck in his " Recollections :"

" This is a crying evil which most families feel very sensibly at pres- ent. The vast quantity of uncultivated lands, the general prosperity, and the unexampled increase of our city noite to scatter the menial citizens, and to make it extremely difficult to be suited with decent ser- vants. I have, in the course of ten or twelvo years' housekeeping, had a strange variety, among which I have heard of one being bung, of oue that hung himself, of one who died drunk in the roud, and of another that swallowed poison in a fit of intoxication. Tho-e that form my present household have lived with me from one to three years, nud are pretty tolerable."

Several years later Mr. Breek noted in his diary the following instance of the extravagance of servant- girls :

" Mrs. Breck discharged a servant-girl to-day for fibbing und mischief- making. She has been nearly three years in my family, and has con- trived artfully enough to quarrel with, and occasion the dismissal of, four or five of her fellow-servants. But what makes me take any no- tice of tins woman is that she, like many others who have served in my house these last twenty-five years, came to us almost naked, and must have seen hard times without profiting by the lessons of adversity ; for no sooner was she entitled to receive a few dollars than she squandered it ou finery, instead of lying necessaries. In this manner she has gone on until this day, bedecking herself in merino shawls, chip bonnets, etc., without laying up fifteen dollars, although she has received from one dollar aud fifty cents to one dollar and twenty five cents per week. Mrs. Breck informs me that when she took up alont eleven dollars which were due to her in JJune last, she told her that she was bare of necessary clothing; yet, with this modicum for her all, she went to town and bought some satin to trim her bonnet in the style of that of a young Indy who was on a visit to me, a gilt clasp that must have cost three nullars, a parasol that came to perhaps four dollars more, a set of tortoise-shell combs. and some other trash ; so that she brought home of real necessaries nothing but one poor shift! If this girl gets out of place, or becomes sick, she will not have enough to support herself one month. This is a faithful picture of the wasteful and disgraceful ex- travagance of nine-tenths of the servants, male and female, for the last thirty years."

Many housekeepers of the present time might, without doubt, indorse Mr. Breck's remarks. The servant girls' wages, though much higher than at the period treated of, are but too often foolishly spent in useless finery, There are two reasons why this prae- tice is so common. In the first place, servants here do not form a class as in Europe; the girl who hires her time and services looks upon the arrangement as temporary ; unless she is very ugly (and what woman ever believed herself ugly ?) she expects to marry and have a home of her own. Dress, then, becomes an important question with her. She must look her best if she wishes to catch a husband. Another reason for a servant's extravagance is, too often, the example set by the mistress of the house. If she be extrava- gant and wasteful she eannot expect her servant to be modest and prudent, for a servant is but human, after all; and to resist temptation, with the daily recur- rence of examples of folly in her superi ors, would require heroism such as cannot be justly expectel of her.

Fanny Wright, in the " English woman in America," discusses the servant question, and says, in conelu- sion,-

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

sih Honselldas1:16wy0 -cer-1 0: a former letter, I Th 0 mph vucht that the vores Fans 4 Ont the very qualities -kob | Ttelfür them from it too » thước to , trusts when engage I Kod The foreigner, however, gunst to some net to inh their pndr.

During the early part of the century many improvements and inventions tending to increase comfort were introduced. The bath-room arrange- Mints were of the utmost simplicity. Wooden or ourble tubs were used, to which hot and cold water had to be carried in pails. A floating furnace was invented, which was to be placed in a bath-tub to heat the water. It was in the shape of a cylinder of copper, within which was to be placed a charcoal-fire. Two hollow arms, extending out like horns, were to reach above the surface of the water, so that while une furnished draught to the fuel the other would carry off' the smoke and the gases, The inventor quaintly remarked in favor of the contrivance that, when properly operated, it would be " quite sufficient to render the water of the bath comfortable in about two hours." But he made no reference to the fact that in order to prevent the bather from being stifled by the gas from the burning charcoal it would be necessary to have the windows of the room in which the bath was placed hoisted, so that whatever in win- ter-time might be gained by this method of heating the bath would be lost by the chilling discomfort of a cold bath-room.

The boiler or water-back connected with pipes was not invented until several years after the introduction of the Schuylkill water in the houses. Floating- baths were introduced in 1813. The applicability of gras for illumination had been shown at the Philadel- phia Museum, at the State-House, at Masonic Hall, and at the Chestnut Street Theatre. In 1816, Wil- bam Henry, who made the gas apparatus for use in the museum and theatre, placed pipes and set up an apparatus for manufacturing gas at his residence, No. 200 Lombard Street, near Seventh. He was a copper- and tinsmith. Notwithstanding this ocular demon- stration, the Philadelphians remained indifferent, and stock to their candles or to lamps in which they burned whale-oil. For grand illuminations they used wax candles.

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 21

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992