Deborah Peterson's Colonial School Programs

All text and images copyright Deborah Peterson 2002-10.

Website design and maintenance:
K L Martz

Deb's programs for adults cover many subjects and are a complement to her students' programs, but with a more in-depth coverage geared to older, adult interests. These programs are a direct result of the appeals of students' parents who have seen her school programs and asked her to develop programs for them. Higher-level subject treatment, and more detailed hands-on workshops were brought to life.

Discussion and experiential programs for adults are available for the topics which follow. Suggestions and requests for other topics are always welcomed, and the list grows. Contact Deb with your thoughts and questions.

Lecture and Discussion programs

Clothing the Common Sort: What did our English colonial ancestors actually wear? This show-n-tell program explains the clothing of laboring English colonial people with emphasis on the common sort, children’s, women’s and civilian men’s working clothes in the third quarter of the eighteenth century.

The Common Pin: a PowerPoint program. A careful look at the straight pin, its importance, uses and misconceptions in the eighteenth century. A hand-out is supplied.

Colonial English Foodways in Southeastern Pennsylvania: What did they eat?

The Clothing We Wear, Its Reasons, the Order it goes on, or Why Do I HAVE to wear all this stuff? This program is tailored to your historical organization or site. It explains the ‘why’ of eighteenth-century English colonial clothing so staff and volunteers better understand the clothing of the time and avoid making common mistakes. A hand-out is supplied.

Colonial Pastimes for children: What WAS the day like in the life of an eighteenth-century English child? A show-n-tell presentation that covers the daily life of colonial children. A hand-out is supplied.

Camp Followers: British or American points of view of the men and women who followed the armies.

Who WAS Molly Pitcher?

The First Thanksgiving - Plimoth, 1621: Myths, Legends and Facts: This PowerPoint presentation goes into the myths, legends and facts of the ‘first’ thanksgiving. A hand-out is supplied.

Coffee, Chocolate, Tea, Spices, and Many Other Items too Tedious to Mention; 18c Imports into Philadelphia: This show-n-tell programs goes into coffee, chocolate, imported and patriotic teas, spices, sugar, salts, peppers, food colorants, isinglass, hartshorn, gum dragon and Arabic, leavenings, oils, pickles, sweetmeats, syrups, jellies, rose and orange-flower waters and many, many other items that were part of our nation’s imported foods. A hand-out is supplied.

Interesting Kitchen Items of the Eighteenth Century: This PowerPoint presentation identifies many of the items found and used in an English colonial kitchen. A hand-out is supplied.

Isinglass, Trotters and Hartshorn (Jellies!): A show-n-tell programs about gelatines in English colonial America. A hand-out is supplied.

Sugar, From Harvested Cane to the Table: This PowerPoint presentation deals with the sugar making process. We begin with pressing the juice from the cane explaining and illustrating the many steps and the equipment needed to do this. The different kinds of sugars will be discussed along with their packaging, export, marketing and uses in the home. A vocabulary hand-out will be given.

Sweet-meats, Sugar plumbs, Suckets, Comfits (and Other 18th Century Sweets): This is a show-n-tell presentation that goes into the diverse selection of ‘sweets’ that were available in English colonial America. A hand-out is supplied.

Packaging in the 18th Century - what came in what? This PowerPoint presentation goes into the somewhat bewildering world of packaging products for shipment and sale. A hand-out is supplied.

Eighteenth-century Colonial English Foodways of Southeastern Pennsylvania: A show-n-tell program illustrating some of the many foods we ate with emphasis on seasonality. A hand-out is supplied.

Exotic Spices of the Eighteenth Century: a PowerPoint Program illustrating the various spices imported and used by our English colonial ancestors. A hand-out is supplied.

Hands-on Hearth Cooking Classes are always available.