This was my second tour of Woodruff-Fontaine, though I have visited it twice before as a photographer and as a wedding guest. I am always taken aback at the beauty of the place, how well-maintained it is, and the sheer grandeur of the structure itself. Particularly striking to me is the way architecture and interior design reflects not only the personalities and tastes of the people who lived there, but the social mores of the time.
The Victorians were a culture steeped in social signifiers--symbols and gestures, social customs and behaviors that were used to imply meaning rather than to express direct meaning. For instance, the "Language of the Fan," was explained in one small installation on a table in the main parlor. Women would gesture with their (often beautifully adorned) fans to communicate to their suitors. One gesture meant "Kiss me" while the other indicated "I'm engaged," and so on. Calling cards (like modern business cards) would subtly indicate to the mistress of the house the intent of a visitor. If he was welcome, he'd be seated in a soft, comfortable chair in the foyer; if not, he would be relegated to a stiff, hard-back chair opposite the soft one. This way, he was subtly--but emphatically--made aware of his host's opinion of him.
Placards explain the social conventions of the fan and the calling card:
So now I'd like to hear from you. Please respond with some of your initial impressions of the home and of the tour, and think a bit about what the home and its contents tell us about Victorian Memphis. Were they merely representatives of a cultural age? Or, was there something distinctly Memphian about their lives? What might be said about the gender expectations of the time? How might gender roles be reflected within the contents of the home?
Just some food for thought.
I snapped the photo above in 2013, hopeful to give justice to Woodruff-Fontaine's height and elegance.
If you have checked your syllabus, you know that we are scheduled to meet on Macon Campus this Tuesday evening (2/21). We will discuss upcoming assignments as well as discuss quizzes. I hope to see all of you, and if you cannot be present, you need to contact me ASAP.
Another word on the smART auction: Doug and I continue to need your support in collecting artwork. Please file that in your mind this week. On the evening of the event, you will be asked to be there early to help Mr. Branch and I set up. See you soon!
Due to my weekend working schedule, I attended the Woodruff-Fontaine house on Wednesday at 1:00 pm. I was able to do a self tour with the QR scans which was very helpful as well as informative. When I was in Highschool I actually attended a tour of the Mansion, but I could not understand the beauty of the House at the time. This year, I was absolutely blown away. The architecture of the Mansion was above all my favorite. There were tiny intricate designs on the ceilings, floors, and walls. The rooms were all set up symmetrically, which just created a beautiful relaxing atmosphere. The home showed Memphis at a state we are typically unfamiliar with, pure grace. From the nightgowns to petticoats, every bit of clothing felt freshly pressed. I loved the hidden door with the signatures of the craftsmen. This felt like a personal touch and gave life to the Mansion. The gorgeous antiques suddenly had names because of those signatures behind the sealed door. I could plainly see the ladies with their fans and men socializing. I believe this Mansion is very significant in contributing to the culture of Memphis. Amos Woodruff not only built this masterpiece, he also began a tradition of weddings, was the President of the city council, and helped build Memphis city life. This Mansion is a statement of Memphis starting from the ground and growing into a beautiful city, rich with Victorian culture. The gender roles were clearly defined by the clothes alone. Women had long extravagant dresses with pearls, ribbons, and lace. The fans that women used to have "silent messages" with the gentlemen were so delicate. These aspects reflected back on the gender norms at the time. Women were expected to be as gentle and delicate as their attire. The only regret I have is not being able to see a wedding at the Mansion. I can't even begin to imagine how gorgeous and moving that event would be. Maybe Dr. Lester could show us some photos of your experience! Overall I really enjoyed this trek and I would like to visit again for the Mourning Memphis Exhibition in the Fall.
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ReplyDeleteI attended the trek Saturday afternoon with the rest of the class, when you first pull on Adams ave. their are huge magnolia trees and oaks all along the road gave it an amazing feel due to how old and massive they were. Than you have all the Victorian style houses that were built around the same time that makes the street look historic. And when I first walked into the house from the rear, the first thing I noticed was the gorgeous stained glass with the birds. Than blew me away is when the tour guide mentioned that the stain glass on the front door is the original, which indicated that it is over 100 years. Another striking feature is the ceiling on the third floor, where there are four angels built on the ceiling and how they were able to architect that type of design. The thing that got me most intrigued was how in 1872 they were able to build a three story house with a look out tower that allowed the families to look out at the Mississippi River. Its crazy to know that the structure is holding up relatively good and compared to the infrastructure being built today that is not much different or better. As a life long Memphian I have never even known that area to exist, so I am very happy that I had the chance to visit this piece of rich history in Memphis and look forward to learning more and more on Memphis history.
ReplyDeleteWhile I wasn't able to go through the tour with Dr. Lester due to a scheduling conflict, I had a delightful date night with my husband. Abigail was our tour guide and we took two hours because we were the only ones there and had so many questions. First I'm quite spoiled by having visited Biltmore House in Ashville and Tinkerbelle in Hot Springs, AR. ,yet a Victorian home is always breathtaking and a wonderful opportunity to step back in time, I loved it!! Neither Woodruff or Fontaine were originally from Memphis but northeners, bringing their ideals to the south. We can see this in the Asian clothing articles displayed as well as a an original curio full of exotic finds such as a shrunken head, mermaid, and a painting of a Gypsy Madonna hanging on the wall. The 16ft ceilings, moldings and mirrors are intentional in striking those who enter with a sense of awe and grandeur. Memphis is seen in many places such as the music room that segregated paid staff from the honored guests. We see servant quarters on the second floor across from the nursery, although we were told they had paid help not slaves,in contrast Mr. Fontaine did own a cotton factory so there is much speculation. Like the Victorian era there are hidden truths and how the Fontaine's would like to be perceived by the guests they receive, with what really happened behind closed doors. Placing themselves on millionare's row, was strategic and influential. Amos Woodrow built the most elaborate house to impress and impose on this city, with the tower at the top giving them an omniscient view of the city, especially the Mississippi River with cargo for their store. One can also see St. Mary's Episcopal Church that was instrumental during the Yellow fever epidemic and also see the Collins Chapel CME Church. Collins was the first African American church built by slaves as their own church in Memphis. It must have been surreal to live in such grandeur and continually see slaves congregate to worship in poverty conditions, with deplorable lives, yet rich in spirit. I'm sure that the Woodruffs must have heard the loud joyous services echoing through their home, yet their Victorian home full of artificial comforts couldn't help them escape from the reality of pain that death brought upon them. Namely the deaths of Molly's children as infants and her husband, some say her ghost returned to this house to roam the halls and her bedroom. In some ways this is true of Memphis in that the old ghosts of prejudice never leave Memphis. The most Memphian part of the house was the room that housed Nathan Forrest's bed and picture, this is so typical of memories that aristocracy wants to portray as their finest member of society when he was really responsible for the deaths of black union soldiers at Ft. Pillow.
ReplyDeleteAll in all I really enjoyed the tour and took many pictures of what would be considered the Hollywood of their time, that is just as reflective today as it was then. I really appreciated this jewel of Memphis and stepping back in time.
The Woodruff-Fontaine House was absolutely breathtaking! I was wowed just by walking up to the home. My favorite thing was standing on the first floor and looking up to the third floor. Seeing how the staircase spiral around and seeing the beautiful chandelier at the top was simply amazing, I had to take a picture of that! Our tour guide Mrs. Rosemary was the icing on the cake, she was knowledgeable about the house and was willing to answer any question that we had. What the Woodruff-Fontaine House told me about Victorian Memphis is that they were really flashy in a sense. Some of there belongs didn't correlate to the rest of the house, but since it was popular in Europe at that time I feel as if they felt that they just had to have it.The gender roles that were displayed in the home shocked me the most, specifically "courting". I read that dating in the Victorian Age was very different and I believe a bit harsher than our form of dating. The men would actually have to get permission to talk to a young lady and if he didn't he couldn't talk to her at all, not even a simple "goodnight".
ReplyDeleteAll in all it was an amazing trip and I'm thankful I got to experience this beautiful home and stepping back in time with my peers as well as my professor! Even after you left our group with an exception of the lovely lady from North Dakota stayed together and finished the tour with Mrs. Rosemary, we even had a chance to go up to the looking tower and view all of Memphis.
I was not able to attend the tour due to my hectic work/school schedule.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite unfortunate as I was really looking forward to it. I will definitely be visiting as soon as I can get an off day. Since I couldn't go, I did do a bit of research to see what I was missing. The first thing I noticed from the photos is the stunning architecture of the place. Victorian style homes really do embody such a sense of lusciousness and grandeur. I imagine stepping through the doors of this mansion to be like a time machine of sorts— transporting us back to a time where young ladies, stuffed into their corsets, awaited the calls of handsome dukes who would pay their dowries and whisk them away forever (all at the ripe old age of fourteen). I was particularly interested to see how the inside of the mansion was set up in accordance to the social standards of the time. I found the whole concept of different floors/sections of the house to reside in based on age/gender/status to be extremely fascinating. One other thing I was really excited about was the fashion exhibits. I love learning about the symbolism of fashion throughout the expanse of time. I once read that wedding dresses used to be light blue or red, traditionally; it wasn’t until Queen Victoria wore a white dress that the trend caught on and people later assigned the idea of purity to the color. I read that there was a black wedding dress on display in the mansion and I was thrilled at the chance to read about the reasoning behind it.
Moving on from the house to its inhabitants, I found it incredibly interesting that Amos Woodruff made his fortune in carriage-making. It is a profession that most people don't tend to think about despite the prevalence of that mode of transportation for the time. Although it's just a tourist attraction now, Memphis still has lots of horse drawn carriages. Perhaps some of them are even based on some of the more popular ones made by woodruff.
Molly Woodruff caught my attention as well. Her spirit is thought to haunt the property, because it is believed that the time she spent there was her happiest. Throughout her life, she lost two babies and a husband. One of her children died at the hands of the Yellow fever epidemic. It's quite tragic; one could certainly understand why her spirit might choose to stay in a place where she'd felt some happiness.
I cannot wait to be able to go on a tour and experience all the history preserved there first-hand!
I got to tour the Woodruff-Fontaine house on Saturday with the rest of the class. My first initial thought was that it was beautiful and majestic. I love how all these old Victorian houses are so massive and large. The architecture is so beautiful and breathe-taking that it makes you wonder why we stopped building house like these nowadays. The first thing I learned about the house was that it was actually owned by two families and that's why it's named what it's named. I thought it was interesting that this house was actually an art school for 30 years. I found this interesting because there always seems to be a story behind a story when it comes to architecture like this. Finding out it use to be a school was interesting to me because it made me wonder whether someone famous took a class at the school. It was also interesting to find out that Woodruff actually had the house built for his family and that it was built on Adams Ave, a street that many rich people lived on. Although, the tour was great and Ms. Rosemary, our tour guide, said many interesting facts and had plenty of cool stories about the house. I learned a lot from reading the papers outside each room. One of the papers was all about Dining Room Etiquette. It was so crazy to read because they had rules like Married couples could not sit together, you had to use a napkin before and after drinking, or you could cut bread with a knife, you had to just your hands. I mean these rules are ridiculous. I can't imagine anyone today doing these things, especially not sitting next to your Spouse. Many people feel bad if they don't get to sit next to their boy/ girl friend. It was also cool to find out that their wasn't a bathroom on the first floor of the house. The bathrooms were located on the second and third floor, which is weird because nowadays there is at least one bathroom on each floor of the house. I really enjoyed the tour and I learned a lot. It was nice to leave the modern world for a while and take a moment to step back into the past and learn things I never knew before.
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ReplyDeleteI visited the Woodruff Fontaine house this past Thursday. Lucky for me, I had the run of the place and was taken on a lengthy one woman tour. Like most of my peers I was first struck by the intricate, elaborate, beautiful architecture of the house. Particularly in regards to the architecture I was struck by two facts. One was the outlandishness of it, designed by Mr. Woodruff to impress and intimidate friends. Being originally from New Jersey, I believe there was a want for this family to “show off” their abundance and fortune in Memphis. Even in their early settlement times, there was a need to distinguish Memphis as a culturally significant, economically vibrant place that rivaled Northern cities. This reflects a lot of Rushing’s thoughts in “Paradox of Place” – the need to eliminate stigmatizations of Memphis by constructing sites of grandeur. Secondly, I found the need for all rooms to be symmetrical both funny and poignant about life in the Victorian era. It showcased their flair for dramatics, the obsession with social constructs and again, the desperate need to impress. I found it funny because the “doors to nowhere” were indeed just that.
ReplyDeleteThe second floor to me was intriguing because I felt this was the heart of the home and it was as the family spent most time there. It says a lot that they kept to themselves upstairs, away from the help. Another constraining social construct of the time.
The human phenomenon of feeling a “presence” sunk into me the higher up in the house we travelled. On the second floor as we delved into the history of the family and the tragic losses suffered there it dawned on me how much life happened in this house. Being introduced to artifacts and a house so entrenched in history and thinking about the many years they have seen; I feel it’s natural to feel connected to that very human presence. But as logical as I can be about what might be perpetrating these spooky thoughts, I still think there is a presence there!
I completely flipped out when they showed me Charles Dickens chair! There wasn’t a very good backstory as to how it ended up their besides it was donated to the preservation society but I couldn’t believe it. He has been one of my favorite authors since I was young. The house is in such fantastic condition with many beautiful artifacts, it speaks volumes to the tremendous work the preservation society does. It reminded me a lot of the many battles in Memphis to preserve landmarks and protect them against urban sprawl for the sake of urban sprawl. Much like the fight to push out the interstates, keep Overton park and Shelby Farms, this society blocked the city from tearing the house down. Sadly, many wonderful mansions were lost during the mid 20th century. Perhaps, this makes this house even more “Memphian” because it is one of our last relict of pre-yellow fever Memphis.
This tour was fantastic and I will recommend it to visitors coming to Memphis!
I was able to attend the trek on Saturday. The first thing I noticed were the trees and the house's unique architecture. The interior design is one of my favorite types. I love a lot of what the Victorian-era has to offer. It's very fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI really liked learning about the people's lives, and how things were different then compared to now (eg. phones, etiquette, hygiene, etc.). I also liked that the place was apparently haunted. I have always been fascinated with learning about how differently people lived their lives back then, and how they may have died as well. It's very interesting to hear other people's stories.
I would say that my favorite part of the trek was admiring all the interior design, architecture, and female's fashion. I loved their dresses. I will say, however, that it seems like females were considered to wear only very slim clothing. It wasn't like now, where there are double digit sizes available to women. I also remember how the men had their own 'station' to upkeep their mustache. I thought that was also interesting.
I do not really consider them Memphians. I think they were just going along with the trends of that era. With both genders, there seemed to be this urge to upkeep their appearances, or to perhaps 'show off'.
I would definitely go back to the Woodruff-Fontaine if somebody went with me. Anything having to do with the Victorian-era fascinates me.
Not sure why my posts aren't showing up in a timely manner. Here goes once more.
ReplyDeleteI originally posted this yesterday, not sure why it is not showing up.
ReplyDeleteLast Thursday we took a tour of the Woodruff Fontaine House and it blew my mind. I past by the building twice because I was looking for a grounded very old looking house. My first impression was on the outstanding architecture of the house. It really make me appreciate what people could do back in the 1800s without the tools we have now. I initially came to the tour a little late because I was at work but I caught up to the group. Immediately when I opened the door to the hallway I felt a Memphian feeling. The house just had a warm southern feeling to it. I believe because of the pride and effort put into it by decorating it. Most of the designs and decorations were untampered with to successfully grab people's attention about their lifestyle or daily routines. One great example was their was a door put in the hallway because they thought it would look better, even though once you opened it it was nothing but bricks to the house. On this door though were many people that attributed to the house that personally signed their names on them and dated them. Another example was on the third floor there was a plumbing issue so water was leaking through and damaging the pint. As the paint was washing away on the ceiling we noticed there was another design of paint under it. People would usually cover that up with the paint to match the rest of the ceiling but the staff refused to have anyone paint over it. I found it very familiar that the Fontaine family got a big house and moved relatives in as we do now. Also the different bedroom styles and designs told something about each individual that lived in the house. Some rooms were more plain than others and some were very decorated. The coolest thing to me in the house was the sky view. I am extremely impressed that not only in the 1800s they built a building with such height and significance but as well as it was able to withstand for a long period of time. Overall I truly enjoyed myself and I plan on going back to do more research for my project.
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