Bring the family for summertime fun at the Windsor Historical Society’s Summertime in the World War I Era Family Program on Saturday, June 16 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Learn how to play badminton, croquet, marbles, and other games from the 1910s, and use your muscles to help hand-churn ice cream, and make fresh-squeezed lemonade.  Participants will take home a craft and many happy memories from this multi-generational event sponsored by Carmon Funeral Homes Inc. and Jane Lennox. 

 

Families in the 1910s loved summer activities.  Leisure time had increased for many middle-class Americans, who sought games and activities to fill their free time.  Bicycling, baseball, badminton, marbles, croquet, tennis, boating, and many other leisure activities grew in popularity, as did board games and toys.  Advances in refrigeration allowed ice cream and other frosty treats to be more widely produced and distributed; by 1919 over 150 million gallons of ice cream were eaten every year, making summer that much sweeter.

 

Program participants will enjoy a variety of 1910s-era activities offered on the Society’s lawn and in the Society’s Hands-On-History Center.  Society staff and volunteers will demonstrate unfamiliar games and lend a helping hand.  Play clothes are a must for playing the games, concocting tasty treats, and making crafts.  Don’t miss the fun!

 

The Summertime in the World War I Era Family Program is offered in conjunction with the Society’s new exhibition, Over There: Windsor and World War I, sponsored by Alstom Power, an anonymous donor, Rabbett Insurance Agency, and Windsor Federal Savings, with support from The Kernan Agency. Guests are encouraged to tour the show and discover Windsor’s contributions to the war on the battlefield, home front, and in U.S. military posts.  Guests can also tour the Society’s exhibition on Windsor history filled with treasures from Connecticut’s first English settlement.

 

Reservations for the summertime program are requested but not required.  The cost for the program is $12 per family and $10 per WHS member family.