Friday Smiles 341: A return to the Eisenhower Museum

I want to begin by apologizing for NOT visiting everyone last week.  In case you didn't know, a pesky squirrel sidelined me for over three days. It ate through my phone/internet line and kept me off the internet. Otherwise I would have been around to visit.  I hope you will forgive me for this terrible predicament in which I found myself.

It's Friday and time once again to join Annie (at A Stitch in Time) and the ladies at Friday Smiles.  I'm not going to start with any funnies today.  Instead, I want to get right to

the boyhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States.  I should note the property originally had nearly three acres which contained the house, a large barn, a windmill, a chicken house, a smoke house, an outhouse, an orchard, a strawberry patch, and a large garden located to the east of the house.  If you were here two weeks ago you saw one of the note cards I purchased showed the family working in the garden as well as the east side of the home.

I was surprised how dark it was in the parlor when we walked in.  Believe it or not, I even lightened it in PhotoShop.

Photos of family

and the family bible showing Ike's birth displayed in this parlor.

I have two plant stands and both of mine are fancier than the one in Ike's mother's home.  Note how crochet was used to keep dirty arms and greasy hair off fabric.

I was in awe of the pocket doors, because I had them in my home in Missouri. I'm quite sure the plants were all fake.

The wallpapers in the two parlors, dining room, and hallway are identical to the papers in the home in 1946.

Look what happens when I snagged this image from the Eisenhower Museum web site.  Did I not mention that all the plants were fake?

I loved the drawer pulls on this combination desk and bookcase.

I love this four stack lawyer's library bookcase.  Mine has only two stacks.

Sorry, I got a little carried away with this bookcase.

This bedroom and another bedroom along with a walk-through closet were added to the east side of the house in 1900.  This bedroom was used by father David and mother Ida.  In 1900, grandfather Jacob Eisenhower moved in with David, Ida and their six sons with Jacob using the smaller north bedroom.  Jacob lived with the family until his death in 1906.

You can see what was originally a walk through closet behind the bed.

I was enamored by what might have been a dressing bench.

The north bedroom used by grandfather Jacob until his death, was converted to the indoor bathroom around 1908.  We'll see it later.

The stairs were roped off, so no one was allowed upstairs.

However, here is where the six boys slept.  There was apparently no privacy and all the rooms opened into each other room.  Note the chamber pot in Bedroom 1.

Note the time.  I was the straggler who was still taking photos while the next tour was about to begin.

The tour guide was trying to rush me out of this room which I had not yet seen.  She insisted I could see it from the room where the people were about to depart the area.

I don't know if you have ever been to a car race (where two cars compete in two lanes and are timed), but I used to take lots of photos with my old Konica camera at car races.  The recharge time was phenomenal, as fast as this digital Nikon I now use, especially since I don't use a flash for any reason EVER (unless I have no power, that is). 

Here I was taking shot after shot as quickly as I could (don't you just love the intricacy of this floor furnace vent?), 

not knowing if any of these would be in focus or

usable.  BTW, as an aside, I got burned when I sat on a relative's floor furnace grate when I was six years old.  They had to take me to the hospital, the burn was so severe.  That grate wasn't as intricate as the one in the Eisenhower home.

I hoped I'd be able to see what I missed later when I removed these from my camera.

Now that the others were gone, I was able to see the dining area better.

Here I've moved to the area where the people were standing earlier. 

The tour lady was really starting to push me to leave.

However, I stood firm and continued to shoot photo after photo,

trying to take in everything.

Look at that old heater that must have heated the back part of the house in winter.

I realize this is how Ida left her home when she died in 1946, but I can't see how eight or nine people ate in this dining area.

I really liked the drawer pulls on this hutch.

I almost missed the bath.

According to the tour guide, the north bedroom, originally used by grandfather Eisenhower until his death was converted to the indoor bathroom around 1908.

I nearly missed the kitchen area, too.  I remembered the tour guide told us the last addition to the Eisenhower home was the small kitchen, a pantry, and an enclosed back porch that was added to the existing home in 1915.

I also snagged this from the internet because it showed a different and more detailed area of the kitchen than I saw.

By this time, I was nearly forcibly being pushed out the door as I took the final two photos.

I am sure I've seen that photo on the left of the twin photos above.  It showed the entire family when the boys were young.  You can see how long I overstayed my allowed 15 minute visit.  I think this is the perfect ending, too.

Now let's see what others are smiling about this Friday.  Please don't forget to start your weekend off right by visiting Annie for a few Friday Smiles.  We would love to have you join us, too.