The Heir and the Spare

Posted on March 10, 2015 by barbara

Next month will mark the arrival of Prince William and Kate’s second child; their oldest child Prince George was born in July 2013. Since Prince George is currently third in the line of succession to the British throne that would make him the eventual “heir” and his new sibling would be the “spare”.

The history of England has frequently been affected by the rules of the line of succession and there have been many spares that have gone on to inherit the throne. One example from long ago is King Henry VIII; he was the second son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York and when his older brother, Arthur, died the crown passed to the younger Henry. A more recent example is George VI, the second son of King George VI and Queen Mary. His older brother, Edward, famously abdicated the throne for “the woman that he loved”, the American divorcee Wallis Simpson and the crown passed to the younger brother George. (more on these two brothers later in the post)

Currently the most recent “spares” have lived for many years in the shadows of their elder brothers but have still been able to have a life of their own within the confines of the Royal family and have occasionally stolen the spotlight from their older brother with mischievous and scandalous behavior. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and the second son of Queen Elizabeth II will continue to move farther down the line of succession with each additional royal birth and the popular Prince Harry, the second son of Prince Charles and the grandson of the Queen, who will also move further down the line of succession as his brother, Prince William, has more children.

Now, let discuss some of Britain most famous “heirs and spares” …

Prince Albert Victor and Prince George

Prince Albert Victor and Prince George were the sons of Prince Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, and Alexandra of Denmark. Prince Albert Victor (then known as the Duke of Clarence) died suddenly in 1892 from a brief illness. His brother, Prince George, assumed the role as second in the line of succession to the British throne. Through their shared grief over the death Prince Albert Victor, Prince George and his brother’s former fiancée, Princess Mary of Teck, grew very close and they quickly fell in love. Queen Victoria, the Prince’s grandmother, was very fond of Princess Mary and encourage their union, the royal couple married in 1893. Then, after the long reign of Queen Victoria came to an end with her death in 1901, Prince Albert Edward became King Edward VII (until recently he had held the record as the longest serving Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne). King Edward VII only reigned for a short time, almost nine years, and he died in 1910. His son, Prince George, became King George V and he reigned from 1910 to 1936. King George V and Queen Mary were married for forty-four years and had six children.

Prince Edward and Prince Albert

Prince Edward and Prince Albert were the sons of King George V and Queen Mary. The elder one, Prince Edward the Prince of Wales, grew into a charismatic man who was a perpetual bachelor that enjoyed socializing with married women while the younger one, Prince Albert the Duke of York, was shy and introverted with a nervous stutter and he was married to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon since 1923. Prince Edward ultimately met an American woman named Wallis Simpson and became seriously involved. Then, King George V died and Prince Edward ascended to the throne as King Edward VIII. During the next 12 months, before his official coronation, Wallis divorced her husband and King Edward planned to marry her. This caused a constitutional crisis because the Church of England did not recognize divorce and Parliament eventually forced King Edward to abdicate and as a result his brother, Prince Albert, became King George VI. It has been said that the stress of being the monarchy along with the onset of World War II, not to mention lung cancer caused by a life-long habit of smoking, caused his early death at the age of 56. With the death of King George in 1952, his eldest daughter ascended to the throne, this was because King George had no sons and only two daughters, so the crown went to Queen Elizabeth II and she is only the sixth women in the history of England to become the ruling monarch.

Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret

Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret are/were the daughters of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and they were only 10 and 6 when their father ascended to the throne of England. The girls enjoyed a special closeness with their parents and had a relatively quiet childhood living in a house on Burton Street in Mayfair section of London and later at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle when their father became King. Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, was very serious, studious and orderly almost to the point of obsession but she also had a wonderful sense of humor. Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip (now known as the Duke of Edinburgh) in 1947. Princess Margaret, the younger daughter was said to be the more beautiful and glamorous one and as a child she was very mischievous which was a trait that was carried over when she got older. Princess Margaret had a scandalous affair with Peter Townsend and after her father’s death in 1952 Townsend divorced his wife with the intention of marrying Princess Margaret. By this time, Princess Elizabeth was now Queen Elizabeth II, and despite the fact that Princess Margaret was truly happy, the Queen could not grant her permission for them to marry because the Church of England and Parliament strongly advised against marriage to a divorced man. Princess Margaret later married Antony Armstrong-Jones (now known as the Earl of Snowdon) in 1960, they had two children but eventually divorced in 1978 and Princess Margaret died in 2002. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have been married for over 68 years and they have four children. In September 2015, the Queen will surpass the record set by Queen Victoria thereby making her the longest serving English monarch.

Prince Charles and Prince Andrew

Prince Charles and Prince Andrew are the sons of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Much has been written about the older brother Prince Charles (known as the Prince of Wales) especially in the last twenty years, but growing up he tended to be serious and always the dutiful son who did as he was told. The younger brother Prince Andrew (known as the Duke of York) was quite the playboy dating several beautiful women until he eventually married in Sarah Ferguson in 1986. They were married for ten years, had two daughters and divorced in 1996. Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a grand royal wedding in 1981 and they had two sons. The royal couple scandalously divorced in 1996 after accusations of infidelity made the headline of newspapers and tabloids. Tragically, Princess Diana died in 1997 in a car accident in Paris, France. Several years later, Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, she is now known as the Duchess of Cornwall. Currently Prince Charles has become the longest serving heir apparent in the history of Britain, 59 years and counting from 1952 to the present. (The previous record was set by Prince Charles’ great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII who was the son of Queen Victoria)

Royal Note: Princess Anne was the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. At the time there was a century old English law that strictly determined the line of succession to inherit the throne. The Act of Settlement 1701 gave preference to male heirs over female members of the family, meaning that a male would take the place of older female siblings in the order of succession. In this case, en Princess Anne fell farther down the line of succession when her younger brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, were born. Princess Anne has been married twice, her first marriage was to Mark Phillips in 1973, they had two children but divorced in 1992. Her second marriage was to Timothy Laurence in 1992.

Prince William and Prince Harry

Prince William and Prince Harry are the sons of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Much like their predecessors, the “heir” tended to be more aware of their destiny and was expected to behave in the manner of a future monarch while the “spare” had a less restrictions and a more carefree life with less pressure. Princess Diana made a concerted effort to also exposure her children to life outside the palace walls and she took them on casual and fun trips to McDonald’s and Walt Disney World but also more serious places such as homeless shelters and AIDS clinics.

The younger brother, Prince Henry but better known as Harry, went to the same secondary schools as his older brother but then decided not to go to university but to serve his honorable duty in the British military same as the generations before him. Prince Harry enrolled at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and received his commission as a second lieutenant. In 2007, he went to Afghanistan and served there for 77 days with no publicity until after his return. In 2012, he returned to Afghanistan for a 20 week deployment with the British Army Air Corps. Currently Prince Harry is not married and enjoying his life as a bachelor on the London social scene.

The oldest brother, Prince William, went on to study at Eton and later the University of St. Andrews located in Scotland where he met his future wife Kate Middleton. Then he completed officer training at Sandhurst and receiving his commission as a lieutenant and then trained as a military pilot eventually working with the RAF Search and Rescue Forces as a helicopter ambulance pilot. Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011, had a son named Prince George in 2013 and are expecting their second child in 2015.

Currently Prince Charles is heir to the British throne. His son, Prince William, is currently second in the line of succession followed by his son, Prince George.

Royal Note: Recently in October of 2011 at the Commonwealth Meeting held in Perth, Australia the heads of the sixteen Commonwealth countries, with Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state, announced changes to the Act of Settlement. The Perth Agreement is the provision made to the original act of succession which proposed an end to the first born male preference. This was a much debated issue since it would change the centuries old rule and set precedence that would directly affect the children of Prince William and Kate, those members of the royal family born before 2011 would keep their place in the line of succession. To put this new ruling into perspective, Prince William and Kate had been recently married but it was before they were expecting their first child. So, if they had a girl it would become the next in line to the throne and remain at that position even if a brother were to follow her. Of course this point was moot because Prince William and Kate’s first child was a boy!

For information about British Royal Wedding, please check out the four part series and click on the link to Part One. For information about the tradition of the British Royal Births & Christenings, please click on the link.

Travel – Clarence House

Posted on March 3, 2015 by barbara

Clarence House has been the royal residence of many members of the British Royal Family throughout the last 170 years. In this post I will discuss the history of the Clarence House and the famous royal family members that have lived there. I will also discuss the building’s exterior architecture and the interior design throughout the years and give a brief tour of some of the rooms of the first floor of Clarence House.

The History of Clarence House

Clarence House is located in the City of Westminster and is adjacent to St. James Palace. It was commissioned by the Prince William, Duke of Clarence, designed by John Nash and built between 1825 and 1827. After the death of his brother, King George IV, Buckingham Palace was still under construction and the new King William IV decided he preferred his home at Clarence House and remained there until his death in 1837. (Royal Note: When the House of Parliament was severely damaged by a fire in 1834, King William offered Buckingham Palace as its new location but the offer was declined)

After the death of King William, Princess Augusta, his unmarried sister moved into Clarence House and lived there until her own death in 1840. The next royal family member to make Clarence House their home was Victoria the Duchess of Kent, she was the mother of Queen Victoria and she lived there from 1841 to 1861.

After the death of the Duchess of Kent, Clarence House remained vacant for five years until the Victoria’s second son, Prince Alfred the Duke of Edinburgh moved there in 1866. Over the next 40 years he was frequently gone because he was traveling the world with the British Navy or making Royal visits as the Queen’s representative in foreign countries. During that time he married the Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna, the daughter of Alexander II the Tsar of Russia, in 1874 and Clarence House was renovated and decorated in a more lavish and grand style. Then in 1893, Prince Alfred became the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and moved his family to Germany but he retained Clarence House for his personal use on his visits back to England until his death in 1900. (Royal Note: Prince Alfred inherited the title from his uncle, Duke Ernest, who was the older brother of Prince Albert, his father)

After the death of Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria’s third son, Prince Arthur the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn moved into Clarence House and it became his London residence. Prince Arthur was frequently gone because of his extended overseas duties with the British Army in both India and Canada; he also served as Governor-General of Canada from 1911 to 1916. Eventually Prince Arthur returned to England after his world travels and he lived at Clarence House until his death in 1942.

With the death of Prince Arthur and the onset World War II, Clarence House served another purpose other than a royal residence and during the war it was used by the British Red Cross Headquarters with over two hundred staff members of the Foreign Relations Department who worked on behalf of the British prisoners of war held overseas.

After the war, Clarence House was in need of extensive repairs because the building had sustained some damage during the German bombing raids on London and the surrounding area. When the renovations were completed Princess Elizabeth and her new husband, Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh moved into Clarence House in 1949 and they lived there during the early years of their marriage. In 1953, after the death of her father, King George VI, the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth moved from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace with her husband and two small children. (Royal Note: Prince Charles was just a toddler when his parents moved into Clarence House and his sister, Princess Anne was actually born there on August 15, 1950)

After the death of her husband, King George, the dowager Queen now known as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret moved from the Buckingham Palace and into Clarence House. In 1960, after Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones the royal couple moved into Kensington Palace. The Queen Mother remained at Clarence House as the sole resident but surrounded by her loving and devoted staff of servants. The Queen Mother loved to lavishly entertain and she enjoyed tea parties and formal dinners which many foreign Heads of State and famous celebrities attended throughout the years. (Royal Note: One important guest that stayed at Clarence House was Princess Diana and prior to her engagement announcement to Prince Charles she moved in and stayed with the Queen Mother until her wedding day in 1981)

But perhaps one of the most famous events in recent years was the Queen Mother’s annual birthday appearances at the gates of Clarence House on Stable Yard Road to greet the public. This tradition started for her 70th birthday in 1970 and continued until 2001 for her 101th birthday, the beloved Queen Mother died in 2002.

Currently Clarence House is the official London residence of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. After the death of their mother, Princess Diana, in 1977 her sons split their time between their father’s house, Highgrove, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire and then later at Clarence House. Prince William lived at Clarence House from 2003 until his marriage to Kate Middleton in 2011 and Prince Harry lived there from 2003 until 2012 when he also moved to Kensington Palace. (Royal Note: When Prince William moved out of Clarence House after his marriage he moved into the same apartment at Kensington Palace that Princess Margaret once occupied until her death in 2002. It is believed that the Prince decided that his mother’s, Princess Diana, former apartment at Kensington Palace held too many memories and it would be too bittersweet to return to his childhood home).

The Architecture and Interior Design of Clarence House

Clarence House was built next to St. James Palace and it was the preferred residence of King William IV. He commissioned the architect John Nash to design the building while he was still the Duke of Clarence and it was completed in 1827. Throughout the years, Clarence House has seen many changes and alterations by the various members of the royal family that have lived in the house and bears little resemblance to the original building that Nash designed. At the time that the Duke of Clarence moved into the building it was a three-story structure that was constructed on a corner lot located on the south-west side of St. James Palace with the main entrance facing Stable Yard Road. The Duchess of Clarence decorated the interior of their new home in a refined style and it was very simple when compared to St. James Palace or later the luxurious Buckingham Palace.

The next resident to make significant changes to Clarence House was Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria. When the Duke of Edinburgh married the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia in 1874 he had Clarence House enlarged and redecorated. He had a fourth-story added to the structure and the main entrance was relocated to the south side of the building and featured Doric columns. A Russian Orthodox chapel was also added on the first floor for his wife.

After the death of Prince Alfred, his brother Prince Arthur moved into Clarence House. When he married Princess Louise of Prussia the rooms were renovated with oak paneling and plaster molding and decorated in a distinct Victorian style with overstuffed furnishings and numerous items gathered by the Prince during his world travels, there is documentation listing over 400 pieces of oriental porcelain, bronze and jade figurines belonging to the Prince.

Then, after the death of Prince Arthur, Clarence House was used as the headquarters of the Red Cross during World War II and many of the rooms were altered to accommodate over 200 workers. When the war ended the building needed to be reconstructed and the exterior was completely redone because it had been severely damaged during the German bombing of London.

By 1949, Clarence House became the home of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. After their 1947 wedding it took two years to complete renovations to the building before they could move in. Despite the fact that Princess Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of King George VI and heir to the throne, their home was very simple and elegantly decorated. The royal couple enjoyed their time in Clarence House and lived quietly there for only a few years until King George died after a lengthy illness. The new Queen Elizabeth II moved into Buckingham Palace with her husband and two small children.

At that time, the decision was made that the Queen Mother and her youngest daughter Princess Margaret would move from Buckingham Palace and into the Clarence House but before that could happen the interior rooms needed to be refurbished and the building needed to be completely rewired. When the house was redecorated the Queen Mother furnished the rooms with her large collection of important British artwork and wonderful decorative items such as Faberge and beautiful English porcelain and silver pieces.

Over the next 70 years, Clarence House was the site for many of the Queen Mother’s official and private dinners and afternoon teas. The table was always set with beautiful china and polished silver which made the perfect setting for deliciously prepared meals and best wines were served. Foreign Heads of State who would customary see the dowager Queen at the start of their State Visit to England and the Queen Mother also entertained an eclectic mix of famous celebrities and ordinary citizens from the her various charities.

When the Queen Mother died in 2002, Clarence House became the official London residence of her grandson Prince Charles. Before the Prince of Wales and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall could move into the house it took almost a year to complete the extensive renovations and redecorations. As a tribute to his beloved grandmother, the Prince retained the basic color schemes of the rooms and positioned some of the Queen Mother’s furnishings back to their original placement in the rooms. He also used numerous pieces from the Queen Mother’s art collection combined with his own personal collection.

A Brief Tour of Clarence House

Clarence House is open to the public only during two months each summer and visitors can take a guided tour which includes several rooms on the ground floor. The tour starts with a walk through the garden and through the famous “Queen Mother’s Birthday” gate and then into Clarence House.

Once inside Clarence House visitors will be in the Entrance Hall and then they will proceed into the Lancaster Room which is normally used as a reception room for the personal guests of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. The room was given the name because the people of Lancaster generously gifted money to Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh for their wedding in 1947 and the funds were used to decorate and furnish this room of Clarence House.

The Morning Room is located on the other side of the Entrance Hall and is currently used by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall when they entertain their guests. The Morning Room was the Queen Mother’s favorite room when she lived in Clarence House and Prince Charles chose to decorate it with several of his grandmother’s personal items, such as her collection of Royal Anchor Chelsea porcelain. Two paintings of important historical significance displayed in this room are of two former residents of Clarence House. The first is a small portrait set on the fireplace mantel which shows the Queen Mother in 1908 when she was simply known as Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. The second one is the first official portrait of a seven year old Princess Elizabeth now known as Queen Elizabeth II and the daughter of the Queen Mother and the mother of Prince Charles.

The Morning Room is customarily used for official portraits taken on special occasions, such as 2012 when Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip posed with their sons and daughters for their 65^th wedding anniversary and in 2013 for Prince George’s christening. (Royal Note: The Chippendale gilded sofa that is seen in both photos is part of a set of two sofas and two bergeres chairs dating back to 1773 and originally commissioned by the Duke of Gloucester)

Clarence House - Morning Room - Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillips 65th wedding anniversary

The Library is located adjacent to the Morning Room and hung on the wall, on either side of the double door entrance, are portraits of the Prince’s grandmother and mother. Both paintings are by the Russian artist Savely Sorine, the first was done in 1923 and captures the Queen Mother at the age of twenty-three when she was the Duchess of York and the second was done in 1948 and shows Queen Elizabeth II at the age of twenty-two.

Another set of double doors lead from the Library into the Dining Room. The dining table is set for a formal dinner with lovely china, beautiful crystal glasses and silverware. A portrait of the Queen Mother is hung above the fireplace as another tribute to Clarence House’s most famous resident; the portrait remains unfinished because of the onset of World War II. (Royal Note: When the Queen Mother dined she sat in the middle chair with her back to the fireplace and if Prince Charles was present he sat directly across from her. Today the Prince retains that tradition and sits in the middle of the table facing the portrait of the Queen Mother)

The final room of the tour is the Garden Room which is said to be Prince Charles favorite room and is filled with his personal items gathered from his world travels. Some notable items in the room are a large tapestry formerly owned by Napoleon III that the Prince acquired in France and a Welsh harp representing the Prince’s close ties with Wales. Positioned in a prominent place in the room is a Chinese lacquer writing desk that originally belonged to Queen Mary, the piece was made in the 1700s in Germany. (Royal Note: Another treasured item that once belonged to the Queen Mother is a signed copy of “The Noel Coward Song Book”, the playwright was a personal friend)

This concludes the tour of Clarence House and visitors will proceed back down the corridor to the Entrance Hall and exit back into the garden.

For more information about the longest resident of Clarence House, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, please click on the link. For information about two of the other royal residences in London, Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, please click on the links.

Decor – Framed Family Handprints

Posted on February 24, 2015 by barbara

My basic decorating style in my home is to surround me and my family with items that have special meaning in our lives. Sometimes these items can be gathered during family vacations or memorabilia from special family events like weddings, baptisms or birthday celebrations. Our house is also filled with family photos because I like looking at them and remembering people, places or things that we have done together as a family throughout the years. (Yes, I guess you could say I am a sentimental old fool!!)

One of my favorite decorative items that relates to family is the “Three Generations” photo frame which holds a picture of three hands. When I saw the photo frame while shopping one day I knew that the photo would look great in it! My young daughter’s hand is so small and there is paint on her finger, my hand is slightly larger and my mom’s hand is more wrinkled. The photo was taken just a few years before she passed away and to me it tells the story of three generations of women in my family. (We also used the photo as the title page for the video that we played at my mom’s funeral service and it was perfect to reflect the feeling of family)

Another favorite family decorative item that we did very recently was the family hands craft project which was quick, easy and inexpensive. We started by taking three pieces of scrapbook paper and trace each of the hands of the members of your family. For a smaller family you can lay each of the hand tracings on top of each other or for a larger family the tracings can be laid overlapping side by side. Shown below is another variation for the family hands craft project is using paper for a wonderful overlapped look. (Craft Note / Tip: I hung this on the wall in our home next to another craft project, Words into Art. Be sure to write the names and date that the hand tracings were taken. Please click on the link for a list of craft supplies and complete instructions)

Shown below are more family hands craft projects that I have made as decorative art for our home –

Framed childhood handprints with special poem

This was originally posted in May 2013 and it is a great craft project to do with the kids to create a very sentimental Mother’s Day gift or it is a great gift idea for the grandparents for Christmas or Grandparent’ Day. Children handprints, especially when they are very young, always make interesting art work for a home especially when framed with a special poem. (For more information about Childhood Handprints, please click on the link)

Framed Zoo Animal Handprints

This was originally posted in April 2013 and it is another inexpensive craft project to do with the kids to create whimsical zoo animals with family handprints. Several handprints of the same animal are great for the whole family (create a herd of elephants walking across the savannah, a group of monkeys hanging from a tree or a group of ducks swimming on the water) Be sure to include individual animal prints for separate family members that expresses their personalities. (maybe a lion for the father, a tiger for the mother, a monkey, zebra, giraffe, elephant or flamingo for the kids) Frame each print in a white mat and simple black frame which won’t distract from the colorful prints. Take the time to label the prints with the names of each family member and be sure to include the year. Several of these individual prints along with one group print would look great to create an interesting wall display in a family room. (For more information about Zoo Animal Handprints, please click on the link)

Travel – The Washington Monument

Posted on February 22, 2015 by barbara

In honor of George Washington’s birthday in February, this Travel post will be about the Washington Monument located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Washington Monument was built to commemorate the first President of the United States and it measures 555 feet 5 inches tall making it the world’s tallest obelisk.

Shortly after his death in 1799, Congress authorized the building of a memorial to George Washington in the newly built national capital. The public greatly admired Washington for his military service during the American Revolution and for his political service to the newly formed country that had recently fought for their independence from Britain. Washington was such a strong force in the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party, which had gained control of the Congress in 1801, opposed building the monument. Eventually in 1832 the project started to move forward when the Washington National Monument Society was formed. By 1836 funds were raised and a design competition was announced. The architect chosen was Robert Mills and the design he proposed was an obelisk, a four sided tall pillar, with a flat top. Surrounding the structure would be a circular colonnade which would be topped with a majestic statue of Washington standing on a chariot and in addition there would be 30 more statues of Revolutionary War heroes. It was an ambitious plan and the elaborate memorial would be a very expensive to construct so the committee decided to start by building only the obelisk.

The original site of the monument was moved when the area proved to be unstable and could not hold the weight of the finished structure. Construction on the monument started in 1848 with the laying of the cornerstone at the northeast corner of the memorial in a special Fourth of July ceremony. The 24,500 pound marble cornerstone measures 2.5 feet high by 6.5 feet square and was set into the foundation in a solemn ceremony using George Washington’s Masonic gavel. Within the cornerstone was a hole which was large enough for a zinc case that was filled with special memorabilia pertaining to both George Washington and the city of Washington, D.C. There were 73 items such as the design plans for the memorial, 71 newspapers and other publications, several sets of coins, and a bible.

Unfortunately, the construction of the memorial came to a halt in 1854 due to problems with the committee, lack of funds and the start of the Civil War. At that time the monument had only reached a height of 152 feet when the project was abandoned for the next few years. When construction resumed after the war, there was a distinctive difference in the shading of the marble of the obelisk.

The monument was completed in 1884 and the top design was changed from a flat one to a pointed one. The uppermost top piece (the pyramidion or captstone) is made of 100 ounces of aluminum which acted as the original lightning rod for the monument, at the time aluminum was a rare metal which was as valuable as silver. The four panels of the capstone are etched with several different inscriptions, one of them reads “Laus Deo” meaning Praise be to God. A wide copper band encircles the bottom of the uppermost top piece and holds eight vertical lightning rods. The capstone also has a large hole at the base where a 1.5 inch diameter copper rod can be attached as part of the lightning rod system.

Washington Mounument - capstone with lightning rods

During the course of the building of the monument all 50 states, several individual cities, foreign countries, organizations and even some individuals contributed almost 200 memorial stones that have been incorporated into the east and west interior walls of the structure. The memorial stones are made of a variety of materials; such as marble, granite, limestone and sandstone. Some more unique materials include one made of copper from Michigan, petrified wood from Arizona and jade from Alaska. The memorial stones also range in size from small 1.5 feet square blocks to larger ones measure about 6 feet by 8 feet. (Travel Note: The memorial stones can be viewed from various locations within the Washington Monument)

Located at the base of Washington Monument and evenly spaced around the 260 foot diameter circle are fifty 25 foot tall aluminum flag poles which fly the American flags and represent the 50 states. In the past, the flags were removed and stored overnight but since 1971 the flags remain on display 24 hours a day.

Most recently, in August 2011 the Washington Monument sustained damage from an earthquake that had an epicenter in nearby Virginia. Engineering firms were brought in to assess the monument and the decision was made to close access until the extent of the damage could be determined. The pyramidion was dislodged and there was a 4 foot long crack, several pieces of stone and mortar had fallen within the interior, the elevator was damaged and not functioning properly and there were additional cracks on the exterior of the monument.

In July 2012, the National Park Service announced the monument closure for extensive repairs that would take two years to complete. A portion of the plaza at the base of the monument was removed to allow better access to build scaffolding around the exterior for the renovation project. The NPS reopened the Washington Monument when the repairs were completed in May 2014.

View of the Lincoln Memorial from the top of the Washington Monument

View of the White House from the top of the Washington Mounument

View of the White House from the top of the Washington Monument

View of the Capitol Building from the top of the Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is one of the most popular sites for visitors to Washington, D.C. Visitors have come to climb the 898 stairs for spectacular views over the city and eventually the service elevator, which was originally used to carry building materials during the construction of the monument, now carries visitors to the top. The monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The National Park Service administrates the Washington Monument as well as other historic sites within in the city of Washington, D.C. For more detailed information about planning a visit to the Washington Monument, including ticket information, please see the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov/wamo

Norman Rockwell’s Birthday

Posted on February 3, 2015 by barbara

I have enjoyed the art of Norman Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) for a long time; his whimsical depiction of life in America always brought a smile. His works also included subjects of more serious matters, such as the Four Freedom series. So, in honor of his birthday, I will discuss the life of Rockwell, his many paintings and illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post and Boy’s Life magazines and at the end I will give some information on the Norman Rockwell Museum located in Stockbridge, MA.

The life of Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell was born on February 3, 1894 in New York City, his parents were Jarvis and Anne (Hill) Rockwell and he had an older brother who was also named Jarvis. His father was the manager of a Philadelphia-based textile company and he worked at the office located in New York. Rockwell showed an interest as a young boy for drawing and painting so at the age of 14 he left high school to attend the Chase Art School and later the National Academy of Design.

In 1912, Rockwell’s first full time paying job was as a staff artist for Boy’s Life magazine which was a publication for the Boy Scouts of America, a new organization that had recently formed in 1910. Within a year of going to work for Boy’s Life magazine he became the art editor and held the position for the next three years. Shown below is his first cover for Boy’s Life published in September 1913 called “Scout at Ship’s Wheel”.

In 1915, the Rockwell family moved from the city to the town of New Rochelle, New York. It was there that he shared a studio with Clyde Forsythe, a cartoonist for the Saturday Evening Post magazine. With Forsythe’s connections, Rockwell was able to get one of his paintings used for the May 1916 cover of Saturday Evening Post called “Mother’s Day Off” and it is shown below. Rockwell went on to have eight more covers within the next twelve months – I would say that for a young man of only 22 years old Rockwell was doing very well!

In regards to Rockwell’s personal life, at this time Rockwell met Irene O’Connor when she moved into the same boardinghouse he was living at in New York City. (Irene is shown on the Literary Digest cover, “Mother Tucking Children into Bed” in January 1921) The couple married on July 1, 1916 and they did not have any children before divorcing in 1930.

In regards to Rockwell profession life, his association with the Saturday Evening Post continued to prove to be a very productive partnership and over a span of 47 years Rockwell created 323 original covers for the magazine. Rockwell featured boy scouts in occasional covers and in 1926 he resumed work for the Boy Scouts of America by creating original illustrations for their annual calendars.

After Rockwell’s divorce from his first wife, he escaped the East Coast and went to California for a short time and that is where he met and married Mary Barstow on March 27, 1930. The couple returned to New York to live in New Rochelle and had three sons; Jarvis born in 1932 (a visual artist), Thomas born in 1933 (author of children’s books) and Peter born in 1936 (a sculptor).

Rockwell was inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address which spoke about the four principals of freedom that were the universal rights of the people of the world, and as a result he painted the famous Four Freedoms series. It took him seven months to create the four paintings, “Freedom of Speech”, “Freedom of Worship”, “Freedom from Want” and “Freedom from Fear” and they were published in February and March 1943 in the Saturday Evening Post accompanied by a magazine article written about each of the freedoms. Afterwards, the Four Freedom paintings were sent on a nationwide tour to raise money for war bonds sales, $130,000 was raised to help the war efforts. In addition, the Four Freedoms were reproduced into United States postage stamps and issued in 1943 and 1946.

Rockwell continued painting for the next twenty years and he also worked with his son, Thomas, to write an autobiography called “My Adventures as an Illustrator” which was published in 1960. One of his most famous paintings featured in the book and also on the February 13, 1960 Saturday Evening Post cover called the “Triple Self-Portrait”.

By this time the Rockwell family had moved from New York to Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1953 because Rockwell’s wife, Mary, was being treated at a psychiatric hospital in Stockbridge for mental health issues. Then in 1959, Mary died suddenly of a heart attack. Later Rockwell married his third wife, Mary “Molly” Punderson, a retired schoolteacher, on October 25, 1961. Rockwell’s third marriage was to bring him great happiness and they enjoyed their lives together in Stockbridge.

Rockwell’s last Saturday Evening Post cover was published in 1963 and then he went to work creating covers for Look magazine for the following ten years. During this period, Rockwell paintings became more serious in nature with such topics as civil rights and space exploration. (shown below are the 1964 “The Problem We Live With” featuring Ruby Bridges and the 1965 “Suiting Up” featuring astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young – a copy of this one hangs in my husband’s home office) Rockwell was also privately commissioned to paint the portraits of four United States President; they were Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. At the age of eighty-two years old, Rockwell received his final commission from the Boy Scouts of America for their annual calendar, during his sixty-four year association with the organization and he created four hundred and seventy-one illustrations which were used in calendars, periodicals, guidebooks as well as other promotional items.

Norman Rockwell - The Problem We Live With

In 1977, Rockwell received the United States highest civilian honor of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his “vivid and affectionate portraits of our country”. Sadly, Rockwell died on November 8, 1978 from emphysema and he is buried in the Stockbridge Cemetery in Stockbridge, MA.

The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA

In 1969, Norman and Molly Rockwell founded the Norman Rockwell Museum and its original location was at the Old Corner House in Stockbridge, MA. In 1994, the museum moved to its current location on a 36 acre site overlooking the Housatonic River Valley. The museum has the largest collection of almost 575 original Norman Rockwell art, including his many preliminary sketches and completed paintings for his many magazine covers. The Norman Rockwell Museum archives contain more than 100,000 items which includes photographs, letters pertaining to his business, personal, and fan correspondence and personal mementos. Visitors will also see Rockwell’s studio which was bequeathed to the museum in 1976 and features his original art materials, equipment, furnishings and his 500 volume art library.

For more information on planning a trip to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum, please see their website at www.nrm.org.

The Enchanted Manor

a lifestyle blog by Barbara Jones

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