One leisure activity that is well documented at the Williams farmstead is music, and two musical instruments are represented in the assemblage. One complete harmonica (a) and 11 harmonica pieces (reeds and reed plates) were found along with a Jew's harp (c). The complete harmonica has brass side plates that are stamped with the "The Nightingale" on one side and "[G]olden Richter" on the other. Harmonicas and Jews harps were common musical instruments in the nineteenth century, and the many different types were advertised in the Montgomery Ward (1895) and Sears, Roebuck (1897 and 1902) catalogs. Although we do not know who the musicians were in the Williams family, one can imagine them sitting on the front porch in the evening singing along to tunes played on the harmonica and Jew's harp. |