Weights and Measures

By Miriam Ehrlich

Hello, it’s Miriam! The object we will be looking at this week is a brass hanging scale. It has two shallow plates that come down from separate chains attached to the same iron pole. The chains are attached to the pole by hooks to support the weight. It is from around the mid 18th century and measures 41.5 inches in height, 23.25 inches in length, and 14.75 inches in diameter.

This scale was once used in the interpretation of the store in the Jean Hasbrouck house. One fascinating part of the history here is that we can sometimes date the age of a historic house by using dendrochronology, which is a scientific method of dating by looking at tree rings.¹ That means that some of the houses here are also hundreds of years old! The original Hasbrouck house is dated to have been built very soon after Hasbrouck first arrived here, in the late 1600s. It only had two rooms at the time.² After he died, Jean’s son, Jacob, inherited the property and built it up, turning it into the beautiful stone house that remains here today.³

You may recognize the name Hasbrouck from somewhere else in the village, besides this street. That is because you can also find the name Hasbrouck as the name of the main dining hall on the SUNY New Paltz campus.

The house itself is very significant architecturally. After Jacob made changes it was “essentially twice the size of the typical stone house in the village…”⁴ It also has a large center passage, or hallway. This was unusual for the time and sets the house apart from the others, making it unique. Hallways were often a sign of wealth during this era of history. Additionally, the Hasbrouck house is important because it began to stray away from classical Dutch architecture. This can be seen in the location of the house itself, which runs parallel to the street instead of facing it, which was a popular Dutch practice.⁵

This house is also important to Huguenot history because of its store, which is how Josiah Hasbrouck (great grandson of patentee Jean) made much of his income. While Hasbrouck was neither the first nor only person to create a storefront out of his own house, it is still an important part of Huguenot Street and New Paltz history. The storefront is significant because it represents an economic shift in the north from an agrarian to more commercial way of making a living. The storefront would have been full of many different items from food and liquor to clothing and textiles.

We have a record of various goods sold out of the Hasbrouck storefront from 1793-1794. These items would have been measured using this scale or one just like it. The archive notes that in November to December of 1793 there were three transactions of tea, measuring ¼, 1, and 6 pounds. The flavors sold were Sushan, Bohea, and green. In those same months, two brass candlesticks were sold. Other popular items that were sold included fish hooks, knives, and buttons. While today stores use electronic scales, sometimes scales such as this one are used to make measurements. In fact, some local stores in New Paltz do this.

This scale originally belonged to the Hasbrouck storefront in the 18th century. An exciting new feature of this year’s tours will be the rebirth of the Jean Hasbrouck store. You will be able to see this object on display in the house starting May 7!

¹ Historic Huguenot Street. Guided Tour. New Paltz, 2016.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ “Furnishing Plan for the Jean Hasbrouck House.” Neil Larson & Associates: Woodstock, February 2004.

⁵ Historic Huguenot Street. Guided Tour. New Paltz, 2016.

Kasten Culture

Hi! I’m Chloe Baker, a history major with a minor in Medieval and Early Modern studies at SUNY New Paltz. I am very excited to be interning at Historic Huguenot Street!

This week’s object is the grote kas, a large storage cupboard with roots in Renaissance Dutch architecture. This item became popular among immigrant inhabitants of Colonial New Netherland and were a staple in Dutch households during the Colonial era. The kasten were meant to be the center of attention in a room, with the largest ones exceeding eighty inches in height. They were typically used for the purposes of storing bed linens and clothing, such as women’s skirts and petticoats. The process of keeping the cloths and linens clean and dust free was a time consuming and lengthy endeavor. Women would often take two sheets of linen and fold them diagonally and horizontally to ensure that the contents inside of the kasten were kept free and in place. If the coloring of the linen was not perfectly white, women would have them bleached.¹ Thus it can be inferred that the kasten were important pieces of furniture to Dutch housewives.

The design of these American kasten typically included a base with a single draw or draws, a shelved central cupboard with paneled doors, and a molded cornice. The kasten contained sharply defined moldings and overhanging cornices, which took time and required the skills of a carpenter. Such a design was an improvement from the original, old-fashioned Renaissance form. The kasten were often rich as they were made from sweet gum wood, mostly found in New Jersey, which contained a smooth grain with a light red-born color. They sometimes contained diamond-shaped or rectangular panels on the stiles and drawer fronts, and was usually applied to a contrasting wood such as walnut.²

Not only did the kasten serve a practical purpose for wives and add a decorative element to households due to their elaborate and detailed carvings, but they also became a source of Dutch pride among Dutch immigrants in America. As America’s colonial era approached, what was once known as New Amsterdam became New York due to wars between the Dutch powers and the English. As more British settlers traveled to the New World, Dutch individuals did in fact stay, however most were hesitant to acculturate into English society. Owning kasten became an expression of Dutch pride, and was very commonly mentioned in wills that included furniture. ³  Unlike colonial Dutch architecture, which possessed a different style depending on the region, kasten usually stayed the same in design for all Dutch households. Only a few variations existed, depending on the region of New York they were made. In this way it can be inferred that the kasten were universally used to preserve the heritage, culture, and even values of the Dutch people, most of whom likely possessed a fair amount of wealth during a time when the population demographics of the New World were shifting.

We have many on the street, notably on display in the Jean Hasbrouck and Abraham Hasbrouck houses. This particular kas is in the Abraham Hasbrouck house and dates to 1750, made at the Beekman-Elting workshop in Kingston. This is a wonderful example of the Dutch furniture, as the original finish remains after over two hundred years of oxidation.

¹ Blackburn, Roderic H. and Ruth Piwonka. Remembrance of Patria: Dutch Arts and Culture in Colonial America, 1609-1776. Albany Inst of History & Art: 1988. 260. Print.

² Volk, Joyce Geary. “The Dutch Kast and the American Kas: A Structural/Historical Analysis.” New World Dutch Studies-Dutch Arts and Culture in Colonial America 1609-1776. 1987. 107. Print.

³ Kenny, Peter M. American Kasten: The Dutch Style Cupboards of New York and New Jersey 1650-1800. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991. Print,