Evening Of Illumination (Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA)

Date Of Event: February 22, 2025

Location: Old Sturbridge Village, 1 Old Sturbridge Village Rd, Sturbridge, MA

Summary: Guided tours lit only by candle light showcased life before the use of electricity in New England.

It’s hard to believe but there once was a time when luxuries like IPads, streaming services and, of course, electrically powered lighting did not exist. But, Old Sturbridge Village was able to recreate these times at the Evening Of Illumination event in February.

At the first exhibit, the demonstrator showed off some of the different candles and lighting fixtures of the time.

During this event, one of the attendees asked if I could enable silent shooting on my camera as it was difficult to hear the speakers with the shutter of my camera going off. Unfortunately, my camera does not have this function. Modern mirrorless cameras do have this feature. But, my DSLR camera does not have silent mode (although there is a “quiet mode” that still makes a muted sound and is almost like a “slow mode”). So, out of respect for the people in the group, I did switch to video mode and I recorded videos at the historical homes. I did, however, also take a few photos in “quiet mode” when the speakers weren’t speaking. So, most of the remainder of this post will consist of videos from the event. Video recording is not my strong suit, particularly in low light situations and when there are bright light sources in low light. It really is a different skill set. So, I did have some challenges getting the lighting and focus right in some parts of these recordings.

At the next house, a violinist played a few songs. This is her version of “Park Waltz.” I especially like how she threw in a reference to the controversy surrounding her next piece. You may hear her say waltzing is a little bit controversial. In part, this is because waltzing is a form of dance where the dance partners are very close together. So close, in fact, their faces sometimes touched. Additionally, the dance partners would move or turn quickly and the dancing included fast tempos. How gauche!

This historical actor showed everyone what her night time routine was like. Her routine included saying her night time prayers, laying out her clothes and washing her face and hands.

The gentleman at the next house showed us how people kept themselves entertained with a simple candlelight. It’s amazing the images you can create by candlelight.

He also told us some stories that people would share and showed us how people viewed images a s a form of entertainment (way before moving pictures became a thing).

What did people do before board games and apps? The historical actors at this house showed how they kept themselves entertained. Games like charades and asking riddles were popular forms of entertainment.

The shoemaker at the the village explained how a shoemaker’s job was like.

The furniture maker at the village described his job by candlelight.

A young couple talked about their lives as young people with a child.

Carolers sang “Yankee Doodle Dandy” at the Meetinghouse.

The shop keeper explained the details of her job and some of the merchandise in the shop.

There were also some great photo opportunities in the tavern and lobby.

If that wasn’t enough, there was also dancing! All the visitors were invited to watch and participate in dancing at the tavern.

While this event was a lot of fun and very informative, it also made me appreciate the luxuries I have!