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What: A free program about a cottage industry in Cape May County’s early days
When: Tuesday, June 27 at 2 p.m.
Where: Endicott Reardon Museum, 3036 S. Shore Rd., Rte. 9, Seaville
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“By the mid 1700s this cottage industry was fourth largest source of income in Cape May.”
Reserve your seat by calling 609.827.4582 or emailing lleonard246@gmail.com
This program will describe the cottage industry of producing woolen mittens by many of the girls and women of Cape May County in early America. It is said that Benjamin Franklin helped to launch the knitting and textile model in Cape May Court House at the Colonial Knitting Mill Building on South Main Street. Learn all about this cottage industry which flourished in Cape May County and Ben Franklin’s connection to it with two distinguished local historians.
Jim Talone is a retired schoolteacher from Ardmore, PA, who moved on from teaching writing, photography and movie making to doing it himself. Since his retirement he has worked with the Stone Harbor Museum and helped produced a series of documentary films, including Salt Marsh Stories, Stone Harbor Stories and The Miracle on 81st Street. He recently self-published a memoir of his year in Vietnam called, “There It Is: A Helicopter Ride and a Purple Heart.”
J. P. (Jamie) Hand is a 10th generation descendant of the whaling families who settled on the bay dunes in the mid-1690s and a lifelong resident of Cape May County. Jamie is a decoy maker and restoration carpenter by trade. He is a long-time board member and past President of the Cape May County Historical & Genealogical Society. Hand, along with Jim Talone, developed a documentary discussing the “mitten trade” industry that was the labor of women and girls in Cape May County.
Regular Operating Hours for the 2023 Season are Monday & Wednesday from 10 to 2p.m. from June 1st to September 27. Come visit us! We are Free and Open to the Public.
The Endicott Reardon Family Museum is located at 3036 S. Shore Rd., Rte. 9, Seaville, N.J. 08230. Look for the sign! For more information, contact us at info@ermuseum.com, visit our website at www.ermuseum.com or call 609.624.0600. Also be sure to visit and like us on Facebook.