News & Events
Victorian Christmas for Kids
Date: Saturday, December 15, 2018
Time: 1-3pm
Cost: $5 per person
Hutchison House Museum has decked the halls and is ready to celebrate the holiday season. Join us for a special Victorian Christmas for kids Saturday December 15th from 1-3pm. Get into the holiday spirit with special treats, hearth demonstrations, crafts, fun and more! Finish your Christmas shopping by checking out the selection of books and seasonal items in our gift shop. This is a drop in event, no reservations required. Admission is $5 per person. For more information contact the museum at 705-743-9710.
Hogmanay
Date: January 1st, 2019
Time: 1-3:30pm
The Scots have been celebrating Hogmanay since the 16th century. Before the Reformation, the Scots celebrated a wide range of festivals from Christian, Norse and Celtic traditions. At the time of the Reformation, the Church of England cancelled all festivals except the most important feast days and by the mid-16th century, the observation of many of these had been almost entirely abolished. Christian feasts were seen to incorporate and sanctify pagan rituals. The Scottish Kirk forbade the celebration of Christmas, and in 1647 its observance was forbidden by an Act of Parliament. The result was that the Scots focussed on the celebration of the New Year - Hogmanay. By the 19th century, Christmas had been restored as a religious observance and Hogmanay continued as a time of merry-making.
Part of the preparation for the coming year involved putting one’s house in order. Debts were paid, the house was swept clean, clocks were wound, musical instruments were tuned, silver, brass and pewter were polished, clothes were mended, clean sheet were put on the beds, and anything borrowed was returned to its owner to ensure that all was in readiness when the new year arrived. Stray dogs were sent away, as they were thought to bring bad luck. Finally, the fire was piled high, the higher the flames, the greater the luck to come.
As with any festive occasion, Hogmanay includes the preparation of special food and beverages. At Hutchison House, on New Year’s Day, visitors will be treated to Scotch Black Bun, a rich mixture of currants, raisins, peel, spices and whisky, baked in a fine pastry dough, Clooty Dumpling or Duff, Scotch Eggs, Potted Salmon, cheeses, oatcakes, shortbread and Haggis.
Our first-footer will be “piped in” at precisely 1 p.m. January 1st with a rousing rendition of ‘Burns’ Address to a Haggis’ to follow shortly thereafter. Visitors will enjoy tours of the museum as well as samples of the taste of Scotland throughout the afternoon. Fiddle music, Highland dancing, and the skirl of the bagpipe and drum will round out the day. Plan to drop in to wish new friends and old neighbours the best for the coming year.
Help us ring in the new year at Hutchison House with a Hogmanay celebration from 1 to 3:30 p.m. on, January 1, 2019. Admission prices: adults $10.00; children $5.00; family rate $20.00 (2adults/2 children). This is a ‘drop-in’ affair. Space at the museum is limited and in order to accommodate visitors to this popular event and we would respectfully ask participants to keep the length of their visit as short as possible to avoid overcrowding. For more information call the museum at (705) 743-9710.
Distaff Day
Date: Sunday, January 13, 2019
Time: 12pm-3pm
Admission: $5 adults; $2 students (6-18); children under 5 free.
Celebrate Distaff Day with Hutchison House Museum and members of the Peterborough Weavers and Spinners Guild. Tour the museum and enjoy demonstrations by guild members. For more information please contact the museum office at 705-743-9710.
New Interactive and Accessible Program
New to Hutchison House: In an effort to make every learning experience a valuable experience, we have included a new interactive program within the Museum! As an addition to our Virtual Museum Tour DVD, Museum Management and Curatorship students from Sir Sandford Fleming College have created a new chest full of artifacts that represent a great deal of the history presented in the museum for individuals who cannot access the upstairs levels of Hutchison House. This chest is accompanied by a book providing an introductory explanation to the history of Hutchison House, allowing an independent learning experience for those who wish this. There is also a short Braille version. This experience is great for visitors who cannot trek up the stairs of the museum, those who would rather sit and experience the artifacts first-hand, or those who are visually impaired. Come and join us for your next museum experience and enjoy the history of our museum hands-on!
Hutchison House on YouTube
In honour of our 175th Anniversary last year Graham Hart from CHEX TV created this clip which can be viewed on YouTube.
Flash Back 1988: Hutchison House Museum
This past spring in honour or Toursim Week in Peterborough, the film students at Crestwood High School created 2.5 minutes clips of various attractions around town. These promotional clips aired on local CHEX TV the first week of June, 2013 and can also be found here on YouTube.
Hutchison House Living Musuem, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
Virtual Exhibit Growing Up in Peterborough: A Century of Stories
When the City of Peterborough, Ontario celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005, reminiscing about the way things used to be was an important part of the occasion. "Growing Up in Peterborough: A Century of Stories" is a collection of these reminiscences, memories of how the city came to be the city it is today.
This Hutchison House Museum exhibit looks back at the lives of 11 citizens born, raised and still residing in Peterborough. Some left for one reason or another, such as war or school, but all returned to testify that there is no place in the world they would rather live.
This exhibit is available online and can be visited by clicking here.
Virtual Exhibit on the Life of Dr. Hutchison
In 2010 Hutchison House Museum received funding to create a virtual exhibit for the Community Memories section of the Virtual Museum of Canada. After a year of hard work by staff and volunteers the result was the creation of ‘The Life and Times of Dr. Hutchison in the backwoods of Upper Canada’. This exhibit is now online and can be found by going to this link:
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm_v2.php?id=exhibit_home&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000758
The museum would like to thank Peterborough Museum and Archives, Trent University Archives, Royal Ontario Museum, Library and Archives Canada, Jean Cole, Ann Baker, Gale Fewings and Erin Panepinto for all your help in the creation of this exhibit.
