Jeannine Worthing, Visitor Services Coordinator
Among the many projects we have on the go at Point Ellice House, we are working on developing educational programming based on the BC Social Studies curriculum. One program we are excited about aims to teach classes about the history of food production and preparation by the O’Reilly family at Point Ellice House. This program will tie in with the work being done on the property’s South Garden, a multi-year project which aims to rehabilitate the kitchen garden and the orchard, as well as several other historical characteristics of the site.
While searching the collection for artifacts that might be interesting for school-aged children, I came across a vase (pictured below).
This object is listed in our inventory as “Vase, Celery” and dates from the 19th century. When I read through the entry, I thought to myself, “What in the world is a celery vase?” I couldn’t begin to guess its purpose, or why the O’Reillys would have owned one – so I went searching for answers.
Here’s what I learned: In the 19th century, celery was apparently a pretty difficult vegetable to grow – it required lots of water and just the right amount of sun so that the stalks would not overgreen and become bitter. Being such a finicky plant, celery was hard to come by in most household kitchens and gardens; usually only wealthy families like the O’Reillys were able to afford to regularly purchase celery for their meals.
A glass vase, like the one we have in our collection, was the fashionable way to serve celery at meal time. At Point Ellice House, cooks cut and cleaned the crunchy stalks of the plant, filled the bottom of the vase with water, rested the cut stalks vertically in the vase, and presented them on the dining table for consumption. The celery vase was, in its time, a signifier of the wealth and status of those who served the rare and expensive vegetable at their table. The celery vase fell out of fashion by the late 19th century, and was replaced instead by long, flat, glass serving dishes.
As someone living in the 21st century who is able to purchase celery at practically any grocery store, the vase initially seemed to me such an absurd item. Its purpose and presence in the O’Reilly household made sense, however, when I considered the connection between celery and social status. As an upper-class family who played host to many social events at their home, of course the O’Reillys owned a celery vase!
The Point Ellice House collection also features a few other artifacts related to this once-pricy vegetable: A handwritten recipe for celery sauce which appears to be in Kathleen O’Reilly’s penmanship, as well as a packet of D.M Ferry & Co. White Plume variety celery seeds (with the seeds still in the packet!)
The presence of the seed packet in our collection suggests that the family grew their own celery in the south garden. The recipe indicates that the family like the vegetable well enough to make it the star of its own sauce.
The educational program we are developing also includes a vegetable soup recipe which features celery, found in one of the cookbooks from our collection. By using the artifacts housed here at Point Ellice House to develop our programs, we hope to create an interesting (and memorable) experience for teachers and students. Staff of museums and historic houses are in a position to utilize collections to create unique and engaging programs for classrooms, and even we are surprised by some of the tidbits of history we uncover during the process!