Image Courtesy of Freeman’s

In the Pocket

Mount Vernon recently acquired an extraordinary pair of George Washington commemorative pocket handkerchiefs. Made in Pennsylvania between 1806 and 1830, they retain their vivid colors and have very little staining. They are of historical importance because they illustrate the ways marketers and moralists deployed George Washington’s persona to sell products through appeals to conscience. Their small size indicates they were intended for use by children; in addition to keeping faces and hands clean and presentable, they aimed to inspire with their morally elevating tales.

The first handkerchief features author Parson Weems’s apocryphal story of Washington and the cherry tree, celebrating the president’s honesty. The second quotes from Washington’s Farewell Address, praising his integrity of conduct and voluntary resignation of power and using visual symbols (the U.S. seal, a ship representing “Commercial Union,” and the recumbent British lion) to connect Washington’s integrity to the nation’s success and prosperity.

Attributed to the Germantown Printworks outside Philadelphia, the handkerchiefs are an early example of copperplate printing in the United States. The “Behold the Man” handkerchief bears the owner’s mark of “M.E.B,” confirming that it was actually purchased and used by an individual. Single examples of the blue-printed handkerchiefs occasionally come to market, but a set rarely does. This acquisition allows Mount Vernon to more fully tell the story of how Washington’s legacy was shaped and spread in early America.

Exterior Restoration Update

This spring, Mount Vernon undertook a major restoration of the north and south ends of the Mansion’s exterior. The work is a continuation of the full exterior restoration begun in 2019 with the west front. While the areas have received ongoing maintenance over the years, the last full-scale paint removal and restoration were done 65 years ago. With the elaborate Venetian window on the north side, and a post–George Washington porch built and then removed on the south side, both ends have complex stories to tell.

Paint and sand have been removed from both ends, allowing the restoration team to document conditions and assess for carpentry repairs. Carpentry work is currently underway, as is staining of the Mansion and colonnade roofs. Carpenters are milling several replacement siding boards for the south elevation, using hand tools to create the bevels and notches to achieve a rusticated effect consistent with the 18th-century treatment. They are also making new exterior window architraves and frames for the Washington bedchamber windows (upper) to replace early 20th–century repairs. After the south end repairs are complete, the team will move to the north side. In addition to maintaining the health and appearance of the Mansion, the project allows the preservation team to study and learn more about the house’s construction and evolution and expand documentation, including calculating the survival rate of 18th-century materials. The team already found trapped 18th-century siding with early paint on the south end. Preliminary paint analysis suggests the visible coat of sand and paint dates to the 1790s. The surviving finish closely matches the off-white paint and sand particles being applied during this restoration to imitate, as Washington originally intended, the “durability, & representation of Stone.”

Visitors currently have the unique opportunity to see the wood siding, and observe the process of painting and sand casting.