Hawaiian Mission Houses is in the process of reinterpreting the 1821 Mission House basement. It was used as both a depository and a dispensatory. Levi Chamberlain meticulous ledgers record the supplies that came to Honolulu and then were distributed to other mission stations. Dr. Gerrit P. Judd used part of the basement as a pharmacy and doctor’s office beginning in 1832. A question that has come up in preparing the rooms is how things were packed to make the arduous journey from Boston round Cape Horn to Honolulu. Our research uncovered this passage from the correspondence of Daniel Chamberlain: We lost a considerable part of our eggs—those in the salt were tolerable—such as were put in lime water were almost all lost—they spoiled soon—those in rice were bad tho’ not so bad as those in the lime water. And then, this description by Corchran Forbes: Brother Hitchcock opened a box on wednesday in which he had put up two cheeses but found them spoiled with mites and very dry & mouldy. The Captain says they should have been prepared by running melted tallow or suet which is better over them & then closely packed, or put in a tub first & then suet run in till the tub was full and this tub placed inside a larger having coarse salt in it which would keep the cheese from melting while the suet would preserve it from mites. It makes you appreciate the modern supermarket all the more!
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 19:24:49 +0000
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