"Lizbits"
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Living History-Laura Loew
Photograph courtesy of JENNIFER KARPUS/SUN NEWS
Laura Loew lives what she loves. The Medina, Ohio woman offers classes and lectures in various Victorian-era topics including Lizzie Borden, one of the most popular presentations. Ms. Loew presents programs on many aspects of Victorian fashion from hats to needlework to mourning customs including hairwork jewelry. Her company, Lost in the Past, has a web site at http://lostinthepast.com/ where she may be contacted to book a lecture, date a photograph, advise on period costume, plan Victorian teas and myriad other fascinating services related to the Victorian era. Her next class will take place in her restored Italianate Victorian home and will be a craft session in making a fan, a presentation on the language of the fan, and a tour of her home filled with period antiques on April 10th. -
Monsterquest visits Lizzie Borden B&B 2008
Youtube has a release of the 2008 episode of History Channel’s Monsterquest which was filmed at the house in January. The usual favorite topics are included, the “children in the well” tale of the disturbed Mrs. Ladowick Borden who lived next door and threw 3 children in the cistern (only 2 are mentioned here), the roving rocker in Bridget’s bedroom, and the ghost of “Michael” in the chimney room on the third floor. This episode also marked the last appearance of Ed Thibault as Andrew Borden. Ed, one of the very early Borden Case scholars, worked at the Borden house for many years and gave lectures far and wide to schools and civic groups. He is now retired from the “LizBiz” although his wife Eleanor is often seen in her capacity as Saturday night tour guide for the house. House co-owner Lee Ann Wilber plays Lizzie in the Monsterquest production, with Shelley Dziedzic as Abby Borden.
(still photography from Monsterquest filming session, January 2008)
All four episode segments are available on Youtube.
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Lizziewear for tots
Nothing Says Love Like Lizzie !
This little fellow in the Youtube segment below loves Lizzie, but apparently not his day care teachers. Even worn as an undershirt, Lizzie’s face raised a few eyebrows. Need one for your baby from Baby Wit? What next- hatchet rattles? To order: http://www.babywit.com/TRR105I.html -
DVD Legend of Lizzie Borden
Filmed as a made-for-TV-movie, the 1975 Legend of Lizzie Borden with Elizabeth Montgomery is an eagerly-sought after commodity for guests visiting the Borden house. For those abandonning VCRs for Blue-Ray format, taping the film from a television airing no longer fills the bill. For about 11 dollars, a DVD copy can be had from Lost Movies at the link below.
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In Pursuit of the Dead
Last weekend’s Ghosthunter’s University with Chris Moon seems to have produced a few new twists. The group, which meets several times a year to introduce students of the paranormal to ghosthunting equipment and techniques obtained some interesting messages and phenomena. Those who go in for this sort of thing will enjoy Phil Devitt’s article for the Fall River Spirit which was published in the Wednesday edition. Another ghost hunting group is planning to visit #92 in April. http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100325/PUB03/3250442/-1/pub03 -
Lizzie Borden goes on a spree!
Several ladies in New Bedford and Fall River, anticipating Lizzie’s acquittal in June of 1893, decided to raise a “purse” to send the long-suffering Miss Borden on a treat to Chicago to see the Columbian Exposition, an event celebrating 400 years since Christopher Columbus made his famous landing. The White City was the place to see when it opened in 1893.
Instead of a cash purse, vacation coupons were assiduously clipped and mailed in to the newspaper with Lizzie Borden’s name on them for a contest where the first prize was the coveted trip to Chicago. According to the Fall River Weekly News, she received 94,097 coupons and came in second. She declined to accept the generous second prize of a trip to Narragansett Pier on the advice of Mr. Andrew Jennings, her attorney, and funded her own trip, which she could now easily afford.
Leaving sister Emma to unpack at Maplecroft, Lizzie set off in early October with Miss Alice Buck, Rev. Buck’s daughter, and Miss Caroline Borden for a Girls -On- A- Spree- Adventure! Fun to imagine Lizzie up in a hot air balloon or riding the new-fangled Ferris Wheel.
While Lizzie was visiting, America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes was plying a grisly trade at his Murder Castle in Chicago near the fairgrounds, specializing in renting rooms to unmarried ladies without family who were traveling to Chicago to see the fair. Just suppose Lizzie and the ladies had opted to stay there!
For more about H.H. Holmes, visit http://www.hhholmesthefilm.com/
A must -read is Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
(reference source, Lizzie Borden, Past and Present, Leonard Rebello, Alzach Press, 1999, p.187.)
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Lizzie gets a facelift
The old tan sandwich board sign which first appeared in 1996 at the house opening has had a sprucing up recently. The letters are now woodburned and Lizzie sports a perky pink bow, thanks to Ray!
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Ric Rebelo releases clip
Documentary -maker, Ric Rebelo of Fall River has released a preview of his upcoming two hour documentary about the Borden case. Visit the link below for an eight minute clip. -
Travel Channel March 11, 2010
Photos from last Thursday’s filming. The new Mr. Borden could double as Abraham Lincoln. A few are rather eerie!
Bridget Sullivan: Molly O’Brien
Lizzie Borden: Lee Ann Wilber
Mr. Borden: Dan LeLievre
Mrs. Borden: Shelley Dziedzic
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Travel Channel Films for 2011
The Herald had this coverage today on the March 11th filming session at #92. The finished product will air sometime in the first quarter of 2011. The exact date will be posted here as soon as it is known.
http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x99749398/Borden-murder-mystery-to-be-featured-on-Travel-Channel-show
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Travel Channel Returns to Lizzie’s
Thursday will be a busy day at #92. The Travel Channel will be returning for a taping session. The programme filmed many years ago at the house still runs on the Travel Channel frequently and the phone at #92 rings off the hook any time it airs.House co-owner Lee Ann Wilber will play Lizzie with newcomer Dan LeLievre in the role of Andrew Borden and Shelley Dziedzic as Abby. Stay tuned for air date.
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30 Odd Minutes visits #92
Recently the crew from the paranormal TV web site http://www.30oddminutes.com/ (which films uncut and unedited) came to check out the Borden house. The young host is particularly charming and the thirty-odd minute session is a good representation of what most paranormal crews attempt during their investigations in the house. Have a look at http://www.blip.tv/file/3291682 Episode 27 Live at Lizzie Borden’s.Here is the site teaser for the episode:
“In Episode 27 we come to you “Live” from the haunted Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, Massachusetts. Okay, not totally “live” because we filmed the episode about a week before it aired. Nobody does a documentary like the 30 Odd Minutes crew! And Lizzie Borden is no different. Just like our studio show we do the whole thing live, straight-through, in one take. You get a tour of the house, learn about some of the history, hear from the manager, Lee Ann, and learn from our special guests: EVP specialist, Mike Markowicz, and the host of Spooky Southcoast Radio, Tim Weisberg. You just don’t know what will happen during this show. Do we uncover evidence of the paranormal or just a prank? Tune in to find out! If the truth is out there… 30 Odd Minutes will find it… but only by sheer accident.”
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New for March
Some have speculated that had Lizzie not experienced a taste of the Good Life on her 19 week Grand Tour adventure, she may not have become so disenchanted with life at #92 in Fall River. Sadly, we do not know much about all of the places Lizzie visited, but it is possible, based on travel diaries and journals of the period, to piece together what it may have been like to make the transatlantic crossing in 1890 with a band of girlfriends for the first time, and imagine what fun Lizzie must have had. Maybe one fine day a diary or journal will come forth with more details, penned by one of the ladies who accompanied Lizzie. Until then, the Mutton Eaters Online article for March can be found at the top of the page- Making the Grand Tour! -
Youtube Lizzie
Pear Essential Players Appear in Recent House Promo
Ric Rebelo has produced another great Lizzie video, this one promoting the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast. The Pear Essential Players, a “Bordenian” Acting Troupe which performs only on August 4th, is featured in in 2008 and 2009 performances. The video is accompanied by wonderfully atmospheric music and commentary by co-owner, Lee Ann Wilber.http://www.lizzie-borden.com/ http://pearessentialproductions.org/
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Lizzie’s Flower
Over the decades since Lizzie Borden’s death in 1927, the pansy has become the flower associated with her. She herself never claimed that this was her favorite, and we have only the well-known photograph of her wearing the pansy brooch at her throat as any indication that she liked the flower. Whether it was a favorite of Lizzie’s or merely a favorite blossom of the era cannot be known with any certainty. Postcards, other ephemera, jewelry, household decorations, needlework, painted china, and such are all lavished with pansies. It was a sentimental 
favorite, probably second only to blue forget-me-nots. Violets, which signify faithfulness, and rosebuds of varying colors were other flowers most often seen. The Language of Flowers was a popular code of the times, of which most ladies were very knowledgeable. Pansies, from the French “pensees” means “thoughts”. Naturally this was an ideal flower to associate with card sending and gift-giving. There is a very good possibility that Lizzie’s pansy brooch was a gift given to her by a lady friend of close acquaintance. Lizzie seemed to have a great many dresses in her closet which featured blue, so perhaps the blue-violet shades of pansies appealed to her for that reason. Another well-know name for the tiny johnny-jump up, a diminuative pansy cousin, was “heart-ease”. The motif was very popular in handwork for ladies of the time. A lady reporter who wrote about Lizzie’s neat bedroom mentions a pale blue coverlet worked in embroidered flowers by Lizzie. Too bad she did not mention what kind of flowers! Today a vase of silk pansies is kept in Lizzie’s bedroom on Second Street, a Victorian oil painting of pansies hangs above her bed and pansies are always planted in the garden at #92.Here is a poem by Louisa Don Carlos, born in 1874, one of many Victorian verses about the beloved pansy.
O give me not red roses,
That early dews have wet!
They speak to me of kisses
That are remembered yet.
O bring me not white roses,
That summer winds have drest!
For once I placed white roses
Upon a quiet breast.
But bring me purple pansies
If so you wish to please,
For them I have affection;
For pansies are “heart’s ease”.
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Hush Hush, Sweet Lizzie
The IMDB (International Movie Data Base) has likened Bette Davis’ portrayal of Charlotte Hollis in Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte to the life of Lizzie Borden. The 1964 film was a box office hit, and the haunting theme of the same name recorded by Patti Page enjoyed great success for years after.Charlotte Hollis is a reclusive spinster living in a decaying old mansion, who is believed by the citizens of her small city, to have murdered her suitor (a married man). The circumstances appear to have been a murder/suicide with Charlotte’s formidable father as the culprit who puts both an end to Charlotte’s lover and then to himself. Did Charlotte kill her true love (played by Bruce Dern) ? The town thinks she was guilty and that she got away with murder. The method of dispatch was a large, sharp meat cleaver, with the head and hand of Charlotte’s beau being savagely hacked off, reminiscent of the removal of the heads of Abby and Andrew Borden in Oak Grove Cemetery on August 11, 1892 to be stored as evidence.
Olivia DeHavilland plays Miriam, Charlotte’s refined, gentle cousin- an Emma Bordenesque, sisterly presence who harbors a dark, dark twisted secret, along with the trusted family doctor of many years played by Joseph Cotten ( an 1892 parallel to Dr. Bowen?!) There are plenty of turns and twists along the way, many witnessed by the household domestic servant, played superbly by Agnes Moorehead, who tries to protect Charlotte – not quite a Bridget Sullivan, ( the Borden’s household domestic who was home the day of the Borden killings) but still an interesting parallel.
The gossipings and whisperings of the townfolk in front of Charlotte’s house as well as behind closed doors and on the street harken back to the Fall River crowds on Second Street in 1892-93 and even later to French Street when Lizzie moved into Maplecroft.
The end of the film is very satisfying as we, the viewer, are privy to the real story of what happened in 1927 in the Hollis summerhouse (1927 also being the year of Lizzie Borden’s death). There are three more murders over the course of the film. Unlike the Borden story however, we find out the truth in the end. To view the murder scene with cleaver, visit this Youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9csL2GVU1Y
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Lizzie Borden’s NY Times Obit
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Collecting Lizzie-abilia
Recently a letter surfaced in England written by Lizzie to a friend living there. The woman now owning the letter in the television programme that aired last week in Britain had the letter written to her grandmother by “L. A. Borden,” signed thus, over three pages, that was very conversational and ordinary in tone, being pre-murders. It was valued, very conservatively, at £600-800 or $1,200 to $1,600.
With the upcoming publication of the Fall River Historical Society’s Parallel Lives, (now delayed until late March -early Spring), Lizzie letters are much on the minds of Borden enthusiasts everywhere.
If a Lizzie Borden signature is out of your wallet range, many Lizzie-affiliated signatures can still be had for a bargain. The signatures of the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1892-96 and the former Governor, George Dexter Robinson, also better known as Lizzie’s head defense attorney, were bought recently for $30 on Ebay. Another former Governor’s autograph (John Davis Long 1880-1883) was thrown in as a bonus.
For more information about George D. Robinson(1834-1896) check out this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_D._RobinsonRobinson received 25,000 dollars in fees serving as Lizzie’s defense counsel. He remained a prominent lawyer until the time of his death in Chicopee at the age of 62. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery there.
Roger Wolcott (1847-1900) was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1892-1896 and Governor from 1896-1900.
Roger Wolcott
John Davis Long (1838-1915)
Governor of Massachusetts 1880-1883, Secretary of the Navy 1897-1902
The Navy destroyer USS Long (DD-209) was named after him.
