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The Dining Room
With high standards of behavior and a strong sense of values, Mrs.
Gilbert insisted that all meals be served in the dining room. The
original table was almost exactly like the present table with enough
extention leaves to accommodate a large family. Their large oak
sideboard stood against the wall, and Mrs. Gilbert's prized oak
china cupboard stands just where it did when she put her best dishes
there on display. Over the table hangs an amber-colored Tiffany
style lamp shade adorned with a four-inch beaded fringe. Surprisingly,
only the fringe is from the similar original lamp which Mrs. Gilbert
cherished so much, and there is a long story about the exchange
of the fringe that only Bill Donelson-Robertson could tell you about.
Important to us now are items actually used here by the Gilberts,
and one is the silver basket which was a wedding gift from a friend
at Knox College who later became the editor of the New York Times.
The dining room was actually used more than the "parlor"
in early times as the latter could be closed off in winter to conserve
heat. Not only were meals taken at this table, but family members
gathered around to study, read, play games, or just visit, much
the way people use a family room today. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert would
sit at the middle of the table with children around the ends so
that everyone could be included in conversation which they considered
very important in personality development, and they discussed such
topics as education, music, current events, and politics. The Christmas
tree stood in the corner by the living room door, and a bucket of
water was provided just in case a fire would start from the lighted
candles.
The remodeling to include the porch into the living room also created
change in this room as the stairway had to be moved to the side
while it first came down into the center of the much smaller dining
room. The built-in cupboards have doors that open into the kitchen
as well as the dining room, a real step saver for Mrs. Gilbert who
could pass food from the kitchen to the dining table or set the
table from dishes washed in the kitchen. With the kitchen door closed,
this kept the dining area cooler in warm weather. The artistic paintings
inside the cupboard doors were done by Bill Donelson while she owned
the house. The storage space under the stairway was used for discipline
when one of the active youngsters misbehaved at mealtime, a real
point of interest to school children on tour today who are eager
to see the "jail".
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