Merchant's House Museum Announces February Event Schedule

Merchant's House Museum on 29 East Fourth Street, NYC 10003 has announced its upcoming schedule of February events. 212-777-1089 Fax 212-777-1104 merchantshouse.org

Exhibition: Winter Warmth: How the Tredwells Bundled Up

Date: Open through Monday, March 31

Time: 12 to 5 p.m. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Rarely seen objects from the original Tredwell collections are on display, including a foot stove, quilts, a muff, hand-knit 'joint warmers,' and a crocheted capelette, all items the family used to (try to) keep warm during the cold winter months. In the 19th century, there was no escaping the cold. Even with brisk fires burning, water froze in wash bowls, ink froze in wells, and wine in their bottles. People did what little they could to keep the cold at bay, but interior temperatures in the 19th century were well below today's standard 68 degrees. Included with regular admission.

Lecture and Tasting: America's Romance with Chocolate: A Sweet Social History

Date: Tuesday, February 4

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Join us for a delectable evening of talk and tasting as we celebrate our country's long love affair with chocolate. Culinary historian Cathy Kaufman will present an illustrated lecture followed by a tasting in our period kitchen of handmade chocolate truffles by chef Wai Hon Chu, paired with wine.

At the start of the 19th century, ladies ceremonially drank a breakfast chocolate - touted as a health food - from exquisite porcelain cups. But by mid-century, advances in manufacturing had turned this liquid delight into the chocolate bars that we know today, a portable confection and a luscious treat. This illustrated lecture will trace chocolate's changing role and form in the social history of 19th century New York.

$40, $75 per couple, to benefit the Historic Furnishings Plan restoration. Reservations required; call 212-777-1089 or visit merchantshouse.org/calendar.

Love in the Parlors: A Valentine in Concert

Date: Friday, February 14

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: The Bond Street Euterpean Singing Society presents lush, romantic vocal music of the world's greatest 19th-century composers performed in the Museum's Greek revival double parlors. Chosen by NBC Online as one of the top picks in 2010 and a top pick by TimeOut NY in 2012 for a Valentine's evening, this annual event sells out fast. Singers Anthony Bellov, Jane Elizabeth Rady and Dayle Vander Sande perform rarely heard gems by Rossini, Schumann, Liszt, Delibes, Rachmaninoff, Stephen Foster, and more. 75 minutes. $30, $20 Students & Seniors, $15 MHM Members. Reservations required; call 212-777-1089 or visit merchantshouse.org/calendar.

Dark Days of Winter Candlelight Ghost Tour

Date: Friday, February 21

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Merchant's House Museum, 29 East Fourth Street (btwn Lafayette & Bowery)

Description: Doors slam, floorboards creak, voices call into the night. Venture into the shadows of history to see the house where eight family members died (and The New York Times called "Manhattan's Most Haunted House") by flickering candlelight and hear true tales of inexplicable occurrences from the people who actually experienced them. Tours are 50 minutes. $20, $10 MHM Members. Reservations required; call 212-777-1089 or visit merchantshouse.org/calendar. Next Ghost Tour on Friday, March 21.

About the Merchant's House Museum

The Merchant's House Museum is New York City's only family home preserved intact - inside and out - from the mid-19th century. Home to a prosperous merchant-class family for almost 100 years, it is complete with the family's original furnishings and personal possessions, offering a rare and intimate glimpse of domestic life from 1835-1865.

"The distinction of the Merchant's House and it is a powerful one is that it is the real thing. One simply walks through the beautiful doorway into another time and place in New York."

On the web: www.merchantshouse.org