Emma discusses food in the Borden Home

[WFordII]

Some time ago I read an alleged quote by Emma Borden defending her father. She resented how the media described the late Andrew Borden a cheapskate who practically starved his family. She listed all the good food that they were accustomed to eating. The spoiled mutton story is grossly exaggerated. Does anyone have this information? TiA!

[camgarsky4]

Welcome to the forum WFordII!

Sorry, but I don't recall the Emma comments you mention. I would certainly agree that the 'hyper scrooge' label put on AJB by some is inappropriate. That said, I do think he was tighter with the dollar than his daughters preferred.

[WFordII]

I agree. At some point, he must have been generous. LB had some pricey jewelry even before the murders. Plus, she had a luxury European tour and a seal skin cape.

[camgarsky4]

Lizzie & Emma did not work for wages a single day of their lives. They had negligible home care duties. Essentially they did as they wished each and every day of their lives.

New dresses hand sewn 1-2 times every year. A $4 week (equivalent of $130 today) allowance. The sisters also likely netted $2 each per week for their 50% ownership in the 12 Ferry St. rental.

If they wanted more that was is listed above, they could have sought out employment. But to our knowledge, they did not.

[WFordII]

Agreed! Not only did AJB hire Bridgett Sullivan as a live-in housekeeper, but some records suggest he hired per diem work as well. Makes one wonder why Abby was straightening the guest room instead of Bridgett.

[camgarsky4]

Per Bridget's testimony, she had zero bedroom or 2nd floor responsibilities. Emma was the usual keeper of the guest room, but she was in Fairhaven at the time of the murders.

Lizzie testified that Abby cleaned the guest room because she had visitors coming on the subsequent Monday and that is also why Abby wanted the door staying closed. Up to each how to view her testimony.

[Catbooks]

WFordII, I haven't read that alleged Emma quote, sorry, but have read the mutton story has been exaggerated and was only a day old on the 4th. The Borden's did have an icebox, so it's not like it'd have been languishing even on a warm summer day anyway.

Andrew was portrayed as being very tightfisted, but I'm not familiar with any media account that accused him of virtually starving his family. Numerous people at the time spoke of his parsimonious ways, so I'm sure that's true, but has probably become somewhat exaggerated.

I'm not familiar with Lizzie's having any pricey jewellery. Do you have a source for that, by chance?

He did apparently buy her the sealskin cape, and we know for certain he sent her on that Grand Tour of Europe, which was an uncharacteristic extravagance. Also, he sent Emma to college. So it's not like he wasn't willing to spend money when, for whatever reasons, he thought it was important.

[Catbooks]

Camgarsky, few women worked for wages in 1892, let alone daughters of wealthy men, unless it was out of necessity. It wasn't considered seemly. In today's money, Andrew's fortune would be worth around $5 million.

Basically they took care of themselves, cleaning their own rooms, doing their own ironing, with Bridget doing the washing, cooking, and perhaps also washing up the dishes. Since the sisters rarely ate their meals with Mr & Mrs, I'm not sure how that worked. Did Bridget leave cooked food for them and they served themselves? Did they clean up afterwards?

They didn't have very many clothes. I believe the inventory of their dresses in the upstairs closet was only 12 dresses between them, with the majority belonging to Lizzie. AFAIK, the seamstress only came once a year and they got 2 new dresses. Everyone had their clothing sewn by seamstresses (or tailors) then; there was no such thing as off-the-rack readily available. So that was no luxury, it was just how things were done.

I wonder what guest was expecting that Monday to stay at least one night in the guest room. Couldn't have been her half-sister, who lived nearby, and aside from Uncle John, it didn't appear to be a household that often had overnight guests.

[camgarsky4]

I know that Hannah Gifford testified that she had been making dresses for the Borden's for several years, most recently in the Spring '92. However, I wasn't aware that she or the sisters had testified that there was only a single episode of dress making annually.

I would have presumed that she made summer dresses in the Spring and she (or someone) made winter dresses in the fall. Do we definitely know differently? Perhaps one of the sisters provided more details?

[WFordII]

Hi, Catbooks! The media defamation of AJB that I mentioned is modern. While the 1975 movie starring Elizabeth Montgomery is by far my favorite, it took a lot of liberties. It made Andrew and Abby look like monsters.

After doing more research, I found that much of LBs pricey jewelry was probably purchased after her acquittal. We do know from testimonies that she was a regular customer at Giffords Jewelry Store. The only jewelry mentioned by the media worn by LB was her pansy broach and child photo broach. Of course, there was testimony about the sapphire ring LB gave to her father when she was a teen.

In most of her known photos, Lizzie wore earrings, including her iconic spheres and arrows. She was wearing a ring in the photo of her standing behind a chair. I think it's fair to say that since she frequented Giffords and had a nice monthly allowance, she may have had nice jewelry that just wasn't mentioned. Perhaps we will never know.