Research bumps into dark corners at times, often filled with attitude and guess work. One such corner beckoned early on in the transcription of these letters when the birth date of Nan Smith could not be found. Six years of exchanged mail prompted numerous references to holidays like Easter and Christmas (celebrated in grand style by Nan ’s family) but seemingly nothing was shared about birthdays. These were two lovers who cared deeply for one another, and Wood spoke often of age and of losing their youth to separation and longing, but not once did he wish Nan “Happy Birthday” nor did he acknowledge his own (February 20, 1852 and its subsequent years). Miss Smith was a generous “perfect woman” as Wood often described her, she made blue sashes and cambric shirts for her secret fiancé, and shopped for buttons and ornaments to complete Wood’s uniform when his orders carried him a continent away to the untamed and under-supplied West Coast in 1874.
I began to think that speaking of birthdays was unpleasant for a socialite of Baltimore and Washington , D.C.
Famous people like monarchs received praise all around, with much flag waving and religious ceremony. Others like Susan B. Anthony were publicly lauded with poetry on February 15, 18 72
“Because her motto grand hath been
The right of every human,
And first and last, and right or wrong
She takes the side of woman.
“’A perfect woman, nobly planned,’
To aid, not to amuse one,
Take her for all we ne’er
Shall see the match for Susan!”
Wood later chose a woman’s rights activist to share his closing years, but it was Nannie who he so beautifully complimented as “the Perfect Woman.”
It was not until 1905; on the occasion of Samuel Clemens's seventieth birthday that that famous writer’s birth date was widely celebrated. He wrote, “Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.” Wood met Clemens at West Point when he returned to the Military Academy West Point printing press, titled 1609. (Unfortunately, no original copies remain in the Wood Collection at Lewis & Clark College
Nan Smith and C.E.S. Wood were raised in the serious years of Civil War when frivolities were unforgiveable and socially unacceptable in the midst of widespread mourning. Neither lover seemed to recall birthday parties or fetes given in their honor as children. Out of habit and out of mind.
As seen throughout the letters, and even in the discussions of germans and balls, the 1870’s were an awakening of the Golden Age. Industrial fortunes were on the verge of funding widespread European travel, magnificent mansions, and art collections deserving acclaim. Lavish weddings and grand balls were expected by the rich and the not-so-rich but famous, but birthdays were greatly ignored.
Charles Dickens recalled attending the anniversary tea of a young friend as her only guest. Seed-cakes and sweet wine were served with a flourish and this unexpected indulgence led to the administration of “powder” the next morning. [All the Year Round, June 6, 18 63
The twenty-first birthday for gentlemen (Wood – 1873) and for young ladies who turned eighteen (Smith – 1873) were significant as they gained majority or “came of age” as it was familiarly known. For all practical reasons of 1870’s adulthood, this birthday signified the right to vote (for white males only), the right to wed without parental consent (mainly for women), the expectation of self-sufficiency and maturity (both sexes and a delusion continued through today), and the right of inheritance. Wood had nothing to gain but familial responsibility on that count; Nan inherited a few properties in Maryland Nan ’s interests and a threatened lawsuit to sort out the matter satisfactorily for Miss Smith.
It is unlikely that candles burned brightly on the little seed cakes baked for Victorian birthdays. Theories abound tracing the ritual to the ancient Greeks who frightened evil spirits away with open flames or to the more contemporary 19th Century Germans and their Christmas trees that glowed with candles or even sparklers (of Chinese origin). The cakes of the 1870’s were barren of glimmer or frosting, filled with the richness of real butter, caraway or poppy seeds, and candied citrus peel. By the early 20th century, however, no holds barred, and the birthday cake, triple-layered and all aglow came into its own.
And so, having rummaged through a wide collection of research topics about Victorian birthdays and their significance in the decade of the 1870s, this researcher came to the conclusion that fetes and gifts for nativity anniversaries were not commonplace in the world of Nan Smith and C.E.S. Wood. Apparently, acknowledging their birthdays was unnecessary, but just in case you need a convenient excuse to try the nutritious but caloric seed cake recipe I’ve posted here, C.E.S. Wood’s birth date was February 20, 18 52January 12, 18 55
I’m on my way to the kitchen to bake a cake today …
