Oliver Mansion, South Bend Indiana: Glimpse a Family’s Lavish 1930s Lifestyle

Oliver Mansion, South Bend Indiana: Glimpse a Family’s Lavish 1930s Lifestyle

Oliver_MansionIt isn’t often that  all of the furnishings in a historic home are original to the house, especially a 38-room, 12,000 square foot mansion. That’s what you’ll see when you tour the Oliver Mansion in South Bend, Indiana, immersing you in the lavish lifestyle of its owners, the J.D. and Anna Oliver family, as it was in the 1930s.

J.D. Oliver’s father James immigrated to the United States with his family from Scotland when he was 12 years old. He took a job working on a farm where he became familiar with plows. As an adult James was a partner in the South Bend Iron Company and experimented with improving the field plow. He registered 45 patents on improved plow design during his lifetime. The company flourished, and James Oliver became wealthy. J.D. eventually took over as President of the company. By that time the company name had been changed to Oliver Chilled Plow Works.

Oliver PlowJ.D. married Anna in 1885, and in 1886 they moved into their new Indiana fieldstone Romanesque Queen Anne home. The Olivers had four children, and as the family grew, so did the Oliver Chilled Plow Works, becoming the largest plow factory in the world at the turn of the century. The family lived lavishly, were socially active and also deeply involved in community service. The family’s community service continued through the generations, as J.D. and Anna’s grandchildren donated the mansion and its furnishings to South Bend’s Center for History.

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The home is set up as a working house in the 1930s. Though daughter Catherine, who never married and lived out her life in the mansion, sold or gave away furnishings, recipients of those items have returned many of them.

Each of the 14 fireplaces is different, some more ornate than others.

Fireplace 2FireplaceFireplace 4Carved woodwork on fireplace hearths, railings, even on the ceilings exude richness.

Ceiling - living roomParlorCeiling 2The office and the game room have especially masculine features.

Officegame roomLeaded glass windows in several rooms soften the harshness of the dark wood, and fabrics soften the decor in the dining room and music room.

Leaded windowsThe kitchen isn’t as fancy, but it’s spacious, with multiple stoves and plenty of icebox and storage space needed to prepare for large parties.

kitchen 2kitchen 1Catherine lived her adult life mostly on the second floor, which she had redone in green art deco.

Catherine suiteAfter J.D. and Anna’s son Joseph’s wife was thrown from a horse and killed, Joseph came back to live in the family home. He stayed mainly on the third floor. His seven shaving brushes, one for each day of the week, are on display in the bathroom.

Joseph shaving brushesBeautifully manicured gardens surround the mansion.

PergolaBesides the mansion, the tour also includes a look at the Polish workers’ house, less than a five minute walk from the main house. The house, comfortable quarters for the Olivers’ domestic staff, was built in 1851. The Olivers added a bathroom and other conveniences. Like the mansion, the workers’ house is decorated as it would have been in the 1930s.

Polish workers housePolish workers house 2The History Museum provides tours of the Oliver Mansion seven days a week. The main entrance is shared with the Studebaker National Museum at 897 Thomas Street, South Bend, Indiana. Check the web site for tour times and admission rates.

Disclosure: My visit to the Oliver Mansion was hosted by Visit South Bend Mishawaka and the History Museum, but any opinions expressed in this article are my own. Some of the pbotos were taken by Skip Reed and some by Connie Reed.

Other posts you may enjoy:

Studebaker Museum, South Bend: From Carriages to Automobiles

Touring the University of Notre Dame Campus, South Bend, Indiana

Tour the South Bend Chocolate Company Factory

Shop the South Bend Farmers Market Year Round

Thank you for reading Midwest Wanderer. Don’t miss a post. Enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe to be notified whenever I publish another post. Subscription is FREE. After subscribing, be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.   – Connie


 

 

Studebaker Museum, South Bend: From Carriages to Automobiles

Studebaker Museum, South Bend: From Carriages to Automobiles

Few transportation companies successfully transitioned from manufacturing wagons and carriages to automobiles. Studebaker was one of the exceptions. In the early 1900s, the company moved from carriages to battery-powered cars. A few years later they transitioned to gasoline engines.  The Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana, traces the history of the company from wagon to the last cars Studebaker manufactured, in the mid-1960s.

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Tour the South Bend Chocolate Company Factory

Tour the South Bend Chocolate Company Factory

Dark chocolate is my downfall. One whiff of the decadent confection, and I sniff and follow the aroma waves like in a cartoon until I find the source. Dark chocolate covered nuts, dark chocolate covered dried cherries, bittersweet chocolate mousse, chocolate fudge cake with fudge frosting—you name it, when I smell it or see it, I cave. Forget the diet right now; I’ll eat salads for the rest of the week. So when I had an opportunity to tour Indiana’s South Bend Chocolate Company factory, of course I didn’t turn it down.

Before taking us into the production area, our tour guide, Chris, nicknamed Captain Crunch, gave us a lesson on where chocolate comes from. It starts with cocoa pods, which are harvested twice a year.

Tour guide Chris with cocoa podYou have to crack the pod to get to the bean inside. There is only one bean per pod. Inside the bean are 20 to 60 cacao nibs, and that’s what’s used to make chocolate.

Chicago’s Blommer Chocolate Company, North America’s largest cocoa processor and ingredient supplier, turns the cacao nibs into giant, thick chocolate bars, which is what South Bend Chocolate Company starts with in making their candy.

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In the factory I was expecting to see the candy speeding past on conveyor belts like on the old I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel get jobs in a candy factory.

Lucy photo opIt turns out that production slows down on Saturdays, but the tradeoff to not seeing production in action is more samples. So although we saw the conveyor belts, they were at a standstill with no candy on them. Captain Crunch assured us that the belts don’t move quite as quickly as it did for Lucy and Ethel anyway.

Conveyor beltWe did see the chocolate enrober that looks like a waterfall, where the candies are coated, as well as the chocolate melter that holds 500 pounds of chocolate.

Chocolate enroberWe also saw two varieties of candy waiting for the next process step: fudge and pecan patties (like Turtles).

FudgePecan PattiesAfter touring the production area, we were allowed to choose two chocolate samples.

That was the end of the free basic tour. However, we were on the Inside Scoop Tour (fee is $4), so we got an added bonus. We dipped a spoon into chocolate that could be used then to stir a hot beverage.

Dipping the spoonWhile we were waiting for our spoons to cool and harden, we watched an educational but humorous film about chocolate making.

FilmFollowing the tour, we wandered through the small chocolate museum that includes information about the history of candy, as well nostalgic displays of candy packaging, including Mounds, one of my favorites.

MoundsI was surprised to see a display of Frango Mints boxes, the candy that at one time was made in Chicago’s flagship Marshall Field’s store. (The store is now Macy’s, and Macy’s carries Frango Mints under the Marshall Field name.)

Frago MintsOne last stop before leaving: the outlet store, where I stocked up my own stash of chocolate, all dark.

Tour are offered at the South Bend Chocolate Company factory, located at 3300 West Sample Street in South Bend, Indiana, Monday through Saturday. The free basic tour runs 20 minutes; the Inside Scoop Tour is 45 minutes. Check the web site for tour and outlet store hours.

Disclosure: My tour of the South Bend Chocolate Company factory was hosted by Visit South Bend and the South Bend Chocolate Company, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Thank you for reading Midwest Wanderer. Don’t miss a post. Enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe to be notified whenever I publish another post. Subscription is FREE. After subscribing, be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.   – Connie


 

Touring the University of Notre Dame Campus, South Bend, Indiana

Touring the University of Notre Dame Campus, South Bend, Indiana

Dome and BasilicaFootball, the Gold Dome and top academics were really the only things I knew about the University of Notre Dame before I toured the campus last month. Having been there only once, decades ago, I didn’t remember, or maybe didn’t appreciate at the time, the beauty of the campus, including the fascinating art and architecture, as much a draw for tourists as the school’s athletics programs.

I had the honor of taking a tour led by 1964 Notre Dame alumnus Jack Lafferty, who often conducts private group tours of the campus and is a wealth of information about the buildings, the artwork and the history of the university.

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There are so many different varieties of trees on the grounds, the campus can actually be considered an arboretum. From the beginning, Father Sorin, the university founder, brought a diverse variety of trees to the campus, and the tradition continued later. This sycamore is about 250 years old.

Sycamore tree

The Main Building, used mostly for administration today, was built in 1879 after the original building was destroyed in a fire. In the beginning the Main Building included classrooms, dining and living space.

Administration building

The building, on the National Register of Historic Places, Is best known for its gold dome with a statue of Mary, Mother of God, atop of the dome. The dome has been regilded five times, the latest in 2005 at a cost of $300,000.

Golden dome

Inside the building, stand in the circle on the floor in the center of the building and look up to see the inside of the dome.

Inside the dome

The Rosary Crown, on display in the Main Building was originally planned to be placed on the statue atop the dome. Commissioned in France by university benefactors, the Rosary Crown includes fifteen decades of crystal beads and fifteen plates depicting the mysteries of the rosary. The crown was never placed on the dome but instead was placed on another statue of Mary inside Sacred Heart Church, was stolen, recovered and repaired.

Rosary crown

The Grotto at Notre Dame is a one-seventh size replica of the Grotto of Our Lady of the Lourdes in France, where the Virgin Mother appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858. The rosary is prayed at the grotto every day at 6:45 p.m.

Grotto

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart may or may not be open to tour, depending on church events, but if you get the chance, do go in. The beauty will astound you. The basilica wasn’t open for tours on my visit, but I went to Sunday Mass there and was able to see it then.

Basilica steeple

Basilica interior

Sculptures and other works of art are scattered throughout the campus, but a few of them stand out due to sheer size. The Stonehenge Fountain serves as a memorial to Notre Dame alumni who lost their lives in the military.

Stonehenge fountain

At the Hesburgh Library, a large mural, known as “Touchdown Jesus,” reflects in the Reflecting Pool, creating a double image.

Reflecting pond 2

Reflecting pond

Moving to the athletic side of Notre Dame, you can view seven Heisman trophies in the Sports Heritage Hall of Fame during the school year. Recipients are allowed to take them home during the summer months, so on my visit, only one Heisman trophy was on display.

Heisman trophy

The Sports Heritage Hall of Fame is located in the concourse of the Purcell Center, home to the Fighting Irish basketball and volleyball teams.

Gym

We didn’t get to tour the football stadium, but we did go past it and peek into the gates, which were under construction at the time.

Knute Rockne stadium gate

A helmet for each All-American Notre Dame player is on the wall inside the gates.

All Americans helmetsEach of the stadium’s twelve gates is named after a winning coach. Notre Dame has had eleven national championships, so one gate has yet to be named.

The Notre Dame architecture, art and athletics are worth a visit to the university campus. As I mentioned, my tour guide, Jack Lafferty, conducts mostly private tours. However, free public campus tours are led Monday through Friday by Notre Dame students. Tours do not include the stadium. Check the Notre Dame web site for tour details.

Disclosure: My tour of the University of Notre Dame campus was hosted by Visit South Bend, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Thank you for reading Midwest Wanderer. Don’t miss a post. Enter your e-mail address below and click Subscribe to be notified whenever I publish another post. Subscription is FREE. After subscribing, be sure to click the link when you get the e-mail asking you to confirm.   – Connie