Taverns and Tavern Life in Early New England

Please join us at 7pm on October 23rd as Tom Kelleher tells about tavern life in the old days.  Taverns were as numerous as churches in early New England, and played at least as large a role in the public life of the community.  From typical food and drink to the common topics discussed and kind of songs sung by the fireside, this talk will look at what it was like inside the “public houses” that dotted the highways and center villages of virtually every town in New England.

Tom Kelleher is currently Historian and Curator of Mechanical Arts at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  In over thirty years at that premier living history museum, he has worked as a costumed historical interpreter, trainer for the cooper shop, supervisor of the mills, coordinator of historic trades, research historian, program coordinator, and manages staff training.  He served as master carpenter for the Small House, taking the project from trees to paint and wallpaper. Tom has researched and developed dozens of historic characters and programs, which he has presented at scores of museums, schools, and historical societies around the country.  He has also taught a variety of craft skills, historical subjects, interpretive and communication techniques to museum staffs, the general public, and teacher workshops throughout the United States and Canada.