What did the Founding Fathers do for fun?

by KommandantVideo

Did they like sports? What did they do on holidays? Hang out with family, or each other? What kinds of drinks and foods did they like?

henry_fords_ghost

[terrible one-line answers about marijuana and sex]

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bloodfyr

Washington's passion was Mount Vernon. When he wasn't leading an army or in some elected position, he was designing modifications to the house or inspecting the land regularly. He also enjoyed land speculation (though it was as much a hassle for him as a source of pleasure). Even when he was in office or on campaign, he would dedicate some time each week to write letters to his Mt Vernon managers, such as his cousin Lund Washington, advising them on crops to plant or projects to undertake in the manor. Both Chernow and Ellis, biographers, argue that writing these letters were times when he would take a break from the stresses of whatever position he was holding at the time and unwind over the latest reports from home.

EDIT - Oh, foxhunting, at least in his youth. To quote Ellis: "Washington spent between two and five hours a day for forty-nine days in 1768 on horseback pursuing the elusive fox". He was such a devotee to the sport that he bred his own foxhounds. He also engaged in a lot of other things expected of Virginia planter society, like card-playing (to which he kept accounts of his wins and losses) and balls.

Redtooth700

John Adams loved returning home to his Braintree/Quincy based farm, where he could be with his wife, Abigail, his children and eventually grandchildren. Between his postings in the government, and after his re-election defeat, he was an ardent farmer, working the land.

His main sport was walking, which he did almost every day, whether at home, in Philadelphia or in a posting abroad. Like many of the other founding fathers, such as Jefferson, he believed such physical exercise was important to overall health.

Most holidays were religious, and Adams was a devout man who spent those holidays surrounded by family. When back in Massachusetts after 1800, he would also attend the 4th of July celebrations in Boston where he and other Massachusetts founding fathers were honored.

Reading was his major pastime, especially the classics. McCullough makes frequent reference Adams' love of Cicero, and Adams was known to read and reread these in Latin, as well as English law books, Shakespeare and works in Greek and French.

He also loved to write, as evidenced by his treasure trove of letters, mainly between him and Abigail, but also with other founding fathers and notable contemporaries.

From David McCullough's John Adams, who extensively used Adams' own correspondence as source material, mostly available at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

ForgedIronMadeIt

Well, George Washington was known to make applejack -- an apple based liquor. According to Laird's (http://www.lairdandcompany.com/ancestry.htm), he asked for their recipe and created his own. Most sources seem to indicate that he was really fond of the stuff (http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-01-09/food/before-there-was-bourbon-there-was-applejack/ and http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drink/2011/12/george_washington_loved_the_stuff_and_you_might_too_.html both make unsourced claims), but I'm going to guess that was one a few things he would have liked.

Edit: Since I am on the subject of alcohol: Thomas Jefferson was fond of wine. He travelled to France, buying bottles up and even tried to have vineyards of his own. See http://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/vineyards and http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/wine for sources. However, it is very important to note that no actual, verified bottles of wine bought by Thomas Jefferson have ever been found. The bottles bought at ridiculous prices by American billionaires were forgeries. See The Billionaire's Vinegar for that story. If you are wine person, enjoy historical mysteries, or anything like that, you might enjoy the book.

I promise I am not an alcoholic. I just know a lot about booze for some reason. And I might have a bottle of Laird's around that I was just enjoying.

Edit 2: I'll try to remember what the other founding fathers drank. I might have to do some research. (And at this point, Samuel Adams working as a brewer feels like cheating.)

bookwench

Benjamin Franklin apparently had opinions on food which were just as strong as his opinions on everything else. There's a website here with excerpts form his (copious) letters describing food - his love for which is to be expected, given his, um, waistcoat size. He appears to have been an extremely adventuresome eater, introducing American foods like Cranberry to Europe and Tofu to the US, but also very fond of the familiar, as he had his wife send him barrels of apples. He also had some concerns about the health of foods and was apparently a vegetarian for some time, and cautioned moderation in eating.

As for hobbies... well. He did so many things and monetized them I'm not sure you could call them hobbies. He invented the glass armonica, bifocal glasses, an improved stove, the odometer, a sort of swim fin, the lightning rod... etc...

Professionally he was a printer, which most people know from Poor Richard's Almanack, but he printed a lot of other stuff too. He was a noted writer. Writing takes a lot of time and he also had a lot of correspondance.

I'm not sure how much time he had left over after all that, what with the travel, the being married, the studying, the politics, and everything else he did. I don't think he sat still much.

BRBaraka

Benjamin Franklin enjoyed the company of women/ was a womanizer, depending upon how you want to frame it.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-05-06/features/9002070774_1_poor-richard-lucy-mercer-franklin-delano-roosevelt

Benjamin Franklin had Anna-Louise d`Hardancourt Brillon de Jouy. And Madame Helvetius. And Margaret Stevenson. And Polly Hewson. And Madame Foucault. And Countess Diane de Polignac. And Countess Wilhelmina Golowkin. And Catherine Ray. And Georgiana Shipley. And Madame Le Veillard. And Madame Le Roy. And Countess Houdetot. . . .

And, of course, Deborah Read, his wife of 38 years.

he penned a guide on what kind of woman to seek in sexual relations, counseling the company of older women, because

http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/51-fra.html

  1. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable.
  1. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.
  1. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produc'd may be attended with much Inconvenience.
  1. Because thro' more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin'd to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.
  1. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding2 only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.
  1. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy.
  1. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy.
  1. 8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!!
I_divided_by_0-

So far it's Farming and 'rich guy stuff' (running businesses, land buying and maintaining), what did regular people do?