Hemingway-Pfeiffer Educational Museum

Dear blog, on October 17, 2014 my husband, son, and I decided to take a trip to Piggott AR to visit one of Ernest Hemingway's houses. This museum is made possible by Arkansas State University, I think they have done a great job of modeling and finding every item that either belonged to the original family or is very similar to the items they may have owned. Since I'm such a book worm, it's always nice to see and learn first hand about the author you are reading about. Personally I have not read any of his novels during my spare time, but did read some short stories for my English Composition class in college. Now that I have visited this place I'm looking forward to reading some of his books.

This picture is from the living room; if I remember correctly this room has the original furniture to the Pfeiffer family. They looked in surprisingly good condition for being almost one hundred years old.

This is the parlor; the piano found in this room is original to the Pfeiffer family, Uncle Gus sent it to the family as a house warming gift. Mrs. Pfeiffer sent him a letter saying thank you and reminding him no one in the family knew how to play the piano.

These two pictures of from Mr. Pfeiffer's office. His family was very wealthy so he took it upon himself to provide jobs for those in need. he would have them paint their home, build houses, and many more jobs. Interesting fact when the house was being painted again for the opening they started to take the layers of painting off there were about 40 layers.

This red room belonged to the Pfeiffer's youngest son Max; he died at the age of 12, possibly with the Spanish flu. The wall that looks like a quilt has patches of names of people who have made the Hemingway-Pfeiffer museum possible; Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas has a patch on that quilt.

This is the master bedroom; on top of the bed you can see what they used in the winter to keep the bed warm.

This is a balcony found in the masters bedroom; wonderful view. I can imagine them looking out into a field.

This cabinet is found in the hallway on the second floor. Here is displayed the products the family company sold; the name Du Barry.

This room belonged to Hemingway's wife, Pauline. An interesting fact I learned was that taxes had to be paid for the closets because they had doors and therefore they were considered rooms in the house. Isn't that crazy, look at the size of that closet; my clothes would never fit in that closet. My favorite color is pink so I really liked this room, haha. I love the simpleness of the room, everything looks so dainty and cute. I would like my room to look like this. 

         

This room belong to the Pfeiffer daughter who is considered to be very scandalous; Virginia or Ginny.Virginia was a wild woman for that era. She played poker, wore pants suits, and dabbled in bisexuality. But, she also cared for Hemingway and Pauline's first child together while they spent time in the western states right after he was born.

This is the quilt room, our tour guide said that in this room the family had collected so many quilts that the door would not close. These quilts were purchased from families who needed money. The Pfeiffer family had enough money that they did not mind proving jobs for others during the Great Depression.

This is the bathroom, found upstairs next to the quilt room. Look at the hair dryer, it's so neat. Compare our hair dryer to that one, they are very similar. The pink mat is a manicure set.

Certain items in the kitchen looked fake to me. For example, this wood burning stove, how cute is it?

Back in Cuba my grandmother had a similar fridge to this one, but hers was much bigger, haha. Again this electric oven looks fake; it looks too cute to even use. I had to ask our tour guide to make sure it was real.

As the plaque said, this is the barn where Hemingway would write. One of his books was actually written in this farm  A Farewell to Arms. His wife was also a writer so she would help him edit his writings. Virginia used this loft as her poker room to hide from her devote catholic mother. 

They could not find his original type writer, but this one looks nice too. 

Hemingway and his wife enjoyed hunting, they even went on a 6 month expedition to Africa.

Ruth A. Hawkins is an executive director at Arkansas State University; she was responsible for the creation of the museum and numerous other museums around the state. She has spent years researching the Hemingway-Pfeiffer family. The name of her book is Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow she said "Unbelievable Happiness and Final Sorrow paints a full picture of Pauline and the role she played in Ernest Hemingway's becoming one of our greatest literary figures." I have not read the book, since I just purchased it a day ago, but as soon as I can dive in, I will let you know how I feel about it. I am looking forward to reading it, our tour guide said it's a great book and very detailed. I purchased an autographed copy; I feel so special.

At the book store they had pamphlets describing The Hemingways' Paris, March 22-30. This is a trip Arkansas State University has planned for next spring. How exciting would it be to go to Paris and visit the places Hemingway visited during his times in Paris, This is an 8 day trip; on the first two days you will visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Place of Concorde, Eiffel Tower, and many more places. Day three, Ernest's Left Bank, or the areas of Paris Hemingway spent much of his time. Day 4. the Palace at Versailles. Day 5, Pauline's Right Bank or the area Pauline lived. Day 6, Normandy. Day 7 Giverny. And Day 8, Hemingway and Art, here you will visit the Louvre. These are places that are on my bucket list to visit in Paris, France. The trip costs $3198 per person and does not include airfare, so it's quite expensive, but sounds like a great experience. I wish I could afford to go.