Episode 16: Zwaanendael Museum

Curator's Choice

Today we meet with Kaitlyn Dykes to talk about why there is a Dutch museum in the middle of a small town in Delaware. Zwaanendael Museum was built in commemoration of Delaware’s first European colony, Swanendael, established by the Dutch in 1631. The small whaling colony only lasted for a year, when an unfortunate misunderstanding with the native Siconese Indian tribe led to the massacre of the whalers. The only surviving evidence of the colonists’ presence in a tertiary tale written in Captain DeVries’ journal.
The model below shows the DeBraak, an originally Dutch vessel (turned British Navy after capture) that sunk outside Deleware in 1798. Was there Spanish treasure aboard? Unfortunately, no. But there was a ketchup bottle and that, to a historian, is worth more than gold in this case!
Among the many items collected during the salvage mission, one particular glass bottle carries with it an interesting twist of taste. This condiment bottle likely belonged to a higher-ranking official on board the British vessel. It was a ketchup bottle, spelled the same way we spell it today, though it tasted vastly different!
By comparing still-intact cookbooks from the 1800s, Kaityln was able to discover the recipe for the ketchup that was kept in this bottle and it didn’t contain any tomatoes. Instead, it was made with mushrooms, cinnamon, cloves, onions, and anchovies.
The second item is the famous Fiji Mermaid, a taxidermy monstrosity where a sailor used ship tar to combine the body of a monkey with the tail of a fish. Though many were produced, they were not professionally made so they degraded quickly. This specimen is remarkably preserved (nestled inside two glass cases) and likely was created in the mid-19th century. This “sailor’s art” was made from a fish, monkey, ivory, oak, stain, varnish, glass, rayon, and dye. This Fiji Mermaid has “relatives” in at least six museums across North America and was even displayed by P.T. Barnum as real mermaids.
Episode Links:

• Zwaanendael Museum webpage: https://history.delaware.gov/zwaanendael-museum/
• What Exactly is a Fiji Mermaid? Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/what-exactly-is-a-fiji-mermaid/
• “The Art Of Cookery Made Plain and Easy” originally published in 1747: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Art_of_Cookery_Made_Plain_and_Easy/BJY58UqSEMUC?hl=en&gbpv=1

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