Boot Rack, Verdmont
Visitors to Verdmont usually ask whether the house is haunted. The second most frequently asked question is “What’s that?” as they point at this unusual piece of furniture (pictured) located in the northeast bedchamber. Made of Bermuda cedar, it is 33 inches high and 35 inches wide. Its exact date is unknown, but it is likely to have been made prior to 1900. It is double sided with 12 deep notches at the top, and the lower bar has a series of pegs of varying lengths. The artifact in question is a boot-rack. Men in 19th century Bermuda, when the main mode of transport was the horse, would wear riding boots. Once they took their boots off, they turned them upside down and slid them into one of the notches at the top of the rack. Stockings or socks would be placed over the pegs below. It’s obvious when you know! It was donated to the Trust by the Bermuda Historical Society in 1957.
