On East Fourth Street in New York City, there is a Hidden Treasure. Visitors climb the stoop, ring the bell, and magically step into the past.Lived in by one family for 100 years, The Merchant’s House Museum is still the way it was in 1850—with its original furniture and personal family possessions, including dresses worn by the eight women in the family. This book tells how members of the merchant elite really lived at the time when New York City became the commercial emporium of the nation. Mary Knapp has been affiliated with the Merchant's House Museum since 1995. She has co-authored with her husband, Herb, One Potato, Two Potato: The Folklore of American Children (W.W. Norton, 1976) and Red, White, and Blue Paradise (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984), a memoir of the couple's years living and teaching in the Panama Canal Zone. She lives in New York City and blogs at www.hintsandechoes.wordpress.com.