The scene will be vintage Victorian: butter-churning,...

The scene will be vintage Victorian: butter-churning, bread-baking, blacksmithing, woodworking and even cornhusk doll-making.

Everyday activities of the late 1800s go on display this afternoon at the fourth annual “Old Fashioned Summer Sociable” at the Banning Residence Museum in Wilmington. For modern-day city dwellers of all ages, the event offers a rare glimpse of the South Bay’s distant past.

“What it is is a day taking you back in time to 100 years ago,” said Museum Director Zoe Bergquist.

Visitors will experience life without washing machines as they hand-scrub clothes using old-time washboards. They can play 19th-Century games and try on Victorian-style clothes. Children can even learn to pound nails like the early pioneers.

Volunteers in costume will demonstrate lace-making, quilt-making and soap-making, and samples of homemade ice cream will be passed around.

The sociable is billed as the 163rd birthday celebration for Gen. Phineas Banning, a California pioneer who pushed for the creation of Los Angeles Harbor.

Banning, who died in 1885, was the founder of Wilmington, named after the city in his native Delaware. South of where Pacific Coast Highway now runs, he built a 24-room mansion that has been called the finest 19th-Century Greek Revival house in Southern California.

Today’s events include tours of the restored 1864 house and its historic furnishings, art and textiles. Antique autos will be on display in the Stagecoach Barn, and entertainment will be provided by square-dancers, cloggers, clowns, a barbershop quartet and a singer of sea chanteys.

The social is from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, and children younger than 12 will be admitted free at the museum, at 401 E. M St. in Wilmington. Cookies and lemonade are included with admission. Proceeds will support the museum’s year-round public tours, school programs and demonstrations.