Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on June 25, 2012| 3 Comments »
Our mystery object remains mysterious, although most viewers agree that it was probably used to make holes.
Thanks to all who participated. Your comments have been included in the accession notes for the object to assist the next person who tries to take a stab at it!
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on June 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The ends were heated and used to curl hair in the 18th century. These provided an alternative to the clay curlers (see What is it? January 12, 2012) which could only be used on wigs.
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on June 12, 2012| 2 Comments »
This tin container was used to safely transport 4 dozen eggs through the US mail service from York, Maine to Brighton, Massachusetts in the 1930s.
The eggs were sent by Giuseppe “Joseph” Cefalo (1894-1974) of York to his brother Louis Celfao, who lived in Brighton, MA. The brothers were immigrants from Torre le Nocelle, Avellino, Italy. Joseph and his wife and children lived in the Seabury section of York which was home to many other Italian immigrants. Some of these immigrants, like Joseph, came with their entire families; others came alone, leaving their wives and children behind, sending back paychecks earned working on the railroads, construction projects and farming to the “old” country.
York was the home to numerous immigrant families in the early 20th century. Besides Italians newcomers came from Canada, Japan, Greece, the British Isles and other countries.
Many thanks to Margaret Dube (who promised she’d “guess” what the object was but didn’t) for doing the oral history project on immigrant families in York which led to bringing this great object and the history associated with it to the Museums of Old York.
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on May 30, 2012| 2 Comments »
These triangular pieces of bone were used to help babies throught the teething process. Each one is carved along one side with a different pattern-hash marks, saw-like teeth (rough but not sharp), and notches. Early teething tools were also made from coral and metal. I image the cool, hard surfaces were considered desirable.
Hope you had fun figuring this one out!
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on May 21, 2012| 5 Comments »
This lovely calling card case, which is made from carved ivory, was brought back from China by York resident Louise Caroline (Wilcox) Putnam (1822-1894) whose husband was involved with the China trade.
Card cases were used to hold calling or visiting cards. Etiquette required that a person could not just drop by and see someone without first leaving a card with the initiator’s name on it at the home of the second person. The person who initiated the contact would later receive a calling card at his home to indicate an acceptable time to come for a visit. On the other hand, if no card card was returned, he could assume that a personal visit was not desired.
Card cases from the 18th and 19th centuries are often from China; it is believed that the practice of using calling cards commenced in China. They are still used today in Japan, given directly by someone to encourage a future get-together or correspondence.
Calling cards have been largely replaced today by business cards.
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on May 14, 2012| 5 Comments »
This hand carved piece of wood was used to mark out where one would place stitches for making a quilt. You can get the idea by looking at this detail of a circa 1790-1810 whole cloth quilt from Old York’s collection:
Although such stamps were not necessary, they would be a great assistance in making whole cloth quilts like this one whose only decorative feature would be the quilting.
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on May 9, 2012| 2 Comments »
The brass metalwork of this brooch was originally covered with a vibrant blue inlay made not of turquoise as many of you guessed, but butterfly wings!
Using butterfly wings in jewelry was very popular during the 1920s until WWII, with a slight revival in the 1960s. Fortunately, it is not commonly used today!
Thank you for participating!
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on April 30, 2012| 1 Comment »
This an example of a second generation of glass extinguishers. The glass “grenades” were designed to be thrown directly into the fire.
The patent number for this set was applied for in 1933. The grenades were filled with either carbon tetrachloride, which is now listed as a “Hazardous Material” or salt water depending on the manufacturer.
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on April 23, 2012| 8 Comments »
Last summer Linda Scotland was down at the edge of Cape Neddick River with her dogs. She was looking down at the broken glass in the mud, feeling dismayed, when she caught sight of what she thought was a religious medal. She showed it to Steve Burns, Community Development Director for the Town of York. Burns urged her to show it to Dr. Emerson Baker, a professor of history and historical archaeology at Salem State University and resident of York. After a bit of research, “Tad” Baker became convinced that the tiny silver disk was a penny from the reign of Edward II (ruled 1307-1327). He contacted Dr. Barrie Cook, Curator of Medieval and Early Modern Coinage at the British Museum, with images of the coin. Dr. Cook’s response: “The image is rather murky, but the coin looks from the shape of the crown to be a penny of Edward I/II, class 10cf (c. 1305-10), Canterbury mint. It should say EDWA R ANGL DNS HIB on the front and CIVI TAS CAN TOR on the back.” The Edwardian series runs straight across reign change (Edward I ruled 272-1307; Edward II ruled 1307-1327) making it hard to determine which king issued a coin of this type.
Baker followed up by examining the site where the coin had been found. It turns out the coin was found amid the remains of a wharf dating to at least the mid nineteenth century and possibly to 1649, when this land was first granted to three Englishmen, including the right to build a stage (wharf) for their fishing operation. The 1649 document notes that two fishermen, John Lander and William Hamm, had previously occupied the land. Both men left the fishing station at Richmond Island, Maine in 1636. So their occupation could have been anytime between 1636 and 1649. Either way, by the mid-17th century, this was a busy working waterfront, where someone could have dropped a coin. In fact, the home of one of the fishermen was only a couple hundred feet away.
The best alternative to someone dropping an old coin is the possibility the coin arrived with construction material for the wharf, through ship ballast. Ships often gathered up piles of rock and sand in harbors and deposited them in their holds to make up weight for a light cargo. In this way, piles of ballast moved from London to Maine and other ports. Indeed, this explains how large chunks of coral from the Caribbean have been found in Maine harbors.
While it is an unusual find, such isolated early coin finds are not altogether unknown. A Roman coin was found many years ago on the coast of Maine. It probably arrived here via ballast. The most famous early coin found in Maine was a Norse silver penny of the eleventh century, found at a prehistoric site in Blue Hill, Maine. This was the only European artifact found at the Native site, suggesting it was traded down the coast from the eleventh-century Norse settlement at L’Anse aux Meadow, Newfoundland, via Native American trade routes.
Comments based on discussion with Emerson “Tad” Baker, II Ph.D
The above image is of a similar but less worn example.
Posted in history, objects, tagged 18th century Maine, history, mystery object on April 10, 2012| 2 Comments »
Dating back to the days when “brown paper packages [were] tied up with string” (to quote Julie Andrews), stores used these contraptions to keep string clean, organized and untangled.
Blog of the Old York Historical Society 