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The experts at The Henry Ford have carefully created these sets. Explore a specific topic or use these as a foundation for building your own collection.
Created 02.07.2025 | 12 artifacts
In August 2024, The Henry Ford welcomed the donation of hundreds of objects, an archive, and library from the Stewart Program for Modern Design in Montreal, Canada. Acquired over decades through the careful selections of founder Liliane Stewart and her staff, the Stewart Collection spans over 140 years of design history and represents the work of hundreds of designers. The following selection offers a glimpse into this seminal collection.
Created 02.07.2025 | 12 artifacts
Sheep supply two items essential for human survival, wool for clothing and meat for food. This makes them a farm asset, but protecting sheep requires vigilance. Sheep are social animals with an instinct to move together as a flock. Shepherds use dogs to help protect their flock and herd animals from pens to pasture and back. The close bond conjures visions of a bucolic rural past, emphasizing human-animal relationships.
Created 11.04.2024 | 12 artifacts
The Pennsylvania Germans, popularly known as the Pennsylvania "Dutch," were a vibrant immigrant community active in southeastern Pennsylvania in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The Henry Ford has a rich collection of objects that show the Pennsylvania Germans' flamboyant, whimsical, playful, and highly imaginative artistic style. These pieces are a few of the highlights.
Created 11.04.2024 | 15 artifacts
Artists have illustrated holiday cards since Henry Cole sent the first modern-day Christmas card in 1843. Over the next century, card publishers hired artists to design festive holiday works--many artists went unrecognized. However, by the mid-twentieth century, American greeting card companies actively promoted cards designed by well-known artists. This sampling showcases the stylistic range of notable twentieth-century artists and illustrators.
Created 10.09.2024 | 12 artifacts
No former residents of this house were as famous or as internationally renowned as American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963). This house, discovered by Henry Ford on a drive through Ann Arbor, Michigan, became a stellar example of Greek Revival architecture in Ford's Greenfield Village, and it still exhibits furnishings from the period. Only within this century has its most celebrated resident reclaimed his rightful place.
Created 05.29.2024 | 10 artifacts
What is a dinosaur? A "terrible lizard" -- the name given to a large group of reptiles, which died out approximately 65 million ago (though today's scientific community indicates modern birds are evolutionary relatives)? Or is a dinosaur something that is impractically large, old-fashioned, out-of-date, or obsolete? In 2024, curators at The Henry Ford found some fascinating "dinosaurs" lurking in our collections.
Created 03.13.2024 | 22 artifacts
These artifacts provide a small look at the many forms women’s struggles for equal treatment – under the law, at work, and in their private lives – have taken over the years.
Created 03.13.2024 | 13 artifacts
Be it educational or purely entertaining, limited series or long-running, children’s television has influenced generations of viewers.
Created 02.02.2024 | 10 artifacts
American football evolved in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from soccer- or rugby-like games into the popular sport we know today. Hallmark began celebrating the game of football with Christmas ornaments in the mid-1980s. These examples remind us of our favorite teams, players, and the fun of the game.