Bandboxes
12 artifacts in this set
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The staff at The Henry Ford
Bandbox, 1818
Bandbox (Container)
In the early 17th century, men and women placed their lace neckbands, or collars, into containers called bandboxes. By the early 19th century, bandboxes held more than neckbands; they became handy storage receptacles for clothing and personal items. Bandboxes reached the height of their popularity during this period.
Bandbox, 1846
Bandbox (Container)
Bandboxes were made of thin slices of wood or stiff pasteboard formed into various shapes and fitted with a bottom and lid. Bandbox makers often lined the interior with newspapers and then covered the exterior with scraps of wallpaper or printed papers made especially for these boxes.
Bandbox, circa 1835
Bandbox (Container)
By the early 1800s, a growing middle class had time and money to travel. Expanding modes of transportation--steamboats, canal boats, and railroads--provided opportunities to visit relatives who had moved away or to take short holidays to see cities, shrines, or countryside. Affordable bandboxes stored needed items for these excursions.
Bandbox, Made by Hannah Davis, 1832
Bandbox (Container)
Young, unmarried, working-class women in the Northeast also found bandboxes handy. Many of these women had left family farms to work at textile mills in nearby communities. Bandboxes became a convenient storage case in the meager accommodations provided by factory owners. Bandboxes also served as lightweight luggage when the millworkers traveled back home.
Bandbox, Made by Hannah Davis, circa 1831
Bandbox (Container)
Hannah Davis (1784-1863), a Jaffrey, New Hampshire, entrepreneur, created colorful, wallpaper-covered bandboxes and sold them to young migrant women and others. Davis's attractive and affordable bandboxes were ideal for millworkers.
Bandbox, 1820-1840
Bandbox (Container)
Bandboxes came in various sizes and shapes. This round three-inch diameter bandbox probably held small personal items. Someone wrote "Shaffers Money" on the inside of the lid.
Bandbox, 1810-1830
Bandbox (Container)
Some boxes stored specific items. This decorative bandbox with a large snowflake-like design held a man’s hat typical of the period.
Bandbox, circa 1830
Bandbox (Container)
Bandbox makers covered the outside of these boxes with scraps of patterned wallpaper or papers with specially printed designs or memorable images. Swags and balusters were motifs familiar to Americans in the early 1800s--neoclassical symbols representing the country as an idealized new republic.
Bandbox, 1830-1840
Bandbox (Container)
Some bandboxes display recognizable buildings or places--perhaps a future, dreamed-of destination or a place visited by the bandbox's owners during one of their travels. The paper on this box depicts New York City's Castle Garden--the site of an early-1800s fort turned into an opera house and entertainment center for city residents.
Bandbox, circa 1835
Bandbox (Container)
Early 19th-century events, like a parade of city firefighters, appear on some bandboxes.
Bandbox, circa 1835
Bandbox (Container)
Bandboxes sometimes commemorate historic events. This scene depicts the celebrated flight of Richard Clayton in 1835. Clayton traveled more than 350 miles in a hydrogen-filled balloon (a record at the time), starting from Cincinnati, Ohio, and landing in what is now West Virginia.
Bandbox, Made by Hannah Davis, circa 1840
Bandbox (Container)
Some designs depict animals, birds, or other creatures. Hannah Davis covered this bandbox with a paper showing a couple of endearing squirrels.