Shaker Collection at the Henry Ford

Shaker's Apiary Honey Box, Made in the Shaker Community in Mt. Lebanon, New York, 1900-1929

Packaging

The Shaker community in Mt. Lebanon, New York, produced garden seeds, packaged in colorful boxes. The Shaker apiary ensured adequate pollinators for the plants that gardeners tended. Sister Amelia Calver served as apiarist, managing the hives and overseeing honey production during the late 19th century. Shakers likely delivered jars of honey directly to customers, packed in boxes like this, as they sold seed packets in boxes.

Shaker Dress, 1835-1860

Dress (Garment)

Shaker Dress, 1830-1835

Dress (Garment)

Shaker Stove, circa 1830

Stove (Heating equipment)

Shaker Bonnet, 1860-1875

Bonnet (Hat)

Shakers Genuine Garden Seeds Box, 1861-1895

Seed box

Shakers at Watervliet, N.Y., produced seeds for resale by 1790 and first sold paper packets of seeds in 1835. Yet, the Mt. Lebanon, N.Y. community dominated the Shaker seed business from the 1860s to 1891. They made wooden boxes like this one, packed them with "genuine" Shaker seeds, delivered the boxes to general stores for resale, and collected and restocked the boxes for the next growing season.

Advertising Bookmark, "E.J. Neale & Co. Shaker Cloak," 1900-1930

Bookmark

Can Label, "Shakers' Brand String Beans," circa 1880

Can label

Manufacturers of similar products sought ways to make their company's goods stand out on store shelves. Attractive labels, like this design for Shakers' Brand String Beans, helped catch the attention of potential customers -- hopefully encouraging them to purchase the company's product rather than that of a competitor.

Trade Card for Shaker Soothing Plasters, A. J. White, 1891

Trade card

In the last third of the nineteenth century, an unprecedented variety of consumer goods and services flooded the American market. Advertisers, armed with new methods of color printing, bombarded potential customers with trade cards. Americans enjoyed and often saved the vibrant little advertisements found in product packages or distributed by local merchants. Many survive as historical records of commercialism in the United States.

Wool Wheel, Made in the Shaker Community in Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1807-1847

Spinning wheel

Spinning fibers into yarn for weaving into cloth was an important task in many households into the 19th century. Spinning, done by women and girls, was a skilled -- and labor-intensive -- task. The woman who operated this large wool wheel spent countless hours walking to and fro, alternately spinning the wool fibers into yarn and then winding it onto the spindle.

Yardstick, circa 1850

Yardstick

Trousers, 1830-1870

Trousers

Coat Hanger, circa 1866

Coat hanger

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers, is a religious sect begun in the late 1700s. Members banded together into small, mostly self-sufficient, communal enclaves scattered from Maine to Kentucky. Shaker craftsmen fashioned household furnishings with plain lines, little ornamentation, and painted or stained in a uniform color. Their craftsmanship expressed honesty, simplicity, and...

Shelf Clock By John Winkley, 1787-1792

Shelf clock

Hand Lamp, circa 1830

Hand lamp

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers, is a religious sect begun in the late 1700s. Members banded together into small, mostly self-sufficient, communal enclaves scattered from Maine to Kentucky. Shaker craftsmen fashioned household furnishings with plain lines, little ornamentation, and painted or stained in a uniform color. Their craftsmanship expressed honesty, simplicity, and...

Side Chair with Tilters, 1810-1840

Slat-back chair

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers, is a religious sect begun in the late 1700s. Members banded together into small, mostly self-sufficient, communal enclaves scattered from Maine to Kentucky. Shaker craftsmen fashioned household furnishings with plain lines, little ornamentation, and painted or stained in a uniform color. Their craftsmanship expressed honesty, simplicity, and...

Dwarf Tall Clock by Benjamin Youngs, 1810-1815

Dwarf tall clock

Cupboard, 1830-1860

Cupboard

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers, is a religious sect begun in the late 1700s. Members banded together into small, mostly self-sufficient, communal enclaves scattered from Maine to Kentucky. Shaker craftsmen fashioned household furnishings with plain lines, little ornamentation, and painted or stained in a uniform color. Their craftsmanship expressed honesty, simplicity, and...

Dwarf Tall Clock by Benjamin Seth Youngs, 1794-1805

Dwarf tall clock

Table, 1850-1860

Table (Support furniture)

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as the Shakers, is a religious sect begun in the late 1700s. Members banded together into small, mostly self-sufficient, communal enclaves scattered from Maine to Kentucky. Shaker craftsmen fashioned household furnishings with plain lines, little ornamentation, and painted or stained in a uniform color. Their craftsmanship expressed honesty, simplicity, and...