Family & Social Life

Bennet Family Record

Donations to the Museum have preserved irreplaceable evidence about generations of ordinary Americans. Objects from the Copp household of Stonington, Connecticut, include many items used by a single family from 1740 to 1850. Other donations have brought treasured family artifacts from jewelry to prom gowns. These gifts and many others are all part of the Museum's family and social life collections.

Children's books and Sunday school lessons, tea sets and family portraits also mark the connections between members of a family and between families and the larger society. Prints, advertisements, and artifacts offer nostalgic or idealized images of family life and society in times past. And the collections include a few modern conveniences that have had profound effects on American families and social life, such as televisions, video games, and personal computers.

Date: 1900s

1906 Chinese Immigrant’s Lacquer Trunk

In 1906 Ng Shee Lee packed her clothes and belongings in this trunk and left China for America. It was a difficult trip. She slept next to the noisy engine room; arriving tired and sick in San Francisco she was met by the devastating 1906 earthquake.
Description (Brief)
In 1906 Ng Shee Lee packed her clothes and belongings in this trunk and left China for America. It was a difficult trip. She slept next to the noisy engine room; arriving tired and sick in San Francisco she was met by the devastating 1906 earthquake. Ng Shee then made her way alone by train across Canada to New York where she rejoined her husband, Lee B. Lok.
Description
In 1906 Nge Shee Lee packed her clothes and belongings in this trunk and left China for America. It was a difficult trip. She slept next to the noisy engine room; arriving tired and sick in San Francisco she was met by the devastating 1906 earthquake. Ng Shee then made her way alone by train across Canada to New York where she rejoined her husband.
date made
ca 1906
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.01
catalog number
1992.0620.01
accession number
1992.0620

1895 - 1905 Chinese American Woman's Trousers

Ng Shee (1874 - ?) had this two paneled skirt as well as trousers made in Hong Kong at the time of her marriage to Mr. Lee B. Lok in China around 1900. After the marriage Ng Shee lived with her mother in law in China until she joined Mr.
Description (Brief)
Ng Shee (1874 - ?) had this two paneled skirt as well as trousers made in Hong Kong at the time of her marriage to Mr. Lee B. Lok in China around 1900. After the marriage Ng Shee lived with her mother in law in China until she joined Mr. Lee in New York City in 1906.
The pair of matching trousers was often worn under the pleated skirt with a rectangular apron or wei chu’u.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.21
catalog number
1992.0620.21
accession number
1992.0620

1880 - 1900 The Closet Folding Bathtub

With daily bathing becoming more accepted by the 1880s, many attempted to develop innovative ways to heat bath water and to incorporate the portable bathtub within a room setting. The Mosely Folding Bath Company advertised a folding bath in the 1895 Montgomery Ward Catalog.
Description
With daily bathing becoming more accepted by the 1880s, many attempted to develop innovative ways to heat bath water and to incorporate the portable bathtub within a room setting. The Mosely Folding Bath Company advertised a folding bath in the 1895 Montgomery Ward Catalog. This tub, disguised as a mirrored wardrobe, folded down and out of its wood casing into the room, revealing the heater above.
This was similar to Bruschke & Ricke’s combined sofa and bathtub of the same period. The sofa’s bolster concealed a water tank and heater, while the seat unfolded to reveal a bathtub. Often, large rubber aprons protected the wood or carpeted floor. Accounts of igniting sofas and burned bathers dampened the product’s appeal. Since neither bathtub attached to plumbing nor pipes, used bath water drained into a basin and then required emptying.
For more information on bathing and bathtubs in the 19th and early 20th centuries, please see the introduction to this online exhibition.
date made
1880-1900
manufacturer
Mosely Folding Bath Co.
ID Number
1977.1217.13
catalog number
1977.1217.13
accession number
1977.1217

1900 - 1910 Chinese American Woman's Blouse

In America, Mrs. Lee wore this tunic-length satin blouse with side buttons made from 1890 Hong Kong coins. The generously cut blouse or sam, often reaching the calf, was worn over trousers.Mrs.
Description (Brief)
In America, Mrs. Lee wore this tunic-length satin blouse with side buttons made from 1890 Hong Kong coins. The generously cut blouse or sam, often reaching the calf, was worn over trousers.
Mrs. Lee wore traditional Chinese clothes when she occasionally accompanied her children to the local movie houses. According to her daughter Grace, since she did not understand English she made up her own storyline to accompany the films’ images.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
maker
unknown
ID Number
1992.0620.08
catalog number
1992.0620.08
accession number
1992.0620

Irish-American Boxing Trophy Belt

Embroidered nineteenth century boxing belt featuring both Irish and American iconography. Figures include two bare-knuckled pugilists, as well as shamrocks, harps, U.S. and Irish flags, and two builidings.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Embroidered nineteenth century boxing belt featuring both Irish and American iconography. Figures include two bare-knuckled pugilists, as well as shamrocks, harps, U.S. and Irish flags, and two builidings.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850 - 1900
ID Number
CL.64.0171
accession number
249438
catalog number
64.0171

The School District Library by Harper & Brothers

From the nation’s beginning, Americans have grappled with who gets educated and who pays for education. Both public and private schools have relied on a combination of public and private funding.
Description (Brief)

From the nation’s beginning, Americans have grappled with who gets educated and who pays for education. Both public and private schools have relied on a combination of public and private funding. Disparities in wealth and political influence have affected Americans’ ability to support schools. As a result, educational philanthropy has reflected inequalities in the American economy and society. Giving through contributions of time and money have both created opportunities for students and increased inequalities among them.

Beyond paying taxes, communities have helped to fund schools through giving time, money, and supplies. This portable library is typical of one that hung on school walls in the 1800s. In some schools, a portable library was purchased through community donations, while in others, an individual donated one.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid-19th century
maker
Harper & Brothers
Harper and Brothers
ID Number
CL.389117
catalog number
389117
accession number
182022
collector/donor number
1636

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