Domestic Furnishings - Overview
Washboards, armchairs, lamps, and pots and pans may not seem to be museum pieces. But they are invaluable evidence of how most people lived day to day, last week or three centuries ago. The Museum's collections of domestic furnishings comprise more than 40,000 artifacts from American households. Large and small, they include four houses, roughly 800 pieces of furniture, fireplace equipment, spinning wheels, ceramics and glass, family portraits, and much more.
The Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection contains more than 2,000 objects from New England households from colonial times to mid-1800s. From kitchens of the past, the collections hold some 3,300 artifacts, ranging from refrigerators to spatulas. The lighting devices alone number roughly 3,000 lamps, candleholders, and lanterns.
"Domestic Furnishings - Overview" showing 22 items.
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Atlas Beer
- Description (Brief)
- Flat wooden pencil in celluloid case with eraser at opposite end. Black print on case carries information for "James J. Doherty High Grade Liquors," "30 Years at 30 Dock Square," "Try our famous Atlas Beer Medric Rye Fairview Rye."
- The reference to Dock Square may be to Dock Square in Boston, Mass.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- American Art Works
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0761
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0761
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Daniel Pursell Coverlet
- Description
- The patterns seen in this cotton and wool Jacquard double-woven coverlet are “Birds of Paradise,” “Penelope’s Flower Pot,” and “Boston Town." The coverlet may have been made in Ohio by Daniel Pursell in the mid-to-late 1860’s. Mr. Pursell was born in Ohio about 1815. He reportedly lived in Portsmouth, Scott County, Ohio. He is listed in the 1850 Ohio Census as a 35-year-old weaver. When the coverlet arrived at the Museum in 1982, a note was attached to it. It read: “coverlet 110 years old or more 1868 approx. Prob. Made by D.Pursell Ports O-Liberty Raised sheep for wool, Grandm helped twist flax GMa born 1848 married 1871 about 23 years old.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1860s
- maker (possibly)
- Pursell, Daniel
- ID Number
- 1982.0573.001
- accession number
- 1982.0573
- catalog number
- 1982.0573.001
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1850 - 1880 Lucy Meade's "Sunburst" Pieced Quilt
- Description
- The “Sunburst” quilt was brought to Kansas from Ohio in 1904 by Emma Tracy, Lucy Meade’s mother. She had inherited it from her mother, Candus Cone Northway, whose aunt crafted it in the mid-19th century. Lucy Tracy Meade, the donor’s grandmother, exhibited the quilt in Kansas in the 1970s.
- According to Lucy Meade, it was always referred to in the family as the star pattern. Whether it is called a 14-point star, a sunburst, or a sunflower, the quilt makes a bold graphic statement.
- This carefully designed quilt is composed of five different roller-printed cottons, with a white cotton lining and cotton filling. A 23 ¾-inch red circular center is surrounded by 14 yellow triangles and 14 green diamonds. Additional piecing in blue provides contrast to the colorful sunburst. The resulting 57-inch square is framed by a border of 9 ½-inches on three sides and 17-inches on the bottom. The quilting accents the design with concentric circles ¾-inch apart in the center, echo quilting on the diamonds and triangles, clamshell quilting on the wedges between diamonds, and further concentric circles around the sunburst. The border is quilted with a diagonal grid pattern, all done at 7 stitches per inch.
- In an article in the Hays Daily News from 1979 about the “Sunburst” quilt, Lucy Meade says: “It’s been in the family for as long as I can remember. We’re even so worried about it wearing out that we don’t use it anymore, except for display purposes.” Her granddaughter, Janet Meade Komoroske agreed, and felt that the quilt belonged in a museum collection where it can be admired and studied by a wider audience.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1880
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1984.0211.01
- catalog number
- 1984.0211.01
- accession number
- 1984.0211
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Vacuum
- Description
- Although the vacuum cleaner had been invented in the early 20th century, the mass production and sales of vacuum cleaners did not take off until the economic boom that followed the decade after the First World War (1914-1918). This Hoover vacuum model 700 was produced between 1926 and 1929 and was the first of its kind to feature an aluminum body, an on/off switch, and the agitator brushroll—an innovation that used metal beater strips to vibrate pieces of dirt from carpets. The vacuum was one of the many supposedly labor saving devices marketed in the 1920s that promised to liberate middle-class women, now managing their houses without live-in maids, from the drudgery of housework. Accordingly advertisements for the Hoover 700 depicted a chic flapper of the late 1920s using the vacuum. Although the vacuum did clean more thoroughly than the broom and dustpan, the popularization of such appliances created more exacting standards of cleanliness thus making the hope of simplified housework largely illusory.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1927
- maker
- Hoover Company
- ID Number
- 1990.3134.01
- catalog number
- 1990.3134.01
- nonaccession number
- 1990.3134
- catalog number
- 1990.3134.1 A,B
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
All Wool Coverlet
- Description
- According to the donor of this coverlet, it first belonged to Mrs. Ferdinand O’Neal, who lived just outside Zanesville, Ohio. Her maiden name is believed to have been Wheeler, and in about 1863 she married Mr. O’Neal and moved to a home outside of Zanesville, known as “Greenwood.” Mrs. O’Neal passed the coverlet on to her daughter Marcella O’Neal, who passed it on to Martha Margaret O’Neal. The coverlet is made entirely of wool, and was probably woven (in two sections) between 1840 and 1860. The pattern is similar to the one known as “Cup and Saucer.” The weaver is unknown.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1840-1860
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1993.0225.001
- accession number
- 1993.0225
- catalog number
- 1993.0225.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1935 - 1945 Olive Bender's "Water Lily " Quilt
- Description
- Olive Bender made this quilt for her son and daughter-in-law as a Christmas gift in the 1940s. Her grandson, David Bender, later donated the quilt. He recalled that his grandmother would work on quilt patches during the warm months, and then, in the winter, quilt on frames she would set up in the dining room of her Ohio farmhouse.
- Nine 16”-inch blocks, appliquéd and embroidered in the “Water Lily” pattern, are set in pink and white sashing. The lily buds, leaves, water, lily pad, and flower details are embroidered. Various patterns quilted at 7 stitches per inch and scalloped edges complete the overall quilt design.
- Popular in the 1920s to 1940s, the “Water Lily” motif was available in kit form or as a paper pattern. Quilt historian, Cuesta Benberry, traced this pattern to the Rainbow Quilt Block Company owned by William Pinch. His company perfected a printing process that stamped colors on muslin squares indicating the color of embroidery threads needed to complete the motif and gave the company its name, Rainbow. William Pinch (1880-1972), a professional photographer, created as many as 1,000 designs for his company. Advertised in flyers, newsletters and catalogs, the kits and patterns could be purchased by mail or in retail stores making them available to small towns and rural areas.
- Olive Mae (nee Fairall) Bender was born February 13, 1892, in Frazeysburg, Ohio. She died April 18, 1971, in East Sparta, Ohio. Her quilt is an example of mid-20th-century quilting and of a design available from the Rainbow Quilt Block Company, one of many companies that promoted quilting from the 1920s on by publishing patterns and providing quilting kits.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1935-1945
- maker
- Bender, Olive Mae Fairall
- ID Number
- 1996.0223.01
- accession number
- 1996.0223
- catalog number
- 1996.0223.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Jacob Saylor Coverlet
- Description
- The corner boxes of this Jacquard double-woven coverlet say "Maide by Jacob Saylor*North Liberty*Knox*Ohio*1853." The coverlet is made of cotton and wool, and has a self fringe on the lower edge. The upper edge is hemmed. There is a center seam as the coverlet was woven in two pieces that were later sewn together. While he lived in several different Ohio towns, little is known abut Mr. Saylor.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1853
- maker
- Saylor, Jacob
- ID Number
- TE*T013999
- catalog number
- T13999.000
- accession number
- 269209
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Double Rose Jacquard Coverlet
- Description
- This cotton and wool red, white, and green single-woven Jacquard coverlet features stars, trees, and eagles in its borders, and a double rose pattern in the center. It has a self fringe along two sides and was woven in two sections that were later sewn together. It was made in Perry Co., Ohio, by L. Hesse in 1840. Mr. Hesse, who was born in Germany about 1809, wove coverlets in Ohio from about 1838 to 1860. Nothing more, not even his first name, is known about him.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1840
- weaver
- Hesse, L.
- ID Number
- TE*T014540
- catalog number
- T14540.000
- accession number
- 277122
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Logan County Coverlet
- Description
- Woven in Logan County, Ohio, this red and white cotton and wool Jacquard double-woven coverlet features double roses and stars in the center, while the borders feature long rows of daisy-like flowers. The words "Pyna.Rosc. Wove. IN LOGAN CO. OHIO BY I+M+," and the date "1848," appear in the lower corners. The upper edge of the coverlet has a wide dark red stripe. One can only guess that the weaver ran out of the yarn used for the rest of the coverlet, and had to substitute another. The full name of the weaver remains a mystery.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1848
- maker
- I. M.
- ID Number
- TE*T014955
- catalog number
- T14955
- accession number
- 285840
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1850 - 1875 Mary Ann Bishop's "Double Nine-patch" Pieced Quilt
- Description
- Mary Ann Bishop of Wilkesville, Vinton County, Ohio, made this quilt in the mid-nineteenth century. She utilized plain-woven roller-printed cotton dress fabrics and woven striped, checked, and plaid cottons. Two of the blocks of the “Double Nine-patch” quilt were enlarged by adding strips of printed cotton along two edges. A combination of diagonal-line and feathered “S” curve patterns were used for the quilting. Two gradually curved S-shaped wooden templates, also donated to the Collection, were used for marking the quilting pattern.
- Mary Ann Gotschall was born July 7, 1819. She married Hiram H. Bishop (1818-1897) on January 31, 1842 in Harrison County, Ohio. He received his medical training at Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1840s. Lyne Starling (1784-1848) was the founder of the hospital and medical school, a new concept at that time of providing medical education and patient care in one facility. During the Civil War, from June 1864 to March 1865, Hiram was contracted as an Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Totten General Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. In March of 1865, when he left, the hospital had over 6,500 patients and fewer than 100 surgeons.
- Mary and Hiram reared four children; John (b. 1843), Naomi (b. 1845), Mary (b. 1848), and Luie (b. 1860). Mary Ann died March 9, 1915, and is buried in the Wilkesville Cemetery. Mary Ann Bishop’s quilt in the “Double Nine-patch” pattern is one of three quilts in the Collection that were donated by her granddaughter, Maude M. Fierce, in 1936 and 1937.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1875
- maker
- Bishop, Mary Ann Gotschall
- ID Number
- TE*T07850
- accession number
- 141189
- catalog number
- T07850
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center