Family & Social Life - Overview
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.
"Family & Social Life - Overview" showing 169 items.
Page 1 of 17
Franklin Ace 1200 Personal Computer
- Description
- The Franklin Ace 1200 was one of the Franklin Corporation models of Apple II clones made for sale in the United States. It was an upgrade of the Franklin 1000. It was compatible with Apple II computers, but could also run the CP/M operating system.
- The Franklin ACE 1200 had a MOS/Commodore 3502 microprocessor that ran at 1 MHz. It contained 48 KB of RAM and 16 KB of ROM and dual 5 ¼" floppy drives. The Ace 1200 came out between Apple II+ and the Apple //e. It included a CP/M card, a disk controller card, an 80 column card, and a dual serial/parallel card that was software interchangeable. The printer card caused problems because many applications did not recognize it.
- The Franklin Ace 1200 was introduced in 1983 for the price of $2,200. The Franklin series was ended after Franklin lost a legal battle with Apple.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1983
- maker
- Franklin Computer Corporation
- ID Number
- 2002.0157.01
- accession number
- 2002.0157
- catalog number
- 2002.0157.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1900 - 1920 Salesman's Sample Porcelain Bathtub
- Description
- By the early 20th century, many in cities and towns lived in homes with bathrooms. Consumers now viewed tubs as plumbing fixtures rather than furniture, along with sinks and toilets. In providing recommendations for fixtures in this new room, advice manuals and sanitary specialists preached against the heavy, free standing tubs behind which dust and dirt could collect.
- Bathtub manufacturers began to market built–in porcelain tubs, which they claimed were more durable and more easily cleaned than those of metal or iron enamel. Soon porcelain tubs came in various colors, “lend(ing) themselves to the most refined artistic and delicate (bath) decorations.”* The Trenton Potteries Company, maker of this sample, was one of the larger manufacturers of porcelain tubs in the United States.
- Many bathers, now accommodated by indoor plumbing and hot water, took to the tub for pleasure and relaxation, as well as to get clean. Ivory Soap advertisements emphasized this: “Ah—my Ivory bath—it’s a pleasure—pure pleasure.”** The bathtub became the center of the cleanliness ritual. The bathroom was on its way to becoming one of the featured and larger areas of the home in the later 20th and 21st centuries.
- For more information on bathing and bathtubs in the 19th and early 20th century, please see the introduction to this online exhibition.
- *Archibald M. Maddock, II, The Polished Earth: A History of the Pottery Plumbing Fixture Industry in the United States, (Trenton, NJ, 1962), 275.
- **Ivory Soap ad, 1953
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- early 20th century
- 1900-1920
- manufacturer
- Trenton Potteries Company
- ID Number
- 1980.0823.01
- accession number
- 1980.0823
- catalog number
- 1980.0823.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Child Of a Disordered Brain; Body and Soul
- Description (Brief)
- Earl Hines playing the Storytone piano. side 1: CHILD OF A DISORDERED BRAIN; side 2: BODY AND SOUL (Bluebird B-10642)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1940
- recording artist
- Hines, Earl
- maker
- Bluebird
- performer
- Earl Hines
- ID Number
- 1988.0698.1315
- catalog number
- 1988.0698.1315
- accession number
- 1988.0698
- catalog number
- 1988.698.1315
- maker number
- B-10642
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: That Wonderful Mother Of Mine; M-O-T-H-E-R
- Description (Brief)
- Eddy Arnold. side 1: THAT WONDERFUL MOTHER OF MINE; side 2: M-O-T-H-E-R (RCA Victor 21-0009). from the album, "To Mother" (RCA Victor P 239)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1949
- recording artist
- Arnold, Eddy
- maker
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05008
- maker number
- 21-0009
- P 239
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05008
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Bring Your Roses To Her Now; I Wish I Had a Girl Like You, Mother
- Description (Brief)
- Eddy Arnold. side 1: BRING YOU ROSES TO HER NOW; side 2: I WISH I HAD A GIRL LIKE YOU, MOTHER (RCA Victor 21-0010). from the album, "To Mother" (RCA Victor P 239)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1949
- recording artist
- Arnold, Eddy
- maker
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05009
- maker number
- 21-0010
- P 239
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05009
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: I Wouldn't Trade the Silver In My Mother's Hair; My Mother's Sweet Voice
- Description (Brief)
- Eddy Arnold. side 1: I WOULDN'T TRADE THE SILVER IN MY MOTHER'S HAIR; side 2: MY MOTHER'S SWEET VOICE (RCA Victor 21-0011). from the album, "To Mother" (RCA Victor P 239)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1949
- recording artist
- Arnold, Eddy
- maker
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05010
- maker number
- 21-0011
- P 239
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05010
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Rockin' Alone; I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes
- Description (Brief)
- Eddy Arnold. side 1: ROCKIN' ALONE; side 2: I'M THINKING TONIGHT OF MY BLUE EYES (RCA Victor 20-2488). from the album, "All Time Hits from the Hills" (RCA Victor P 195)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1947
- recording artist
- Arnold, Eddy
- maker
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05011
- maker number
- 20-2488
- P 195
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05011
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: It Makes No Difference Now; Molly Darling
- Description (Brief)
- Eddy Arnold. side 1: IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE NOW; side 2: MOLLY DARLING (RCA Victor 20-2489). from the album, "All Time Hits from the Hills" (RCA Victor P 195)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1947
- recording artist
- Arnold, Eddy
- maker
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05012
- maker number
- 20-2489
- P 195
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05012
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Prisoner's Song, The; Seven Years With the Wrong Woman
- Description (Brief)
- Eddy Arnold. side 1: PRISONER'S SONG; side 2: SEVEN YEARS WITH THE WRONG WOMAN (RCA Victor 20-2490). from the album, "All Time Hits from the Hills" (RCA Victor P 195)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1947
- recording artist
- Arnold, Eddy
- maker
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05013
- maker number
- 20-2490
- P 195
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05013
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
sound recording: Will the Circle Be Unbroken (My Family Circle); Who At My Door Is Standing
- Description (Brief)
- Eddy Arnold. side 1: WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN (MY FAMILY CIRCLE); side 2: WHO AT MY DOOR IS STANDING (RCA Victor 20-2491). from the album, "All Time Hits from the Hills" (RCA Victor P 195)
- 78 rpm
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1947
- recording artist
- Arnold, Eddy
- maker
- RCA Victor
- ID Number
- 1996.0320.05014
- maker number
- 20-2491
- P 195
- accession number
- 1996.0320
- catalog number
- 1996.0320.05014
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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