Glass Hatchet, "Carrie Nation Wyer", 1913
Glass Hatchet, "Carrie Nation Wyer", 1913
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- By her own account, temperance reformer Carry A. Nation used rocks, a sledgehammer borrowed from a blacksmith, and a bar room billiard ball to destroy five Kansas saloons—before she took up a hatchet to destroy a Wichita, Kansas, saloon on December 27, 1900. Saloons were illegal under Kansas state law, but tolerated by officials. Explaining her choice of weapon, Nation recalled that the state’s “liquor interests” had nothing to fear from the usual temperance advocates, “but they were not prepared for a furious woman and a hatchet.” Her saloon smashings became known as “hatchetations”—a play on words coined by the publicity-savvy Nation.
- Object Name
- Hatchet
- Date made
- 1913
- associated date
- 1913
- Physical Description
- colorless (overall color)
- glass, transparent (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 3 1/4 in x 6 1/4 in x 3/8 in; 8.255 cm x 15.875 cm x.9525 cm
- ID Number
- 1979.0520.02
- accession number
- 1979.0520
- catalog number
- 1979.0520.02
- subject
- Women's History
- See more items in
- Political and Military History: Political History, Womens History/Reform Movements Collection
- Government, Politics, and Reform
- American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
- Exhibition
- American Democracy
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Comments
My grandmother also had a glass hatchet, now in my procession, it very much like the one pictured but, it is inscribed, " Panama Pacific International Exposition San Francisco 1915. I've always wondered if it was a Carrie Nation souvenir.
Charles Mead
Mon, 2021-01-25 13:13
My grandmother who married in 1900 and lived in north central KS had a small glass hatchet among her possessions when she moved to mid-Missouri when I was a child. I always thought it had something to do with Carrie Nation but had no proof. Her's is just like the photo but it is not engraved with the name and date. Are these rare now? I would like to pass this information on to my kids and grandkids generation. Thanks
Kathleen Boswell
Fri, 2020-09-18 09:38
Gary Cooper
Fri, 2021-08-20 16:36