Bandbox, 1846
01
Artifact Overview
In the early 1800s, Americans used bandboxes to store clothing, accessories, and other small items. Bandboxes were handy containers in the home, or when traveling by stage, boat, or rail. Manufacturers covered these inexpensive pasteboard or wooden boxes with colorful papers. Some bandboxes were covered with papers depicting animals, places or specific scenes. Others, such as this one, were covered with decorative wallpaper of the day.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Bandbox (Container)
Date Made
1846
Place of Creation
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
30.170.2
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Cardboard
Wallpaper
Newspaper
Paper (Fiber product)
Color
Green
Blue
Yellow (Color)
Brown
Orange (Color)
White (Color)
Red
Dimensions
Height: 13.75 in
Width: 17.75 in
Length: 13.75 in
Keywords |
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Related Content
SetBandboxes
- 12 Artifacts
In the early 1800s, bandboxes stored clothing, hats, accessories, and other small items for a growing number of American travelers. Box makers covered their products with swatches of colorful wallpaper or papers with vivid images and scenes specifically made to decorate the outside of the box. Bandboxes were affordable and expressed the traveler's taste. Today, we appreciate them as markers of travel, style, and the lives of early Americans.