Tag Archives: Collections

Inside the Collections – Fire Insurance Markers

My favorite way to pick a new “Inside the Collections” topic is to stumble upon it—in this case, to come across it while housing new acquisitions in our storage facility. We have well over 20,000 objects in our museum collection, stored in seven rooms in three different buildings. Even after nine years at the Historical Society, I regularly “find” objects for the first time, or find a reason to reconsider an object I haven’t seen for some time. Sitting on one of the many shelves in our open storage area, I paused for a few seconds on two pieces of thin, pressed metal with obvious connections to England (see below). While they are clearly decorative, even so far as having evidence of a painted surface, I couldn’t immediately place their function. Too small to be an effective business sign, but too large to be a nameplate. The database told me they are “insurance signs.”

The more specific answer is that they are insurance markers. To be even more precise, fire insurance markers or, simply, fire marks.

Fire insurance marker for “IMPERIAL,” English, nineteenth century; Litchfield Historical Society, 1915-02-6
Continue reading

Inside the Collections: A Sailor’s Memento

This trip “Inside the Collections” features another object on display in our 2021-2022 exhibit, Antiquarian to Accredited: A Look Inside the Historical Society. The embroidery seen below is a “found in collection” object, meaning we do not know how or when it came into our collection. Usually given to the Society at a time when we had limited recordkeeping, found in collection objects are rarely attributed to a creator or owner. This piece was no different.

At first glance, the embroidery reminded me of a woolie. What is a woolie, you ask? Woolie is a common name for a sailor’s woolwork picture, a folk art tradition centered on embroidered images of ships, nautical scenes, and patriotic motifs.  

Souvenir embroidery, unidentified soldier aboard USAT Thomas, c.1898, LHS Collection

Woolies

Most sources agree that woolies originated with British sailors in the first half of the nineteenth century, and remained popular from about 1840 to World War I. As a folk art form, woolies represent the coming together of three factors: free time, sewing skills, and sentimentality. Facing long hours at sea and in port, sailors likely turned to embroidery as a way to pass the time, keep their hands busy, and differentiate their working and leisure hours, similar to other maritime folk arts such as scrimshaw and knotwork. For as long as sailing ships dominated naval and merchant fleets, sailors were also required to possess rudimentary sewing skills, as one of their duties was to repair and maintain the ship’s sails. Sailors also mended and embellished their own uniforms, requiring them to keep sewing supplies on hand. Lastly, woolies served as mementos of a sailor’s service and travels or as gifts for loved ones upon his return. The number of woolies that survive from this period suggest they were prized possessions. Examples in period frames may even indicate that the sailor or his family made a monetary investment to have the woolie displayed.

Continue reading

Finding Evidence of Underrepresented People in the Archives

It’s long been a challenge for those researching ancestors who may have been illiterate, poor, or marginalized to learn about their heritage. Institutions like the Litchfield Historical Society were founded and began collecting during the Colonial Revival, a time when there was tension over immigration and clashes between races, classes, and nationalities. Our founders were the descendants of wealthy white immigrants from Western Europe who wished to preserve their history by saving their ancestor’s decorative arts, artifacts, and papers, predominantly those of men.

While we continue working to make our collections more representative and inclusive of all the people who made Litchfield home, a lot of the town’s early history of women, minorities, and the natives displaced by the settlers was lost, or perhaps never documented at all.

Continue reading