I’ve been reading through An Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy by Thomas Webster lately. Published in 1845 in New York this book is packed full of useful and interesting pieces of information. I thought I would share some of those I find either particularly interesting or potentially useful.
One note – Being written about 15 years prior, these pieces would not have been new in 1860 and in some areas could be seen as out-of-date.
This box-stool is something I would love to duplicate either for use at home or an event. It is a box with the top padded for sitting. The inside has a grid pattern used for hanging caps from. The text says “Fig. 432 is a box-stool, having the top stuffed to sit on, while the inside may hold caps, or other articles of dress, pinned to the girt in the lid.”
Quite similar is this traveling box meant for caps or bonnets. “Traveling boxes, for caps or bonnets, have a frame with a narrow girth crossed within, as fig. 463, to the underside of the which the caps are pinned, so as not to touch the sides, or each other. Frills, laces, and light articles of that kind are fixed upon the upper side of this network. Care should be taken to carry the boxes always top uppermost, and the caps will arrive at their destination without the slightest injury. The outside of the box is covered with some water-proof substance, as painted canvas.”
While looking at pieces which store caps and bonnets, I want to share these parts of a wardrobe meant for storing bonnets and caps. “Fig. 455 represents one of the simplest and cheapest wardrobes, being a press with folding doors and sliding shelves. At the bottoms is a deep drawer for holding bonnets and caps; these are best placed upon bonnet-holders within the drawer, fig. 456, or hung on hooks fixed in the inside of the drawers, as in fig. 457.”
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 
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