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So how about that 18th century? Pretty crazy, huh?
Between America declaring her independence and basically the whole Enlightenment,
the 1700s were anything but dull. In fact, when we look back at this period in American history,
there are literally countless objects we could cover. During this time,
Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod. Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin
Before the 1700s, we didn't have hot air balloons,
time zones, or even sandwiches. But then,
there's also this guy. Yep, just as
fascinating as any of those world-changing innovations is this
silver-lidded seashell. You may recognize it better by its
proper name: the snuff box.
Historically speaking, snuff is the most refined version of
smokeless tobacco. In this enlightened time, cosmopolitan Americans
did not want to be associated with the less refined acts of smoking or chewing
tobacco.
Instead, they took the high road. Cosmopolitan gentlemen would take their stuff out of
the box,
just like this, and stick it up their nose.
Classy. The 1700s were
all about social status, so with an expensive luxury item like this in hand,
a cultured man automatically scored a certain level of prestige.
And just as important as social status was social interaction:
one's fellows. In the 18th century,
America saw increased participation in voluntary associations,
including an expansion in Freemasonry. The Freemasons were a brotherhood of
men looking for a more
distinguished social circle. Their brothers included men like George
Washington,
Benjamin Franklin, the original night rider
Paul Revere. So with the Freemasons on his side,
and a snuff box like this in hand, a gentleman of the 1700s would have been
a social force to be reckoned with.
So to tell us more about fraternal culture in the 18th century,
we're joined by Tim Winkle, a curator at the National Museum of American History.
Hi Tim, thanks for joining us. Excellent. So can you tell me a little bit
more about what makes this snuff box
so special? Well, snuff boxes would have been made from a variety of
material: wood,
silver, other metals, but this one is made from a seashell,
called a cowry shell, you can see it here on the bottom, with an engraved silver lid.
So it's about as high-end a snuff box as you're going to have at this period.
Yeah, I notice it's actually rather richly engraved. Some of the symbols look
familiar
Are these actually masonic? They are. This circle here
has a number of Masonic symbols in it, even ones they still use today, so
the all-seeing eye and the letter G, which both stand for God, or the great architect of the
universe. Then there's a number of tools that masons would have used in their
trade:
a plumb, a level, compasses in a square,
and these would have had symbolic meanings for freemasons. Cool!
But there's also a large name engraved at the top. Can you tell me who that was?
Sure. It's James Conway. He's the original owner of the snuff box.
He was a member of a lodge in a place called
Cantwell's Bridge in Delaware. It was actually the first Masonic lodge
in Delaware and it was founded in 1765.
1765? That's actually before the establishment of the United States.
That's right, and in fact the lodge is still going today. It's called Union Lodge No. 5,
it's still in the same area, and it's still a going concern. But at the time,
Cantwell's Bridge would have been a small town, but a major trading outpost,
between the Chesapeake and the Delaware River. So men of
growing wealth and status, who may have had trade routes along there,
would have perhaps been attracted to joining a Masonic lodge even in a remote town
like that.
People like James Conway. Maybe he would have been the type who wanted to own
such a luxurious snuff box, for instance. Exactly. Well,
thank you so much for joining us today, this has been really fascinating. Sure.
Thank you. Awesome.
And thank you for joining us on this, our second episode.
To find out which object we'll be uncovering next, check us out on the
National Museum of American History's Facebook page.
See you next time!