Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2005.1.67.1-2 |
Object Name |
Box, Needlework |
Date |
c. 1900 |
Place of Origin |
Mississauga/Ontario/Canada |
Description |
A wooden oval sewing box with a lid. There are nails holding the box together. |
History |
This sewing box belonged to Catherine Jane Greeniaus (nee Kenney), who was born in 1832 and died in 1920. During the 19th and early 20th centuries in which Catherine lived, law and social custom were highly patriarchal. Catherine was married to Gaylord Greeniaus and for married women like her, a woman presided over her house and enjoyed some level of freedom over the day-to-day running of the home and child rearing. A woman was not only expected to be a wife, but a mother, domestic worker, nurse, teacher, and neighbour. Some women even opened preparatory schools to teach young girls the inherently "womanly skills" that they were expected to know in their future married life including sewing, mending, knitting, and needlepoint just to name a few. The fancy work of needlepoint was a means to show off one's skill and eligibility as a potential spouse, though the most time-consuming sewing activity for a housewife was not making clothes, but rather mending clothing. Fabric was time-consuming to produce and expensive to buy, so being able to mend, recycle and reuse fabrics was essential in any thrifty home. As such, sewing and mending was one of the first and most important jobs mothers taught their daughters. If a woman was particularly skilled with a needle and thread, she could become a seamstress, which was one of the only professions available to women, particularly if one wanted to continue the trade after marriage. Sewing boxes like these would have been commonplace in any home. |
References |
Errington, E. J. (2006). "Women and their Work in Upper Canada". Canadian Historical Association. |
People |
Greeniaus, Gaylord Kenney, Catherine Jane |
Search Terms |
Sheridan |