1880s Historical Memorabilia

Rare Antique Pocket Heraldic Watch-Holder - Berlin showing roman attributes . This solid watch holder dates about 1860 - would especially be great for any military pocket watch ....

Rare Antique Pocket Heraldic Watch-Holder - Berlin Bronze or Brass - guilt - showing roman attributes . This solid watch holder dates about 1860 - would especially be great for an...

12 early CDV's of various Civil War Generals including Longstreet, Price, Robert E Lee, Johnson, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Breckenridge, Sidney Johnston, Jefferson Davis, Sterling Price...

Pair of 19th century mercury glass butler’s gazing balls Made from mercury filled glass, referred to as Victorian butlers gazing balls, these decorative objects would have been pla...

A set of five, late 19th Century Brooding Eggs, made of hand blown, opaque white glass. These antique eggs were used by the farmer to induce the chicken to start laying and broodi...

A rare and unusual antique Freemasons cabinet, Washington Lodge, circa 1880. The cabinet in two sections, the top with a stepped crown, below are glazed eight doors separated by three turned columns. Each door having sign-painted & gilded, polychromed text and decoration to the glass panels, the doors enclose a fitted interior with storage cubicles & pigeon holes/files. The doors having gilded sign-painted text that reads "Martha Washington Chapter" and having five pointed multi-colored stars, another door with " No. 14 O.E.S" and "Washington Lodge", the last top door with " No. 46 A. F. & A. M.", both doors with square and compass decoration. The doors to the base having repeated text and also " Hawthorne Lodge", the base of the cabinet is fitted with two large drawers having the original cast iron Aesthetic Movement handles. A very rare and unusual cabinet...

Part of the Masonic emblem is the triangle shape compass which represents the measurement of the ability to undertake actions within certain constraints. This very unusual solid golden oak tri-corner Masonic Lodge table...

Bryce, James. The American Commonwealth. London: Macmillian and Co., 1888. First edition, three volume set. Period full tan leather boards with gilt panels, gilt titles, gilt tooling, and raised bands to the spine. Presented in a custom matching slipcase. This first edition, three volume set of The American Commonwealth was published in London by Macmillian and Company in 1888. The books are bound in period full leather boards with gilt panels, gilt tooling and titles, and raised bands to the spine. All three volumes are presented in a new, custom archival matching slipcase. James Bryce was a well-respected British politician, diplomat, and historian. Later serving as ambassador to the U.S., Bryce was regius professor of civil law at Oxford while he wrote The American Commonwealth. The three volume set examined “the institutions and the people of America as they are.” Bryce discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the still young democratic government, publishing what became known as the most important study of America’s political, social, and economic features since Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America 53 years earlier. The work is divided into six parts, analyzing what the author calls “the nation of the future.” Part I concerns the Federal government, Part II considers the state governments, Part III describes the political system and parties, Part IV is devoted to public opinion, Part V discusses foreign affairs and the strengths and weaknesses of a democratic government, and lastly Part VI examines the different non-political aspects of society. The work lacks dense technicalities, making it easily read and understood by those outside the government. After publication, the work was enthusiastically received by Americans, quickly becoming mandatory reading for schools of law, economics, and sociology. Bryce’s observations and descriptions of the still-young country proved an invaluable study and remains an important work for the state of America in the late 19th century. CONDITION: Overall age appropriate condition. Three volumes, octavo. In period full leather boards, with gilt panels, gilt titles, gilt tooling, and raised bands to the spines. Interior pages are healthy. Folding lithographed map to Vol. 1. The three volumes are housed in an archival custom matching lined slipcase decorated with an inlay of John Trumbull’s “Declaration of Independence...

Antique American 39 Star Flag, circa 1889, a period silk made in the "Dancing Star" pattern, where the stars are oriented at an alternating upright and sl...

Quartersawn Oak Gamewell Fire Alarm Indicator box, circa 1888. Made by the Gamewell Fire Alarm Company of New York used in fire houses to indicate the fire alarm box...

Presented is a very rare, 41-star flag waver celebrating Montana statehood. The flag is printed on linen and dates to 1889. The dark blue canton is printed with forty one stars in nine rows of alternating counts of five and four stars. Thirteen red and white stripes complete the flag’s design. The history of Montana statehood is a long one. Numerous Native American tribes originally inhabited the Montana Territory. Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the members of their expedition were the first explorers to document a journey through Montana and the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. Soon, forts were established to facilitate regular fur trading with Native American tribes. Missionaries and trailblazers followed. The discovery of gold in the early 1860s sped the creation of the Montana Territory. As settlers and gold prospectors entered Montana in the 1860s and 1870s, conflicts with the Native Americans arose. Perhaps the most famous clash between Native Americans and the United States military occurred in Montana on June 25, 1876. On that day, Sioux and Cheyenne defeated Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer‘s 7th United States Cavalry regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. A year later, Nez Percé Chief Joseph surrendered in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana. Lured by copper in the 1880s, mining brought even more settlers to Montana. Rich grazing lands for cattle and sheep attracted other pioneers. Each of the states in America, with the exception of the original thirteen, Texas, and California, was first organized as a territory before achieving admittance to the Union as a state. Originating with the Ordinances of 1785 and 1787, the territorial system provided the expanding U.S. with a method to govern frontier areas until they gained sufficient population and economic maturity to qualify for statehood. Not surprisingly, residents of frontier territories usually demanded quick admission to statehood so they could gain full control of their local governments. Montana was a territory for 25 years – from the creation of Montana Territory in 1864 until the territory was admitted to statehood in 1889. On November 2, 1889, North and South Dakota were added to the Union as the 39th and 40th states, the first time in history that two states were admitted on the same day. Montana became the 41st state on November 8, predating Washington, the 42nd state, by only three days. Flag makers were not in the business of making out-of-date flags. As a result of these rapid changes in the number of states, only a small number of 41-star flags or commemorative items were ever produced, thereby making any 41-star flag exceedingly rare. CONDITION: Good condition. This flag is printed, with a hemmed headband and fly end in a running stitch...

Antique American 39 Star Flag, circa 1889, a period silk made in the "Dancing Star" pattern, where the stars are oriented at an alternating upright and sl...