Photo Gallery: Wilmington, Delaware Treasures
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Graphophone
This 1897 graphophone is an example of one of the earliest technologies of recorded sound. Invented at the laboratory of Alexander Graham Bell, the graphophone was an improved-upon version of Thomas Edison's phonograph. The first graphophones worked by playing cylinders of cardboard covered in wax and incised by a needle, an improvement over Edison's tin foil method. An 1881 wax recording, made by the inventors, famously speaks, "I am a graphophone and my mother was a phonograph."
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Washington Papers
These Revolutionary War military discharge papers were signed by General and Commander and Chief of the American armed forces, George Washington—who would later become the first president of the United States. Discharge papers like these would have been highly valued by the soldiers who received them. Washington issued them only to the soldiers who fought in his Continental Army for several years.
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Liquor Caddy
Liquor caddies like this rare find were made for hard travel. This liquor caddy was owned by Walter Botts, a lieutenant colonel for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Botts was part of General Hood's infamous "Texas Brigade."
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Stitched Sampler
This "sampler," or display of needlework, was stitched in 1803 by Mary Harrington when she was 12 years old. American schoolgirl samplers were more than a display of skill—they often represented a public display of the value that communities and families placed on young girls’ educations. In January of 2012, a schoolgirl sampler created by Mary Antrim in 1807 sold at auction at Sotheby’s for 1.07 million dollars.
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Silver Cup
This exquisitely crafted silver wine goblet is made of "coin" silver, or silver that has been melted down from coins. It has a purity of 90% silver, which is a little less than Sterling (at 92.5%). This goblet was owned by Isaac Leeser, who was instrumental in founding the first Jewish Sunday School in America in 1835.
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Mack Truck
Mack trucks were first used in Britain during World War I to move troops and supplies to the front lines. The trucks took on their K-9 trademark in 1917 when British soldiers, impressed with the trucks’ ruggedness, used the British mascot as inspiration, calling the pugnacious vehicles “Bulldog Macks.” Eventually becoming America's workhorses, Mack trucks were instrumental in building America's infrastructure. When President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, construction began on the Interstate Highway System, which has also been called “the greatest public works project in history.”
Back in 1997 I wrote a biography of my ancestor William Vredenburgh. Awesome that you aired this program that highlighted his discharge papers. You can read about him at:
http://vredenburgh.org/vredenburgh/pages/william_vredenburgh.pdf
Larry Vredenburgh