A Tender Moment

This circa 1910s colorized souvenir postcard depicts a young man and lady in a wooded area, the man lounging on a wooden walkway. In a moment of privacy, the couple shares a loving kiss, away from prying eyes. Their bright clothing, particularly the man’s red banded boater hat and the woman’s light pink dress, contrast…

Tag: Fall River, travel, Victorian

Category: Ephemera, Vintage

Stop and Smell the Roses

A fitting start to Spring, today is National Fragrance Day! Whether captured in a bottle or existing in nature, fragrances have the ability to spark memories. Perhaps a whiff of freshly cut grass reminds one of warm summer days, or a specific scent brings one back to Sundays spent in grandma’s cozy kitchen. Scents can…

Tag: Fall River, Henry Hudson Fish

Category: Family, Glassware, Vintage

Have a Cup of Spring

This cup and saucer set features beautiful pink roses and rosebuds at the center of each piece, contrasting against the stark white porcelain background. The cup has a gilded, reticulated base and gilded rim, with a unique gilded handle in a double cut and spiked design. The matching saucer features a reticulated and gilded rim…

Tag: Fall River Historical Society

Category: Home Goods, Porcelain, Vintage

Spread the Love

Our smaller valentine dates to the third quarter of the 19th century and features white paper lace intricately cut with an illustration of a man and a woman sitting beside a fountain. They are surrounded by various fauna and two cherubic figures, no doubt attempting to encourage affection between the two sitters. The intricate imagery…

Tag: Fall River Historical Society, Valentine's Day, Victorian

Category: Ephemera, Seasonal, Valentine's Day, Vintage

Celebrate in style!

A recent addition to our collection, “A Baby’s Day” is a booklet of a little boy’s antics, complete with charming rhymes and printed drawings. Each page provides a peek into this baby’s life, from playtime with his rocking horse to a mischievous encounter with the family cat. Perhaps one of the more relatable scenes centers…

Tag: Charles E. Vickery

Category: Children, Family, Vintage

Rise and Shine

Now that the holidays are over and everyone is returning to work or school, we could all use a bit of a boost to start our day. What’s a better pick-me-up than a hot cup of coffee on a winter morning? This porcelain coffee cup is decorated with red and gilt trim while the handle…

Tag: Fall River, Fall River Historical Society

Category: Home Goods, Porcelain, Vintage

You Better Watch Out!

Continuing this week’s theme is a trade card featuring a rather haggard looking St. Nicholas. He is perched against a snow-covered chimney, a sack of toys tied to his back. Drums, dolls, and toy rifles with bayonets peek out from his overflowing bag, waiting to delight children come morning. With the moon high in the…

Tag: Fall River

Category: Christmas, Ephemera, Postal Ephemera

Good Tidings

This cheerful trade card features a scene of a family at Christmastime. Two children, dressed in their holiday finery, seek the attention of their grandfather while he leisurely reads the newspaper. The little girl holds a sprig of stylized mistletoe above the grandfather’s head, while her brother appears to narrowly avoid his sister’s attempt at…

Tag: Brown and Dodge, Christmas, Fall River

Category: Advertisement, Christmas, Ephemera, Fall River History, Seasonal

Deck the Halls

To celebrate the Christmas season, join us as we pull out a few festive trade cards from Fall River’s retail past. We begin with a simple yet elegant illustration of peeling birch bark against a black background. Sprigs of bright holly berries and mistletoe poke through holes in the bark, adding a touch of color….

Tag: Fall River Historical Society, trade card

Category: Advertisement, Christmas, Ephemera, Medicine, Seasonal

Rolling Back the Clock

Sometimes it’s the little details that really make a piece special! The exquisite fire-gilded bronze clock on the parlor mantlepiece is one such example. A slithering serpent acts as the hands on the clock face, complete with delicate scales and a minute tongue. As the snake marks the time, a strike mechanism sounds on the…

Tag: Fall River, Fall River Historical Society, Robert Knight Remington

Category: Fall River History, Family, Timepieces

Travel the World without Leaving Your Home

This circular device is made of Bakelite and has two conical lenses like a binocular. Cardstock reels with fourteen miniature photographs can be placed inside of the device, where a metal tab turns the reel so the viewer can change the images. Though the style has evolved over the years, many a child and adult…

Tag: Fall River Historical Society

Category: Amusements, Family, Vintage

Spice up your life

Nestled in a triangular, silver-plate frame are three glass bottles with delicate silver lids, which once held salt, black pepper, and white pepper. A ring handle allows for easy transport of the entire castor set, which stands just five inches high. Certainly, we are all familiar with salt and pepper sets that can be found…

Tag: Fall River, Fall River Historical Society, George F. Mellen, Hotel Mellen

Category: Glassware, Home Goods, Vintage

Put a Ring on it

For quite a few centuries, napkins have played a crucial role at the dinner table. They protect diner’s clothing, sop up spills, and wipe away remains from the hands and face. But during the 19th century, they had a much-needed partner: the napkin ring. As we briefly touched upon in last week’s post, laundry in…

Tag: David Brayton, Fall River, Fall River Historical Society

Category: Family, metalware, Vintage

A Place to Rest

One of a pair, this interesting piece is made of clear glass, with two bulbous ends intricately cut into delicate patterns and striations that prevent the object from rolling around the dining room table. The middle section is notched all the way around, belying its purpose. And what is this object? It’s a knife rest!…

Tag: Fall River Historical Society

Category: Family, Glassware, Home Goods, Vintage

Shake it out!

Ever wonder about pieces you might find on a Victorian dining room table? Join us for the next couple of weeks as we peek in the cabinets at the FRHS and highlight some uncommon dishware! Today’s find is a sugar shaker, referred to as a muffineer. Contrary to its name, the muffineer was not relegated…

Tag: Fall River

Category: Family, Glassware, Home Goods, Vintage

Beat the Heat

This early 1900s postcard features a quaint summer scene of children playing in the wading pond at South Park, now known as Kennedy Park. The cool water was no doubt a welcome relief during a hot summer’s day in the south end of Fall River! In 1871, Fall River commissioned Olmsted, Vaux & Company to…

Tag: Fall River, Kennedy Park, South Park

Category: Ephemera, Fall River History, Postal Ephemera, Vintage

Get Your Parcels Ready!

In honor of Paper Bag Day, we have three shopping bags from R.A. McWhirr Company, the favorite department store of Fall River! The small brown bag dates to the earlier years of McWhirrs, which officially opened its doors in 1877. The white and blue bag is one of the store’s signature parcels. And perhaps the…

Tag: Fall River, McWhirr's

Category: Advertisement, Ephemera, Fall River History, Vintage

Trip to a Secret Garden

The beautiful little watercolor painting is of John Dexter Flint’s garden gate. A winding path leads to the worn wooden door, topped with bright green foliage against a soft blue sky. Just beyond doorway are bright pink flowers against a stone wall backdrop. Flint’s property ran from Rock Street down to June Street (between Maple…

Tag: BMC Durfee High School, Central Congregational Church, Edwin Augustus Buck, John Dexter Flint, Nancy Eveline Buck, Normal Art School

Category: Art Pieces, Fall River History, Vintage

Birds of a Feather

This porcelain cup, one of a set of twelve, is hand painted with three little blue birds, as well as tiny white flowers. A gilded rim adds a touch of sparkle, while its uniquely shaped handle adds to the delicate nature of the teacup. Not pictured is the matching porcelain saucer, also hand painted with…

Tag: Fall River, Hannah Valentine Durfee

Category: Home Goods, Porcelain, Vintage

Show Off Your Pearly Whites for National Smile Day

This is a snapshot of friends Edith Brayton and Isabel Carpenter. The girls are bundled up in coats trimmed with fur and hats, no doubt keeping them warm on a blustery day in March 1917. If you look closely, you can see the shadow of their friendly photographer, Doris Sherman Easton! During the first half…

Tag: Doris Sherman Easton, Edith Brayton, Isabel Carpenter

Category: Ephemera, Family, Photography, Vintage

April Showers Bring May Flowers

This beautiful Italian frame features micro-mosaics in blues, whites, and deep reds. The outer corners are adorned with decorative circles lined with gilt, while bundles of forget-me-not flowers surround the photograph. For such a fragile frame, the mosaic designs are in remarkable condition considering their age, with only a few loses. While the frame itself…

Tag: Caroline Slade Brayton, Mary Durfee Brayton

Category: Art Pieces, Family, Vintage

Perfect Patterns

These five bright samples of cotton cloth were manufactured in c.1923 by the American Printing Company of Fall River (M.C.D. Borden & Sons, Inc., New York, New York). The vibrant hues of orange, blue, purple, green, and red, were labeled as “fast color” fabrics, meaning the colors were not likely to bleed when washed. Amongst…

Tag: cotton cloth samples, MCD Borden, Nile Novelties

Category: Advertisement, Clothing, Fall River History, Vintage

Medicinal Advertisements

This week is focused on medicinal advertisements from the last quarter of the 19th century, some of which hid their questionable cures behind the bright images of trade cards. Much like television commercials today, these Victorian era trade cards allowed for the public to learn about new remedies for all sorts of aches and pains…

Tag: Liver Pills, Medicine, Tar Syrup

Category: Advertisement, Ephemera, Medicine, Patent Medicines, Vintage

Springtime Sniffles are No Match

Heralded as a cure-all, this bottle of “Red-Sea” Balsam is fully intact, down to the yellow medicinal liquid inside. The bottle is embossed with “Red Sea Balsam Taunton, MA”, though the original paper label and box state that it was manufactured by “Red-Sea” Balsam Company of Fall River, Mass. The box has eye-catching fonts and…

Tag: Medicine, Red Sea Balm

Category: Home Goods, Medicine, Patent Medicines, Vintage

A Good Day for Hair

Healthy hair is always in style, and this week’s object was created for that purpose! This sleek bottle features an image of a woman with flowing, voluptuous hair encircled with a metallic gold wreath. While the bottle may be empty of its contents, it still has the original paper labels for Zepp’s Lustral for Dandruff….

Tag: Medicine, Zepp's Lustral for Dandruff

Category: Home Goods, Medicine, Patent Medicines, Vintage

Soothing Balm

This creamy concoction is Crown Camphor Cream. Camphor ointment can be used to reduce pain, irritation, and itching caused by various skin irritants; applied topically, it can also ease coughing. The glass jar is still filled and retains the original white and red paper label. Camphor is still used as a balm for skin irritants…

Tag: Crown Camphor Cream, Medicine, T. Noonan & Sons

Category: Medicine, Patent Medicines, Vintage

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Tiny Tuesdays at the Fall River Historical Society

A Tender Moment

Stop and Smell the Roses

Have a Cup of Spring

Spread the Love

Celebrate in style!

Rise and Shine

You Better Watch Out!

Good Tidings

Deck the Halls

Rolling Back the Clock

Travel the World without Leaving Your Home

Spice up your life

Put a Ring on it

A Place to Rest

Shake it out!

Beat the Heat

Get Your Parcels Ready!

Trip to a Secret Garden

Birds of a Feather

Show Off Your Pearly Whites for National Smile Day

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Perfect Patterns

Medicinal Advertisements

Springtime Sniffles are No Match

A Good Day for Hair

Soothing Balm

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About Tiny Tuesdays

Caroline Aubin, Tiny Tuesdays Curator