Friday, June 15, 2018

TAPE! June 15, 1768 at the Colden Store, Coldengham, New York

Wednesday, June 15, 1768
Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.

Tape

James Daily purchased one piece of tape at the Colden Store on this day, 250 years-ago. 'Tape' as it is used in the DayBook is believed to be as described by Webster in his dictionary of 1828: "A narrow piece of woven work, used for strings and the like; as curtains tied with tape."

Tape Loom.  Image courtesy of readingeagle.com


==============================

Search the DayBook

This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.

===============================

Caulfeild describes tape in her 1887 Dictionary of Needlework as "narrow bands of linen or cotton, employed as strings...employed by tailors to bind buttonholes and selvedges." The low cost of the Colden Store tape (1-2 pence per yard) suggests that the tapes may not have been as decorative as the image above, but a more practical item in sewing as described by Caulfeild.

Tape was sold on more than sixty occasions at the store. Sometimes it was sold by the piece (about 25 times) at over a shilling per piece. At other times (about 25) it was sold by the yard at one or two pence per yard. On rare occasions it was described as worsted, crepe, cap, or stay tape.

===============================

Search the DayBook

No comments:

Post a Comment