17th, 18th, 19th century (Temporal Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only E. Breen.

Over the course of the eighteenth century, consumer goods became widely available to larger segments of the colonial population through the local retail system. As access to an array of goods opened to consumers across the socio-economic spectrum, one way that the colonial gentry distinguished themselves and communicated their social standing and pedigree was through the application of initials, names, crests, and coats of arms to otherwise indistinguishable items of material culture. Recently,...