Sign, Trade
- Object Name:
- Sign, Trade
- Object ID:
- 1966.550.09
- Place of Origin:
- Boscawen, NH
- Date:
- 1793
- Description:
- Sign from Simeon Atkinson's tavern, Boscawen, NH, 1793. Vertical rectangular wooden sign with shaped scalloped base and half-circle crest with a scallop cut out of center. Heavy molding outlining the rectangle. A single twisted iron hanging bracket on one side, other missing. Once painted white, now largely worn away and grayish; molding pumpkin yellow. Date "1793" in black on crest. "Entertainment. / S.A." in black at bottom of rectangle. Red multi-pointed star in center. In background, a barrel-shaped decanter and stemmed wine glass can be seen although the coloring is gone. Reverse the same.
- Material:
- Wood
Iron - Dimensions:
- H-44 W-25 D-2.25 inches
- Provenance:
- Sign from Simeon Atkinson's tavern in Boscawen, NH. The tavern served travelers on a major early route along the Merrimack Valley and, from 1804, on the newly completed Fourth New Hampshire Turnpike running between Concord and Haverhill. At this time, the decanter and wine glass originally decorating the sign were ideal symbols of tavern hospitality. Replaced by a stylized star, most likely during the height of the temperance movement, the elements of the original design have become visible again due to the worn condition of the paint.
Purchased by Hannibal Bonney (1815-1902), Fisherville, at a spring 1874 auction at the house of Hale Atkinson (1798-1874), son of Simeon and Phebe Atkinson. The sign was found in the attic of the house. Hannibal Bonney donated it to the New Hampshire Historical Society prior to the October 27, 1887 annual meeting, held at Bonney's Penacook House. - Credit Line:
- New Hampshire Historical Society Collection
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