Stamp, Marking

Description

Wooden stamp holder (a) with 13 1/4" x 3 5/8" base, and seven-bead standard measuring 6 3/4" high, supporting a cross piece that is 12" x 1 1/2". The cross piece has ten notches cut out, to hold ten rubber stamps (b-k). The stamps are backed with wood and have painted black wooden knobs. One stamp (b) reads: "Pussy dear, / Thinks it queer, / For one to wipe, / Their glasses here." The remaining stamps read as follows: "CANDIED ORANGE PEEL" (c), "Candied Butternuts." (d), "CANDIED PEANUTS" (e), "CANDIED ALMONDS" (f), "MIXED CREAMS" (g), "MAPLE CREAMS" (h), "CANDIED BUTTERNUTS" (j), "CHOCOLATE CREAMS" (k). One stamp (i) is blank, as the stamp has fallen out.Two of the stamps (c, d) have a metal plaque reading "WM.H. SHANDOFF / RUBBER STAMP / MANUFACTURER / PITTSFIELD / MASS" in gold print, with a griffin, on the proper right side. Five of the stamps (f, g, h, i, k) have etched on the side: "WM.H SHANDOFF / PITTSFIELD, MASS."

Notes

In the 1890s travelers passing by the Hancock Shaker community were greeted at the east end of the Church Family property by a wooden sign in front of the Trustees Office and Store that read, "Shaker Fancy Work and Nut Candy." The Shaker sisters at Hancock were well known for their candies. "Visitors have cleaned us out of candy and we have Christmas orders to keep us busy for weeks on end," wrote a Hancock sister, "how will we ever fill them all....Crystallized fruits, fruit peels, sugared nuts, and rock candy put up in pretty boxes are much asked for."[1] The rubber stamps (c-k) on this rack (a) were used by the Shaker candy makers to mark the contents of cardboard candy boxes. The boxes were purchased commercially, filled, stamped with the proper label, and sealed with a small, round, tamper-proof green sticker. One stamp, seemingly out of place with the rest, prints the poem, "Pussy dear. Thinks it queer. For one to wipe, Their glasses here." (b) It was used to decorate felt eyeglass cleaners made by the sisters and sold in their gift shop. [1] Amy Bess Miller, The Best of Shaker Cooking (New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1970), pp. 312-313.