Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Buttonhook |
Catalog Number |
2006.4.40 |
Maker |
DuPont (?) |
Date |
ca. 1920 |
Material(s) |
Celluloid |
Dimensions |
H-0.14 W-0.5 D-8.25 inches |
Description |
This is a yellow celluloid buttonhook. It has a long thin metal rod with a small hooked end attached to a four inch handle. The handle is monogrammed with very small blue scroll letters |
Notes |
Dupont made vanity sets called "Py-ra-lin." the shoehorn in this set is marked as such and thus may be a Dupont product. Ivory was the color, not the material. It is actually celluloid. There are several monogrammed vanity sets in this collection. These sets were extremely popular around 1920 and available at fine retail stores. This five piece set (.36-.40) belonged to Jean McDowell Preston (1912-1961) wife of Alexander John Aitcheson (1907-1967). The other sets in the collection belong to Alexander John Aitcheson's sisters and apparently, his mother. The original Woodburn farm in Woodford County totaled 2,000 acres purchased in 1790 by Robert Alexander. By 1990 the acreage had been divided among Airdrie, Binderton, Lanark, and Woodburn farm, all owned by descendants of the original Alexander. Woodburn was brought to national prominence as a thoroughbred breeding operation in the 1850s and 1860s by his son, Robert Aitcheson Alexander, who did more for the cultivation of purebred stock than any other man in America, according to William Warfield as quoted in Giants of the Turf. Between 1861 and 1882 the farm dominated the American turf to an unequaled extent. Though breeding less than 5 percent of the nation's thoroughbred foals from 1868 to 1880, it bred 54 percent of the winners of the Belmont, Travers, Saratoga, Jerome, and Dixie stakes in those years. Over the years the Alexander family maintained Woodburn farm mansion along with its library, now in the KHS rare books collection, and many artifacts that pertain to the family and the history of animal husbandry on the farm. |
Collection |
Dr. Alexander J. Alexander Collection |
Subjects |
Buttons (Fasteners) Accessories |
Search Terms |
Woodburn Farm Woodford County (Ky.) |
Physical Holder |
Kentucky Historical Society - KHS |