Seed Box, D.M. Ferry & Co.

Object Details

Date

ca.1830-1920

Period

Victorian (1837-1901)

Company

D.M. Ferry & Co

Printer

The Calvert Lithograph Company

Description

Wooden seed box for D.M. Ferry & Company. The box has slightly raised, curved on edges top, a hinged lid, and fancy front clasp. The base is nailed to sides, which are constructed with simple interlocking joints. The exterior varnished only slightly darker than the unvarnished interior. An extra piece of hardware to support the lid when open is included on the interior. On inside of lid, there is a color lithograph advertisement with a girl kneeling picking flowers. She is talking to a boy with a rake. Another younger boy is watering flowers in a fancy garden with a nice house in back. The advertisement reads: "Choice Flower Seeds. From D.M. Ferry & Co. Detroit, Mich."

Label Text

Saving seeds is done both industrially for agriculture and gardening, but it is also done by amateur gardeners. Seed saving was the traditional way farms and gardens had maintained themselves for the last 12,000 years. In the nineteenth century, the commercial seed industry replaced most grassroots seed-saving practices. Rather than collecting and processing their own seeds, gardeners and farmers shifted to purchasing seed annually from seed suppliers. Seed harvesting is a carefully-timed and labor-intensive process, and many farmers and gardeners found relying on the seed industry to do this work for them much easier and more cost effective. The seed industry was essentially a centralized supply collected from individual raisers and sold to both local retailers and directly to the public. Seeds were grown on farms, harvested, dried, and cleaned. They were then sorted, categorized, stored, packaged, described, and mailed. These time- and labor-saving steps made the product of seedsmen more convenient and thereby more valuable than those saved from the previous year’s plants. This elevated their products over what could be found in one’s back yard. Originally in America, seeds had to be imported from Europe for agriculture and gardening, and not surprisingly, the long voyage by ship across the ocean compromised many of the seeds and stunted their successful cultivation. As early as 1780, the seed industry was established in America, and by the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was in full swing. The seed industry sold to home gardeners, professional florists, and market growers through stores as well as mail-order through catalogs.

When selling their seeds in a store, companies delivered the seeds to be sold on commission. Seeds were packaged in colorful packages and kept in display boxes and seed racks meant to attract the customers’ attention. Companies marketed their seeds in boxes constructed of pine, stained or painted, and nailed at the corners. Some were intricately inlayed, mounted with handsome hardware, and lined with colorful scenes of pretty flower gardens or happy children. Wooden dividers separated the seed packets into four to six rows. Interior and exterior labels were designed to catch the gardener’s attention. Seed boxes were a form of “silent salesman” and inventory control from 1820 to 1890. They were left with the retail shop owner, filled with seed packets, and replenished as needed. At the end of the summer, companies took back whatever stock had not sold. Most boxes were picked up or sent back to the seed grower, cleaned and new labels pasted over last season’s edition.

Signed

"The Calvert Lith. Co. Detroit"

Mark(s)

D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit, Mich.

Topic

boxes (containers)

chromolithographs

Seed boxes

agriculture

horticulture

marketing

packets (containers)

point-of-purchase displays

seed

Seed industry and trade

showcases

See more items in

Horticultural Artifacts Collection

Credit Line

Smithsonian Gardens, Horticultural Artifacts Collection.

Data Source

Smithsonian Gardens

Accession number

1986.023

Type

Seed boxes

Seed industry

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Medium

Wood, lithograph

Dimensions

3 7/8 × 11 9/16 × 6 13/16 in. (9.8 × 29.4 × 17.3 cm)

Metadata Usage

Not determined

GUID

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/aq44676cd6f-b815-4bac-93d9-b81d235a1af4

Record ID

hac_1986.023