Memorabilia Monday: Compacts
In our vault, we have a small collection of compacts. The first two pictured below are souvenirs from dances.
Senior Banquet souvenir, given by Christine Hall Ladner, 1936
Given to dates attending the annual Rice Band Banquet held at the San Jacinto Inn in 1935, donated by Helen Kelly Gibson
The one shown above is the only one that sports a brand name. According to an eBay seller, "Volpute Inc. was founded in 1920 in Elizabeth, NJ producing compacts and cigarette cases and jewelry using chromium-plated metal mesh [ . . . ] It was purchased by Shields, Inc. of Attleboro, MA in 1957 and ceased operations in the 1960s." If anyone has more information about the company, please let us know in the comments.
Elizabeth Baldwin Literary Society compact, ca. 1940
This last one might have been given to ladies in the Elizabeth Baldwin Literary Society. If not, someone might have had her personal compact engraved to show her allegiance. For those interested in the literary societies, we have records for most of the societies and an exhibit.
