Traveling Ink Bottle

Object/Artifact

Hancock Historical Museum

Name/Title

Traveling Ink Bottle

Entry/Object ID

71.002.010

Description

rosewood Victorian Era travelling Ink bottle.

Use

made of Rosewood with a glass bottle inside and measuring approximately 2" high with a diameter of 1". The small glass bottle inside would press against the inside of the cap when screwed down, to keep the ink from spilling. There was a rapid increase in the consumption of ink during the Civil War, accompanied by the required bottles and inkwells to store the ink. In the mid-1800's, excluding slaves, the population of the United States enjoyed having one of the highest literacy levels in the world. The soldier was no longer at home, so his principal means of communication with his family was through letters. Soldiers went from writing occasional correspondence to writing letters home for themselves and for the occasional fellow soldiers who were unable to write. Thus, the level of letter writing increased.

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Bottle, Ink

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Container, Writing Equipment

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Writing Accessories

Nomenclature Class

Written Communication T&E

Nomenclature Category

Category 06: Tools & Equipment for Communication

Update Date

October 1, 2024