Yule never baa-lieve it: a case for the Yule Goat at Christmas
The MERL’s Collections Researcher, Tim Jerrome investigates pagan influence on Christmas traditions, and asks why we don’t include the Yule Goat in our celebrations in England.
Leghorn Straw Hat
Straw plaiting was a huge industry in the late 1800s. It became the new and main employment of 1000s of women in Berkshire and Hertfordshire. It was the perfect way [...]
Smoking Cap
This cap was manufactured in North America and is most likely associated with the Haudenosaunee nation, commonly known as the Iroquois Confederacy. Indigenous women would make items like smoking caps, [...]
Tailoring
These items come from the Kellman Collection, used and collected by Alexander Kellman, a tailor on the Queen’s Road in Reading. Thread MERL 97/79 Cloth MERL 97/82 Bobbins MERL 97/78/1-37 [...]
Reins and Harnesses
To make leatherwork for horses a lot of skill and a good range of tools are required. This craft often happened in towns and villages, with a good saddler in [...]
Clothing on Canals
Canal boats were vital in transporting coal and goods made during the boom of the industrial revolution in the 18th Century. This moved many seasonal farmers to the boats as [...]
Hand sewn dress
Worn in Oxfordshire in the early twentieth century, this dress was hand sewn from cotton and printed with floral designs. The time it was created was an important turning point for [...]
Sewing basket
Made in Orkney, this straw coil-type basket was used to store sewing supplies. Scorch marks are visible within the basket, which is evidence of the basket being ‘toasted’ to remove [...]
Tatting samples
‘Tatting’ is a form of lacemaking that produces a garment more durable than crocheted lace. It particularly focuses on knots within the fabric, and is thought to derive from ancient [...]
Tape measure
Acquired from The Mount in Reading, this tape measure was used in sewing to measure different sizes of pins, tapes and buttons. Named the ‘Crescent Workbasket Treasure’, it was an [...]