Vintage String Holder

Working with museum artifacts has often brought home the impact of technology development. My wife, Betty Newton, donated a string holder to CalCo Museum this week (see photo). I had never encountered such a device before, so surfing the net I go. I found Bradfordhouseantiques.com knew all about the subject. It seems the string holder was a solution to a packaging problem from the early 18th century to the mid-19th century. A patent was applied for around 1860. Most packaging was done with paper wrapping and secured with ball twine during that period. As everyone knows a ball of string unsecured, by nature will entangle. I think that’s Newton’s law or something. The solution was a jailhouse or if you prefer string holder to incarcerate the ball to keep it from misbehaving. This artifact is made of cast iron, is about five inches tall and bird cage shaped. It is heavy enough that pulling the string does not affect stability. It can set on its base or be suspended without the removable base. Bradford House informs that from the 1850’s to around WWI, government documents were wrapped with paper and secured with a fl at red colored string resembling ribbon or tape. From that came the term “red tape” in referring to government regulations. The bigger document, the more red tape required. 

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