Handkerchief

Description

Henry Bowen’s Chemical Print, located in Boston, Massachusetts, printed this cotton handkerchief in the mid-19th century. The handkerchief, titled “A Mirror for the Intemperate,” includes poems, speeches, and essay excerpts promoting temperance. Five small vignettes depicting the dangers of alcohol are printed among the text– one in each of the four corners, and one in the center. Temperance – abstention from alcohol – gained considerable support across the United States during the early 19th century, and the Boston-based American Temperance Society was particularly influential. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.