Artifact: Sealing wax and seal on envelope
Materials: Wax
Dimensions:
Date:
Origin:
Collection: Peng via WikiMedia Commons
License: GFDL
Ledger Entry: Sealing Wax
Department: Literacy
Customer: Daniel Wilson
Ledger Page: 6
Imported From:
Product Description
Wax was the most common way of sealing an envelope in early eighteenth century British Colonial America. However, the messiness of the process led to other innovations. Sticky discs called wafers soon became a common method to seal an envelope, in addition to wax.
Citation: E. Jennifer Monaghan, Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007).;
Historical Price: 18 pence per stick; Modern USD: $16.8
Product Variations
The databases record three purchases of sealing wax. Customers purchased either one or two sticks of wax. These ranged in price from thirteen pence for two sticks to eighteen pence for one stick.
