Museum Original Label Tags

In the early days of museum preservation, there were no electronic inventory systems. Most items in the collection had either a handwritten or typed tag. King Manor has some wonderful examples of early labels for many of our objects.

From this sampling we see that many of the objects were gifted to the museum by donors and why those donors thought their item belonged in a museum. You'll note that a lot of them had to do with the American Revolution, though Rufus King himself only played a minor role in that war. There are personal anecdotes about how these items belonged to family members. A few were even handed down from King family descendants!

View the label tags below.

It is important to keep in mind that the dates and facts on these labels are not always accurate! In the early years of preservation, there was not as much information available, especially understanding the materials and style changes over time the way an art historian or museum professional would today. More importantly, these labels show what items were considered important to collect and preserve the early days of King Manor Museum. Each tag is a clue to what was valued at the time.