The Sign of the Golden Ball

Dublin Core

Title

The Sign of the Golden Ball

Subject

Golden Ball (Firm)
Block 17. Building 09.
Historic buildings - Virginia - Williamsburg
Margaret Hunter Shop (Williamsburg, Va.)
Stores, Retail - Virginia - Williamsburg

Description

Lantern slide featuring a photo of the Golden Ball Shop in the early 1930s when it was located in what is today the Margaret Hunter Shop. It is the eleventh slide in a set produced by the Pacific Stereopticon Co. of Los Angeles, California, now defunct, to illustrate the story of Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin's dream to restore a portion of Williamsburg, Virginia to its 18th-century appearance as a shrine to early American ideals.

When Colonial Williamsburg first opened as a museum in the 1930s, Duke of Gloucester Street consisted of a combination of exhibition buildings and commercial establishments, and several retail establishments rented space in restored or reconstructed structures. The Golden Ball offered a selection of silver and pewter objects for sale. A neighboring structure, the James Craig House, houses today's Golden Ball, where visitors can watch silversmiths at work.

This building, "...an original structure, occupies a favorable spot on the busy 'downtown' end of the main street. Typical of commercial buildings, it has a gable-end facade, and its interior is divided between a large unheated storefront and a smaller counting office with a fireplace in the rear. Like many buildings, this one served as both workplace and home for its occupants." The first occupant (and later owner) of the building was Margaret Hunter, a milliner, who both "...imported and...made diverse and stylish accessories for men, women and children."

(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 57).

Publisher

Pacific Stereopticon Co.

Is Part Of

Pacific Stereopticon Company Lantern Slide Collection

Format

jpeg

Type

Image

Identifier

PSC-011

Rights Holder

Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Lantern slide

Physical Dimensions

2 x 3 inches

Citation

“The Sign of the Golden Ball,” John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, accessed March 29, 2024, https://rocklib.omeka.net/items/show/557.