The Golden Ball
Golden Ball (Williamsburg, Va.)
Stores & shops - Virginia - Williamsburg
Silversmiths - American - Virginia - Williamsburg
Postcard, “The Golden Ball, Williamsburg, Virginia." Text on verso reads: 'At the sign of the Golden Ball, the visitor finds skilled silversmiths fashioning by hand gleaming items of delicate beauty. In this operating craft shop one also finds a fine collection of eighteenth-century watches, clocks, and jewelry. Open to visitors the year round without charge.'
Colonial Williamsburg
H. S. Crocker Co., Inc.
1970s
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The Sign of the Golden Ball
Golden Ball (Firm)
Block 17. Building 09.
Historic buildings - Virginia - Williamsburg
Margaret Hunter Shop (Williamsburg, Va.)
Stores, Retail - Virginia - Williamsburg
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).
Pacific Stereopticon Co.
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Block 17; Block 8: Duke of Gloucester Street
Block 8
Block 17
Alexander Craig House (Williamsburg, Va.)
Capitol (Williamsburg, Va.)
Edinburgh Castle (Williamsburg, Va.)
Golden Ball (Williamsburg, Va.)
John Carter's Store (Williamsburg, Va.)
John Crump House (Williamsburg, Va.)
Margaret Hunter Shop (Williamsburg, Va.)
Pasteur & Galt Shop (Williamsburg, Va.)
Prentis House (Williamsburg, Va.)
Raleigh Tavern (Williamsburg, Va.)
Russell House (Williamsburg, Va.)
Secretary's Office (Williamsburg, Va.)
Unicorn's Horn (Williamsburg, Va.)
Historic buildings -- Virginia -- Williamsburg
<p>This view looking north along Duke of Gloucester Street at Blocks 17 and 8, shows the Prentis and Russell houses, Craig's Shop (now the <a href="http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/View/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports%5CRR1362.xml">Margaret Hunter Shop</a>), the Golden Ball, Carter's Shop (now the Unicorn's Horn and <a href="http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/View/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports%5CRR1355.xml">John Carter's Store</a>), Raleigh Tavern, Allen's Inn and Ordinary (the Alexander Craig House), <a href="http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/View/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports%5CRR1375.xml">Pasteur & Galt Apothecary Shop</a> Red Lion Inn (the John Crump House), Burdette's Ordinary (now the Edinburgh Castle Tavern), Walthoe's Shop (likely the Armistead House), the Public Records Office (now the Secretary's Office), and the Capitol.</p>
Singleton P. Moorehead
Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
This material is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). For reproduction queries: <a href="http://research.history.org/JDRLibrary/Visual_Resources/VisualResourcePermission.cfm">Rights and reproductions</a>
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