Opening the Door
Safes of the Shenandoah Valley
by Kurt C. Russ & Jeffery S. Evans
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
Opening the Door: Safes of the Shenandoah Valley, is an important “first chapter” in that region’s study of nineteenth-century punched-tin safes. Resulting from the Virginia Safe Project research for Safes of the Valley, a 2014–15 exhibition at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, Opening the Door tackles the diversity in construction and design found in the safes of the Shenandoah Valley. While punched-tin safes are ubiquitous in certain areas of the Southeast and Midwest, only a handful of publications have focused on the form in any depth. Russ and Evans have identified regional and shop variations found in Shenandoah Valley safes through provenanced examples that remain in -family and local collections. The compilation and publication of this research greatly advances the scholarship of the form and provides a springboard for further studies.
Often called “pie safes” by collectors today, the period term for this ventilated storage form was “safe” or “food safe.” These cupboards were initially designed for the short-term storage of fresh or recently cooked foods prior to the advent of refrigeration. They allowed proper airflow for preservation while protecting the victuals within from a range of vermin, including rodents and house flies. Early Virginia examples with linen or wire-mesh sides date back to the beginning of the eighteenth century, but the form became popular throughout the Southeast and Midwest in the early nineteenth century with the introduction of decorative punched-tin panels. Over time, the use of these safes included general storage rather than solely foodstuffs.
- Paperback
- 136 Pages